A picturesque Koi fish pond surrounded by lush greenery is a vision that captivates many enthusiasts.
The garden that encircles a Koi pond adds to its allure. However, exercising caution in selecting the right plants for your pond-side oasis is essential.
Avoiding Harm: Identifying Toxic Plants for Your Koi Pond
Plants that may appear harmless at first glance can, in reality, prove toxic and even fatal to your beloved Koi. As a responsible Koi fish owner, safeguarding the health of your cherished fish is paramount.
As the leading Koi pond builders in India, our commitment is to craft Koi ponds that are entirely safe for these graceful creatures.
Landscaping experts like us possess the knowledge needed to choose plants that harmonize with the environment around Koi Pond. Unfortunately, some Koi owners may not be as discerning when it comes to selecting plants for their pond’s vicinity.
It is crucial to recognize that any plant debris that enters the pond water, whether toxic or not, can negatively affect water quality.
Some toxic plants pose threats to fish, with specific poisonous components like leaves, berries, sap, bulbs, or roots.
What are the various types of toxins that plants produce?
Many plants produce toxins harmful to specific organisms, such as humans or pets, while others target fish and insects exclusively. Some may only affect other plants, but most are poisonous to a wide array of life forms.
Which plants should you be wary of when it comes to your Koi fishes?
Plants like yellow jessamine, azalea, hydrangea, Aloe vera leaves, the heart of Jesus, sage, and nightshade fall into this category.
In the vicinity of your Koi fish pond, you certainly want to avoid these types of plants. Toxic plants can make fish unwell, cause unusual behaviour, disrupt metabolism, and lead to fatal consequences in severe cases.
For informed landscaping near your pond, we’ve listed plant species toxic to Koi fish, aiding you in making wise choices. It’s essential to steer clear of these plants to ensure the well-being of your cherished aquatic companions.
| Sl No | Local names | Plant Name | Found in India | Harmful Parts Of The Plant |
| 1 | Acokanthera | ACOKANTHERA | Yes | Fruits & Flowers |
| 2 | Monk’s hood | ACONITUM | Yes | Roots, Bulbs, Flowers & Leaves |
| 3 | Kolambi Flower | ALLAMANDA | Yes | All Parts Are / Can be Fatal |
| 4 | All Spices | ALLSPICE | Yes | Leaves, seeds |
| 5 | Alocasia | ALOCASIA | Yes | Leaves and stems |
| 6 | Aloe Vera | ALOE | Yes | Leaves |
| 7 | Hippeastrum | AMARYLLIS / Hippeastrum vittatum | Yes | Bulbs |
| 8 | Anenome | ANENOME | Yes | All Parts Are / Can be Fatal |
| 9 | Brugmansia | ANGEL TRUMPET TREE (Datura Arborea) | Yes | Flowers and Leaves |
| 10 | ANTHURIUM | ANTHURIUM | Yes | All Parts Are / Can be Fatal |
| 11 | Apple | APPLE | Yes | All Parts Are / Can be Fatal |
| 12 | Apricot | APRICOT | Yes | All Parts Are / Can be Fatal |
| 13 | Desert Rose | Adenium obesum | Yes | Sap |
| 14 | Azalea | AZALEAS (Rhododendorn) | Yes | All Parts Are / Can be Fatal are fatal |
| 15 | Actaea | BANEBERRY (Actaea, Doll’s Eyes) | Yes | Red and White Berries, roots & foliage |
| 16 | Beach pea | BEACH PEA (Lathyrus Maritimus)/ Lathyrus japonicus | Yes | Stems |
| 17 | Areca nut | BETEL NUT PALM | Yes | All Parts Are / Can be Fatal |
| 18 | Rajamalli | BIRD OF PARADISE BUSH (Caesalpinia) | Yes | Seeds |
| 19 | Bittersweet | BITTERSWEET (Celastrus) | Yes | Berries |
| 20 | Walnut | BLACK WALNUT | Yes | Hulls |
| 21 | Bleeding Heart | Dicentra, Dutchman’s Breeches | Yes | Foliage & Roots |
