Koi Pond Building
Getting Started
Just what is a koi pond? Most of us have experiences in seeing beautiful ponds and water gardens inside amusement parks, zoos, even inside office buildings and private residences; and a pond teeming with Koi fish can give us the urge to build one. start our own koi pond building project. However, because it requires money, effort and time, you should really learn about how much of each goes into building and keeping those ponds in good order.
The Koi fish you are going to keep will actually be your pets. Although they are bred as ornamental and decorative fish, you cannot just leave them swimming around the pond. They aren’t like your decorative jars and other prized items needing only occasional dusting and polishing.
They need a lot of care. You have to take time to feed, clean and maintain your pond to keep the Koi happy and healthy. You need to keep the immediate surroundings of the pond healthy too. Your efforts will be rewarded not just with magnificent Koi, but you’ll see beauty and tranquility within you and your home as you watch them swim and feed in your hands.
The first thing to do before you actually start your own koi pond building project is to learn more about Koi and how they are kept. If, for example, your pond is badly designed and built, and after a year or so develops a leak, repairing it will cost you a lot of money and effort. It may even take more to repair it than when you first built it. Your Koi are bound to suffer stress because of this. So before you go to the store and buy your Koi supplies, you should to familiarize yourself with the following Koi-keeping related terms:
- Mechanical filtration and why sand filters are bad
- Biological filtration
- The Nitrogen Cycle
- Nitrifying bacteria - what they are and what they do
- Denitrifying bacteria - what they are and what they do
- Heterotrophic and autotrophic bacteria
- Organic and inorganic waste products - what they are and what happens to them
Both your pond dealer and builder can define these terms and explain them to you, but in order to be a successful Koi keeper, you need to know these by heart and be able to take the proper steps to rectify and stop the deterioration of your pond.
A koi pond building project is both a work of art and engineering. The completed pond should be beautiful to behold and, at the same time, provide a good home for your Koi.
