Last Updated: 5/16/13

My First Three Koi - deceased
Maggie and Colin
Mac and Kojak - deceased
Mac 2 - deceased
Nikita, Alex, and Riley
Photos of My Koi

As of 11/4/11, I have five living koi - Maggie, Colin, Nikita, Alex, and Riley.

My 1800 gallon pond was built in May of 1997. At that time, I bought three small butterfly koi. Two died that same year. One was mostly white, and one was mostly metallic orange with some black spots. They were gorgeous. Both died while under 6 inches long. Remmy survived but died on 3/21/99 after a winter and early spring with wildly fluctuating temperatures. He suffered from fin rot and lethargy before dying. He was about 12 inches long, and I had had him for two years. So, things did not go so well for koi in my pond that first year!

In 1998, I bought Maggie and Colin. They are named after characters from the TV show Sliders (Quinn and Wade were two goldfish in my 50 gallon tank so those names were used first years ago). Information on their pond can be found at my pond descriptions page under 1800 gallon pond.

Maggie is a metallic orange butterfly koi. She has some larger black scales on her back. Her fins are not as long as Colins fins. She may in fact not be a butterfly koi (or a partial one). She had some fin damage early on that may have kept her fins shorter. By 1999, Maggie was about a foot long. By 2008, she is over 1.5 feet long. Colin is a white butterfly koi with a few small black spots. He has longer fins and is more slender so I believe he is male. He weighs less than Maggie but is about the same length.

By 4/4/03, Colin and Maggie grew to about a foot and a half long. Neither one has shown any interest in spawning together along with the goldfish or orfe in the shallows.

Maggie got stuck in some nylon rope in the pond on 10/8/07. You can read about it in the November 2007 pond newsletter under Happenings at Robyn's Pond #3. She is okay as of 11/10/07. Both koi both seem to be still about 18" long but might be larger. It is hard to tell without actually catching them to measure.

On 5/1/12, I noticed Maggie hanging out in the semi-shallows and near the surface. She never did that before. The next day, she was doing it more and was very still. I was worried it was the end, and, unfortunately, I was right. She was dead the morning of 5/3/12. I took photos and measurements and examined her. She was 26" long and 12 pounds. I used the human scale by weighing myself holding a net with her and then without her and subtracting. She had about three small Aeromonas-type lesions on her, some minor fin rot on her caudal fin, and one large scale was missing. She was a Doitsu so she only had a dozen scales or so on her entire body. None of those things was fatal. From her vent, there was swelling, protrusion, and blood. I surmised that she died of a long-term internal bacterial infection. I do not normally bury dead pond fish and considered burying her but it would have been a lot of work. So, I put her at the back of the property so that, in death, she could feed various animals such as cats, foxes, raccoons, maggots, and even provide "chew toys" for the squirrels who chew on bones to wear down their teeth. I have many times heard a strange noise only to find a squirrel chewing on a deer bone or a box turtle shell. On 5/5/12, I went back to look at the body, and it was still there. Some animal(s) had eaten her vent area out. Inside, I could see a few cups of roe. I saw no signs of tumors. I know for sure that she was female. Since I have never seen a baby koi, I am wondering if maybe I am wrong about Colin. If Colin is female, that would explain the lack of fry and also could explain Maggie's death. She could have died at least partially from egg binding. She was always grossly fat, much more than svelte Colin. I had Maggie for 14 years so she was probably 15 years old.

On 9/14/08, I went to the Mid-Atlantic Koi Show (I had gone twice before). This time, I decided I was going to get two more koi even though I do not have a "real" koi pond (no skimmer, vortex, bubble bead filter, bottom drain, UV, and so on) or really spare room in the pond. Maggie and Colin are a decade old now, and I worry about them. While koi can live over a hundred years, fish in my care usually are not so lucky. I wanted to get a Sanke koi and one other one. I bought Mac and Kojak from a booth set up by Quality Koi Company based out of New Jersey.

Mac is named after MAKC (Mid-Atlantic Koi Club). Kojak is an alteration of Kujaku which is the variety that he is. Mac is a Sanke with a red head and mostly red and black on the body with less white. I was told that more white would appear as she aged. Kojak is a Kujaku, also called a metallic peacock. He is platinum with patches of brownish red. I do not know their sexes but will call Mac a girl and Kojak a boy. I needed to quarantine them as a responsible pond owner would so I had bought and set up a 50 gallon stock tank the weekend before. I will also overwinter my tropical marginals in there. I put in some bricks (the pots sit on them; the bricks have been used in the 20 gallon indoor pond for years so they are aged), black pots, fake plants, and a clay pot for hiding places. The pond is netted to keep the koi in and the cats out. I bought a PondMaster 190 pump and filter which pumps 190 gph. It has a white mechanical filter and a black carbon-impregnated filter I plan to change every 4 weeks or so (squirt off weekly if needed). There is also an air stone and a bag of ceramic biological media on top of the filter box. I am hoping the pots from outside will bring in good bacteria (and snails for the koi to eat).