| 22 | Bottle Brush | Callistemon, Melaleuca | Yes | flowers |
| 23 | Buxus | BOXWOOD (Buxus Sempervirens) | Yes | All Parts Are / Can be Fatal |
| 24 | Heart Of Jesus | CALADIUM | Yes | All Parts Are / Can be Fatal |
| 25 | Indian Meadows | CALLA LILY (Zantedeschia) | Yes | All Parts Are / Can be Fatal |
| 26 | Castor Oil Plant | CASTOR BEAN (Ricinus Communis) | Yes | Seeds can be fatal |
| 27 | Chinaberry | CHINABERRY (Melia Azedarach) | Yes | Berries can be fatal |
| 28 | Choke Cherry | CHOKE CHERRY | No | All Parts Are / Can be Fatal |
| 29 | Toyon | CHRISTMAS BERRY (Heteromeles Arbutifolia, Toyon) | Yes | Berries Can Be Fatal |
| 30 | chrysantha, Magpie | COLUMBINE (Aquilegia), chrysantha | Yes | All Parts Are / Can be Fatal |
| 31 | Coral Berry | CORAL BERRY (Symphoricarpos) | Yes | seeds |
| 32 | Coton Easter | COTONEASTER | Yes | All Parts Are / Can be Fatal |
| 33 | Saffron Plant | CROCUS | Yes | Bulbs |
| 34 | `Croton Petra | CROTON | Yes | Seeds Are fatal |
| 35 | Daphne | DAPHNE | Yes | Berries Can Be Fatal |
| 36 | Brugmansia | DATURA (Brugmansia) | Yes | flowers, Berries, & seeds |
| 37 | Death Camas | DEATH-CAMAS (Sygadenus Venous) | No | All Parts Are / Can be Fatal poisonous, roots are deadly |
| 38 | DIEFFENBACHIA | DIEFFENBACHIA (Dumb Cane) | Yes | All Parts Are / Can be Fatal, especially the sap |
| 39 | Dogwood | DOGWOOD (Cornus) | Yes | fruit slightly poisonous |
| 40 | Brinjal | EGGPLANT | Yes | all but fruit |
| 41 | Elder Fruit | ELDERBERRY (Sambucus) | Yes | red fruit poisonous, black and blue fruit o.k. |
| 42 | Caper Spurge | EUPHORBIA (Splurge, Gopher Plant, Mole Plant) | Yes | roots, sap |
| 43 | Indian Pokeweed | FALSE HELLEBORE (Veratrun Viride and other species) | Yes | All Parts Are / Can be Fatal poisonous, root deadly |
| 44 | Foxglove | FOXGLOVE (Digitalis Purpurea), DIGITALIS | Yes | All Parts Are / Can be Fatal can be fatal |
| 45 | fly amanita | Amanita muscaria – FLY AGARIC (Fly Amanita Mushroom) | Yes | All Parts Are / Can be Fatal |
| 46 | FOUR O’CLOCK | FOUR O’CLOCK | Yes | All Parts Are / Can be Fatal |
| 47 | evening trumpetflower | GELSEMIUM (Carolina Jessamine) | Yes | All Parts Are / Can be Fatal |
| 48 | Kanthel, Kariyilanchi | GLORIOSA LILY | Yes | All Parts Are / Can be Fatal |
| 49 | Kani Konna | GOLDEN CHAIN | Yes | seeds and pods may be fatal |
| 50 | RANUNCULACEAE | HELLEBORE (Ranunculaccea) | Yes | All Parts Are / Can be Fatal |
| 51 | Tsuga | HEMLOCK (Tsuga) | Yes | All Parts Are / Can be Fatal, especially roots |
| 52 | Hyocyamus niger | HENBANE | Yes | All Parts Are / Can be Fatal |
| 53 | Europian Holly | HOLLY (Ilex Aquifolium, Opaca, Vomitoria) | Yes | Leaves and Berries |
| 54 | Lonicera japonica | HONEYSUCKLE | Yes | flowers and Leaves |
| 55 | Buck eye | HORSE CHESTNUT (Aesculus, Buckeye) | No | All Parts Are / Can be Fatal |
| 56 | water bamboo | HORSETAIL (Equisetum Hyemale) | Yes | All Parts Are / Can be Fatal |
| 57 | Hyacinth | HYACINTH | Yes | Bulbs can be fatal |
| 58 | Hydrangea | HYDRANGEA | Yes | All Parts Are / Can be Fatal |
| 59 | garden balsam | IMPATIENS (Balsam, Touch-Me-Not, Snapweed) | Yes | All Parts Are / Can be Fatal |
| 60 | Indian Turnip | INDIAN TURNIP | Yes | All Parts Are / Can be Fatal |
| 61 | Violet Iris | IRIS | yes | underground stemt, Leaves, and rhizomes |
| 62 | Hedera helix | IVY (Hedera) | Yes | All Parts Are / Can be Fatal |
| 63 | Jack in the plupit | JACK-IN-THE-PULPIT (Arisaema Triphylla) | Yes | Root |
| 64 | JAPANESE LAUREL | JAPANESE LAUREL | Yes | All Parts Are / Can be Fatal |
