Koi Ponds Are Beautiful But Should You Build One
Koi ponds bring good luck according to Japanese tradition. People worldwide enjoy the serenity that comes from watching Koi calmly swimming in their backyard ponds. Raising them in your own Koi pond is a great hobby, and Koi are sure to brighten your life and perhaps bring you a little luck.
I built a small, about 1500 gallons, pond in the backyard of my home in Oregon. I dug the hole myself using only a shovel and bought all supplies from local stores. Looking back, that was one of the most satisfying things I ever did.
Building a Koi pond is not something you should rush into. Koi ponds require time and money to build. Many people fail because they do not put in the time and work required to plan and build their ponds. Before starting this most satisfying hobby, make sure you are willing to do the work. If you are, you will enjoy building and maintaining a beautiful Koi pond and marvel at the beautiful Koi fish swimming in your creation for years to come.
What Is So Special About Koi?
The are several reasons people who raise Koi will tell you about Koi that makes them excited about their chosen hobby.
Koi Have Personality
Each Koi is a unique fish, and each will act differently. They are social creatures, enjoy your company, and soon will be eating from your hands. The more you observe them, the more you will learn that they are individuals with their own personalities and traits.
Koi Live A Long Time
A Koi named Hanako has the longest recorded lifespan of a Koi, over 226 years. If your fish live that long, you probably won’t be there to celebrate their last birthday! You can expect your healthy Koi to live an average of about 30 years. If you are looking for a pet, other than a parrot, that will live a long time; Koi may be a perfect choice.
Koi Are A Beautiful Fish
The vibrant colors of a well-bred Koi can be stunning. The bright reds, whites, blacks, and other colors that grace the skin of these magnificent fish have to be seen to be believed. You may have heard that Koi are carp, and indeed they are. But don’t confuse Koi with the drab carp you may have seen in your local rivers or lakes.
Koi Grow To Be Big Fish
You can find Koi in your local pet store in display tanks that hold other freshwater fish. They may only be a few inches long, and you could easily keep them in your aquarium for a while. But Koi are fast-growing and will soon grow too big for most indoor fish tanks. The average length of an adult Koi is over 3 feet. It is the size and colors that make Koi such an appealing fish to raise.
Before you rush to Petsmart and bring home a dozen or so small Koi, put on the brakes for a minute and think about what you will do with them after a few months! They will need a big home, and that is why you will need a pond.
Koi Ponds Can Be Good For You
Is there any better way to relax than sitting beside a peaceful pond, shipping a cool drink, listening to the soothing sounds of water cascading from a waterfall, and watching beautiful Koi tranquil movements? Just thinking about it should lower your blood pressure and make your stressful day quickly fade away.
Koi Ponds May Increase Property Values
Whether a pond or other water feature will increase your property’s value can not definitely be proven one way or another. The primary reason to build a Koi pond is for your own enjoyment, but it is reasonable to consider what will happen if you need to sell your property.
Like the answer to so many complicated questions, the unsatisfactory conclusion to whether your property value will go up is: it depends. Some buyers will see the pond as a definite plus. They may be willing to pay extra for that feature. Others will only see it as something that will require work and money to maintain. And you pays your money, and you takes your choice! (Mark Twain in “Huckleberry Finn”).
Koi Ponds Are Good For Your Family
Children love watching Koi fish and feeding them by hand. They may actually spend some time away from television and their iPad. If you make the pond a family project, they will help build it and take pride in the finished product.
Koi Ponds Are Good For The Environment
A Koi pond will increase plant growth in your yard, which is good for air quality. Plants remove carbon dioxide from the air. We might even solve global warming if everyone would build a Koi pond. Birds and butterflies will flock to your backyard.
The fish in your pond will reduce the fly and mosquito population. This may sound a bit counterintuitive since mosquitos seem to swarm around lakes and other bodies of water. That is because there are areas of stagnant water with no fish to eat those pesky insects. Your pond will not be stagnant, and your fish will instantly devour any mosquitos or its larvae.
Are There Any Reasons Not To Build A Koi Pond
Building and maintaining a Koi Pond, in my opinion, is one of the best hobbies you can have. But, of course, not all is sunshine and roses. They cost money. Money to build and money to maintain.
You will have to protect your pond. You may see your Koi as beautiful, peaceful pets. Blue heron and raccoons see them as lunch. From experience, I know how painful it can be to find only a few fish scales remaining after a raccoon had a tasty meal of one of my fish.
Koi fish can be very cheap or very expensive. You can buy small Koi in a pet store for just a few dollars. Or you can buy a large Koi for several hundreds of dollars or even a million dollars! How would you feel if a heron or raccoon dined on a fish you paid mucho deniro to buy.
Accentuate The Positive, Eliminate The Negative
The benefits of building and enjoying the peaceful beauty of a pond stocked with colorful and friendly Koi far exceed any to the drawbacks. Build it, and they will come, the birds, the bees, the butterflies, the flowers, the plants. The benefits will endure; the problems will become minor. Peace and love, that’s a Koi fish pond!
Originally posted 2022-10-18 07:31:40.
