Lighting and how it affects koi

[davesurfer]

I was thinking of how nice a "moon" type light would be in my koi pond to run all night and start in the evening. A dim bluish light so that when we're outside in the hot tub we can see the koi a bit at night. How does lighting affect Koi, and when they're sleeping etc? Thanks for any tips!!

[delbert]

i have small spot lights over my ponds, the way they swim around it i think they like it
i know i do

[Rob Forbis]

Koi eyes are probably better than yours so keep that in mind when lighting. A spot light gives the best presentation. But just like shining a light in your eyes it can mean the koi run into things, so if you have obstacles in your pond (from my experience) an occasional small injury results from spot lighting. A sudden shadow on the pond from the spot light can be a real source of excitement! But the koi look really cool as they appear to float in space in spot light. A blue light would show koi relatively poorly since you would lose the red and yellow reflection.

[nmtsaki]

I sunk some lights in my pond when I first put it in, then accidentally shined it upwards into my eyes when moving it. I took it out of the pond the same night, because I figured if it hurt my eyes, it would hurt theirs too. I use solar lights around the pond now, instead of submerged. I'm not saying it's bad, because a lot of people do it; I'm just putting myself in the place of the animals; most lakes, ponds, streams, etc., don't have underwater lighting!

[vipertom1970]

I got two bight LED lights in the pond and wish I had more. The fish love to hang out around the lights and if they don't like it then they would have gone on the darker area.

[graybird]

I have underwater lights, and only use them a couple of times a year when entertaining. When I do use them, I try to turn them on while it's still light outside so I don't shock the poor koi by waking them up with interrogation lights. We also have 5w lo-vo lights along one side which pick up nice reflections on the water but don't shine directly in. Even fish need their beauty sleep

Another thought: if you have predator problems, lighting the pond, especially all night, will make it easier for the predators and I would imagine it would increase the stress level in the fish.

[Jojoartie]

I have underwater lights, and only use them a couple of times a year when entertaining. When I do use them, I try to turn them on while it's still light outside so I don't shock the poor koi by waking them up with interrogation lights. We also have 5w lo-vo lights along one side which pick up nice reflections on the water but don't shine directly in. Even fish need their beauty sleep

Another thought: if you have predator problems, lighting the pond, especially all night, will make it easier for the predators and I would imagine it would increase the stress level in the fish.

Ditto for me....esp the predator issue..

[davesurfer]

Hmm thanks for all the tips!! Interesting. The only predators I had were a couple racoons that came around for 2 days only, then we haven't seen them since, and that was when I had a low pond shell only a couple feet off the ground. My new above ground pond is build from 4x4s and is about 40" from the cement pad out on our covered deck, so I don't think I have to worry about anything like racoons.

I know blues would not show some of the coloring on the koi, but then it's just for faint moon type lighting that won't be very bright, but will be neat if we are in the hot tub and look out at them or if I go out at night, I supposed I could put another whiter light for the evening only or when we have company or people looking at them at night.