| 65 | evening trumpetflower | JASMINE, YELLOW | Yes | All Parts Are / Can be Fatal |
| 66 | Butter Bean | JAVA (LIMA) BEAN | Yes | uncooked bean |
| 67 | JERUSALEM CHERRY | JERUSALEM CHERRY (Solanum Pseudocapsicum) | Yes | fruit and Leaves |
| 68 | evening trumpetflower | JESSAMINE (Gelsemium Sempervirens) | Yes | Berries are fatal |
| 69 | Ummam | JIMSON WEED (Datura Stramomium, Thorn Apple) | Yes | All Parts Are / Can be Fatal |
| 70 | Lamp kill | LAMBKILL (Kalmia Angustifolia, Sheep Laurel) | Yes | Leaves |
| 71 | Big Sage | LANTANA CAMARA (Red Sage) | Yes | All Parts Are / Can be Fatal, green Berries are fatal |
| 72 | Delphinium malabaricum / LARKSPUR | (Delphinium) | Yes | All Parts Are / Can be Fatal |
| 73 | Mountain Laurel | LAUREL (Primus varieties) | Yes | All Parts Are / Can be Fatal can be fatal |
| 74 | Lily | LILY (Lilium) | Yes | Easter lilies, Peace, Peruvian, and Calla lilies |
| 75 | Convallaria Majalis | LILY-OF-THE-VALLEY (Convallaria Majalis) | Yes | All Parts Are / Can be Fatal |
| 76 | Cardinal flower | LOBELIA (Cardinal Flower) | Yes | All Parts Are / Can be Fatal |
| 77 | Small Leaved Locoweed | LOCOWEED (Astragalus, Oxytropis) | Yes | All Parts Are / Can be Fatal |
| 78 | false acacia | LOCUST | Yes | bark,Leaves, seeds |
| 79 | Naroow leaf lupin | LUPINE (Lupinus), BLUEBONNETS | Yes | Seeds |
| 80 | Manchineel tree | MACHINEEL | Yes | All Parts Are / Can be Fatal |
| 81 | Cannabis | MARIJUANA | Yes | All Parts Are / Can be Fatal |
| 82 | Podophyllum emodi Wall | MAY APPLE (Podophullum) | Yes | All Parts Are / Can be Fatal |
| 83 | Peyote | MESCAL (Peyote) | No | All Parts Are / Can be Fatal |
| 84 | Indian milkweed | MILKWEED (Asciepias) | Yes | All Parts Are / Can be Fatal, especially sap |
| 85 | Mimosa pudica / touch me not | MIMOSA | Yes | All Parts Are / Can be Fatal |
| 86 | Honeysuckle Mistletoe (Loranthus longiflorus) | MISTLETOE | Yes | All Parts Are / Can be Fatal, Berries can be fatal |
| 87 | Moccasin flower | MOCCASIN FLOWER (Lady Slipper, Cypripedium Spectabiles) | No | All Parts Are / Can be Fatal |
| 88 | Fuzzy mock Oranges | MOCK ORANGE (Philadelphus) | Yes | All Parts Are / Can be Fatal |
| 89 | Wolf’s bane | MONKSHOOD (Aconitum) | Yes | foliage and fleshy roots |
| 90 | MORNING GLORIES | MORNING GLORIES (Ipomea) | Yes | All Parts Are / Can be Fatal |
| 91 | LAUREL | MOUNTAIN LAUREL (Kalmia Latifolia) | Yes | young Leaves and shoots, can be fatal |
| 92 | Death cap, Web cap, Autumn Skullcap, deadly dapperling | Amanita fungi, Amanita virosa, Destroying Angel | Yes | All Parts Are / Can be Fatal Are Fatal |
| 93 | Mustard | MUSTARD | Yes | Roots & Seeds |
| 94 | Daffodil | NARCISSUS (Daffodil) | Yes | bulbs can be fatal |
| 95 | Jerusalem cherry | NATAL CHERRY (Solanum) | Yes | Berries |
| 96 | Flowering Tobacco | NICOTIANA (Flowering Tobacco) | Yes | Leaves |
| 97 | Night Shade | NIGHTSHADE (European Bittersweet, Horse Nettle), Black Night Shade, ATROPA BELLADONNA | Yes | all, especially unripe Berries |
| 98 | Silver Oak ,Indian oak, Small indian oak | OAK | Yes | Foliage and Fruit Of OAk Tree |
| 99 | Oleander | OLEANDER (Nerium Oleander) | Yes | All Parts Are / Can be Fatal poisonous including smoke if burned |
| 100 | Peony | PEONY (Paeonia) | Yes | All Parts Are / Can be Fatal |
| 101 | Tindiyam | PERIWINKLE (Vinca, Myrtle) | Yes | All Parts Are / Can be Fatal |
| 102 | Heart-leaf Philodendron | PHILODENDREN | Yes | Leaves and sap |
| 103 | Pine | PINE | Yes | Sap |
| 104 | Carnation | PINKS (Sweet William, Carnation, Dianthus) | Yes | All Parts Are / Can be Fatal |