I tried to measure Mac and Kojak but they did not really sit still! My guess was that Mac was 7" long and Kojak 5.5" long but they certainly do not seem that big (they were sold in the 7 to 8 inch length sale pond). They are very skinny. I will monitor the ammonia and nitrite. If the water quality is still good in a month, they can stay inside for the winter so we can enjoy them, and they are safe. If the water quality deteriorates despite water changes and filter cleanings, I can still put them outside for the winter although I would rather not. While they are being quarantined, I am not treating them with anything (aside from low levels of salt). When I have quarantined poor quality fish (feeder fish mostly), I always medicated those. These guys seem healthy!

They mostly hid for the first day which makes sense. They had spent three days at the koi show being chased with a net, picked up, put back, and so on. Mac came up to eat some koi pellets on 9/16/08. They are so gorgeous! I wish I could get some good photos of them!

Mac and Kojak were healthy and thriving. On 1/3/09, I cleaned their pond as I did every Saturday. Kojak was dashing around as always since they get scared when I clean the pond. Wait, where was Mac? I looked around the pond; she was gone. The pond is netted but there are some small gaps in a few places. I looked around outside the pond but there are so many obstacles that I saw nothing. A little bit later, I pulled out the electrical cord to the cat water fountain. Out with it came Mac. From the looks of her, she had been dead two days. I am so upset. She was gorgeous, my dream koi. She jumped out a tiny gap at the edge of the net which I tried to make smaller (at that time and previously). If only I had been around when she jumped, I might have seen her in time. If she had landed anywhere else, the cats would have chewed on her but she was hidden behind the litter pan backdrops (which keep the litter out of the pond when the cats kick it). Mac was 7 inches long when she died. Kojak is now alone and lonely. It was not meant to be for me to have the Sanke I wanted. I will try to put it out of my head. Most people think of fancy clothes, jewelry, make-up, and vacations when it comes to having a lot of money. I have none of those nor do I want them. I want a real koi pond!

There was finally a warm day on 4/18/09 to release Kojak in to the 1800 gallon pond. The water had been 60 degrees F the day before but was 53 degrees F at dawn, later to go to 65 degrees F with an almost 80 degree F air temperature. As soon as Kojak found the tons of other fish, he immediately stuck with them like glue. He had been alone for over three months and now thought he had died and gone to heaven. I measured Kojak at 7" but he looked minute next to the adult goldfish and orfe and completely insignificant next to huge Maggie and Colin.

Kojak did incredibly well and was never sick until that day. Sunday, 8/14/11, was a very sad dad at the pond. I found my gorgeous purebred koi, Kojak, dead. He was a Kujaku koi. Twice a day during feedings, I always look for the three koi, Maggie, Colin, and baby Kojak as well as the two adult orfe. There are too many goldfish to tell apart or check on. Only my single shubunkin goldfish is unique enough for me to tell from the others. I had noticed that Kojak was not easily found the last few days but usually sighted near the bottom instead of feeding. Kojak was in the shallows this morning. I could not net him as he was too heavy, maybe 10 pounds. I tried to grab him but he was ubber slimy. I finally got him out. I examined him. He had dropsy. Remember, I check for him daily and had seen no signs of anything physically wrong. The cause of the dropsy was evident once I got the right view. He had a large gash/hole at the top of his dorsal fin. It did not appear to have originated as an illness and was sudden as he was fine a few days before. I think either the heron put a hole in him there, or he cut himself by getting stuck in the black hiding area meant to protect the fish from the heron. Either way, the gash led to infection, dropsy, and death. I got the ruler and camera. He was an incredible (to me) 17". I had him just under three years. He was the only fish in my pond worth any money but, more than that, he was gorgeous. In death, his metallic silver was gone replaced by a septicemic white. Photos are below.

