Koi vs Goldfish - Which to Choose for Your Pond 

The “goldfish” you show here are actually Comets, a smaller family member of the Koi that can come in many of the same striking colours, but not all. They are both forms of carp. You are correct that the comets are more indestructible as I’ve experienced them travelling 800 km in a black garbage bag in the back of a truck without any impact, also living in water so putrid it was more solid than liquid. They will also destroy your plants if they’re not large or established before you introduce them. In a fish tank they are pretty destructive. In large ponds, not so much. They easily become an invasive species that breeds out and decimates local fish populations in areas where they’re accidentally or deliberately introduced into a non-native eco system. They can, and will eventually get sick and die if not cared for. Both species are susceptible to fin rot, but otherwise are pretty tough. Both species are also quite personable with distinct personalities and behaviours that are pretty cute. Both are also trainable, but Comets are not as smart as Koi. Comets can get pretty large too, up to 30cm. It depends on the size of their pond and the number of other fish in there. Koi won’t survive such terrible treatment for long, but they’re not that sensitive. They live happily in the pretty gross waters in the palace moat in Tokyo. Koi can survive brutal winters too, however, however the secret lies in feeding them the right high protein food before the pond freezes over so they have enough reserves to keep them going through winter. I’m sure if you google “overwintering koi under ice” you’ll find more info on that. Koi ARE much more intelligent than Comets and can even be trained to respond to a bell rung to announce dinner time. Train yours to do it, it’s very nice to see them racing to get fed.

Every goldfish I have had has been very intelligent, they have picked up on feeding times and have grown beautifully

My gold fish have distinctive personalities. They also caught onto their feeding times very quickly. They are shibunkins. Goldfish are very adaptable

We started our pond with gold feeder fish. Splurged on some other fancy goldfish to mingle with them. We use the Japanese pellet fish food. Expensive, but so worth it. Our feeder goldfish and fancy speckled are healthy, large and bright. They do know us. They don't come over for just anyone. Like your video. Thanks

The only thing I would disagree with is that goldfish don’t recognize their feeder or feeding time. Mine are at the surface when feeding time comes and get very excited when they see me coming.

Great video! Great dialogue and delivery - helpful in every way!!!

My goldfish know me as the feeder.

Simple and fair comparison. Many of my $0.16 goldfish are now elegant footlong beauties. You can find a wide variety of colors and patterns in simple "feeder" comets if you're willing to put in the time to search.

Very helpful, I've watched alot of videos, yours is one of the best easily. Thanks

Very good points and yes to do the different balance for exact reasons you are saying!

This was really helpful and what I was looking for. Thank you

Great thanks for your analysis it's was a great help.

Excellent presentation with on target information. Thank you 🙏

Great information my man. Keep it up!

Thanks for this video. It helped me.

I got a good insight. That’s great thanks

Thank u for this I'll subscribed

This video really confirmed for me that I want goldfish, even though I think koi are more pretty. Thanks for all the great information!

I’ve had both at once and since got rid of my goldfish and now only have Koi. I did have a goldfish named Fabio with its long elegant fins. I secretly miss that fish.

Very good video. I appreciate the info.

Thank you so much for sharing man 👍🏼

My goldfish are clever and fast 💨 I like them also because they look like baby koi and I love goldfish and in my pond they might be big because it’s a big pond, and I don’t care of they’re quality, I care if they survive, and as soon as they see food they ZOOM SO FAST! And I have blue orfes and a perch and the perch is making them more encouraged so my goldfish (sarasa comets) are fine

Thanks. Very helpful. Cheers

Good review 👍🏻

You could set an atomic clock by my current goldie's feeding schedule. He knows exactly when its dinner time and the faces that match the opposable thumbs to drop his vittles into the tank. When he doesn't get fed at the usual hour, he'll spit rocks at the glass until he's got your attention and you serve him like the scaley orange prince that he is. I've had goldfish I've taught to do tricks, hand feeding, and brilliant (and different) personalities for each.

Some variety of fancy Goldfish are way more attractive than Koi. Ryukin, Ranchu, Pearl Scale are few to name.

Your video is very good and very helpful. Iam in the process of making a small pond (about 2x2m) not sure on depth. Do you have any other good tips to help?

Thank you for the good information!

Thanks for the good video, Sir.

I love them both but keeping my goldfish inside in large tanks has been the most rewarding for me

When we moved into the house we live in now, the severely neglected fish pond came under my care. It hadn’t been maintained for at least a year. The pond was full with twigs and leaves and other detritus, and there was no filter or aerator. We removed the detritus, stirring up enough sediment to render the water the tone and opacity of chocolate milk. Later, we replaced the water and as of writing all 3 of the goldfish present in the pond when we moved in are alive and well more than a year after.

Great video. Thanks

i had a 750 gallons natural pond with 2 koi and 2 goldfish with lot of vegetations, there is no filtration, no aeration and no pellets, very easy to maintenance. just keep the population and ecosystem will work it self

The only thing I think you missed is that you actually get a lot more variety in body styles with goldfish. There a so many fancy type varieties and when they start breeding with each other things get even more interesting.

