WHEN PLANNING YOUR POND - MAKE IT AS LARGE AS POSSIBLE!!

I cannot stress this point enough. Probably the biggest regret most pond owners have is that they did not build their pond big enough. One customer relayed this advice that was given to him while he was planning his pond: Plan your pond, then double the size. He said it was the best advice anyone ever gave him.

It is important to make your pond adequately deep, even if you are not building a large pond. Shallow ponds tend to heat up too much in the summer months and freeze solid in the winter. The minimum deepest point for any pond should be 24". If you are planning on putting goldfish in the pond make at least 36". Ponds for koi should be a minimum 48" to give them adequate room to grow and properly develop. People often don't think that they are going to put fish in their pond, but 9 times out of 10 they end up with goldfish and koi in small shallow ponds. 

One of the most important components of a pond is the filter, and most people have filters that are undersized for the pond volume or the amount of fish present in the pond. A properly sized filter means better water quality, healthier fish and less maintenance for you! If you can afford it, step up to the next biggest filter that you are planning to buy, you won't regret it.  

Shelves for plants are not a critical in pond design, but having shelves is much easier than trying to arrange your plants on blocks or upside-down pails. Having shelves at various depths allows for placement of plants that have different requirements. Make the first shelf 12" deep for most marginal plants, 24" deep is great for most submerged plants and water lilies (36" for large varieties). Having shelves deeper than 36" is not usually necessary.  

Not only is it easier to build a pond with rubber liner than a preformed rigid pond, you can make it look much more natural and make it any size, shape and depth. The majority of preformed ponds are 18" to 22" deep, plus you have to dig a hole to fit the exact shape of the shell.   

A well planned and equipped pond does not require that much maintenance. Having the proper sized pump and filter make a world of difference. There is always some extra work in the spring getting your pond started up, but most people look forward to working outside after a long winter. The most common problem in the spring is battling with string algae or free floating algae, but these can be controlled fairly easily. Once the pond has reached a 'biological balance' the summer months often go quite smoothly with  biweekly or monthly filter cleaning. Again in the fall there is extra work making sure the pond is free from tree leaves and excess organic matter for the winter.  

Although it is true that koi will sometimes eat the roots of floating plants or the new growth of water lilies, this usually only happens only some of the time. On the other hand, koi do love to 'root around' in newly potted plant, they can empty a pot of almost all the soil in a few hours causing very murky pond water. That is why it is a good idea to put a layer of gavel on top of all new plants, the bigger your fish the bigger the gravel. The roots will soon fill the pot preventing the koi from doing any harm.