Did you just buy a home with a pond?  Now what?

Congratulations on the purchase of your new home!  If you’ve never had a pond before, and even if you don’t want to keep it, the Rocky Mountain Koi Club can help!

I don’t want to keep the koi pond

No worries, but there are some things you should be aware of.  Many existing ponds likely have living inhabitants, like goldfish and koi.  It’s not safe for them to be put into another pond until the water temperatures are stable in the 50s.  This typically means the safe time to rehome them would be somewhere between mid-May and mid-September.

Are the koi worth big money?  Probably not, but maybe.  Most ponds have fish that were purchased from a local pet shop or are offspring of original inhabitants.  Even babies from koi from the best blood lines are typically not worth much, even if they’re large.  If you would like to know for sure, contact our club, send pictures, etc. and we can offer an opinion.

How do I get rid of the fish?  There are several options here.  You could post an ad on a Facebook page, or Craigslist.  The downside is many people coming to your home, you will be able to move them a few at a time, and either you or them will have to catch the fish. 

The easiest path for you is to see if our koi club can help.  Each year we rescue many koi and end up putting most in our fund raiser auction.  The auction is in Mid-May.  In this case the koi would be donated, and proceeds go to the club.  If you want to enter the fish in our auction yourself you can, it’s a 50/50 split, so if it sells for $30, you will get $15.  Fish need to be in bags or there is a $5 bagging fee per fish.  We can also help get rid of equipment, like water and air pumps, filters, UV units, etc.  If you need help catching the fish for rescue or donation, we can likely help with that too.

I’m excited about the koi pond, but I don’t know where to start

Obviously, we would highly recommend joining a koi club, like ours!  This way you can talk with locals who have been in the hobby for some time.  Please know we’ve all made (and continue to make) mistakes and learned from them so don’t be afraid to ask any question.

There are some basics you should be aware of, when you join (nudge nudge) we can talk about these topics deeper and our monthly newsletter frequently covers some of these topics.

Pumps and Filters  Your pond likely has a filtration system, there are many different types.  Some run during the winter and some don’t, there are steps to take to shutdown the system in the fall and starting it up in the spring.  During operation they likely need to be maintained by cleaning debris and possibly filter mats.  If the previous home owner didn’t leave instructions, the club may be able to help you figure it out.

Caring for the fish  Koi are awesome fish but they do eat a lot and are messy. 

• They can also get sick and depending on the cause, there are different treatments. 
• The type of food you feed should vary based on the water temperature and there are many different types of food for various purposes and at various price levels. 
• Adding new fish or treating a sick one will benefit from you having a quarantine system, this also requires you to catch the fish, there are many different types of nets to help with this.
• Koi like to spawn in the spring and their behavior can become aggressive. Considerations here revolve around how feeding egg production, egg bound koi, what to do if you have, want/don’t want babies, spikes in the water quality.
• Dealing with predators
• Getting and recognizing show quality fish
• Koi shows (did you know there was such a thing!!)
• Etc.

Pond Care

• Some ponds have plants, some don’t, if you do there are some considerations around adding fertilizer, Getting them ready for the winter
• Getting ready for spring.
• Water testing and parameters
• Dealing with algae
• Etc.

While this list of considerations might seem daunting, please know having a koi pond is tremendous fun and joining a koi club helps make things easier and there are fun activities to participate in as well!