On 10/4/09, I went to the Mid-Atlantic Koi Club Show. I decided to get a replacement koi for Mac the Sanke who jumped out of quarantine this past winter. I did not quarantine Mac 2 so that is a big risk but she seems very healthy. Mac 2 came from Eastern Nishikigoi. I did not measure her but she was about 5". I paid $30 for her. I acclimated Mac to the pond by putting her and the water in a plastic litter bucket with a lid. I added about 50% the volume with pond water to the bucket and added more every 20 minutes or so for an hour before releasing her by hand.

Mac 2 did well, it seemed. I was shocked on 3/7/10 when I removed a dead "goldfish" to discover it was Mac 2 who had died. She was 7" long and had been dead about a month.

On 9/25/11, I went to the Mid-Atlantic Koi Club's annual show. They did not have a show in 2010. I got Mac and Kojak in 2008 and Mac 2 in 2009. My family bought three koi on 9/25/11. I got them from Kloubec Koi Farm who had a booth at the show. The fish had been in the same water for three days, and they were jumping quite often as the ammonia was really bad in there. The koi are all in the 3 to 4 inch range in size but very slender.

The three new koi are:
1. Nikita = Doitsu Kujaku; similar to my poor deceased Kojak; metallic gray and orange; named after the Nikita on TV who is very tough
2. Alex = Doitsu Sanke, similar to Mac and Mac 2; calico; Nikita's side-kick
3. Riley = Yamabuki butterfly; longfin metallic gold; my brother picked the koi variety that he wanted; my niece named her after a friend

When I got home, I poured the koi and water in to a plastic bucket with lid. I put in about 50% as much of the water from the basement pond. I repeated this every ten minutes for about four times. Perhaps it was faster; I needed to get them in to the pond. The water they were in was horrible, dirty, smelly. They seemed very happy after I netted them in to the basement pond. I got them some Hikari Gold koi food at the show which they love.

Nikita, Alex, and Riley are gorgeous and happy as of two days after I got them.

I have had problems with ammonia that will not go away in the pond but the fish seem perfectly happy. I am bailing six to eight buckets of water twice a week for water changes. On 10/21/11, I heard a strange splashing. Alex had gotten on top of the vinyl-coated hardware cloth! There are gaps where the plants are and where the fountain comes out. I had used cable ties to make all the holes smaller than the koi. The only spot she could have gotten up was the fountain. I put more cable ties there and a mesh bag to try to prevent this again. Since Mac 1 and Mac 2 were Sanke that I wanted the most, and Mac 1 jumped from the same pond (different lid), and Mac 2 died her first winter, I would have been heart sick to lose Alex from a jump out too. My father had said there was no reason I needed to be home on time from work but, if I had not been there then (an hour late!), Alex would have died.

I released Nikita, Alex, and Riley in to the 1800 gallon pond on 4/4/12. They joined right up with the other fish like they had been there all the time. They were 7" long with Alex being the largest and Riley a little smaller. The ammonia level in the basement pond at the time of release was 2 ppm so I am sure they were happy to get outside even if it was a little colder at 56 degrees F.

Photos of other koi (not mine) can be seen here.

Photos:

The photos are listed newest to oldest.

You can see Colin, my huge white koi, just because he is so big in these photos from 3/25/13 during a snow storm.
1800 gallon pond and waterfall facing northwest.
1800 gallon pond and waterfall facing northwest.
1800 gallon pond and waterfall facing north.
1800 gallon pond - the deep end

Pond fish on 5/20/12 including Colin at the upper left and Nikita and Riley near the bottom.

These photos from 5/3/12 show my poor, dead Maggie.
Maggie - entire right side, with ruler
Maggie - right side of her head
Maggie - strange scale on her chest that looks like an extra fin
Maggie - protruding vent; you can see her internal bacterial infection that ruptured her vent
Maggie - entire left side
Maggie - entire left side, with ruler
Maggie - left underside, shows where two scales came off and a bacterial lesion
Maggie - underside of her head with barbels

Here are photos of the three new koi on 4/4/12 when I moved them to the 1800 gallon pond.
Alex (top left), Nikita (top right), and Riley (bottom) in the basement pond before I went to catch them.
Nikita (right), Alex (left), and Riley (top) in a bucket, ready to move.
Nikita (bottom), Alex (middle), and Riley (top) in a bucket, ready to move.

1800 gallon pond fish - Maggie and Colin (huge koi), orfe, and goldfish, on 3/18/12. This may be the last photo of poor Maggie (the huge orange koi).

1800 gallon pond fish on 3/6/12 - I marked my koi Colin and Maggie

Here are photos of my three new koi taken on 9/25/11 (the day that I got them)
Alex, Riley, and Nikita left to right.
Alex, Nikita, and Riley left to right.
Riley, Nikita, and Alex left to right.