I have a goldfish in my pond. In fact they are Bait fish, I can't believe they take these beautiful goldfish and put them on a hook to catch fish. They are multicolored pretty to look at and they know me and they know when it's time to eat. All in all I'm very satisfied with them they did not cost a fortune. Plus I saved them from a hook! Sign not out to impress no one

hi in my experience of feeding koi and goldfish the goldfish are always the first ones to feed first

very cool, thank you :)

Koi are a type of carp correct? A friend of mine had a fishing pond that started to be overwhelmed by moss and excessive plant growth. They put 5 large carp in there and ate the excessive vegetation.

I inherited some goldfish in ponds in the house we moved into, two-and-a-half years ago, and I’ve bought more, since (and some minnows and rosy barbs) and they all know who I am, when to expect to be fed, and if they don’t all mosey on up to the service counter by the time I get there, they all come a-swimmin’ when I tap their food container on the side of the ponds... and they all figured it out for themselves in short time. Also, they are no longer scared of me with the net, scooping out refuse for quite some time at a sitting; they know to keep away from me and also know that if I catch them, it’s unintentional and they’re released as soon as they’re scooped up 🙂

bro you should make another video about your moped, but keep up the good work bro!

i really liked this video

Both are extremely beautiful fish but mostly Koi is a ideal thing for a 1200 gallons pond

Very nice fish and pond... They are so lovely hopeful I'll make same like a pond for my goldfish

Beautiful fish are they breeding at the end thankyou for videos

What if you had a Koi that bred with Comet goldfish and have a couple mixed fish from that breeding activity! We had one Koi which suffered and died from an illness but his kids are still in the pond, two maybe three Koi goldfish mixes. Do they have the Koi lifespan or the goldfish? Will they have lower tolerance than full goldfish! Thanks for any into great video I love our pond, but we had to move it away from birds so no more breeding! :) We keep the water quality very good great aeration for our fish!

6:39 On my gosh I was ded when I saw the other koi pushing the big koi forwards.

Informative :-)

I bought a house and had the goldfish removed in the fall to a friend's pond cause it wasn't very deep and we weren't going to be there in the winter. Next June, we see a 4 inch goldfish!! He survived the fall, winter and spring without any food!! Talk about hardy!!

My goldfish are awesome 💗 beautiful colors

I've got big 2 n half foot koi and I have lillies and other pond plants thry grow and do fine

At the 4 min mark, what are the black things on the koi face above the noise? I have some koi that have that and don’t know what it is.

I agree i have a small pong that i didnt clean for more than 6mos. It evaporated half of it and the goldfish just didnt die.

I just started fish keeping and built my own pond and at the moment I am keeping goldfish and ghost koi

I love youre vids

thankyou i have just inherited a pond with koi and goldies..and i know nithing about caring for them.

The koi look so cute splashing around haha

i have a pond with a mixture of koi and goldfish and one day i woke up and i looked in my pond one early morning and found a bunch of baby fish in my pond. im not sure what fish gave birth and i don’t know if they are koi or gold fish. all my goldfish are orange and my other koi fish are different colors none of my koi fish are black and there happens to be three black babies but there are some of the babies that have different unique colors like orange white and black do you think I have koi or goldfish.

Do koi and goldfish share the same optimum water conditions? My 'pond' is a 150 gallon tub for the sump in an aquaponics garden. The goldfish are doing well and I was thinking of adding a 4"-5" koi.

Love the pond to i have a pond as big as youres and i have gofish and koi in it

I have both Koi and Goldfish in my pond. I live in Sweden so the winters gets cold, i use a airpump to keep the ice from freezing, both koi and goldfish are happy. However I wish i skipped Goldfish they breed as crazy and I dont want more of them 🤨 I also breed crawfish in the pond, they also breed as crazy but that is a good thing 😀

Hi, I have a 485 liter round pond. How many small Goldfish can I have in his space, the guy on the pet sop said 10-12 but I think 4-6. Thanks

My 35 cent goldfish follow me. But I’ve had them for about 5 years. They have outgrown their tank so they are going in pond this summer. But I’m planning on getting koi as well but I’m not mixing the two types of fish just because you won’t see the goldfish I only have 4. Building a large pond for the koi then off to the side building a smaller version for the goldfish

Goldfish can be expensive as well. It depends on the breed.

i have a 40 gallon im starting with, adding a coi or two will that work ? or do i need larger

hi hello what is the name of the food you feed of your koi?

got 3 koi. 1 common. 1 fully scaled mirror. and 1 comet. i do def notice the goldfish are a pain considering they dont find the food easily. even when alone they have trouble finding food that falls in front of their face. when you add more fish to the bunch. like koi. goldfish need some patience sometimes. and to be fair goldfish also eat alot of species of plants in ponds. or atleast try. although yeah koi do eat them worse. btw i am a beginner with legit below ground ponds so any advice could help with that. im usually used to large tanks ..tubs..pool ponds. etc. but these koi are getting too big and its high time i get something really nice.

