Today we will show that aquatic plants and koi can coexist.

Koi also known as “living jewels” in the ponding world have been known to eat countless aquatic plants in ponds across the globe. By being proactive it is indeed possible to enjoy both in your ponds and water gardens. Remember that koi are curious and intelligent so you’ll need to get ahead of them!

Get your plants setup

We will begin by speaking generally about pot sizes. You will want to correlate the size of your koi with the size of your plant container. If your pots are small, they can nudge and move them around and potentially knock them over. Furthermore, it is quite possible for them to “root” or “dig” into the substrate of your pots. How can you prevent this? Ensure the following

• Use a large pot / container that is more wide than tall aka squat pots.
• Cover the substrate of your plants with rock. We highly recommend large river rock or pieces of flagstone. Pea gravel is far too small. The koi will move the pea gravel and create a mess with minimal effort. Be sure not to allow the rock to suffocate the crown of the plant–leave a small space between!
• Grow young plants outside of pond and transfer after they are full-sized.

For marginal & bog plants, you can place them pond side in the dirt or put them in the pond. If your pond is deep, you can use concrete blocks, milk crates or something similar to raise to the appropriate water level. Typically bog & marginal plants will do best will just a few inches of water over the pot.

Lily-like aquatics may or may not work out due to the fact that new foliage is very soft and thus easy for the koi to eat. There are plant cages that you can purchase that will protect most of the plant.

Submerged plants and floating plants are likely to be the first attacked. They can be regarded as delicacies. Anacharis may be gobbled up but Hornwort may not because it has a bitter taste. For floating plants, such as water hyacinth and water lettuce it is the roots that are consumed. For tiny floater plants, such as Duckweed or Azolla, everything is eaten. You can save these plants by moving them to a stream or another protected part of your pond.

Water lilies can also grow in a koi pond. You will want to be sure you plant a mature plant in a large pot. Small starts will be eaten and should be grown to full size in another pool of water before transferring into pond. Remember to place flagstone or large river rock over the substrate and to use concrete blocks or milk crates to raise closer to the surface as many koi ponds are several feet deep.

Summary of plants and koi

Just because a koi eats plants in one pond does not mean that your plants will be eaten by your koi. To restate that, not all koi eat plants. Surely, you have visited your local water garden store and seen plants in a koi pond!

If your koi are young, introducing plants early will reduce the chances that they will find your new favorite pond plant a delicacy.

When in doubt, experiment. You know you’ll enjoy your koi pond more when there are plants around!

Looking for more proof? Visit CJ’s adventures in ponding.

Today we will learn how to properly install a preform pond.

What is a preformed pond? A preformed pond is a hard shell pond liner that has been pre-molded into a particular shape. Often times they are constructed out of plastic or fiberglass. They are useful for locations with loose soil that would otherwise collapse if had used a flexible EPDM liner.

Planning

First, you will want to think about a location. Consider the space available as preformed ponds start from about 2 feet in diameter and go up. Opt for a sunny location that receives at least 6 hours of sunlight per day. Ensure that the location is away from trees so as to avoid falling foliage and roots. Also, be sure that the location is level, is not in a low point in your yard, and that there aren’t any electrical or irrigation related materials underground.

Next do some research into local prices while keeping your budget in mind. Many major home improvement stores will carry preformed ponds. Your local pond supply store many also carry them. When in doubt, choose the largest possible pond as you’ll be much happier and maintenance will be easier. When I was a hobbyist, I acquired a 160 gallon preformed pond from the Home Depot.

Now gather the supplies. You’ll need some shovels, a level, a friend, etc.

Preparing the location

Place the pond in the spot where you plan on having it installed. Try different positions and choose the best view for you. Where will you be sitting? Did you want to view the pond outside a window? Once you are satisfied, use a garden hose to outline the shape of the pond; you could also use turf spray paint. Then set the pond aside but keep it nearby.

Digging the hole

Think about a few things before you start digging. Is there good grass in that spot? Could you repair areas of your yard using that grass? Next, where will the dirt go? We recommend getting a tarp to put the dirt on. Remember that you’ll need some of the dirt to back fill around the preformed pond but the majority can be used elsewhere in your yard.

Now it is time to start digging. Start from the middle and work your way out. Remove any thick roots or rocks or foreign objects that could cause a headache. Every now and then you want to place the preformed pond in the hole to check your accuracy. If there are ledges, keep those in mind. If there are issues with removing rocks, carpet padding could be useful. Remember that you will need to ensure the bottom is level. You could use sand to help you with any leveling troubles.

Installing the preformed pond

Once the hole bottom is level, place the pond in the hole.Next, get a hose and turn it on low and place the end in the pond (do not be

concerned with dirt falling in pond–you will need to drain and refill after completing installation). Simultaneously as the pond is being filled, you will want to use the dirt to firmly back fill while ensuring the entire pond is level.This is why you should have the hose on low and work slowly and carefully. If needed take a break so your mind is clear and you can be re-energized!

