What Type of Gravel Is for a Koi Pond?

When furnishing your koi pond, it can be difficult to decide how to coat the bottom. Pet stores offer many different options, from rock to gravel to a smooth coating. Many types of gravel also exist. In order to choose the right one, it's important to understand your options, as well as the way your koi will interact with different environments. With the health and longevity of your pets as your main priority, arm yourself with information and proceed to building a superb koi habitat.

  1. Understanding Gravel Filtration

    • Choose the right flooring to benefit the health of your koi.

      Gravel is a good choice for the bottom of a koi pond, acting as a natural filter and trapping particles of food and waste that sink to the floor. Often, koi will feed on microorganisms that live beneath the gravel floor. An environment with a lot of biological activity is healthy for your koi, and is promoted by gravel. Gravel also gives koi ponds a more natural look. You can add large rocks to enhance all of these beneficial properties.

    Caring for Your Gravel-Floored Pond

    • Many consider gravel filtration easy to maintain. However, it can actually be challenging to maintain properly. An important part of maintaining a gravel filtration system is making an informed choice about what kind of gravel you purchase, and understanding how to care for it and your koi. No matter what kind of gravel you select, you will need to conduct thorough pond cleanouts one to three times each year. In this way gravel may be preferable to external filtration, which requires frequent unclogging.

    Selecting a Type of Gravel

    • You can choose between many quality brands of gravel. Some that come highly recommended by other koi keepers include Sunshine Rock, Bio Lyte and Schultz Aquasoil. Many of these brands are actually small bits of terracotta. Pea gravel and granite are also good choices. Some koi keepers have even successfully used clay kitty litter without additives. The brand you select should depend on what you can obtain locally. It is important to choose a brand that is not made from synthetic materials. If possible, use rocks and gravel indigenous to your local environment. This enhances aesthetic properties and ensures that the products are not made from dangerous chemicals and do not carry non-native organisms.

    Tips

    • Research the elements found in river rock local to your area to determine its benefits for koi.

      Sometimes, products advertised as gravel are made from crushed river rock. It is generally better to avoid furnishing your entire koi pond with river rock because, unlike conventional gravels, it may contain too much iron to be healthy for your koi.