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Koi Ponds - Page 2

© Kirk Johnson

I call the landscaping around this pond my "Japanese inspired garden". While a woodland pool is beautiful, there is a constant problem with leaves and pine needles floating on the surface of the water. I rake some of the leaves off to the sides, but most of them sink to the bottom. I live on the southern Oregon coast in Zone 9b, ice is rare here. If you live in an area where your pond is likely to be covered by ice, you shouldn't be as casual about leaves as I am. When this gas gets trapped under ice, it can kill fish.

I only have four koi in my Japanese inspired pond. It is much better to have too few fish in a pond than too many. Koi will grow fastest in understocked ponds. Overstocked ponds also need plenty of oxygen in the water, especially during hot weather; cold water contains more oxygen than warm water. A fountain which sprays into the air is an excellent way to introduce oxygen into a pond.

I irrigate my garden with water from a stream; my system is set up so that every time that I irrigate, water flows into my ponds. Because of this, I don't need a filtration system. Fish produce ammonia, if you don't keep this flushed out by introducing fresh water, you will probably need a filtration system. This is not just to keep the water clear, too much ammonia can kill fish.

Aquatic plants absorb fish wastes, including ammonia, as fertilizer. One of the reasons why koi pools usually need good filtration systems is that koi pools rarely contain plants. This is because if koi don't have mud to root around in, they will try to disturb in the soil that the plants are growing in. Many books say that koi will damage waterlilies, but I have never found this to be the case. Even when I had waterliles in my original pond, all I had to do was put good sized rocks over the soil that the waterlilies were growing in, I didn't have to protect the plants.

My Japanese inspired pond doesn't contain waterlilies, this is partially because it is a bit too shady and also because I want to see the koi. The only plant that it contains is Anacharis (Elodea canadensis); this is often called water weed, it is an underwater plant which introduces oxygen into the water. This plant is rooted in the leaves which collect at the bottom of the pond, the koi nibble on it; it is a healthy diet supplement and they keep it under control.

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