Stupid Koi keep eating everything.

[epidemic]

I feed them morning and evening using the instructions on the box suggesting that I toss no more food than they will eat in 5 minutes. But they are eating up the roots on my water hyacinth.

I used to have anacharis in the pond but it is all gone now. I am not sure I can establish it again before they tear it all out.

 

[addy1]

koi are know for doing that, eating any plant in the pond

 

[fishin4cars]

that's part of keeping koi. that's what they do. Might want to try using floating net rings to keep them away from the roots.

 

[koiguy1969]

your answer lies within.....
https://www.gardenpondforum.com/topic/2581-floating-planter-rings/

 

[kougs]

your answer lies within.....
http://www.gardenpon...-planter-rings/

I built one and it works fantabulous.

 

[kougs]

This was just after building them months back and before I placed lettuce and hyacinths in.

 

[sissy]

Thing is that koi like to jump in them and also like to turn them over and get the plants .I use screening in mine and a pool noodle for the top ring .I have too as it is o far the only thing that will stop them from ruining every plant in the pond .The open netting can get little frog legs trapped also and birds too .I have even had a fish get stuck in it .

 

[koiguy1969]

netting is likely to trap the legs of frogs etc...the rigid plastic used in my rings or as in kougs ...not a problem! and they make a secure safe haven area for fry as well, the fry can come and go thru the "mesh" but the larger fish cant... now, i have 5 20" koi, and none of them can, or atleast ever have flipped over my rings... nor have i ever had a problem with them jumping in...4 years of using them and one fish jumped in one, once. swimming noodles are large and in my opinion, are very unsightly in a pond! especially in a pond that trying for a "natural look"... if you do have a ring get turned over , tying them off to a weight on the bottom of the pond would prevent that and keep them exactly where you'd like them.

 

[epidemic]

thanks. My old method was to just grow so much anacharis that they could not keep up with eating it.

But I got the koi after it was established.

I have a sand bottom and the anacharis grew a thicket about 4' by 4' they simply ate to their content and I occasionally would rib a bunch out to keep it from eating the entire pond.

 

[Shdwdrgn]

I grow a ton of creeping jenny around the edges of my pond, and it grows over the rocks and down into the water. The koi love munching on that, and now that it is grown in really well this year, they seem to be leaving everything else alone. I still see them occasionally nibble a hyacinth root, but they are not *killing* my plants this year.

 

[koiguy1969]

shdwdrgn... i have some plant that doing the same thing. its taken over my waterfall mound popping up around the pond and grows well, in and out of the water. my fish cant really get to my hyacinths but seem to be going easier on my lillies this year. good thing, as i was losing 3/4 of my lillies the last couple years. in fact i'm gonna post a picture to see if anyones aware of what it is. it may just be a weed, indigenous to the area. but i like the looks and it seems to be a good ground cover. now i've gotta take a pic to post!

 

[addy1]

Post away koiguy, I have a bunch of different ground covers, they are growing like crazy this year, cutting the weeds way back. Maybe what you have is one that I have growing

 

[koiguy1969]

i did...in the plant section