Koi and plants

balasharc

balasharc

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Jun 18, 2008
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My mom has had an outdoor pond for 2 1/2 yrs. She has 5 Petsmart Koi in the 300g pond. The Question I have is: IS it normal for Koi to devour all the plants in the pond? She had 3 large lilies all gone eaten by the Koi and we just put 7 lrg Water Hyacinth plants in the pond Sunday today all but 1 have been eaten. We saved one just in case this happened. Does any one know why they eat plants? We feed 2x daily? Are they still that Hungry? :help:
 
Yeah, that's pretty common. It varies from individual fish to individual fish, but many koi enjoy eating plants; it doesn't matter if you are feeding them enough or not.

There are ways to isolate the lilies from the fish, with netting or other barriers.
 
My KOI eat my Hyacinth roots, even after being fed...PIGS ;)
 
Ideally, koi should have at least 1000 gallons each. You may have some over-crowding issues going on, resulting in the plant destruction behavior you are seeing. Maybe they are bored? My pond is 700-800 gallons, and I mistakenly bought a koi that was marked as a goldfish a few years ago. He's about 10" long now, I'm currently looking for a new home for him. They will eventually reach over 24" long, they need a lot of room. I have a lot of water hyacinth and lilies in my pond, but he doesn't bother them. The only time he plays with any of the plants is when I re-pot the lilies in the spring; I top off the pots with sand, and he likes to nose around it. He doesn't actually eat the plants, though.
 
My 8 koi don't touch my lillies or other plants - only the hyacinth roots. I think if you feed them from day 1 and keep them well fed, they will not see the plants as a source of food.
 
Yes I know they will outgrow the pond. It's mom who is in opposition to the fact. Good thing is they are still very small when we got them they where maybe 3/4 to an inch long. We are working on design for building 3 more very large ponds 300-1000g to house them all. And each pond will have an 8" access tube to run from pond to pond underground to move fish if needed.
 
Are there any Koi proof plants or some that may taste bitter to koi at all?
Another of mom's ?'s
 
finsNfur said:
Ideally, koi should have at least 1000 gallons each. You may have some over-crowding issues going on, resulting in the plant destruction behavior you are seeing. Maybe they are bored? My pond is 700-800 gallons, and I mistakenly bought a koi that was marked as a goldfish a few years ago. He's about 10" long now, I'm currently looking for a new home for him. They will eventually reach over 24" long, they need a lot of room. I have a lot of water hyacinth and lilies in my pond, but he doesn't bother them. The only time he plays with any of the plants is when I re-pot the lilies in the spring; I top off the pots with sand, and he likes to nose around it. He doesn't actually eat the plants, though.
Click to expand...

balasharc,

Advice here is just one persons opinion. One person said 500G per koi, finsNfur says 1000G per koi. Take the advice with a grain of salt.

At this site, which is considered more definitive:
http://www.koiandponds.com/fishstockingtable.htm
shows that for simple filtered ponds you can load 50" of koi in 500G and if you have an elborate filter system you can load even 100" of koi in 500G.

There are many issues to take into account such as circulation, feed, aeration, etc. Read:
http://www.simikoi.com/subcat192.html
for more details.

I recently picked up a 20" koi from a fish store than had two 20"s in a 100G tank. I felt my 600G pond would be a more suitable home for him than a small fish store tank.

Yes, koi can grow big. But don't worry about overstocking. Nature will cull them down - either by disease, cats, herons, racoons, you name it. So every koi guru here might tell you to get rid of the 5 koi, but I say - keep them - enjoy them - feed them and treat them well. If you end up having too many inches of fish in a few years, koi friends in your town (every area has a koi/pond club or forum) will be more than happy to take a 20" koi off your hands - and would gladly pay you at least $10 for the privilege.

Or you might do what others do - build a larger pond to handle your larger fish.

Good luck!
 
balasharc said:
Yes I know they will outgrow the pond. It's mom who is in opposition to the fact. Good thing is they are still very small when we got them they where maybe 3/4 to an inch long. We are working on design for building 3 more very large ponds 300-1000g to house them all. And each pond will have an 8" access tube to run from pond to pond underground to move fish if needed.
Click to expand...

Build a wider tube. The tube will get clogged with silt and muck over the years and become smaller and your fish will become larger. Even a pondvac won't be able to get in there - assuming you might have probably 5-10 foot runs between ponds. Go as big as you can for your fish tunnels.
 
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