Koi Pond Materials and Equipment
Pond Liner
Your pond liner is the foundation of your entire water garden. It makes little sense to use an off-brand liner to save a few dollars. I recommend using a name brand 45 mil EPDM liner specially formulated for water gardens. Some places sell roofing EPDM that can contain algaecides & fire retardants. This would not be a healthy start to the koi pond. Liner Underlayment is recommended for all pond liners. Underlayment protects pond liners from sharp objects in the soil and stabilizes the ground under the liner to keep it from "over-stretching" .
To calculate the size of liner needed simply measure the surfaces for the length of the pond as shown below and add 2 feet to the total to overlap the edges.
1.5 + 4 + 6 + 4 + 2.5 = 18 + 2 = 20 ft.
Make the same measurements for the side at the deepest and widest end of the pond.
2.5 + 8 + 2.5 = 13 + 2 = 15
This would make the liner 15X20 ft. It is recommended to dig the pond before purchasing the liner to keep from digging the pond bigger than the liner that you purrchased. Click here to use our FREE pond liner size calculator.
Pond Skimmer Filter
The second most important item would be the skimmer. Water is a magnet for windblown debris and leaves. The skimmer will sweep the debris off the surface of the pond into an easy to empty leaf basket, preventing the debris from dropping to the bottom of the pond where it can decompose causing water quality and maintenance issues.Savio pond skimmers are the industry leaders in pond skimming providing durability, ease of maintenance, and versatility with optional add in UV clarifiers to kill free floating algae. . It also has a large pump area and accepts 6, 8.5 and 16 inch weirs. It can handle water capacity up to 8500 GPH. Atlantic Water Gardens makes quality skimmers in sizes capable of 1000 - 9000gph.
Pond Pumps
The pump is the heart beat of the koi pond. With today's energy costs it pays to spend the extra money to buy a high efficiency pump with a high water flow. The most efficient submersible pump for large pond applications is the Pondmaster Hy-Drive 4800 which has an amazing low wattage of 250. External pumps offer a longer life span and are more effecient than submersible pumps. The industry leader for external pond pumps is Seguence pumps. With a service life that routinely exceeds submersible pumps, Sequence® external pumps provide reliability and low cost of ownership that makes them an ideal choice for koi ponds 3,000 gallons and up. Sequence external pond pumps come in sizes from 3300 - 7800GPH and have a 3 year guarantee.
Filters
Many manufactures offer different solutions for biological filter solutions for the koi pond. The one method is incorporating bio-media in a waterfall. Savio has the LivingPond Waterfall Filter . The best external filter by far is the Ultima II series filters by Aqua Ultroviolet. If you plan to keep a high volume of fish these filters add to the biological filtration of the pond and are designed to be incorporated in the waterfall. They can be easily hidden by stacking rocks around them and floating water hyacinths on the top.
UV Clarifier
UV Clarifiers will kill free floating algae and parasites. They are often called clarifiers because the will eliminate the green pea soup look of the water rendering it crystal clear. The Savio Skimmerfilter has built in UV ports to house optional UV clarifiers. Some pressure filters also incorporate UV clarifiers and there are external units as well. Pondmaster offers 3 sizes of UV clarifiers that can be sumersible. Aqua Ultroviolet UV clarifiers have a proven performance that will clear your water in 3 to 5 days, sometimes overnight and keep it that way. Keep in mind that they will not prevent hair algae.