My current pond build!

[Roryf]

okay, so at the moment I am in the process of building a pond in my garden. I used to be a fish maniac, but the hobby died down and then ended due to sports. But now im keen on getting back into it all. but this time not tropical but a pond!! (I cant wait)

I know things shouldn't be rushed so i have planned it all out and have dug the foundations for the cement as i am building the pond 2 feet above ground and 2 and a half feet below ground.

The pond is roughly 8 feet long and 5 feet wide, but im completely new to all this so i was wondering about different things i should take into account such as Best types of liner, heater mat (as i live in england i am guessing some kind of heating will be required of my pond)

Also The main question i wanted to ask was how to breed these fish. I know they will only breed if there is enough space to do so, so i will probably only get a few koi, and see what happens. but if you could give me a list of things i might need to breed koi.

Also here are a few other questions on my thread i posted on the breeding page, but i soon realised not many koi people were viewing....

Is my pond big enough?

How many koi should i put in my pond if i want to leave room for breeding to take place?

how many young will they spawn?

I live in England, is the conditions too cold?

what are the best conditions?

What species of koi are best suggested for me to breed?

Many thanks, hope i get some great feedback

 

[Laticauda]

It seems that posts here don't get a lot of attention, maybe if you put it in "Outdoor Ponds" section? I'm sorry people haven't been more active to answer your questions that you have. I hope you get some clarity soon.

 

[koienterprise]

What part of England are you in? I can probably direct you to a local koi dealer in your area that is an active member of Shinkokai. As for a good start on koi pond building liturature, you can look into the book koi kichi. Others have been published since then however I feel this covers alot of the basic principles of proper koi pond building. I think you'll find that many of your questions that need answering will fall under your overall Pond & Life Support System design. I hope this helps you and others will chim in

 

[Roryf]

I live in essex, basically ontop of london. My pond is partially built now, its all cemented around the edges, now i just have to dig the inside and line it, im thinking of making it 5 feet deep, will i see the koi much at this depth, really glad you posted on this thread. everything is based in america on here and the weather conditions are so different.

 

[koienterprise]

I live in essex, basically ontop of london. My pond is partially built now, its all cemented around the edges, now i just have to dig the inside and line it, im thinking of making it 5 feet deep, will i see the koi much at this depth, really glad you posted on this thread. everything is based in america on here and the weather conditions are so different.

Yes you are correct in geographical location is very important to take into consideration when building such a pond. I googled your area to see your weather patternes. -3C..OUCH =) It would be wise to mention now about heating. Although koi can tolorate a wide temp range I often remind hobbyist that there is a difference between optimal living conditions and survival. Your koi fish would benefit from keeping temps from changing too drastically ( ie. Depth of pond/heating) preferably no lower than 55F. In the koi world there is a debate wether or not koi are 4 season animals and I personally believe that they do benifit in experiencing 4 seasons however with the interbreeding that has taken place over all these years winter is tough on them. For that reason I personally believe in a cooling down period kept from falling below 55F. If you have any pics of your project please post

 

[rain21]

Is my pond big enough? yes
How many koi should i put in my pond if i want to leave room for breeding to take place?
about 5 or 4

I live in England, is the conditions too cold? yes
what are the best conditions? more than 20C + will be better

me and one of my friends have koi, but didn't breed > if you wanna more info pm me, I will show u my friend's koi pond, its not very big

 

[Roryf]

I have pictures, i stopped working on it for the holidays purely because i was hungover most mornings and it gets dark around 4pm here so hungover pond digging don't sound so fun does it! but I will start again on the second of feb. and hopefully have a couple of pictures on by next week. I am going to buy a filter that handles twice the capacity of my pond volume (2000G) i recently adjusted it a bit to make the pond around 1000 gal's