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Fish Ponds

Constructing A Koi Pond

A koi pond has to be as big as possible with a minimum surface area of about 50 square feet or 5 square meters that is best achieved with a liner. This will give the versatility of shape and size at a relatively low price. A large concrete pool would cost a fortune. Fibreglass pools offer an alternative that can be made on site by fibreglassing the bare hole, but again this is expensive. Traditionally butyl rubber liners were used as this was the best quality material available, but these days it has become very expensive and cheaper alternatives are available.

When installing the liner it is a good, idea to include a bottom drain in the pond. This will enable water to be drawn from the bottom of the pond giving better filtration and also permitting the removal of most of the sediment. The bottom drain can be connected up to a settlement tank to remove the heavier particles before going into the filter. A good filtration system is considered essential for a Koi pond and it needs to be as big as possible. Vegetable filters are starting to become popular, as are ultra violet clarifiers. U.V.’s as they are commonly called are now considered a must for all serious fish enthusiasts although they have only been on the market a few years.

For any filter to be effective it has to be in operation 24 hours a day throughout the summer, but in the winter it is advisable to turn it off and remove it to prevent damage to the system by freezing.

A lot of Koi enthusiasts use central heating pumps to operate their filters because they can have a very large flow rate and are relatively cheap to buy. However they are not the easiest of pumps to install and it takes a bit of know how to fit them. Large submersible pumps can be bought which are a lot easier to install but they can be quite expensive to buy, although they are becoming more efficient so the running costs are coming down. A 2000 gallon pond pump may cost about 4 or £5.00 a week to run. But do buy a pump designed for continuous running because it will last longer.

When installing the pipe-work back to the pond it is a good idea to add a Venturi. This is a simple device that sucks air into the pipe as the water flows through it causing a stream of bubbles to be blown into the pond greatly increasing oxygenation in the process.