New Koi Pond Build apox 8'x12'

[Landman]

So if I'm understanding this correctly, the pipes covered with gravel are situated within the pond. The water gets pulled down through the gravel, then returns to the pond. What is the recommended depth of gravel?

It's kind of like having my (exterior) bog constructed under water, in the bottom of the pond, and the water flowing in the opposite direction (as mine does).

That's quite interesting.

About 6" of gravel. It does sound similar to the reverse of a bog minus the plants. Not my picture but it shows the grid.

 

[CometKeith]

About 6" of gravel. It does sound similar to the reverse of a bog minus the plants. Not my picture but it shows the grid.

Hi. So I built a bog recently. Its in my posts in pond photography under my goldfish pond. The reason I mention it is until I had my pvc pipe up and running on the bottom of the bog I just had some stone sitting in the bog pit and I was running water into the pit and it flowed black to my pond. The week I had that going helped to clear up my pond. The bog worked much better but it was interesting just some stone with water running over it helped a lot. So most Koi ponds don’t have planting shelves because the Koi will find a way to eat their roots. It’s better to skip the shelves and find a way to plant your plants on the edge of the pond but in a way your Koi can’t get to them. Also I’m kinda a purist when it comes to Koi but if you are serious about keeping Koi I’m guessing you will want to learn about them over time. For that reason I suggest you get Tosai which are juvenile Koi. By buying Tosai they will start out smaller than typical Koi but you can get better quality for the same money if you go with babies than trying to buy mature fish at whatever your budget is. If you do get goldfish ie comets or shubunkins they are a lot of fun to watch in the spring when they go through their mating ritual and chase each other all over the pond!

 

[poconojoe]

About 6" of gravel. It does sound similar to the reverse of a bog minus the plants. Not my picture but it shows the grid.

Wow!

 

[GBBUDD]

Wow!

Lol i can see @poconojoe doing the math on how many pickup truck loads he would have to move with his shovel and saying............ ah yup NOPE

 

[poconojoe]

Lol i can see @poconojoe doing the math on how many pickup truck loads he would have to move with his shovel and saying............ ah yup NOPE

Yeah, ah yup NOPE! That setup is huge!
Maybe it can be dropped by helicopter? You know, a Chinook, one of those big ones with the two rotors.

 

[GBBUDD]

Yes, i know well we use sky cranes on many projects.

 

[Landman]

Another question would you use 2 liners one 25x25 and one for the falls or just one liner 25x30 to do the pond and the falls.

 

[Landman]

Hi. So I built a bog recently. Its in my posts in pond photography under my goldfish pond. The reason I mention it is until I had my pvc pipe up and running on the bottom of the bog I just had some stone sitting in the bog pit and I was running water into the pit and it flowed black to my pond. The week I had that going helped to clear up my pond. The bog worked much better but it was interesting just some stone with water running over it helped a lot. So most Koi ponds don’t have planting shelves because the Koi will find a way to eat their roots. It’s better to skip the shelves and find a way to plant your plants on the edge of the pond but in a way your Koi can’t get to them. Also I’m kinda a purist when it comes to Koi but if you are serious about keeping Koi I’m guessing you will want to learn about them over time. For that reason I suggest you get Tosai which are juvenile Koi. By buying Tosai they will start out smaller than typical Koi but you can get better quality for the same money if you go with babies than trying to buy mature fish at whatever your budget is. If you do get goldfish ie comets or shubunkins they are a lot of fun to watch in the spring when they go through their mating ritual and chase each other all over the pond!

Thanks I really wanted a water lily I thought I would plant it in a pot and place large rocks around the pot so that the Koi would leave the roots alone. Also thought my Koi would like the shade. But I might just skip that plant I will still be having some horse tail on the outside edge of my pond behind the big edge rocks. Maybe I could build a small bog in that spot I'm still in the thinking stages.

 

[GBBUDD]

i would use one if you have enough help to move the liner but using two is ok so long as you have enough over lap between them. Most of the time when people start having leaks in there pond it is at the waterfall so one piece can help eliminate that

 

[CometKeith]

Thanks I really wanted a water lily I thought I would plant it in a pot and place large rocks around the pot so that the Koi would leave the roots alone. Also thought my Koi would like the shade. But I might just skip that plant I will still be having some horse tail on the outside edge of my pond behind the big edge rocks. Maybe I could build a small bog in that spot I'm still in the thinking stages.

Hi. if you are just thinking about lilies it's pretty easy to tie the containers they are in to plastic crates with plastic ties and set the crates on the bottom. Having the crates with holes in them will give a place for babies to hide if you like having them in your pond. I have shelves now and am thinking of getting rid of them. When I built the pond I didn't have any Koi and now it's pretty useless putting plants with them. They are like a bunch of kids. They will ignore the plants and then all of a sudden a bunch of the fish group around a plant and take turns biting on their roots almost like its a contest who can make the biggest mess!

 

[GBBUDD]

I disagree i have all kinds of plants in my pond with the koi. yes they like to flip rocks but they don't dig deep unless they get a taste of a root. Yellow and peacock iris . for get me nots, 5 types of lilly, Egyptian palm. frog bit, black taro, parot feather, hornwart, pickerel rush are all in the pond and they koi have got to a couple of them and i just built stone walls around the plants yes they got to a couple of the plants but it showed me ways to keep them out of the plants. The best way to keep them oit is to dig potting holes before you place your liner push the liner into the hole that way the roots are only vulnerable from the top. and if you place enough stone 3/4 and larger they won't get to your plants.

 

[Landman]

Hello everybody I thought I would share an update with you. Not much to see but I have been digging out my pond by hand I'm at 4 ft, one more foot to go. I don't think I'm much into digging but I can't help myself even though I'm not completely sure about my design I can't help myself I wan't to dig. The ground is very rocky I removed a 50 pound boulder yesterday I think I will use it in the bottom of the pond. I'm trying not to dig to much until I have a good idea of what I'm going to do. I decided to only have one shelf and for my water lily I will just stack some rocks put the pot on top and surround it with boulders to keep my Koi away from the roots. I also managed to collect about 10 more soccer ball sized river boulders from the nearby forest. Enjoy

 

[GBBUDD]

I CANT STRESS ENOUGH TO COME UP WITH A DESIGN , YOU MAY NOT FOLLOW IT VERBADUM BUT FEW SELDOM DO. what you really want to do is figure out rock or no rock . Your shelves for rocks and or plants. The circulation , fish no fish theres so much to consider before you open. Things up and figure its to steep or too deep .

 

[Landman]

I CANT STRESS ENOUGH TO COME UP WITH A DESIGN , YOU MAY NOT FOLLOW IT VERBADUM BUT FEW SELDOM DO. what you really want to do is figure out rock or no rock . Your shelves for rocks and or plants. The circulation , fish no fish theres so much to consider before you open. Things up and figure its to steep or too deep .

I guess I should clarify I have the shape I want and my 9" edge for my edge stones I know I want 5 ft deep with rock and one shelf I'm not sure yet on my waterfall side so I'm leaving that alone as I look at my rocks and try to visualize what I want to do and where I will put my first level of my falls. Also because of rain and worrying about washing my shelf out i tried not to dig at the actual edges yet untill I get my liner. It might be a good 6 months before I have the funds to buy my supply's but I'll get there. Here are some of the rocks i just found along with some that I already had.

 

[TheFishGuy]

following along

sounds like a fun pond build!