Introduction To Koi Ponds
Maintaining a koi pond has become a popular hobby today. Koi are beautiful, vibrant fish and are available in many colors and varieties. While keeping koi can be fun and even relaxing one should be aware that there is a lot of work that goes into building and maintaining a pond. As you probably realize, keeping a koi pond requires a considerable amount of time and money. Unfortunately, many first time koi owners fail because they think that keeping koi is simple and easy. However, don't let this fact discourage you though because you can educate yourself in keeping koi and thus greatly improve your chances of succeeding. It is important for you to learn all you can about keeping koi before you purchase your fish and perhaps even before you start to build your pond. This way, you will not make critical mistakes and not have to replace or redo anything and, most importantly, keep your koi fish alive.
Before you buy your first koi, you must begin by creating a proper habitat for them, a koi pond. This is where information from your local pond builder and/or supplier will come in handy. There are several things needed in order to build and sustain a habitable koi pond.
As you might guess, when it comes to pond size, bigger is always better. Koi can grow quite fast, so you will need to consider the size of your koi pond along with the number of koi you would like to keep in it.
Your koi pond filtration system is very important. There are basically two types of koi pond filtration, mechanical and biological. Mechanical filtration removes solid wastes like dead algae and insects as well as koi wastes. It is essential to have enough filtration to properly sustain the size of the pond given the number and size of your koi. Biological filtration causes a nitrogen cycle in which dissolved wastes are naturally removed from your pond. Without biological filtration, built up waste will turn into ammonia and kill your koi within only a few days.
In addition to the technical aspects of maintaining your koi pond, you will also want to create a visually appealing area as well. Adding waterfalls, fountains, and other waterscaping factors will add a visual appeal to your pond. Some of these features may not only add visually but also provide hidden filtering or feeding functions. You should also consider plants and shoreline landscaping to provide an overall visual experience to your koi pond.