Pond Rebuild - Should I Bother with Plant Shelves in a Koi Pond

[TJeep]

Long story short I'm considering expanding my goldfish pond to be large enough to house koi. One concern I have is that my pond is heavily planted with several plants growing bare root in the border rocks and several bins on a plant shelf. I also have three water lilies. My goldfish nibbled on everything, but were never destructive. I've heard horror stories about Koi tearing up plants so my question is should I even bother including a 12" plant shelf in the new pond build or will the koi just destroy the plants anyway so I'm better off just having smooth sides?

[Paul Sabucchi]

I would suggest making a separate basin dedicated to the plants ( slightly above the fish pond so water from your filtration can go in the plant pond then flow back in the fish pond) with a wide shelf about 1' below water level and the middle just deep enough for the water lilies, the bottom maybe converging to a drain or if not possible just a plant free low point you can easily clean with a pondovac.

[Noahsnana]

Koi ponds are normally straight sided. My thought it gives predators easy access to a meal.

[gray cat]

I would not put a plant shelf in a Koi pond. As you said they will destroy the plants anyway and make it easy for predators to get to your fish. You would be best to go with smooth sides.
I have grown many water lilies in large plant containers that will hold the water. Their pads will stand straight up and some will drape over the sides of the pot. This way you can place them where they will get more of the sun.

[TJeep]

I think I already knew heavily planted ponds and Koi don't mix, but thank you for confirming. I think I might give the goldfish another go as we were happy with them before although it was a pain tracking down some of the special colors we had... We are netting the pond (heron ate all our fish) so planting will be more of a challenge, but I think we like the plants too much to at least not give it another shot. My son in particular loves working on the plants with me and it seems like we are always looking for space to add a few more every year. We can always convert it over to a koi pond later if this doesn't work out. Thank you for all the advice and input!

[stevek]

I'd say go for it ! If you want a more natural pond type look, the plants add greatly to the look. If you pick the plants carefully, you can minimize koi damage. I've had plants for 20 years , and continue to use them without incident. For me, the biggest trade off is increased filtration as plants grow and die with the seasons; it definitely creates more particulates which impact water clarity.

[BWG]

We did the same thing years ago. 12 inch shelf is just too narrow to prevent planters being dumped off the edge as koi get larger. Might be able to secure them to the sides. Male and female koi mix results is a lot of rooting around. Seems some fish are more active digging than others. Larger planters on a stable surface they can't move covered with larger rock pebbles vs small work better.

[stevek]

If you use fairly large containers like the rubberized horse feed tubs, and get ones where the top of the tub is only a couple inches below the surface of the water, the koi don't have enough room to get on top of the container. For some plants, the container surface can even be at water level or slightly above.

[joe09]

i have shelves in my pond.full of water lilys and lotus you can keep the pot in the pond empty and let the fish get use to it. it stops them for being curious.i have a well plantes pond my water is gin clear. no uv light

[KingstonKoi]

I have a 12 x 13‘ oval pond that has plant shelves all around as the sides are very shallow. Although, having a raised net 2 feet above the surface will help keep the herons out, the shallow areas do attract predators including raccoons. If they, or a heron, sneaks under the edge of the net, the shallow area makes it easier for them to get in and prey on the fish. It also reduces the amount of water available for the fish, both in gallonage, and in areas they can easily and safely circulate.

Some plants, like water, hyacinths, can be easily corralled in a feeding ring, or similar circle of plastic. The fish feed on the roots that dangle down but they (in my experience) have not damaged the plants to the point of killing them. It’s more like they manicure them on a regular basis. And there are options to add plants in floating baskets so the fish cannot eat the roots. The baskets can float freely or be secured to the side of the pond in an arrangement that’s pleasing to the owner. And floating arrangements are much easier to pull, clean up and return to the pond, if not, planted directly, or on a shallow shelf. In addition they provide needed shade and hiding places for fish. After three years of dealing with shallow sides in my pond, I would not have them in a rebuild.