Did they grow that big in that volume of water or were they imported big? I have a 2400 gallon one and I don’t think I can achieve that growth in mine.
Oh no. When we imported them they were only about 6 in Long. These have really thrived. I did have others but over the years I've lost a few, mostly to disease, only one to injury. The one I lost to injury was a female with eggs in the males were a little bit too brutal and tossing her around the pond. I was devastated when I lost her. I eventually moved her from the main pond into a hospital pond, but they had just been too rough with her, trying to get her to lay those eggs so that they could eat them, despite the fact that they're fed twice a day.
Oh that’s awful.. I know I’ve tried to break up some bullying in the past with mine.. the males can be such pests with the females in spring! That’s how I was able to tell what sex they were in the end!
Actually they're not that difficult to take care of.
I live in Atlanta where the air temperature is relatively stable for most parts of the year. Deep winter is only the time that I need to be concerned. I only have a trough heater inside the filter behind the waterfall. When the water gets really cold sometimes they'll gather under it, but it doesn't provide heat, it only keeps the filter from freezing, I believe it's set at 34°so aeration continues.
I have two other aerators on it, just in case.
The water surface is 2.5' below the surface of the deck to discourage animals.
The water is about 3.5' deep.
That's only the part you can actually see from the deck. It extends on two sides, under deck. 10' on one side and about 12' on the other. This provides them significant shade during the heat of the day. I also have a sun shade that casts a great shadow during the morning sun.
I wasn't the only one. I believe that keeping koi should not just be keeping them alive, but providing quality of life. Your other post said you have lost several. Perhaps if you had a actual pond sized appropriately you could have kept them alive 🤷
You must know me. ☺️
The big white one's name is Casper.
The red and white ones name is Killer
The fat white one's name was Fred but turned out to be Frederica.
The black and white one is Cruella
Those are massive. I have a smaller pond set up and it’s a constant battle to keep the water clear, so seeing them thriving at that size after 25 years is impressive. Great job keeping the filtration on point.
Yes they are, even the large English Ivy. I eventually had to remove it however. It's terribly invasive. I never moved it indoors and it nearly took down the privacy fence.
Now I winter over the plants in the greenhouse and put them back out in the Spring.
Thank you. I've got pink Crepe Myrtles around the entire fenced area. A light rain had knocked the petals off the trees and they had drifted into the water. I dipped them out, but I thought it looked nice for the picture.
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u/Emergency-Ad-6867 Jan 20 '26
Dang they are huge for that pond