Need a koi hotel for the winter

[Jo Blanchette]

Hi there,
I have a 1000 gallon pond in my backyard. We have had this pond for 17 years and it has grown over the years. We over winter our koi in it and it is tremendous. At the moment we have 14 and they range from 5 inches to 14 inches. I live in downtown Toronto and the sound of the falls drowns out the sirens and the streetcars. I am about to undergo a large reno that is going to chew up our yard and our garage. We have a large horse trough that we put on the deck that we have used over the years to house the fish when we need to. This will only work for us as a short and temporary solution. It is likely that by the time the reno is complete it will be too cold to redo the pond in time for winter, that may have to wait for the spring. Thus I need to find my koi some rental housing. Once we redo the pond we would bring the fish back. These fish are quite resilient and like pets to my children who play in the pond with them, yes they even have names, the fish not the children, well yes my children too.
Basically I'm looking for somewhere to house my fish over the winter. I don't even know what that would look like but I was hoping to find someone who may breed koi who might have larger tanks and space to house my fish. I know the transporting would be interesting but I think we could figure it out if I could just find somewhere to house them. Any help appreciated. Thank you.

 

[Mmathis]

Hello and welcome!

Have you tried advertising locally? Do you have a basement? Maybe you could set up several tanks in a basement or garage.

Fourteen koi in a 1000 gallon pond?

 

[j.w]

@Jo Blanchette
Or a garage? Or a friend/family member/neighbor w/a basement or garage?

 

[WaterGardener]

Many folks use Intex pools in their garages or basements to house their koi for winter. They are very inexpensive and can last for several years. You would need a filtration system. Maybe you could use your current one and move it to the pool?

 

[brokensword]

ditto what WaterGardener said.

 

[Mmathis]

ditto what WaterGardener said.

I am currently using an Intex pool as my temporary pond. It’s in the backyard, and holds over 1000 gallons. So, they do work well and would be great in a garage or basement.