When deciding on the size of pond, its location in your garden you will be starting the journey towards maybe your first or upgraded environment that will become the home for your KOI and all the aspects that influence this new home will dramatically impact the amount of time you spend viewing versus fire fighting to maintain good health.
My own experiences have seen me build at least 10 ponds in different locations and each one has benefited from my learnings from the previous mistakes that have resulted in increased maintenance activities, performing medical intervention when things go wrong and in most cases both of these aspects can be avoided, by careful planning and seeking as much advice ahead of even putting a spade in the ground.
Some basic rules to take into account when researching.
The larger the volume of the pond will directly impact the size of filtering, medication but will also allow you to keep more KOI
Filters come in many shapes and sizes. Automatic filters like Drums can look after themselves but are more expensive. Filter system require the ability to remove solids from the waste water that needs to be circulated at least once an hour for the total volume. The filter also required a biological capability to convert the KOI waste products into water that can sustain a healthy KOI eco-system.
It is always advisable to have a drain in the bottom of the pond to extract the water into the filter. Again this will save cleaning time and increase enjoyment time.
So the new pond has been completed and we al get excited about filling it up with our favorite variety of Koi as soon as possible.
But one of the largest mistakes with a new pond is to over stock it before the Nitrification cycle has had time to establish we can take a few months depending on the time of year, stocking levels of KOI and of course the filter system. In any filter system we have the requirement to remove solids through some kind of mechanical filtration like drums, filter matts. Both work extremely well but matts will require more hands on maintenance as once full of solids the filter will start to lose its efficiency.
The second part of the filter provides the biological piece which is the most important for Koi health. We mention that this part of your filter should be sized large enough to cope with the volume of fish and Koi. The more Koi you have will generate more ammonia which will need to be broken down by the nitrogen cycle. It takes many weeks for the required bacteria to start growing on your filter material and it will go though many stages before it reaches the stage of being able to convert all of your fish waste into the safe levels of Nitrites and Nitrates required.
One other level that needs to be maintained at a safe level is the Ph. Large fluctuations in Ph can have a really dramatic impact on your Koi and they can react badly or even die.
We all take our tap water as being of a high quality, however depending on your location it can contain high levels of Chlorine or Chloramine and Copper. So its always best to test your tap water and add pre filters to remove these chemicals. Chlorine going into your filter will kill your friendly bacteria and stop the filter working bacterially and can lead to fish deaths.
When introducing new fish to your pond you should always float them in the bag or container that they arrived in to allow the equalisation of water temperatures as a 1 degree difference in temperature feels like 3 degrees to a koi, so large differences can result in a shock to the Koi.
Never tip the water from the Koi supplier into your pond, instead gently lift the Koi out of the bag or container and place it into your pond.
It is always best to introduce a small number of Koi over many weeks to enable your filter to slowly develop without overloading it.
New filters can benefit from the introduction of friendly bacteria which is available from your Koi stockist or online and these can help to shorten the time taken to achieve a working filter.
Water quality is something that needs to be checked on a regular basis as well as keeping a watch on the behaviour of your Koi as this can provide an early warning about possible health issues due to water qualiity.
A wide range of test kits are available that provide and easy method to monitor the key parameters of Ammonia Nh3, Nitrite NO2, Nitrate NO3, Ph and temperature as a minimum. I would suggest weekly tests whilst the filter is gaining maturity and if you see high levels Ammonia or Nitrite then partial water changes of 10-50% should be performed using a suitable pre filter on your tap water as we mentioned Chlorine will kill off the beneficial bacteria that you have been working hard to encourage. We have all made that mistake as some point during the hobby.