20 Questions to Ask Yourself Before You Build a Koi Pond
Before you begin….
Most people would agree that few things add more to an attractive landscape than a beautiful, well-built koi pond. The growing popularity of koi ponds today is due to the fact that they add not only beauty to a setting, but also a sense of serenity. The sight of brightly colored koi, gracefully swimming in a clear body of water, coupled with the soothing sound of a gentle waterfall is hard to forget.
The problem is that most people do not realize that building a successful koi pond is much more complicated than they think. Many people start out thinking that to build a koi pond all they need to do is provide a hole in the ground that will hold water for the koi to live in. The reality is that unless it is well thought-out and properly designed, the whole experience can be a real disappointment.
1) A successful koi pond needs to provide healthy crystal clear water. So much of the enjoyment comes from being able to clearly see the beauty of the koi. A pond that is not crystal clear will rob you of this feature.
2) A successful pond needs to provide a safe environment for the koi. Poorly designed koi ponds can make it easy for predators to injure or kill your koi. A properly designed pond should not require a net to protect the koi.
3) A successful koi pond needs to be as easy as possible to maintain. Often times the maintenance issue is not even considered until after the pond is built. A poorly designed koi pond can be so hard to maintain that it can ruin your whole koi keeping experience. On the other hand, a pond that’s well designed and built can be amazingly easy and enjoyable to maintain. You can build a 10,000 gallon pond that requires less than 5 minutes a week to maintain and you can do so without getting dirty.
These 20 questions are designed to help you in planning and designing your new koi pond so that the finished pond will be exactly what you envisioned when you started.
A successful koi pond needs to be designed and constructed with the following three principles in mind.
The Questions….
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1) How large should I make my pond?
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2) Where should I place my pond?
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3) Can I grow plants in my pond?
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4) Which pond is better, a rubber liner or a concrete pond?
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5) How important is the shape and contour of the pond?
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6) How deep should I make my pond?
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7) How important is the filter?
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8) How far away from my pond can I install my filter system?
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9) Do I need a pre-filter?
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10) What size pump will I need?
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11) What size pipe should I use?
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12) How important is it to have a bottom drain?
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13) How important is it to have a skimmer?
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14) How important is it to have jets?
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15) How important is it to have an auto-fill?
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16) Do I need to install an ultraviolet light?
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17) Should I install underwater lights in my pond?
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18) Should I install an automatic feeder on my koi pond?
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19) How many koi can I put in my pond?
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20) What should I look for when selecting someone to build my koi pond?