I am wondering what the lowest temperature that the goldfish can bear outdoor?

Is it possible with a common gold fish recognizing the owner even if it stays in an aquarium not a pond..

What are water temperature parameters for both fish?

I have lots of Goldfish in my pond. I added two Koi same size and then after a few days they are gone. I don't see them dead anywhere? Could they be hiding in the plants?

I used to have both Koi and goldfish. The problem we have in the Midwest are blue herons. They ate all my goldfish in spite of all my efforts to keep them out. I have had a pond for over 30 years. Once Koi are large enough the herons cannot eat them. The OP is correct but I will always keep nothing but koi.

Nice informative video. I have a 1500 gallon pond with koi and goldfish. I have about 150 koi and approximately 50 goldfish. Six of the koi are about 18 in and the rest are small to medium. I was fortunate to buy most of the koi for a dollar each. Now I have decided I don't really want the goldfish. They are taking up space and eating the expensive koi food so I took about 30 of them out and sold them. Kept a few of the best white and orange colored ones. Since we live on a private lake I have to keep a net over the pond otherwise blue herons get in and wipe me out.

my giant gold fishes do recognized me and feed time. i gently soft tapped the side three times before feeding and they all know to huddle and feed.

My kois were cheap like 15 dollars per one koi , worth it !

Ive had koi and goldfish in my pond and the goldfish were not successful at all. Ive raised my koi from eggs and we had the pond completely drain out in winter and they survived. Only just had issues with my koi after having them for about 8 years and thats because we had to replace everything in the pond over the last month. Love my koi

OhmiGosh!!!!! I am new with this hobby. I got a 2.5 gallon for fish tank and I only have an angelfish and another that might be a koi, it's only around 5 inches in length, it's like a calico with three colors, white, black and white but the thing is it has barbels!!!! It HAS FREAKING BARBELS. That's the reason I watched this video cause I find unusual for gold fish to have barbs.

I m in souther california . Is golden and koi lives easily ? Thanks

I have 5 Koi in my pond which was recently redug and the filter cleaned. The old pond had a large all white Koi living by itself for a number of years before we bought the house. Apparently, a heron cleaned out the others years ago. Once we’d finished renovations, we bought 4 new Koi to give 'Fred' our existing fish some friends. At first, he chased them all around the pond, but soon tired after 24hours having to do 4 times the work to chase them all. For a period, the pond was normal with al, the fish feeding regularly from the surface, but for the last 5 weeks they sit on the bottom together with Fred and they rarely feed. If they do, they are like wild carp, rushing to the surface, grabbing a pellet and racing to the bottom. They appear very nervous. Any suggestions on what I’m doing wrong? The water tester shows good quality water...

What about shubunkins

Goldfish are exactly the same intelligence wise as koi I have goldfish that come to let me pat them and they know their feeding time exactly to the hour

I have Goldfish they are in a outside pond too.My golfish are good they do come up to me in the morning for me to feed them and follow me round the pond too .So they are not that stupid

I have that same photo of the kikokuryu

How much is the coil fish. ?

I've got koi goldfish and a couple orfs. The orfs and my big koi and some goldfish are nearly 20 years old

I want take 50 goldfish and put them in a 5 acre lake to control algae what do you think ?

Can I move my goldfish from aquarium to an outside pond? Are there any issues or factors I need to do to prepare the fish for outside pond?

When I transfer my goldfish and koi to another tank for a water change, my only koi somehow always know how to jump out even though it’s still a tosai

I had a goldfish that live for 4 years

I have a 3000gal pond and no aeration or water changes other than rain abd its been a few yrs

So I built 2 ponds the 2nd one for myself. It's small, 300 gallons and we have 10 goldfish in it. I have an aerator and a pond heater and a filter system. I live in Kentucky so our winters are kind of mild. some freezing weather and cold (freezing) temptures. My question is will our goldfish make it thru winter in our pond? I've watched other video's but you're easy to understand and explain everything thoroughly. I am also a new subscriber! :D Thank you!!

I'm 19 years old and my gin rin yamabuki ogon butterfly koi is about 11 years old and more than 30 5years old Butterfly koi that grow well in my mud pond that has no filtration system and aeration but has a crystal clear water, and when I put goldfish in my mud pond they all die after 2 months.

What do you do in the winter for koi fish?

My goldfish just keep breeding. They are intelligent as well. Sterlets dont get a look in when feeding

In Japan Koi Fishes are grown large muddy dirty ponds without aeration or filtration and they do fine!

You should have included fancy goldfish too. Some of them are suitable for ponds and are stunning. Incase anyone was wounding at the end there those koi were spawning.

What if you had a private lake ?

What is the lowest temp goldfish can endure outdoors in the winter?

I’m going to pick koi

i have 6 euro koi and a butterfly ghost they are cool and a lot of sarasa goldfish

I have 7 Koi and about 20 goldfish and lots of minnows and all my smaller dumber fish follow my Koi now after 2 years at feeding time and now eat out of my hands just like the Koi do..😁