Koi ponds aren’t your typical water feature. Building an artificial habitat at home that can support your koi requires meticulous design and precise execution, and there’s both an art and a science to their installation. But like many other time-honored Japanese traditions, mastery takes time and patience, more than most of us are able to spare. The good news is that we can share our professional insights to help ensure your koi pond will be everything you’ve dreamed of and more, much more.

Let’s start with some specifications. From our experience there are three basic rules of thumb to follow, with the first being to design your koi pond at least 3 feet deep so that fish have plenty of room to swim and cohabitate. Secondly, and in the same vein, we recommend approximately 25 square feet of pond per koi fish it plans to house. And lastly, and not totally irrespective of your koi pond’s dimensions, your koi pond should contain no less than 1000 gallons of water. If you follow these three guidelines your koi will be happy and healthy so you can be too! But there’s something else your koi demand besides adequate space and that’s adequate shade. Water plants are a necessity to afford these shaded underwater spaces and they should cover about 15 – 30% of your pond’s surface. More than just shading, water plants also support a healthy ecosystem and can provide a source of food and filtration depending on the chosen plant species.

But our final recommendation is perhaps the most important – use small rocks in your koi pond’s design. Why is this so important? Well beneath the rocks, pockets of hydrogen can form and initially lay dormant. With time, these pockets can grow to the point of bursting, and trust us, that would not be good for the fish. You can avoid this problem in the first place by opting for smaller rocks that are light enough to prevent the formation of these dangerous pockets of gas. But if you already know a thing or two about koi ponds, then you might be wondering how to hold down the liner, or the material used to keep pond water from escaping into your home or garden that’s often held in place with larger rocks and debris. The answer is polyurea koi ponds.