Here are photos of Kojak when he died on 8/14/11. Please do not look at them if dead fish bother you.
Dead Kojak - right side, shows he was 17" long.
Dead Kojak - left side with ruler; you can see the sudden onset septicemia and dropsy on his stomach.
Dead Kojak - top view; note the gash at the beginning of his dorsal (back) fin that is gray from infection. The hole is too large and too sudden (definitely not there more than three days previous) for it not to be due to a physical injury.
Dead Kojak - another top view of the damage. Note that the fin there was ripped off which makes me think he got stuck in the plastic black heron hiding box and scraped his back and fin trying to get out. Dropsy is visible at the bottom of the photo.
Dead Kojak - his beautiful head; he has lost his metallic color, and his eyes are clouded over but otherwise, he was still beautiful to me.

These photos were taken by my brother, sometime in July 2011 perhaps, before Kojak died in August.
Pond fish - Colin (upper left), orfe (bottom left), and goldfish
Pond fish - orfe (top), Kojak (bottom right), and goldfish
Pond fish - Colin (middle), orfe (top), and goldfish
Pond fish - Colin (middle), Kojak (bottom left), and goldfish
Pond fish - Colin (top) and Kojak (bottom)
Pond fish - wider view, Maggie (left), Colin (top), Kojak (right), two orfe, and goldfish
Pond fish - Colin, Maggie, Kojak, two orfe, and goldfish are all in there; you find them!
Pond fish - Maggie, Colin, Kojak, and goldfish

Fish in the 1800 gallon pond on 6/26/11. Maggie (orange koi, top middle), Colin (white koi, top middle), Kojak (koi, bottom left), and the two largest orfe (upper right) are all there as are many of the goldfish.

Two koi and goldfish - Colin, Maggie (top), and 13 goldfish, taken on 4/3/11

These photos are from 9/26/10 when I put the full nets on the ponds. I took photos of the big pond after the half net was off but before I put on the full net:
1800 gallon pond fish - the three koi are towards the left.
1800 gallon pond fish - the two largest koi (Maggie and Colin) are to the upper left; the smaller koi (Kojak) is in the middle.
1800 gallon pond fish - Colin is on the left; Kojak is in the middle.
1800 gallon pond fish - Maggie and Colin are to the upper left; Kojak is in the middle (hard to see).
1800 gallon pond fish - Kojak is in the upper right.
Kojak

I took these photos on 4/11/10. You can see my three koi (Maggie who is huge and orange, Colin who is huge and white, and Kojak who is metallic) in most of the photos. Each photo is closer in than the next.
1800 gallon pond fish - Maggie and Colin on the left, Kojak at the top
1800 gallon pond fish - Maggie and Colin at the top right, Kojak on the left
1800 gallon pond fish - Maggie and Colin at the top middle, Kojak at the bottom right

Dead Mac 2 - 3/7/10; warning, she is partially decomposed.

These photos are from 1/31/10 when we had about 5.5 inches of snow.
Pond - waterfall; Maggie can be seen in the opening in the pond.
Koi - three of my four koi were visible; Colin at the top, then orange Maggie and little Kojak at the bottom.
Koi - Maggie at the top, Colin to the left, and Kojak at the bottom.

Here are three photos of Mac #2 on the day I got her, 10/4/09, in the bucket ready for release:
Mac 2
Mac 2
Mac 2

Here are two photos of Kojak in the bucket the day I moved him (4/18/09) from the basement pond to the 1800 gallon pond:
Kojak
Kojak

These photos from 4/12/09 show the pond fish at the best time of the year (clear water, no plants). Maggie and Colin are my two big koi, and they are in all of these photos along with orfe and goldfish. After the first few photos, I assume you can figure out which fish are the koi.
Pond fish from a distance, facing southwest.
Pond fish - Maggie and Colin at the upper right
Pond fish - Colin is at the upper right with Maggie below him.
Pond fish
Pond fish
Pond fish - close-up of Maggie at the top, Colin in the middle.

I found poor Mac dead on the ground on 1/3/09 and took these photos:
Left side
Right side

These photos were taken 10/5/08 when the net was off the 1800 gallon pond.
Pond fish - Colin (koi) and an orfe are at the top; the rest are goldfish.
Pond fish - Colin (white koi) in the middle, Maggie's (orange koi) head to the right, an orfe, and goldfish.
Pond fish - Colin (white koi) on the right, Maggie at the top, an orfe on the left, and goldfish.