| 105 | Prunus | PLUM | Yes | Seeds |
| 106 | Indian Pokeweed | POKEWEED (Phytolacca, Pokeberry) | Yes | All Parts Are / Can be Fatal |
| 107 | Poinsettia | POINSETTIA (Euphorbia Pulcherrima) | Yes | All Parts Are / Can be Fatal, Leaves and sap can be fatal |
| 108 | നഞ്ച് | POISON IVY (Rhus Radicans) | Yes | All Parts Are / Can be Fatal |
| 109 | Punjab Poison Oak | POISON OAK (Rhus Diversioba, Rhus Toxicodendron) | Yes | All Parts Are / Can be Fatal |
| 110 | Poppy | POPPY (Papaver) | Yes | All Parts Are / Can be Fatal |
| 111 | POTATO | POTATO | Yes | sprouts and foliage can be fatal particularly ornamental varieties |
| 112 | Nilgiri Privet | Common PRIVET (Ligustrum) | Yes | Black and blue wax-coated Berries and Leaves |
| 113 | Plum | PRUNUS (many varieties) | Yes | Seeds |
| 114 | Buttercups | RANUNCULUS | Yes | All Parts Are / Can be Fatal |
| 115 | Indian Red Wood | REDWOOD | Yes | Sap From Deck Also |
| 116 | Azalea | RHODODENDRON (Azalea) | Yes | All Parts Are / Can be Fatal can be fatal |
| 117 | Amlavetasa | RHUBARB (Rhenum Rhaponticum)/ Rheum webbianum – Indian Rhubarb | Yes | All Parts Are / Can be Fatal |
| 118 | Rose mary | ROSEMARY (Rosmarinus Officinalis) | Yes | Leaves of certain varieties are poisonous |
| 119 | Scarlet Sage | SAGE (Salvia) | Yes | Leaves of certain varieties are poisonous |
| 120 | Scotch broom | SCOTCH BROOM (Cytinsus Scoparious) | Yes | Seeds, invasive |
| 121 | SENECIO | SENECIO | Yes | All Parts Are / Can be Fatal of some species |
| 122 | Antirrhinum | SNAPDRAGON (Antirrhinum) | Yes | All Parts Are / Can be Fatal |
| 123 | Snowdrop | SNOWDROP (Galanthus) | Yes | All Parts Are / Can be Fatal |
| 124 | മണിത്തക്കാളി | SOLANUM (Nightshade) | Yes | All, especially some Berries |
| 125 | Naalumani poovu | SQUIRREL CORN (Dicentra Canadensis, Bleeding Heart) | Yes | All Parts Are / Can be Fatal |
| 126 | Ummam | STRAMONIUM (Jimson Weed, Datura) | Yes | All Parts Are / Can be Fatal |
| 127 | Chippamaram | SUMAC (Rhus) | Yes | All Parts Are / Can be Fatal |
| 128 | Sweet Pea | SWEET PEA (Lathyrus) | Yes | Stems |
| 129 | Tansy | TANSY (Tanacetum) | Yes | All Parts Are / Can be Fatal |
| 130 | ചേമ്പ് | TARO (Colocasia, Elephant’s Ear) | Yes | Stem and Leaves |
| 131 | ടൈഗർ ലില്ലി | TIGER LILY (Lilium Tigrinum) | Yes | All Parts Are / Can be Fatal |
| 132 | കൂണ് | TOADSTOOLS | Yes | All Parts Are / Can be Fatal can be fatal |
| 133 | പുകയില | TOBACCO | Yes | All Parts Are / Can be Fatal |
| 134 | Tomato | TOMATO | Yes | foliage and vines |
| 135 | Odumulla | TRUMPET VINE | Yes | All Parts Are / Can be Fatal |
| 136 | ലില്ലിച്ചെടി | TULIP (Tulipa) | Yes | Bulbs of some varieties |
| 137 | Sadapushpi | VINCA (PERIWINKLE) | Yes | All Parts Are / Can be Fatal |
| 138 | Taxus-ടാക്സസ് | YEW | Yes | Foliage, bark, seeds |
This list does cover some of the more common plants which are often used by landscapers and some are invasive species that grow naturally. Detail studies are always necessary before incorporating any plant in and around your pond to ensure the safety of fish.
When you create a garden around a fishpond, the plants you should choose should adjust to the ecosystem and blend with the surroundings. And most importantly they should not add any toxins to the pond water.
Remember not to position a pond near poisonous trees like oak. If there is any doubt that you may have inadvertently planted poisonous plants, get rid of them quickly and closely monitor your fish behaviour for at least a week.
Kindly contact us for any help and support.