Too many lily pads on top of pond?

[jw]

I have so many lily pads floating on top of my pond I am now wondering if my fish have enough space to breath and get enough oxygen. Is this a problem? They cover like 3/4 of the pond.

[Vickie]

Yes.  I have some koi that have been at the top of the pond in the early mornings kind of gasping for air by the filter spout. The oxygen level is low in the night and early mornings in ponds. I got in the pond and picked a bunch of leaves off and added a big spout before I loose any of those koi. I have some big ones in there.

[miguynmkoi]

Good question.  My lily pond is also full of fancy goldies like shubs and orandas.  The pads cover almost 90+% of the surface.  I have bio-filtering and a high change over rate.  Fishies look fine and only come to the top when I approach the pond.

Sure would like to know an answer.

[Julles]

As I asked in another thread... what does lily pad coverage on the water's surface have to do with oxygen in the water?  Don't plants HELP put oxygen IN to the water?

[LeeAnne151]

I do not think lily pad coverage reduces oxygen or harms fish.

Heat, shallow water and not enough aeration can cause them to gasp at the surface and the biggest ones will die if the situation isn't corrected.

Waterlilies actually cool the water by shading it. Koi and goldfish are both cool water fish that benefit from deep cool ponds. They are not tropical fish that need warm shallow ponds.

[sooks]

As I asked in another thread... what does lily pad coverage on the water's surface have to do with oxygen in the water?  Don't plants HELP put oxygen IN to the water?

I was told that plants help put oxygen during the day but they take it away at night. 

[Kat]

My lily ponds have about 90 or more percent coverage but I do run air stones and/or pumps in them for the fish.

[tranquility]

any plant in the water puts off O2 during the day...but, takes it at night and on cloudy days...then top that off with hot water not holding enough O2...and it can spell disaster pretty quick..I always up the air into the ponds when the weather gets hot either by more aeration or airstones.....if you are noticing them gasping at the top of the water or congregating right under the falls at night and in the morning then you probably need to add more aeration to the water....they say 60% coverage but, I have one I keep about 80% coverage and its fine....but, I do have plenty of 02 in the water....
Lawanna

[LeeAnne151]

My pond always has close to 100% plant coverage every growing season and I've never had gaspers or losses. DH gets up early for work and would see them, he knows what they look like. We had some in a bucket once that were doing it.

We had record high temps the last two weeks but we do run a waterfall 24/7/365.

IF I lived in part of the country that is hot on a routine basis I would not have a pond less than 3' deep if I was going to have fish because of the water heating issue.

[jw]

Well then I think I'm ok as I have a waterfall that runs straight down hard into the pond and my pond is over 3 ft deep and I live in cool Washington. I had a fish die during the hot spell and was wondering if that is why it died. But who knows. Is there a problem w/ just letting the lily pads deteriorate and clean the filter and change some water now and then and then when they are all done just cleaning them out at the end of the season in the fall?

[Jerry]

it is hot here too. never a gasper ever.  My pond is a mere 24 inches.  I didn't know much when I built it.
If I could do it over it would be bigger, deeper and NO shelves!

[kitfoxdrvr]

Waterlilies are neutral when it comes to adding or taking away oxygen and CO2 in a pond.  Once the pads reach the surface, their primary transpiration takes place with the atmosphere.  This is much more efficient for plants as CO2 (raw material for photosynthesis) is much more available to the plant in the atmosphere than in the water.  That is one of the reasons that they grow much faster once the first pad reaches the surface in the spring.  Submersed plants like anacharis and most alga are the ones that contribute oxygen to the water during the day and CO2 at night.

The way they do help is by shading the pond.  The shade cast by the leaves keeps temps lower, and cooler water is capable of holding more oxygen.

Steve

[SueSTx]

   The biggest problem with too large a coverage of pads is that you can't see the fish as well to recognize that they are in distress   

I know this because...I had about 95% coverage and lost 1 fish before I realized I had a problem.  I cut everything back and added an airstone and the fish look much better.

[jw]

Thanks Steve that is good to know. I'm learning something new here everyday.
Sue you are right about not seeing the fish. I found one floating dead under a lily pad and if I wouldn't have been trying to push the pads back down into the pond off the rocks I would have never seen it. Now I am wondering if there are anymore dead in there. I think I need to get a lot of the old yellow pads outta there and that would help. They are going to start rotting in there soon and then I will have a mess.