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Last Updated: 10/10/09

My First Three Koi
Maggie and Colin
Mac and Kojak
Mac 2
Photos of My Koi

As of 10/5/09, I have four koi.

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 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 has been alone for over three months and now thinks he has died and gone to heaven. I measured Kojak at 7" but he looks minute next to the adult goldfish and orfe and completely insignificant next to huge Maggie and Colin.

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.

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

Photos:

The photos are listed newest to oldest.

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.