lvmiller, koi prefer soft type plants so your father could use plants like large cattails and large bullrushes that have tough stems.

He could also raise the plants up so they are only an inch or two below the water surface. That way the koi couldn't get to them.

What about Victoria water lilies? Can they be put in a koi pond?

Happy ponding,
Scott

Lvmiller, koi (especially larger ones) will shread floating plants and lily leaves. They will uproot whatever else is in there (they love to dig). If you use plants, be sure to put river rock or even flag stones on top of the soil to keep it in place. Don't consider victoria lilies. They are tropical and are hard to grow even under ideal circumstances. They are also very spiky and could injure the fish.

they don't eat taro, umbrella palm, parrot feather, and water lettuce to name a few.

Joann

There is a post on another forum and one person who replied had Victorias in their koi pond. This person is in Iowa. No problems for the plants or fish.

Happy ponding,
Scott

My koi don't eat the plants, they just shred them and let the bits collect in the filters. The only plants they've had in their pond are watter lettuce and water hyacinth. Every single plant was ripped to bits -- roots, leaves, flowers, all in bits in the skimmer. It could be because they're not used to plants in the pond and it's big fun to savage them, I don't know.

natteringninny, bogus? Ever keep large koi? If so, you would know it is not bogus. If there is exposed soil in a pot, they will dig it out. If there are tender leaves on the water or roots hanging down, they will shread them. I plant impatiens in the rocks around the pond and the larger koi even keep them pruned back to within a few inches of the water. I feed my koi VERY well.....about 40 pounds of high-grade koi feed a month, and they still love to graze on whatever green they can find. I'm not saying it can't be done....but koi are very hard on some plants.

yep ccombs...bogus. Free plants. Not little plastic buckets filled with dirt for toys.
You state that they WILL shred...WILL dig.. WILL destroy. Well maybe in your situation that happens but for MANY MANY people your edict is bogus because lots of koi do NOT destroy plants.
You told people that because YOUR koi do it that theirs will do it too. Not true.
And if people would give the koi some TOYS to play with they will be perfectly happy with the toys.
If you dump a few pounds of nice round river rock from pea gravel size up to about a couple of inches the fish will be ECSTATIC to have the opportunity to push those rocks all over the place.
You see koi are foragers and the activity of foraging is all that is necessary. They don't really need to find any food while they are rooting around they just have a need to root around.
If you have a nice clear pond with a pile of rocks on the bottom you will soon discover that your fish will move that pile from place to place ALL the time. It keeps them occupied.
Most people are so particular about their ponds that they keep all the INTERESTING things out of the pond so they have bored fish and bored fish turn to other objects to play with.
Tyr it.....you'll like it.

I guess I'll have to go to the Koi toy store for some toys for my koi, to keep them from gnawing
my hyacinth and water lilies...LMAO!

{{gwi:192088}}

Joann

lol...nice to sEEE you natterginny ;)

I think it just depends. From what I have read in many sources some ponds with koi have no problem with plants, while in others the koi eat them all. I've also read about koi happily co-existing with plant for many years, then the owner adds a new koi with a taste for plants, and all the koi start gobbling the plants, having learned the habit from the new koi. Size of pond, size of fish, stocking levels, shape and depth of pond? Amount and type of algae? Current and water flow? Lots of variables to consider. So far my koi have not touched the water lillies, but the largest koi is only 10" and the fish load is low. My MIL cannot keep any plant in her pond--the fish gobble it up in less than a day. I saw a video on Utube of a koi pushing itself out of the water to rip grass from the edges of a pond--you could actually hear the grass tearing on the soundtrack--so the potential for destruction is there.

Best thing to do would be to try some inexpensive plants and see what happens.

There are small koi in my pond too, but there are also 6 koi in my pond that are around 28" long and believe me......they will shread every plant in sight. They rise themselves out of the water to eat the impatiens planted in the rocks. They shread the water hyacinth roots and the bits of roots get in the filters. I like to keep a clean pond, not one that has broken bits of plant material all over it.

All it takes is one
{{gwi:191166}}
Here's mine. She started the "run on the Parrot feather salad bar" a couple a days ago; right after she was chased from one end to another by the boys and did the "salmon up-stream" thing love-dance across the PF earlier in the morn. You can slightly blame me. A couple of food bits get caught up in the stuff and she want a hunting for them.

I had PF bits all over my pond and in the skimmer. Oh well; 20 bucks of PF and a little physical effort to clean doesn't get me. The "going on a week" of green water does though.

LP

Oh, they have toys. I get 'em down at the corner liquor store. But I've half a mind to give that pile of rocks idea a try, which would still leave the rocks in the other half of my head intact.

{{gwi:170314}}

I, too, have not had trouble with the Koi eating plants. I always thought it was because I got them when they were small and had them among goldfish and they never learned that behavior.

Zinniachick, loved their 'toy'!

Please, trust me on this, even beer can't stop them from eating plants, they even shimmy up the rocks on the pond edge
to tear off our beloved moss like a bad toupee!

{{gwi:195518}}

hiccup!

{{gwi:195519}}

Gorgeous pictures Joan..Your koi are lovely..I agree about the destructive behavior. We just have umbrella palm and reeds and floating impatiens but everything else is gone before I even get in the house. You can hear them chomping from the other end of the yard..But I still love them, if I could ever see them with all the algae we have now..

I also have about 12 large koi about 18" - 24" in my pond that dont bother most of my plants . In fact , the plants grows so much that in the summer , I can barely see my fish . I wish they wont eat them . The water lilies get so big I have to cut the leaves off myself. They do tear up the water hyacinths eating all the roots off . Try feeding them some lettuce or toss in a cooked ear of corn on the cob but tie a string to the corn because the cob will sink .It took me 6 months to find the last cob . They will love it. Also a piece of water melon on the rind. All fish need fresh vegetable matter .Rick

Rick, Be careful feeding the fish corn, they can't digest the corn and it could lead to problems. Watermelon is ok, and I heard they love kale and peas too.

Joann

I have 10 koi and they don't mess w/ my plants at all. I don't know why but so far, so good! Maybe if I get them drunk like Zinnia does, they will be "koi gone wild". LOL

Very interesting,
I got 2 small koi (6") last spring along with some goldfish and a couple of shubunkins and in the summer put in a tropical water lliy. it took about 1 week and I noticed leaves missing. It took only a couple of months before the whole plant was gone. It was an expensive snack for them. I was hoping to put in hardy water lilies and cover the planter so they couldn't get to the roots. Maybe hardy water lilys aren't as tasty?
lol (i hope) But I will get some rocks for them to play with for sure, they do need something.
Never heard of the beer thing? Does that really keep them from eating plants?
any more suggestions?

Mimi the beer thing is just a joke...The big koi like to root around in the dirt and uproot the plants. Mine only nibble on the leaves and have been known to nibble on the tropical lily buds.
What we do is place inverted wire baskets over the lilies (the kind with the coconut fiber inside-- just remove the coconut) The big koi can't uproot the plants when you place them inside inverted baskets, wiring them to the pots also helps.

Here is the inverted wire basket on the pond floor, the water lily can grow up between the wires and the koi can't get into it to dig.
{{gwi:195520}}

Here's another, ideally lilies like calm water, (no waterfalls) and not a lot of movement (which the koi amply provide) but if you love koi and love water lilies, mixing them is not ideal, but it can be done...none the less it's a challenge!

{{gwi:195521}}