Frequenters of the free stuff section of Craiglist might have caught a curious ad this September.

“It’s time again to open up our koi ponds,” it reads, “(if) your fish are outgrowing their pond or you’re just looking to down size, we offer a very large natural pond to release them in. They will no longer be confined to swimming in endless circles. Treat your fish humanly. They will eat mostly natural foods found in the pond but their diet is supplemented with a high protein food for health. If this interest you, please contact me. Thank you, Rich.”

That would be Rich Coyne, who built a pond in his backyard, now part of a thriving ecosystem. With apple trees nearby, spring water sprouting out in the center, the surrounding lush woods, water lilies and flowers floating above the surface and algae from below, it is no surprise that a number of woodland creatures and fish have found a pleasant home here.

Coyne, from the flower-laden deck overlooking the pond, said that he has seen a deer with fawns, a black bear, eagles that perch on the stones in the pond, and even a beaver who constructed a mud shelter at the edge of the pond.

“Every animal comes here, I got a beaver now. He's cool,” Coyne said. “He comes up and he climbs the wall and he goes up and he grabs an apple and he runs back down, jumps in the water, takes it home.”

About six years ago, Coyne began to take in koi for the pond. From golden to spotted orange to shiny black, the colored carp species commonly seen in garden ponds and restaurants find a permanent home in Coyne’s backyard.

The start was simple. Coyne had a friend reach out to him and ask if he could place koi in his backyard pond. Koi can live for decades years and grow to a remarkable size – Coyne said it only takes a couple of years for the baby koi to grow large, meaning they often outgrow the small ponds they are typically put in.

Coyne said that sometimes people dump their koi into any river or lake they can find, which is illegal in New York as they are an invasive species and can wreak havoc on wild ecosystems.

“A lot of people do it as a hobby,” Coyne said. “They shouldn't be in a little bitty pond; when they outgrow their pond, they have to do something with them. Here they can be released and enjoy their little life.”

Since accepting the first adoptee from his friend, Coyne put up the Craiglist ad and has received many requests.

“Best thing about Craigslist is that I put an ad for the Hudson Valley, well, they put it all over the place,” Coyne said. “That’s why I get calls from Jersey, way upstate, all over.”

Some of his koi, Coyne said, come from as far away as Connecticut or New Jersey. Coyne said that aside from koi outgrowing smaller ponds, typically people are moving out and need to give away their koi or get tired preparing the pond for winter. Next week, Coyne said he is preparing for someone from Newburgh to bring 30 koi of various sizes.

Caring For His Koi

A few feet away from the pond and near the fence around the apple trees, Coyne has a smaller space for baby koi. Decorated with flowers and water lilies and surrounded by bricks, with water sprouting from a large stone overhead, Coyne said that this space is designed to protect the baby koi from predators.

Minks, blue heron, eagles, and river otters that Coyne said “surprised the hell out of me” all stop by the pond. Coyne said the larger fish are hard to catch, but the smaller ones are vulnerable.

“There's the blue heron. They grab because they stay closer to shore. The mink are a real problem [as they are excellent swimmers]. They eat them, too” Coyne said. He places a wire top above the baby koi enclosure to prevent predators from reaching them. “You get the blue heron walking on the rock, that’s why I have the covers on. They can look all they want.”

For Coyne, the work is easy. The pond provides algae and other natural plants for the koi to eat, and it maintains its own ecosystem rather than needing to be cleaned. During the winter, the koi swim beneath the surface while the pond freezes up.

While he does not have to feed them, Coyne said he gives them a high-protein food for his own enjoyment. Today, he gave “a little extra” because when the water gets cold in winter, their metabolism slows; they do not feed and rely on stored energy while they huddle together at the bottom of the pond.

Coyne said that while some people are “fanatics” about koi and learn everything about them, he simply enjoys the colorful fish.

“I like looking at them. I think they're pretty. That's why most people have them,” Coyne said. “They're very docile fish. And people who have them in a small pond, you can feed them by hand. Just put your hand in the water.”

In his home, Coyne also has two fish tanks with smaller koi, bluefish, and algae eaters. Coyne plans on transporting those koi into the pond when they outgrow the tank, but the algae eaters would likely end up at an aquarium as they are tropical fish.

Koi can live a long time. Hanako, a legendary scarlet koi from Japan that died in 1977, is believed to have lived 226 years. For however long Coyne’s fish live, he aims to give them as good of a life as possible, believing it’s “cruel” to put a big fish in a small pond. Coyne said that sometimes when people bring koi to the pond, the fish “don’t know what the hell to do” and stay in one spot for a week while adjusting to suddenly having a larger space to swim.

“I mean, when they're stuck in a little bitty pond and they're virtually swimming in circles all day, it's all they do all day every day,” Coyne said. “I don't know the mentality of a fish, but I got to figure, hey, that gets boring after a while.”