Japanese Koi Pond Basics - Building A Japanese Koi Pond
A Japanese koi pond is a very addictive, very attractive, and very positive installation to have in your home and/or garden. However, you must keep in mind that the process of building a good-quality koi pond requires thoughtful consideration lest you waste your time, effort, and money.
Location
In most cases, location will be the basis upon which all other decisions will hinge on during the building process. After all, size and shape, materials and construction as well as filtrations system have to be adapted based on the pond's location.
You have to consider two qualities of a good location for a Japanese koi pond. First, it must be near the utility outlets particularly water and electricity. After all, you will have to change the water and plug in the pump. Needless to say, you must also be able to access the pond virtually any time of the day you want. Second, it must be a good distance away from falling leaves and growing roots. You want the koi pond to last without roots growing through it and falling leaves wreaking havoc on your filtration system. Of course, you will want plants to provide shade during hot weather and cover for protection from predators. The trick is in choosing the right plants, say, palm trees.
When you have chosen the good location for the koi pond, the next decisions are easier to do especially when it comes to the materials and construction method to be used.
Size and Shape Matters
In other cases, the size of your Japanese koi pond will determine the location, number of fishes, kind of filtration system, and other factors in building it. Regardless of which came first in your priorities, you must decide on four things: size, shape, style, and depth.
When it comes to size, you have to make your koi pond as large as possible especially when you want to expand your collection in the future. This way, you can avoid building more ponds and rebuilding on an existing pond, both of which will be costlier in the long run. You can decide on the shape of your koi pond - round, rectangular, hexagonal and irregular, to name a few possibilities - based on the style - formal or informal - that you chose. For example, most formal koi ponds have sharp angles like squares while informal koi ponds have irregular circles.
No matter the size and shape of the Japanese koi pond, however, you must make it of a sufficient depth. Usually, a 4-foot deep koi pond is sufficient although doubling it will further prevent predators from making a feast out of your precious fishes.
Filtration Issues
Last but not least, you have to design the filtration well during the building process itself. Otherwise, you will be faced with more problems than you have anticipated with koi keeping as a hobby. There are rules of thumb applicable in filtration like pond plant cover should be about 20-30 percent of pond size, filter flow rate should be such that the pond can be emptied in an hour, and that filter volume should be one-third of pond volume, to name just a few. Indeed, you are well advised to seek professional help when it comes to filtration.
In conclusion, a Japanese koi pond is a thing of beauty. However, it also demands responsibility. Think about it.