Question
My husband put in a Koi pond for me in March of this year. We waited about 2 weeks before we put 4 Koi that we bought locally from a pet store and then he went bought 2 more because he loved the way they looked. Well last month while outside I noticed a little orange, white and black baby swimming so I started looking for more baby koi. I didn't see but maybe 10 of them. Well, needless to say when we were changing out the water and getting the pond ready over the weekend for winter we pulled out 32 baby koi from the pond and all are making it just fine. I don't see how since we went through this spell of where the water was just pea soup. And that was another reason for the water change. I wanted to know since my pond holds about 4500 gallons of water should I take the babies out for the winter and put them in an aquarium in the house and what size would I need for the them to come into the house. This is my first time ever having Koi fish much less baby Koi and learning more and more about ponds and the care and take of them. They are beautiful to have and a lot of work but I enjoy at the end of the day sitting in my swing and watching the big Koi and the babies swim around and hitting the tops of the water.

Answer
Hi Heather:  Ponds are great peaceful forms of relaxation... I would re-home the baby Koi in an aquarium over the winter so that they survive.  Koi need a lot of fat during the winter to survive the cold and baby koi use their extra food stores to grow instead of bulking up like their parents do.  I would recommend about 100 gallons of aquarium to house the babies... I know this sounds extreme but they are going to grow... and as a new pond owner... you will eventually need that tank to treat sick Koi... because it is a lot cheaper to medicate a hundred gallon tank as it is to medicate a 4500 gallon pond.  The new tank does not have to be anything fancy... Just a tank that sits on the garage floor with a heater and a filter.  Use the ponds water to fill it up... on the other hand you may want to go the entire route and get a stand, etc and make the tank part of your household decor.... At the end of winter and when pond season starts up again you may want to trade some of your baby koi for some different types of koi such as the butter fly koi or even the diamond scale... I hope this helps.... dave