Our beautiful resident koi fish have been part of the Botany Garden and Greenhouse for decades. We care for them all year. Their summer home is a 16,000 gallon, tiered pond with a waterfall. Their winter home is a warm 700 gallon pond in the floor of our central greenhouse.
We maintain our ponds and tanks with the expert advice and assistance of the Research Animal Resources and Compliance (RARC) as well as a local commercial company, Aquatica from Wales, WI.
The Botany Garden and Greenhouse maintains an extremely large collection of aquatic plants both inside the greenhouses and outside in the summer pond. In addition to the aquatic plant benches in our central greenhouse (#4), we have two large and three small tanks of tropical plants and fish within Birge Hall. Our aquatic plant collection rivals most!
Please do not feed our lovely koi as they are very healthy with the expert care we are giving them.
If you are interested in donating funds for our aquatic plant and koi program, please go to our “Grow with us” page to make an electronic donation or send a check directly to the Botany Department with a note designating the funds to the aquatic program.