Fitz’s Fish Ponds started building this project in the summer of 2018. The customer, who is a koi fish enthusiast, had a blank canvas for his courtyard and wanted a beautiful water feature to be the centerpiece. I knew the type of koi the customer likes, so we recommended he build a formal, 10,000 gal. dedicated koi pond.
Before we broke ground on this project, there was a lot of planning involved with the homeowner about the exact location for the pond and fountain. There’s only one chance to do a project like this. Once you pour the concrete, run the plumbing lines, and apply the fiberglass, any additional changes could become a very burdensome task.
Our team did incur a few challenges along the way due to the hot summer weather and slight delays in getting materials on site. However, despite those obstacles, we were able to complete this project in just five weeks.
A beautiful element of this project is the formal limestone coping. It sits just above the water level and gives a finished and flooded look. This is a key feature given that the pond is gravity fed for its filtration. Setting the water level at the exact grade to match the gravity fed Nexus filtration system is crucial for the system to work properly.
A major reason why the pond stays so clean is because we set up two Nexus 320 filters with automated systems, a K1 Microbead Filter and two, 55 Watt evoUVs. We wanted to use reliable and trustworthy equipment that we’re confident will be running for years to come. We knew that Evolution Aqua Filters could handle a pond of this magnitude with a heavy fish load. Our service team performs maintenance on this koi pond and frequently checks it to make sure all aspects of the filtration system are working as planned to keep the koi and this customer happy.
Given that this pond is constructed with a very durable fiberglass lining rather than a traditional liner, there are no seams for leaves and debris to get trapped. The plumbing to and from the pond consists of two bottom drains returning water to the Nexus filters, two skimmers feeding water to the K1 Microbead filters, and six return jets on the side walls for circulation so it does not allow any debris to settle. There’s also water returning from the filtration system to the fountain center piece in the pond. With this amount of filtration and circulation throughout this pond, everything is removed from the water so the pond stays crystal clear and you can see every scale on the koi.
Take notice about where the placement of the koi pond is and the fountain. We put the fountain in the exact center of the courtyard to form the heart of the yard just like the customer dreamt of in the planning stages. Small details like this make a huge impact on large scale projects and that’s why customers trust Fitz Fish Ponds to build their dream water feature.
This pond is also perfect for housing high quality koi. Every time we come back to visit this pond it is amazing to see how big the koi are able to grow living in such a large space. Many of the Koi I personally handpicked when I was in Japan, so it’s really special to see these koi happy, healthy and living in a great environment.
Even though this was a large scale project, our team pays the same attention to details on all pond builds and renovations no matter the size. To build projects like this from beginning to end is really fun for us and we love to build them! If you have any questions about this project, feel free to reach out to us.
