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Building a Koi Pond (Page 3 of 4)
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3)
Away from roots and falling leaves.
Many
ponds have been torn asunder by the unstoppable roots of giant
trees. To prevent this from happening to you, you should
locate your pond away from trees, or you should choose the trees
around your pond. In our local setting, I prefer palm trees
around my pond - they're beautiful, sturdy, not messy, shady, and
most of all, their roots can't damage your pond. Beware of
trees that shed a lot of leaves as well. Leaves that drop on
the pond must be netted out of the water at once. Otherwise, they
add to the decomposing organic matter in the pond, and takes a heavy
toll on your filters.
Figure 4. Keeping
your pond away from
destructive trees is a good
idea
4)
Availability of Utilities.
Another
reason why you want your pond close to your home is the availability
of utilities. A pond that is beyond a water hose's reach from
the faucet or away from electrical outlets will be a source of
headache early on. If you still prefer to have a pond
away from the house, then be prepared to shell out a few extra bucks
for additional piping and electrical works.
Materials and Construction
The pond concept, location, and
size have been established. It's time to make actual designs
of your pond. Look at as many ponds as you can, so you'll have a
sizeable idea of what can be done. Slowly turn your ideas into
a real design on paper. Investing time and effort to
design your pond up-front will make your pond project much easier.
There are many materials
available for constructing ponds. Among the most popular ones
for the purpose are PVC pond liners, butyl rubber pond liners,
concrete, and fiberglass.
Pond liners
are the easiest to use, but they're not as long-lasting as
well-prepared concrete or fiberglass. They're also
relatively expensive, with the butyl rubber liner being more
expensive than the PVC liner because of its higher strength than the
latter. Liners are prone to tearing, so an underlay is put
under the liner itself to protect it from rocks and other sharp
objects. Constructing a pond using a liner is very easy:
1) dig a hole to the required shape and size; 2) remove sharp rocks
and objects from the hole; 3) put the underlay over the hole; 4) put
the liner over the underlay; and 5) straighten out the creases of
the liner as the pond is filled with water.
Concrete
probably offers the lowest initial building cost, but its
maintenance may turn out to be expensive in the long run if it is
improperly prepared. If you're not adept with using
concrete, hire a professional to make sure that the pond will not be
prone to cracking. Be sure to reinforce your concrete pond
with deformed bars and to install a center drain at the bottom of
the pond. Good waterproofing is a basic requirement of
concrete ponds. Aside from mixing in some water-proofing
powder in the concrete during construction, it would also be a good
idea to paint the finished pond over with water-proofing material.
Pay extra attention to joints and crevices, which are the most
common leakage points in a concrete pond.
Fiberglass
is more expensive than concrete, but it has an indefinite lifetime.
Just beware of its tendency to crack if subjected to excessive
stress or impact force. For example, you can not step inside a
fiberglass pond if you are not sure if its bottom surface is evenly
supported by the ground underneath. Fiberglass can
be easily shaped into any form and is inherently water-proof as long
as its coating has no imperfections. There are many
off-the-shelf fiberglass ponds in the market today, so this is for
you if you want to spare yourself from the effort of constructing a
pond using concrete or liners. Unfortunately, the sizes of the
preformed fiberglass ponds are limited, with the larger ones
naturally commanding very hefty prices.
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