Water Gardening: Do KOI get bored?, 1 by fredrump

fredrump wrote:
I know fish aren't the brightest of creatures on this planet but some animals are constantly curious and reinspecting their environment while others simply exist where they are and hang around. I supect that koi are always on the lookout for food, ie algae or anything else which can be found. So boredom has noting to do with it. When they work the rocks, they are simply digging for some goodies to snack on.

So, we had this long discussion about how to have them coexist with plantlife without destroying it. Some people have said that you can't have both koi and a water garden in the same place. Others have no trouble at all and others yet use protective measures for the plants. So we had suggestions as to how to do that and were looking for the proper material. One needs to look for plastic tree, deer or chicken netting as the fish folks haven't grasped the problem yet.

I purchased two small rolls of material at Lowes yesterday. One is a tree protection mesh while the other is ordinary 1" chicken coop netting. My plan is to add some more lilies in my pond but place them in an area surrounded by the chicken coop barrier. Little fish can still get through but the big boys are prevented from going there. I hope that small fry will have a chance to grow there. I will drill some holes in pvc pipe and use plastic ties to hold the net around the pvc pipes. That will be a sanctuary to test my theory. Nearby I will hang a mop or something for eggs to hatch.

The green mesh I will use to cover my pots as I get a chance to replant my lilies. Here is a picture of both materials as bought at Lowes:



This message was edited Apr 28, 2007 1:05 PM