How to Build a Koi Pond

By Rob Buenaventura
If you want to build a Koi pond, then you’ve come to the right place to find out how to do it and what you’ll need. There are many things you need to consider not only for the building of a Koi pond but also for proper maintenance. First of all, a water garden and a Koi pond are not the same thing. A true water garden generally houses both goldfish and a wide variety of marine plants. This particular type of pond is typically two feet deep. A Koi pond is different because it limits the amount of plant life you can have in the water and its immediate surroundings.
A Koi pond is also much larger than a water garden because Koi can grow to be very large in size, some growing to be the size of large trout or catfish. It is recommended that a Koi pond be large enough to hold at least a thousand gallons of water in order to keep the fish healthy. Half of the total area needs to be three feet deep with the other half at least five feet deep, it is also important to keep in mind that aquatic life, such as lily pads, that take up surface space must be accounted for when considering that as they are robbed of important oxygen by the space these plants and other floating object occupy. In other words, if you are thinking Koi pond, you had better be thinking big!
Another consideration is that fact that you will really want to keep your Koi pond close to your home in order to protect it from predatory animals and children that may inadvertently bring harm to your pond, equipment, or fish. This is after all a rather sizeable investment you will want to protect it. You will also want it near an outlet in case you need to run the pump.
These are not typically the most attractive lawn features you can come up with because of the lack of plant life in or around the pond and it is not a good idea to have a Koi pond in an environment that has violent extremes in weather such as a severe winter. These fish are highly susceptible to weather based conditions and simply can’t survive a long winter.
There is no universal guidebook to use when building a Koi pond, be sure to keep in mind however the major differences between a Koi pond and a water garden and know which one you are truly wanting before you make the sizable investment of time, money, and energy. Be sure to consult a professional landscaper with extensive experience specifically with Koi ponds, as he will be aware of dangers that you may not be aware of as well as knowing where the best place to place the pond on your property would be. It is better to make the investment of a professional from the start than suffer the cost of doing it wrong and starting over.
Rob Buenaventura invites you to ArtificialGardens. Here we provide tips and benefits on Koi Ponds. For more information on building a water garden check out http://www.artificialgardens.com
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