Many people love their gardens very dearly, and work hard to make them unique and beautiful. And sometimes building a koi pond is exactly the thing to turn their garden from merely beautiful to something distinctive. Koi fish are a brightly colored and patterned species of carp that are now considered Japanese, but which are thought possibly to have originated in Persia. Because of their jewel colors and striking patterns, they are one of the favored kinds of fish in specially built garden ponds, partly as decoration and partly as an enhancement to the natural environment.

Several factors need to be kept in mind as one creates a koi pond. The first, of course, is size. Koi may start small, but they can become rather large, so you have to plan based on their future size. The general recommendation is to have no more than one fish for every 100 gallons of water in the pond. And your pond design should include considerable depth as well, to guard against potential predators. In this regard, experts suggest between five and eight feet.

These ponds need protection in several ways, in fact. The depth will help reduce danger from many sorts of predators, from raccoons, to cats, to kingfishers. Great Blue Herons can do a lot of damage as well, so some builders even recommend placing a bird net over the pond. The fish also need protection from direct sunlight, so a koi pond should have some shade, yet without being directly under trees and getting clogged with falling leaves. Water lilies can help provide some of this needed shading effect.

A good filter and pump are essential for keeping the pond clean, and another very important piece of equipment in a koi pond will be a heater, particularly in a cooler climate. The pond cannot be allowed to freeze over in the winter, so this may be a final limitation on who can create one, and where these fish ponds can be located. In countries that have quite severe winters, it simply might be too risky for the fish, or too expensive for the owner to bring them indoors until spring. But for someone in a climate that can accommodate koi fish ponds, creating this type of feature has the potential to turn their garden into a beautiful jewel.

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