Koi vs. Comet Fish

[littlelil]

What's the difference between Koi and Comet fish?

[White Lightning]

Hey Lillian,

That's kind of like asking, what's the difference between an angel fish and a guppy. One difference is that comets are goldfish and koi originated from japanese carp. Comets will survive the winter months in a an outdoor pond whereas koi will have a much more difficult time. I found that out this winter. All of my comets survived their second winter whereas none of my koi made it. One other difference between the two is the potential growth size. Some koi will grow very large in size in comparison to a typical comet. The other obvious difference is cost and the beauty. Koi are far better looking than your average comet. I am sure some others can chime in onthe differences as well.

[Fishnut]

Lol...here's another analogy...what's the difference between a Chihuahua and a Grate Dane?

Koi should grow to 4 feet in length and need an extremely large pond.  Successful koi keepers keep koi in converted swimming pools or create ponds that are practically the same size.  It needs to be quite deep though.  Anyone who tells you otherwise hasn't been talking to the true koi experts.  Physically, koi have what looks like little whiskers on the bottom of their mouths.

Goldfish...aka commets...aka feeder fish...should grow to 12 inches (1 foot) in length.  They don't require as much space or the depth of water that the koi require.

[Cbellehumeur]

I think you get the jist of it now, lol. I have butterfly koi and just as a reference i bought them last summer at 2" through them in my 10,000g pond and hardly ever fed them, by the end of the summer they were about 16". I left them in about 3 feet of water and they all survived the winter just fine. Also butterfly koi have awesome fins compared to comets. I did lose one this summer to a heron  .

[OttawaReefer]

How deep a pond do you need for the comets, or koi, to survive the winter?

[Cbellehumeur]

if you in town "City of Ottawa" you're not allowed to go more than 24" (i think) and that's not deep enough. My pond in 5.5 feet and they're always fine. As long as there is like a 1ft of water after freezing they should be fine....4 feet should be sufficient...IMO.

[OttawaReefer]

We are in the city.  Is the depth of the pond for someone in the city regulated by some kind of bylaw?

[ray]

Over a certain depth it will be considered like a pool and will need adequate fencing

Ray

[JetJumper]

We are in the city.  Is the depth of the pond for someone in the city regulated by some kind of bylaw?

24" deep.

Anything over that and you will technically need a permit to build it and a fence around it,

[new2salt]

2 additional choices when only 24 inches deep
1- winter inside
2- my choice -  and what I did till the local Herons cleaned out the pond - floating heater - pond supply or agricultural supply - I used a floating heater 1500 Watts designed for livestock watering tank and had pump & fountain run all winter

I think some of the neighbours thought I was nuts

[Anja]

We keep our comets (and a school of fathead minnows - rosyreds) outside all winter in 24" of water, and they're always fine. We shut down the waterfall, but keep a bubble stone going for oxygen. This past winter that was enough, but when it gets so cold that even the moving water freezes over for more than a couple of days, we also have a floating heating disk that keeps a bit of a hole open for gas exchange. Since our pond is not very big (about 250g) that's always an issue.