Installing Your New Pond Liner.

Installing a Koi pond can be very rewarding. Here are some easy to follow directions for creating your own wonderful water garden in your yard:

You will need to choose the location where you will be placing your pond carefully as there are several factors that must be considered. You should find a location that receives approximately 6 or more hours of sunlight daily and you do not want to place your pond under any large tree's as the falling leaves can affect water quality and digging your pond may be problematic if roots are in the way. Before beginning your dig you will want to create a pond shape by using a length of rope of a hose to give you a guideline when digging.

On to the digging.. You will want to create a pond with different dimensions and levels to add more detail and to allow the fish and plants to thrive. A shallow ledge will allow for the fish in your pond to feed and for plants to flourish while having deeper areas will give the fish more security from predators. The standard depth for your shallow ledges should be between 8 and 16 inches and the deeper levels should be between 17 and 40 inches. If you live in a colder climate where freezing can take place it is recommended that you go approximately 32 to 40 inches in depth.

Once you have dug your initial pond you should line the bottom with either sand or carpet pad to protect your pond liner from roots and rocks.

Once you have lined your pond with the base liner you can then place the pond liner over the hole and pushing it into place. Use rocks or bricks to hold the pond liner in place while you begin filling it with water.

You will want your liner to overlap the edges by approximately 1 or 2 inches so you will want to trim the excess material once your pond is filled and the shape is correct. You can then create a border to hold the overlapping edges of material in place using rock or stone.

If you are installing a fountain or waterfall you will then need to install the filtration and circulating system for your pond. Check with a local fish supplier or hardware store that specializes in outdoor ponds for the correct chemicals to use to treat your pond to avoid algae buildup. This is very important as some chemicals can be harmful to your fish. You should wait about 30 days from the day you first treat your pond with the initial douse of chemicals before adding your fish or plants to the pond. This will allow for the water quality to be at its best. Remember to feed your fish 2 or 3 times per day, but only feed them as much as they can eat in a couple of minutes as overfeeding can cause illness to your fish and poor water quality if the old food is allowed to sit in the water for extended periods of time.