Adding Koi to Your Water Garden

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Koi fish are a very popular choice for a water garden, but there are several things you should remember before deciding to add them to your pond. Decisions that you make when planning and executing your Koi water garden will make the difference in whether you succeed or fail.

For example, plan to build a larger water garden if you’re adding Koi fish than you would for floating plants or flowers. 1,000 gallons is the minimal amount of water and a depth of four or five feet is absolutely necessary when planning your Koi pond. Koi are much larger than goldfish and require a much larger and deeper area.

Next, remember that the water in a Koi pond must be monitored carefully for temperature and pH levels. Koi do love cold temperatures, but keep the water at 60 to 75 degrees until winter, when the Koi will hibernate when the temperature drops. You won’t have to feed them, since their digestive systems slow down. Begin feeding again during the Spring.

Keep pH levels between 7.0 and 7.5 and also check oxygen, nitrate and ammonia levels often.

Be sure when planning your Koi pond that you ensure the pond’s success by choosing a suitable pump and skinner and make sure they work properly before you add Koi to the pond.

Feeding Koi can be challenging, so brush up on the diets of Koi at one of the online, informative sites before adding them to your pond. Mostly, remember to purchase your Koi from a fish farm that has an excellent reputation. Do your research, call and even visit a Koi fish farm and make sure they’re on the up and up – and monitor the shipments of fish and check them for contamination.

Choose high quality Koi fish foods. If you purchase your Koi at a very young age, you should be sure that the food contains a high amount of protein. Older Koi need less protein – and, be sure not to over feed them. Excess waste and a filthy pond could be the results of overfeeding.

Consider adding a waterfall or other feature to your pond that will aerate the pool and make air bubbles for the fish. Koi and other types of fish need oxygen, so the simple addition of a water feature will be good for them and add beauty and sound to the pond.

Add plants in and around your Koi pond to give them food and to add interest to the water garden. It may be a challenge to keep plants in the pond, since fish will eat them, so you may want to plan an additional section to the pond, where the fish can’t get to the plants.

Koi fish are ornamental and can add decoration and interest to your water garden. Choose carefully and then enjoy.

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