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  1. #1
    Junior Member Rank = Fry sam sylvester's Avatar
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    asking for advice of getting a koi pond built

    hi all new to this forum my name is sam i am thinking of building a koi pond in my garden would greatly appreciate any advice looking at building a pond 12ft long 6ft wide 6ft deep would you recommend that size also want to get as much info as possible before i make my final decision so im wondering if a few of you would be kind enough to share your knowledge in keeping koi i worked out that the pond will be 12233 litres does that sound about right also the other size i was thinking was the same but only 4ft deep main question is running cost as some people say they are expensive to run others say they are not does anybody know what ruff price id be looking at to run a pond this size aslo what filteration would people go for i was thinking a nexus 220 and still undecided what pump can anybody recommend any thank you



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  3. #2
    Depends how much you want to spend
    You won’t beat a drum for your prefilter or you could use a Draco drop in on a nexus. Cheap drum is £1000 new.
    There’s a thread running now regarding issues with nexus letting through fines so you might read that and change your mind lol.
    Cheapest way to run a pond would be via airlifts but that’s a bit “niche”.
    Modern pumps are pretty low wattage compared to those of even 5 years ago. Decent pump is less than £150.
    I’d say the cost of water is one thing you need to consider if you’re on a meter. 10% change a week will add up.
    Have a read though the build threads to get an idea of what people are doing and see if there’s anyone local you could visit to see how they do things.
    Skoosh’s pond build would be a good one to read through for starters.


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  5. #3
    Senior Member Rank = Supreme Champion freddyboy's Avatar
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    Some real good pointers from BCC
    Same advice. Go look at some ponds around you. To give you ideas.
    How much to spend. Drums are the way to go plus bio after the drum.
    My pond is 7 feet. 6 feet of water. If I rebuilt. I would go 5 feet. Nightmare to catch the fish.
    I went for a larger volume of water. So went deeper.
    As said it's all on budget.
    Just post where you live. Like myself
    Hull. And someone near you will let you know.
    And invite.
    Lot s of builds to follow in the pond builds.
    Welcome mate and good luck with the build
    Fred

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  7. #4
    Moderator Rank = Supreme Champion Feline's Avatar
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    Hiya Sam.
    I agree with Fred that 6 foot would be a bit too deep for a pond of that volume.

    The problem is you end up with a small surface area to volume ratio- which means you cannot stock as many koi in the pond safely as a pond of same volume but shallower.

    Going to visit some ponds is really sound advice- there are all kinds of pitfalls to a first koi pond build, and also we all have different tastes for what is aesthetically pleasing, and how much work we are prepared to do cleaning filters etc.

    If budget will stretch far enough I would design your system around a drum filter, and follow with whatever kind of bio filter you fancy.

    For koi you really need to go for a bottom drain and gravity fed filter system (or else end up wishing you had later on).

    Let us know which way you are thinking of going and we can give you some more opinions

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  9. #5
    Senior Member Rank = Nanasai Gray's Avatar
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    Hi Sam. Welcome along!

    Running costs vary wildly but before jumping in to that part, you need to consider your set-up and build costs as most people (me included!) totally underestimate how much they need to spend, usually by about half.

    Anyways;

    - my pond is approx 3,800 gallons (17,000 litres)

    - running costs of electric and water only are around £60-£80 per month - depends on time of year.


    To give some clues on total costs (if you're curious!) is always a tricky one because everyone's are different but to help out I can share some info on my own pond costs as I wish I'd have known what I was in for before starting off - wouldn't have changed my mind but would've given me a bit of a clue that my budget I had thought of was about half of what I needed!

    I haven't really kept track of all the exact costs but here's what I can tell you off the top of my head:

    - pond build approximately £5,000 including window, fibreglass and concrete - I did the building work myself

    - filtration system (Nexus 320, EA 110 UV, Sequence pump, two Jebao pumps, two EA air pumps, an EA sieve, etc) was approx £4,500 including all the pipes, electric controllers and so on.

    You can spend less on a pond for sure but you get what you pay for and with Koi you do need good quality water and to get that you need good quality gear running it.

    Ideally I'd add a drum to my set up (Freddy keeps telling me to get one and he's 100% right to design yours around one if you can!) which would add another £2k'ish to the costs but I had to stop spending!!!! (for now...)

    Since the initial build went live (July last year) I've probably added maybe £1,000 worth of other bits.

    So I'd guess I've topped out at approx' £10,500-£11,000 (so far!) for mine which is about £3 per gallon roughly.

    In summary, it ain't a cheap thing to go at but well worth the effort and 'investment'.

    Hope this helps?

    Gray.

    P.s. Might be worth seeing someone else's pond set up or a few to get a feel for ideal filters. You'd be welcome to come over my way but I'm an hour away so I'm sure someone might be closer who's open to a visit!
    Last edited by Gray; 11-07-2019 at 02:03 PM. Reason: Added more info.

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