Plants Koi eat???

[silverseeds]

Hello. Just joined the forum.

Id love to ask a question of some experienced koi owners. I am looking for plants that koi will eat. I want a nice varied diet for my koi. I v a few types now, but Im sure there are more.

while looking this up Ive found posts on many koi forums dealing in stopping koi from eating your plants, but I have yet to find a solid list of plants you could grow especially for them. The more of those I can ID the better. So please help... I am going to ask this question of several forums, if anyone happens to see the same user ID on another forum.

I appreciate any help and thank you in advance...

 

[koiguy1969]

ask what pond plants they wont eat...its a much shorter list!...if theres any to list. lol

for floaters build some of these to protect the roots: https://www.gardenpondforum.com/floating-planter-rings-t4154.html

 

[fishin4cars]

First off encouraging them to eat plants will have your pond working over time as they will destroy the plants into little pieces and you'll be cleaning pre filters and skimmers alot more often. want to give them treats, can peas, canned green beans, Romaine Lettuce, Cucumbers, watermelon, Tomatoes, oranges, grapefruit, lemons (all are good and well like but always remove and seeds before feeding). As for plants that they will eat almost anything you can grow. My favorite is water lettuce, They love the roots, the plant will live for some time with the roots eaten off and it doesn't make as big a mess in the pond, But to get them growing you need a pond that they can get started in that the fish can't get to them, Bio filters/bog gardens work great as they grow and need thinned out just add to to the pond with your koi, water hyacinths are another choice they like to eat but the roots to this plant does cause more clogging to pump's and filters but once the koi find the soft meat in the tube of the plant they LOVE them.(if grown in a seperate container you can cut90% of the roots off and give them the plant, this helps in all the root fragments getting caught in your pre-filter/pump/ and filter parrots feather is another great choice, Koi love them, they are best grown by a water fall or stream and allowed to trail into the pond, this keeps the primary plant away from them but new growth going into the pond for them to feed on. that should give you a good start of natural plant foods you can give them to enjoy. BTW my koi love leisure baby english peas. that's probably their favorite treat along with honey nut cheerios. just be careful and don't over feed, these should be fed as treats not as a sole diet!

 

[silverseeds]

Thanks fishin4cars. that gets me started.

koiguy, Ive read that to, but whats their favorites???

I will have a second area just to grow these plants, they will be the base of my fishes diet.

I dont want to feed them many of the things you listed as I grow those but either I eat them or my rabbits do.

For now Ive been growing hordes of duckweed and this floating algae they like to nibble on, alone with tons of daphnia (AKA water flea) and feeding them those. They LOVE this much more then their store bought feeds I bought them. But I can do better.

I kept looking up koi and plants, and they do seem to eat anything, but often thats with people trying to pick plants koi wont like but they eat them anyway. Im not terribly wealthy, so Id rather not just buy a bunch of plants and see what they eat. Id rather ask people who have thm and figure out exactly what to start with.

thanks for your time

 

[fishin4cars]

The favorite plant to eat is new growth, It isn't what kind it's how easy is it to get to and eat it. new root tips,and new growth is what they look for the most. I like water lettuce and hyacinths because once they take off they grow faster than the fish can eat them.
On all the veggies I stated earlier, it only takes a small portion to give them their treats. I have about 25 Koi, they will eat a 6"x6" x 1 inch piece of watermelon with no seeds in about 10-15 minutes, a quarter of a small can of peas gives them a quick little one or two minute treat and leaves enough left for me and the wife for dinner. Oranges/lemons about a quarter of one for a treat once a week and I eat the rest of the orange or use the lemon for tea and such. nothing goes to waste I just like sharing with the fish and they enjoy the little treats. mine don't seem to care for cucumbers very well although I have seen some that really liked it. Someone told me to try squash (YUCK! but if I find one I might try and see if they like it, If so they can have my portion!!!!!)

 

[j.w]

silverseeds

 

[silverseeds]

the duckweed they seem to like all the time. I also read the same about Anacharis but havent tried those yet. Im about to order a bunch of plants. I found out about water hyacynth last night, but verification is good. Parrots feather I didnt know about though, so that is great!! Ive got azolla as well, they like that. arrowroot might work.

 

[silverseeds]

silverseeds

thanks!! and hello. My fish are all inside, in 60 gallon tanks, I bet they are as excited as me to get out into the larger ones this spring.

 

[j.w]

I think whatever you put in there they are gonna eat you outta house and home and be big happy piggies :regular_waving_emot I think they will even eat cheerios........helps your heart ya know :twisted:

 

[fishin4cars]

In most cases they don't seem to want plants that rise well above the surfeace, iris, taro, Thalia Canna arrowheads, etc. The will eat the root tips but it dowesn't seem to bother those plants much. JW mine love cherrios, that's one of their favorite treats

 

[silverseeds]

If I have extra cherios, i would certainly feed them to my fish, but really I want to grow all their food. Lots of water plants they like, a few baby crawdads from time to time, some scuds, shrimp, daphnia... etc. all of those things should grow well in the tanks with the plants, and as they breed I intend to add the excess in with the koi.

 

[amanda]

Realized this was from 2011. I'm new here. I was searching for the same thing. I have an amazing 5.5 year old butterfly koi, Whisper in a 150 gallon aquarium with his buddy (5 year old pleco, Sneaky Pete). I've done cheerios, cucumber, zucchini, watermelon, oranges, duckweed, you name it they love it. I want to get some underwater plants that grow decently quick, good snacking and wont clog my filters (like duckweed).

 

[Dave 54]

Realized this was from 2011. I'm new here. I was searching for the same thing. I have an amazing 5.5 year old butterfly koi, Whisper in a 150 gallon aquarium with his buddy (5 year old pleco, Sneaky Pete). I've done cheerios, cucumber, zucchini, watermelon, oranges, duckweed, you name it they love it. I want to get some underwater plants that grow decently quick, good snacking and wont clog my filters (like duckweed).

Amanda please be aware of this that pleco have been know to attach themselves to the sides of koi and have then left them with some nasty circular wounds where their mouths have rasped away the mucus .
One should never mix fish unless you have first found out that the are indeed compatable with each other.
Not only that Pleco's are tropical fish koi coldwater .


Dave

 

[bettasngoldfish]

Hi Amanda, You do have to watch those plecos when they are mixed with the larger and slower moving fish. I have a sneaking suspicion that the plecos who have attacked their tank mates may have been starving (I have seen this in petstore sale tanks) (many people have the notion that you don't have to feed a pleco and that they eat waste on the bottom of the tank or the algae from the sides of the tank) I also have to wonder about the fish they attached themselves to and if they were already ill and possibly sitting still on the bottom of the tank. If they have been together for a long time and you are not having any problems I would just keep a close eye on them. It's a good idea to have a piece of driftwood for your pleco to rasp on (which may also help keep him away from the koi) Temperatures between 72-85 are okay for a pleco so I would guess your tank temperature falls somewhere in that area? (unless you are running a chiller) Sorry if I am getting off topic and away from your question

Try some anacharis in your tank. I'm not so sure about the pleco eating it but I'm pretty sure your koi will eat it (my goldfish love it) http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=768+1632+780&pcatid=780 I leave mine loose and floating in the tank and pond.

 

[Lisak1]

Pleco's are tropical fish koi coldwater

@Dave 54 - did you just say what I think you said?