New to this! Please help!

[Lisak1]

I had no idea that koi kill plants until I read that on these forums. Thank you.

I feel like shouting this from the rooftops: NOT ALL KOI ARE PLANT KILLERS! We have a plant filled pond with a mix of koi and goldfish and we have NO PROBLEM with our plants. I feel like koi get such a bad rap! They are just fish people - not natural born killers!

Having said that - they do like to root around as they are natural bottom feeders. I think one reason our plants are left alone is that our fish have lots of gravel and small stones to poke around in on the pond bottom. They only time they are interested in my plants is when I move the lily pots around - then they want to see what was UNDER them. If they don't have gravel and rocks in the pond bottom they probably will poke around in your plants. But ours have NEVER EVER EVER even nibbled on a lily pad, let alone destroyed them. Same with all our other marginals and floaters - they nibble the roots off the water hyacinth, but that's it.

Here's proof - pond full of plants with 8 big koi and lots of goldfish. Peaceful coexistence!

 

[sissy]

mine destroyed them when they were young (just bad kids ) but I found as they got older they stopped .I also put in floating balls and plastic floating baby ducks and they love playing with them .Made wonder if sometimes they were just bored

 

[Lisak1]

.Made wonder if sometimes they were just bored

That's what I think - the gravel and rocks in our pond bottom give them something to do so they aren't getting in trouble!

 

[sissy]

I buy those giant plastic christmas balls after the get clearanced and plug the end and they love them .I will see them push the baby ducks all around the pond and the balls .

 

[Lisak1]

@Ava - so sorry to rant on your thread! haha! I feel like koi get profiled here as being impossible to keep with plants and I have to be the great defender! Don't mind me - I'm rather nuts.

ANYWAY! Your pond is lovely! I could see a couple of potted water lilies or even some potted lotus in your pond - they can grow from the bottom... although make sure you find varieties that can handle your 5 foot depth. You can also add floating plants - hyacinths or water lettuce - to add some greenery. Someone else suggested the floating islands. You can buy those or even make your own and fill them with plants.

It looks like there's a structure over your pond - is it shaded?

 

[Ava]

@Ava - so sorry to rant on your thread! haha! I feel like koi get profiled here as being impossible to keep with plants and I have to be the great defender! Don't mind me - I'm rather nuts.

ANYWAY! Your pond is lovely! I could see a couple of potted water lilies or even some potted lotus in your pond - they can grow from the bottom... although make sure you find varieties that can handle your 5 foot depth. You can also add floating plants - hyacinths or water lettuce - to add some greenery. Someone else suggested the floating islands. You can buy those or even make your own and fill them with plants.

It looks like there's a structure over your pond - is it shaded?

Thank you for all the info! The pond is inside a screened pool. And I also have tarp thingy above the pond so it doesn’t get too hot. I live in Florida.

When you say potted water lilies or lotus...what does that mean? How do I pot them and still grow in the water? I have no idea about plants and pond. I just keep the water clean. Thank goodness I figured that out. I really have no idea what I am doing. Lolll

 

[Gemma]

I feel like shouting this from the rooftops: NOT ALL KOI ARE PLANT KILLERS! We have a plant filled pond with a mix of koi and goldfish and we have NO PROBLEM with our plants. I feel like koi get such a bad rap! They are just fish people - not natural born killers!

Having said that - they do like to root around as they are natural bottom feeders. I think one reason our plants are left alone is that our fish have lots of gravel and small stones to poke around in on the pond bottom. They only time they are interested in my plants is when I move the lily pots around - then they want to see what was UNDER them. If they don't have gravel and rocks in the pond bottom they probably will poke around in your plants. But ours have NEVER EVER EVER even nibbled on a lily pad, let alone destroyed them. Same with all our other marginals and floaters - they nibble the roots off the water hyacinth, but that's it.

Here's proof - pond full of plants with 8 big koi and lots of goldfish. Peaceful coexistence!

View attachment 106064

I agree not all koi are plant eaters cause I had koi and plants for years without an issue. The only time my koi ate the water lilies is when the pond was renovated, I'm thinking it's because the liner was new and had no algae on it

 

[Lisak1]

Thank you for all the info! The pond is inside a screened pool. And I also have tarp thingy above the pond so it doesn’t get too hot. I live in Florida.

When you say potted water lilies or lotus...what does that mean? How do I pot them and still grow in the water? I have no idea about plants and pond. I just keep the water clean. Thank goodness I figured that out. I really have no idea what I am doing. Lolll

When you buy water lilies they come in pots. You can grow them right in the pot they come in, but they will quickly outgrow the smallish pots. At the very least, they need to be divided and repotted every other year.

Here's an illustration of where various plants can grow in a pond:

If you don't have shelves or shallow areas in your pond, you can create them with crates under the water, or, like @sissy suggested create plant pockets that you can hang from the side. In your case it would be a bit more difficult because you have a very formal edge - no rocks to hide or camouflage things. So you may need to get a little more creative if you want marginals!

