Chad, I started this ponding experience as the direct result
of having my gorgeous back yard torn up for a 'new' septic
system. I was so angry - that I went for water instead of lawn.
My first pond was 125 gallons. I thought it was Big!! So
I bought 5 tiny little koi and 3 goldfish. I had two water
lilies, a 325 gph pump and a filter. Also lots of bought
water plants. This was in the fall of 1994. A month
later, November to be exact, I had a 3,000 gallon pond built!
Not that the fish went in this monstrosity ... Oh No! They
wintered over in the 125 gallon pond. I trudged out to that tiny
little pond many times a day.... just watching the inactive koi!
They all lived over the Very Mild Winter. I had two test kits;
pond books by the dozens; De-Icers (two);
water gardening friends on the Internet
(most famous one is Helen Nash).
In the spring I shop vac'd the small pond; then caught the fish and turned
them loose in the big pond. In May of that year we had rains
that would *not* quit ... the liner lifted up from the ground and
let all the sandy loam (I'd paid a fortune for that dirt!) into
the pond. A year later I had the sides built up and the rocky
surround built. It has been an experience...
So, when I quote the theories and such it is because I would
like to have folks avoid the pitfalls I have fallen into. I think
I was very lucky to have wintered over the 5 four inch koi.
I learned a bunch - not only from books (I'm a book-aholic)
but also from the good folk here on rec.ponds.

I now have a total of 13 Koi. Some are huge - some are their
offspring. I haven't lost any fish.... that would be something I'm
not sure I could handle.
You can see the beginnings of my experiences in the websites
below. The first - is well.... the first ;-) The second is mostly
lotuses.

Nedra
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Pines/4836
http://community.webshots.com/user/nedra118

"Chad" wrote in message
om...
I would like to know how many koi rec.ponder's are really stocking in
their ponds. I have seen the recommended stock postings, yet I wonder
what is really being done by the average pond enthusiast.

Preface, As of right now I have an approximate 1500 gallon pond with 5
Koi, 2 comets, 3 feeder goldfish(Don't really want them - just
inherited them) and hundreds of mosquito fish. In addition I have
ton's of WH, 5 water Lilies, Hornwort, Anacharis and a bunch of
marginals. But that is not where I started....

I built my first pond when I was 13, my dad bought a tetra flexible
liner and I dug the hole and put it in. We used this for a couple of
years then I swithed to fiberglass stock tanks then finally to
preformed liners. I had never had anything larger than 200 gallons.
For the first 8 years I had no plants at all - just fish. I started
with 12 Koi. Yes, 12. Nedra... get up off the floor. They were
all around 2-3 inches when I bought them. The first 2 years I kept
them outside in the summer and inside during the winter. Then in the
summer of my third year I was cleaning the pond when I had to leave
for a while and I accidently left the pump draining the pond.
Needless to say I lost 7 fish. Some to the lack of water, others to
sunburning. The remaining 5 fish stayed in the pond year round after
that. I never used chemicals for algae, nor did I have ANY
filtration. Frequent well water changes where it. We lost 3 of the
five during the 5 years I was at college. Not all at once, nor in the
same year. My remaining two fish stayed at my parents house until
1998 when I moved them to my 200 gallon pond I put in at my new house.
This was the first time they had ever had a filter, in addition I
started to use algae controllers since I was on city water and
couldn't change it like I did before. 3 years ago I almost lost both
of them to disease after a really cold winter and bad sludge problems
in the pond. At this time I had the two original fish plus 1 of the
koi mentioned above and the two comets in the pond. I medicated them
with a ton of medication and brought them back from sick curled up
floaters to healthy fish. Later that year I lost one of the two
original to the same disease. The other made it until last year when
he mysteriously died while I was on vacation. I examined him but
there was no sign of disease. He was 16 years old and had spent his
life in less than 200 gallons and was the friendliest fish I have ever
had.

So, I have read the rules. I have seen the wolves (maybe raccoon's is
more appropriate) attack those who admit to not following the rules,
yet my experience breaks the rules. I don't see many postings from
those who are apparently overstocking. Perhaps they are scared of the
raccoon's like I was. I know I cannot be the only one who has done
this, so I am curious what others are really doing.