On 9/14/08, I got Mac and Kojak. Here are some photos of them while still in the bag. Once I let them out, they were too fast to get any photos!
Mac (front) and Kojak (back) from the side, through the bag.
Kojak (left) and Mac (right) from above with the bag open.
Kojak (bottom) and Mac (top) from above with the bag open.
Kojak (bottom) and Mac (top) from above with the bag open. Mac's head looks distorted from the water and plastic.

I was in the pond on 6/24/07 and took this photo of the fish.
Pond fish - my big koi, Maggie, is in the middle. The two big orfe are at the top of the photo. One of the baby orfe is below the big orfe on the right. The rest are goldfish.
Close-up of Maggie from the previous photo.

Pond fish under the pond net on 6/23/07. My koi, Colin (white) and Maggie (orange, just her rear can be seen) are at the top right of the photo.

Pond facing northeast. You can see the koi on the right side in the water from a distance.

Pond fish being fed on 4/29/07. You can see the floating pond pellets and Cheerios. My two koi, Maggie (orange) and Colin (white) can be seen in the middle. One of the orfe can be seen on the far left. The rest of the fish are goldfish. There is a net over this part of the pond.

Iced pond - facing south on 2/24/07. The pond is melting out; you can see my koi, Maggie (right) and Colin (left), in the middle of the photo. A lot of leaves have blown into the open water.

Pond fish on 1/6/07. Colin is right in the middle of the photo. Maggie is above and to the right of him. There is a net over the pond.

Pond fish on 9/24/06. Maggie and Colin are at the upper left. The rest are goldfish.
Pond fish on 9/24/06. My two koi (Maggie and Colin) are marked as are a few goldfish, my upside-down orfe, and a healthy orfe.

Pond fish on 8/31/06. You can see the end of Colin near the bottom of the fish pack.
Pond fish on 8/31/06. You can see Maggie at the top left just barely.

The 1800 gallon pond on 7/9/06. You can just make out Maggie in the middle coming out from under the water hyacinth.
The 1800 gallon pond on 7/9/06. Maggie is in the middle of the photo.

Pond fish under the net on 4/19/06. They are mostly goldfish. My koi, Colin, is at the bottom with algae growing on him. Two of my orfe are on the far right.
Maggie - my big koi Maggie under the net on 4/19/06. She was feeling under the weather with a few infected patches on her back.

Here are two photos that include Maggie and Colin on 1/9/05:
Fish - the koi are labeled, close-up.
Fish - farther away.

These five photos were all taken on 12/23/03.
Colin with other fish, close up.
Colin and Maggie with other fish from a distance.
Colin and Maggie with other fish from a distance.
Close-up of Maggie.
Maggie with other fish - this is the photo from which I zoomed in to get the previous close-up of Maggie.

Pond fish on 3/23/03. Colin and Maggie are on the bottom of the photo.

Here is a photo that shows Maggie at the bottom and part of Colin off to the left. Date not recorded.

Two photos from 12/26/01 that show Colin and Maggie from a distance with the other pond fish can be seen here:
Pond fish
Pond fish - in this photo, arrows point to the koi.

My koi in June of 2001 - Maggie is on the top (orange butterfly koi), and Colin is on the bottom (white butterfly koi). A shubunkin goldfish is on the right.

A photo from the summer of 2001 is at the top of this page. Here are some photos taken in early spring, 2001 of Colin and Maggie:
Pond Fish - 4/30/01; Maggie and Colin are in the center with Maggie on the left
Pond Fish - 3/25/01; Maggie and Colin are on the far right with Maggie on the left
Pond Fish - 3/25/01; Maggie and Colin are in the left of the bunch of fish with Maggie on the left

You can also see Colin and Maggie in these three sequential photos from 6/18/00 where their names are marked next to the picture: Photo 1, Photo2, and Photo 3. Maggie and Colin are in Photo 1 (not marked in that one though) and Photo 3. Only Maggie is in Photo 2.

In this photo from 9/6/98, you can see Remmy who was a foot long, black and orange, butterfly koi, #9 and Maggie, about 12 inches long, metallic orange with some black spots, butterfly koi, #2:
Fish photo.

Additional photos of the koi can be seen on the page of 1800 gallon pond photos. In those photos not also included here, the koi are usually insignificant in size in the overall photo, or the view of them is not clear.

Video:

See a video of my 1800 gallon pond which shows the fish moving around, including my koi, Maggie and Colin.

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