On-Line Information

Well, I've spent some of the past few hours searching for articles on koi, and I have to say that there is a real shortage of material in some areas! I reprinted the article from the Mail Tribune, then went looking for anything on E-zine - nothing, zip, nadda, zilch! So, for you other koi-lovers out there, I'll start building a genuine resource of information!

First, the article from the Mail Tribune suggests that you can expect to spend about $5,000 to build a koi pond. In my humble opinion this is a very inflated price! Having built two of them myself, unless you contract all the labor out and buy the fanciest, most expensive pumps and material, you should not have to invest more than $800-1,000 of your hard-earned money on building a fantastic koi pond. The two items which will cost the most are the rubber liner and the pump. I'm not including the cost of the fish - you could go overboard on buying expensive fish! However I purchased very premium-quality fish from importers at $75 or less because I bought smaller fish and planned on room for them to grow.

You have a second option, and that is building a concrete pond. This could run into real money, but it comes with separate problems. First, the concrete has to have water sit in it for awhile before you put any fish in, to leach out the chemicals which can be toxic. Or, you can paint it with a coating to prevent the leaching and protect the water and fish. Then, if it ever cracks or develops a leak, you have a harder time fixing it without putting your fish at risk. The rubber liners usually have a 10-year guarantee, and if they develop a leak they can be patched more easily and quickly.

There are a multitude of books available - at Lowe's or Home Depot, or Amazon.com - with detailed instructions on building a pond. If you want to have koi in it, however, you need to be sure the pond is at least 4 feet deep at the deepest point, and has an effective filtration system. Your pump can pull the water from the pond into a large tank, set to one side and filled with lava rock, to effectively cleanse the water and provide a source for a waterfall to return the cleansed water to the pond. Lava rock is the medium of choice because it provides a lot of surface area to host the bacteria that do the cleaning for you - and you can purchase the "seed bacteria" to get your organic filter started. Good instructions will include how to aerate the water as it goes into the tank, since these bacteria need lots of oxygen.

I'm going to go see if I can find some sites with detailed instructions for you - more later!