Lotuses are a bit trickier. Typically you buy the rhizome and grow them in pots filled with clay soil or plain clay kitty litter. A Google search will yield lots of info on that. You can sometimes find them already growing in a pot - we found a pretty white one this past spring already potted and with aerial leaves, but it was pricey.

 

[Ava]

When you buy water lilies they come in pots. You can grow them right in the pot they come in, but they will quickly outgrow the smallish pots. At the very least, they need to be divided and repotted every other year.

Here's an illustration of where various plants can grow in a pond:

View attachment 106077


If you don't have shelves or shallow areas in your pond, you can create them with crates under the water, or, like @sissy suggested create plant pockets that you can hang from the side. In your case it would be a bit more difficult because you have a very formal edge - no rocks to hide or camouflage things. So you may need to get a little more creative if you want marginals!

Lotuses are a bit trickier. Typically you buy the rhizome and grow them in pots filled with clay soil or plain clay kitty litter. A Google search will yield lots of info on that. You can sometimes find them already growing in a pot - we found a pretty white one this past spring already potted and with aerial leaves, but it was pricey.

Wow! Thank you so much for all the info!

 

[barryian]

View attachment 106021 I bought a home with a Koi pond just over three years ago. Finally, with much trial and error and a lot of money spent we finally figured out how not to kill our poor fish. We’ve now had these koi fish for almost two years and they are going strong. The pond is large. It’s 6,000 gallons and 5 feet deep.

I would like to add some sort of vegetation to the pond but it’s a difficult set up. It’s in a pool enclosure and no grass around it to plant anything. Here is a photo. Any thoughts as to what I could do?

That's the perfect dedicated joi pond. Mine is koi dedicated and I have no plants either as the koi are the attraction. I a pond of 6000 gallons and 5 feet deep they will likely grow fast with exception of genetics. I have one black koi who scavengers off the bottom, rarely make an appearance while the other large beauties have feeding frenzies on top. He stays small, maybe 12" where as other are 2 feet or more.

If I were you, take care of your water, not your koi. The ammonia, pH, Kh, & nitrites are the extremely important parameters to watch. Then comes the others such as nitrates, phosphates, oxygen level, etc. Probably left something out as I'm half asleep. The water quality is the lifeline to fish who literally are never sick, never get bacterial or fungal infections etc. I haven't had to treat my pond in years or any fish in particular. Read, read & read some more. I assume there is a good UV about 50 watts or so?

What type of filtration and setup do you have? Bio filter, skimmer, main drain? Looks amazing so I doubt they skimmed on the essentials.

 

[Ava]

That's the perfect dedicated joi pond. Mine is koi dedicated and I have no plants either as the koi are the attraction. I a pond of 6000 gallons and 5 feet deep they will likely grow fast with exception of genetics. I have one black koi who scavengers off the bottom, rarely make an appearance while the other large beauties have feeding frenzies on top. He stays small, maybe 12" where as other are 2 feet or more.

If I were you, take care of your water, not your koi. The ammonia, pH, Kh, & nitrites are the extremely important parameters to watch. Then comes the others such as nitrates, phosphates, oxygen level, etc. Probably left something out as I'm half asleep. The water quality is the lifeline to fish who literally are never sick, never get bacterial or fungal infections etc. I haven't had to treat my pond in years or any fish in particular. Read, read & read some more. I assume there is a good UV about 50 watts or so?

What type of filtration and setup do you have? Bio filter, skimmer, main drain? Looks amazing so I doubt they skimmed on the essentials.

I believe it is a bio filter. There is a huge bin with a lid and there and a bunch of filter like stuff in there. I really don’t know exactly. A couple of times a year we take them out and clean them and rinse off. I did have a guy install a UV light for me. The woman I bought the house from bred and sold koi fish. She told me that she can fit up to 100 koi in the pond. I only have 9 koi and 3 algae eating fish. Plecos I believe they are called.

 

[barryian]

I believe it is a bio filter. There is a huge bin with a lid and there and a bunch of filter like stuff in there. I really don’t know exactly. A couple of times a year we take them out and clean them and rinse off. I did have a guy install a UV light for me. The woman I bought the house from bred and sold koi fish. She told me that she can fit up to 100 koi in the pond. I only have 9 koi and 3 algae eating fish. Plecos I believe they are called.

All sounds good. You've got a Mechanical/biofilter. I assume you do some periodic water changes? What you don't want is 100 koi ... Lol ... As they grow, you'll be overcrowded but the previous owner was breeding so the koi were small and never reached a large enough size most likely to create overcrowding and oxygen or ammonia problems. That's an assumption. You must have a main drain as a return to your filter. Th50 or e Plecostomus btw are tropical. They don't take well to salt and since you're in FL, they're probably weather well assuming your temps don't drop down into the 50 or 60's .... Enjoy!