Post installation

After the pond is completely filled, you’ll want to leave it for a couple days to settle. During this time, you’ll want to think about if you will want a fountain. Is there a GFCI outlet nearby? If not you could bury an outdoor extension cord that runs from a covered GFCI outlet to the pond. If this is not possible, all hope is not lost as there are solar powered fountains. You can also move most of the remaining dirt to other locations in your yard.  After this waiting period, back fill the pond with remaining soil if needed.

Next do your best to remove the dirt that has fallen into the pond–a fine next should work well. Then drain the pond completely and refill and all to sit for a day so the chlorine will disappear. Alternatively, you could use a product to remove the chlorine quickly.

Making the preformed pond your own

If using a fountain / filter, you may now connect it. Next you’ll want to accessorize. Add some landscape rock. We also added spillways to help with circulation.

Help the preformed pond cycle!

All new ponds go through a cycle stage of green water but you can minimize this by adding plants right away! Head down to your local pond supply store or order some plants online. You’ll need to aim for 60-70% surface coverage. Examples of aquatic plants for your preformed pond include:

• Tropical water lilies: N. ‘Star of Zanzibar’, N. ‘Foxfire’, N. ‘Alexis’, N. ‘Blue Aster’, N. ‘King of Siam’, N. ‘Avalanche’, N. ‘Lindsey Woods’, N. ‘Ambrosia’, N. ‘Albert Greenberg’, N. ‘William Mclane’
• Submerged plants: Anacharis, Najas Grass, Cabomba, Hornwort
• Marginal/Bog plants: Dwarf Egyptian Payprus, Lime Zinger Taro, Corkscrew Rush, Umbrella Palm, Spider Lily, Bluebell, Parrot’s Feather
• Lily-like aquatics: Mosaic Plant, Floating Heart, White Snowflake
• Floating plants: Water Lettuce, Duckweed, Frogbit, Sensitive Vine (large leaf), Water Hyacinth

Note: Please check your local regulations regarding aquatic plants. Some are illegal in some states!

After allowing plants to settle, you may now put some fish in. Goldfish are highly recommended. Koi are not! These ecosystems are far too small to support koi.

Enjoy Your Investment

You’ll find yourself changing things about the pond. You may wish to add accessories such as lighting–just be sure you do your research so you don’t waste money! Join online water garden forums and connect with fellow pond enthusiasts and water gardeners across the world.

Additional Resources

For more help on how to build your pond, please visit the link below:

In this guide we look look at the benefits of Ultimate Koi Clay for tropical water lilies.

A first impression of the name may lead you to believe that this product is designed specifically for koi. While it works great for koi, it is a multipurpose product. Ultimate Koi Clay is derived from calcium bentonite clay which has trace minerals and elements in good levels. The product is soft to the touch and feels slippery when in contact with water. When applied to a pond, it will appear slightly cloudy but will clear after a brief period of time.

We use the product for the trace minerals and elements (micros). The reason for this is that the substrate that we use is sand.We get our sand from the local Lowes and it is prescreened and washed and therefore is a fairly “empty” and clean product. Our primary fertilizer is Osmocote and this product has macros (N-P-K). Therefore our plants are lacking in micros. We know that plants need a combination of macros and micros to thrive.

We now typically will mix a minute amount of Utimate Koi Clay with our sand when we pot up tropical water lilies. We also will directly supplement the water with Ultimate Koi Clay. Keep in mind that we use pots with holes so the roots can utilize the clay easily.

Recently we have begin to mix the fish food with the clay (we keep wakin in most ponds [fish emulsion also benefits tropical water lilies]) and their colors have deepened.

In the photos below there is a close up of the Ultimate Koi Clay and a pond of young N. ‘Foxfire’ that has been “dusted” with the product (we typically dust with Ultimate Koi Clay and Dipel just before a rainstorm). Dipel is a product with BT that used to control caterpillars–an article is available on the blog.

Sources: Ultimate Koi Clay from http://www.koiclay.com | Gene’s Koi Clay post from Koiphen Forum

Pond owners in hurricane prone areas need to be prepared for a natural disaster. Its always best to plan for a near worst-case scenario. Sometimes there is a mandatory evacuation and then you can only hope for the best. Other times, a storm comes through and causes a loss of power for a few days. In this guide, we will look at the second scenario.

First its best to have supplies ready early–before you actually need them:

Supplies

• Battery operated air pumps (several)
• Batteries for them (many)
• Airline tubing
• Activated carbon
• Mesh bags for holding the activated carbon (several)

Hurricane / tropical storm is imminent

First you will want to get as much information as possible regarding the storm from your local weather station. Next go out and survey the pond. Locate all objects that could potentially go airborne and store them indoors; examples of this would include garden decorations, a chair, etc. Its likely that debris will enter your pond so perform maintenance on your filters. Next drain your pond significantly–you’ll have to use your best judgement based on the weather forecast as when the storm comes through so will a large amount of rain. Then lower your marginal/bog plants into a deeper section of the pond.

Passing through

There isn’t anything that you can do for your pond or its inhabitants during this time. Do not endanger your life! The rain will refill the pond–this was the reason for you draining it prior.

Come and gone

Upon the storm passing, do another survey of the pond to ensure its safe to approach or accessible. If you have power, temporarily power down all filters and remove the debris with a net. This means limbs, leaves, anything foreign, etc. If there is a mechanical filter, go ahead and rinse it clean and replace. Then power back up all filters. Also perform a small water change. Consider waiting a day or so to feed your fish as your filters will have enough waste to filter through.

If you do not have power, you will want to first remove as much debris from the pond as possible. Then get those battery powering air pumps operating immediately. We recommend placing the output of the airline tubing that runs from the air pump so that the bubbles make contact with the activated carbon. The debris may have cause toxins to enter the pond and the carbon will start to absorb impurities–however, it needs water movement to be effective.

Resist the urge to feed your fish! Their waste won’t be able to be filtered–they will certainly survive a few days without food!

When your power returns, perform a large water change and get your filters running again. Its likely that they will go through a small cycle as the bacteria levels in your biological filter would have been reduced drastically. You can now remove the battery powered air pumps. Relocate the activated carbon to an air with strong water flower such as a waterfall or the exit point of a biofilter. Feed your fish minimal amounts of food until your filter catches back up.

Additional thoughts

• You must remove all casualties immediately.
• Your plants will be tattered but they are resilient. After a couple days, you may notice foliage beginning to yellow–go ahead and remove it so as to stimulate new growth.

Fellow pond and water gardeners around the world sometimes struggle to achieve water clarity. Their pools of water have turned into pea soup or has become infested with algae. The battle never seems to end and they can’t seem to find a light at the end of the tunnel. Chemicals are brought in and while they sometimes temporarily help, often times they make the situation worse. So what is the secret for having a clear pond? Well, its simply “patience, education, and nature.” Yes, that is correct!

Think back of why you first desired a water garden. Perhaps it was a place to unwind after a long day of work or maybe it was a perfect addition to your backyard. The sound of water trickling–feeding fish–even the sights of nature: birds, bees, and butterflies. Lets not forget dragonflies and damselflies. Water gardens can be thought of as a micro ecosystem in your yard. They need a balance or they won’t be appealing. The path to correcting your troubles begins here…

About algae

The two most popular forms of algae that cause problems in ponds are pea soup (green water) and string algae. Rather than bore you with fine details, just understand that these particular types of algae feed off excess nutrients. These can come from your water source directly, excess feeding, an overstocked pond, etc… If your algae is a result of your habits such as overfeeding then you must immediately cut back food portions; if it is a result of an overstocked pond, you must either add significantly more filtration or keep your best fish and locate new homes for the others. If you have been using chemicals such as algaecides, you must immediately stop and set them aside.

The solution

Green water algae and string algae can be corrected in the same way. The only difference when following this guide is that you will need to remove the string algae daily until it is minimal or nonexistant. Green water can be corrected with 60-70% surface coverage. Ideal candidates for this job would be tropical water lilies. You’ll also need submerged plants. Some people refer to them as oxygenators butwe find this misleading because while they do produce oxygen during the day, at night time they consume oxygen in the water! We also recommend marginal/bog plants that are planted in containers with holes at the bottom (the roots will eventually find their way out the bottom and they will filter your water biologically). You may also consider adding lily-like aquatics–these plants grow similarly to water lilies and they also have surface foliage that aids in providing shade. You will also need some floating plants as well.

• Tropical water lilies: N. ‘Foxfire’, N. ‘Blue Aster’, N. ‘Avalanche’, N. ‘Lindsey Woods, N. ‘King of Siam’, N. ‘Pink Flamingo’, N. ‘Sandra Lynn’, N. ‘Charlie’s Pride’
• Submerged plants: Hornwort, Anacharis, Najas Grass
• Marginal/Bog plants: Parrot’s Feather, Thalia, Green Taro
• Lily-like aquatics: Floating Heart, Water Snowflake, Mosaic Plant

Floating plants: Duckweed, Water Hyacinth, Azolla (Fairy Moss), Water Lettuce

We recommend plants that are easily accessible to you. For example: we maintain a high plant stock of tropical water lilies as that is the business that we are in but we can acquire hornwort and anacharis from the local pet store. As for najas grass, it is traditionally used in aquariums but it is a native plant to Florida. We also use duckweed which doubles as fish food.

We also highly recommend you check with your local agriculture extension agency as some states prohibit particular plants. For example, although water hyacinth is across existing Florida waters, it is illegal to possess.

As for the amounts of the plants to use, we mentioned prior that you should use tropical water lilies to achieve surface coverage of 60-70% but for submerged and floating plants we recommend adding as much as possible. Some sources push a system is which you add bunches of submerged plants that correlates to the gallons of water in your pond but this system is broken because there are many variables that it does not account for. In short, “more is less.” The more plants you add, the quicker your pond will move to achieve a balance. Once you have ideal water clarity, you can remove portions of the plants slowly to gain back water surface. Rather that throw them away, opt to share with a fellow ponder. Do not release into local bodies of water!

Tips

• A minimal amount of algae is beneficial to your pond or water garden. The algae that will coat the sides of your pond liner is good algae–you’ll see your fish pick at it.
• Some fish will devour duckweed and azolla rather quickly! Set aside a separate pool of water to allow some to regenerate and add to pond as desired.