koi pond

I am planning on getting a koi pond.I read on the web that koi can take temps from 55 - 82 degrees Fahrenheit. Is this true?

 

Dont speak Fahrenheit... Koi will survive sub zero (Celsius) conditions under ice by going into a state of suspended animation... anything above 30 deg C,they will realy start strugling due to the inability of the water to hold oxygen...

Koi ponds MUST have a bottom drain lading to a sump - one of these per 15 000liters... Minimum depth of a meter or more,the deeper - the better... Usualy 1.5m to the drin,sloping to 1.2m to the sides...

Koi are animals that demand space - stocking levels of one fish / 1000l is a dead minimum...

 

Thanks.Planning a 36000L koi pond. I want to heat it becuase we dont have a stable weather pattern and that might cause stress.I dont want to breed them.My parents say full grown kois and really like them.So they want 20 koi.

 

Dont bother with heating - a volume like that will have a excelent thermal holding capacity and even in extreme atmospherical temp changes wont duely influence the pond that much.... Like that you are planning to stock less fish than what the pond can max hold.... Even year old fish(like 10cm) will be round the 50 - 60cm mark in 3 years time...

 

@azurekoi - would you need a building permit / plans to install a koi pond in JHB ? Mark_D not sure what you need if any.

Later Ferdie

 

Been building ponds for years and years and have never passed plans with any city council(CT and subsequently in JHB when I lived there and still built ponds...0

Might have been in contravention of some building codes,but know of no regulations covering the building of any water feature or pond.... Worked on building architect designed(they SUCK at it btw...) designed ponds and building inspectors on sites never even looked at the ponds...

 

if it has foundations in needs plans in CPT....

 

@Henk Hugo ... Must be a new by law - when I left CT end 2002,those were not in place yet... Used to subcontract to Stefan Antoni architects - realy on the ball guys,they would have known.. Got no idea if @mark d would need any over in Namibia

 

Ok did some googling .. .found this on another site http://www.koi4u.co.za/index.php?op...ermission&catid=7:pond-construction&Itemid=12

I've always thought that anything deeper than 500mm needs a plan - see they talk here about 300mm. I am sure Namibia would have something like this.

Later F

 

if Stefan is involved there would have been plans submitted.

 

Always worked from detailed archtectural drawings from Stefan... But can honestly say that NEVER in all the ponds i worked on did a building inspector even LOOK at this side of the construction...

@f-fish... So there is bylaws...That would mean that 95% ish of all the 3000 + koi ponds I have visited in my profesional life has not been done to law...lol - Want to see an official tell one of my clients to break down their ponds - think there will be a new definition put into use for the word WAR!!!! ---> Pure koi keepers are a breed apart from the oke with a 3 foot fishtank in the lounge.... They take their hobby even more serious than what we do - guess it comes with the territory if you are willing to drop R10 000 + on a serious koi....

But not here to wrangle over the legallity of building laws(then 80% of all "housing" in SA is illegal...Dont think any building plans has ever been passed for a shack...) - @mark d asked help on the pitfalls of building a koi pond - thats what I want to help him with,so Mark,ask away dude...Building a 36 000 liter pond is costly,and if I can be of any assistance in the process - ask away... After all been working in this industry for a long time.
Also try and get hold of a book called "Living Jewels" by Servaas de Kock and Ronny Watt... Good informative read for keeping koi in Southern African conditions...

 

@azurekoi 100% I hear you .. the DIY koi pond thing is something that I too hope to do one day - well maybe not with koi but a nice BIG pond - will be keeping an eye on the thread - hope Mark posts some pics once he starts building.

Later Ferdie

 

Yeah Ferdie - many pitfalls and even more myths surounding the building of a koi pond - luckily also tried and tested methods that WORK... If one sticks to these,use some common sense and reads a book or two before you start,it's easy..

If i had R10 for every idiot who has walked into my shop and told me they have built a "koi pond" and what now - then finding out they built a glorified water feature thats not even suited to hold a goldfish,I would be a very rich man...lol
Still amazes me that people will spend thousands on the construction of a pond,but not R150 for a basic book on koi...

 

I will ask as I go azurekoi.f-fish I will post pics of everything I do.Im gonna start planning now and maybe in june/july next year the building will begin.

 

Hi all, been away for a few days, so only catching up now...

With regards to rules and regulations of Koi ponds:
The new bylaws they are going to be implementing in Gauteng are going to require submission to council for anything over a certain size and depth. This law is actually for the construction of swimming pools, but covers water features and ponds as well. It's a whole safety issue that has to do with preventing drownings. They are planning on implementing the use of pool fences again because the pool nets have proven useless. You will also HAVE to have some sort of alarm system on any body of water bigger than a certain size that if someone was to fall in the pool, pond, water feature, the alarm will sound.

Also bear in mind that inside each and every single property you have something called a "building line restriction". Meaning you may not build within "x" meters from the road, "y" meters from the side boundary wall, and "z" meters from the back. Each property has unique boundary line restrictions, and is determined by council based on the servidue. (sewer lines, electric lines, telecom etc) If you have any concrete, brickwork, or semi-permanent structure placed over this servitude- if council ever need in service a sewer line, stormwater line etc, they will simply use any means necessary to remove it. (and bill you for the extra work, as well as fine you).

Not that anyone ever polices this type of thing.

I have heard rumours from my pool subcontractor that by 2015 the council will be using satillite imaging to check who has pools, and if you have not conformed to the new rules and regs, they will be taking action. Again, this is possibly just threats.

 

We live on a corner and both walls belong to us. The regulations say that 1.5 meter from the road is government property.

 

You also have regulatory lines INSIDE your property. ALL properties have this, and you will only get this information if you go to council and request a viewing of your plans.

 

ive got a viewing copy of our house plans some where in my house or at the work.My parents dont like it near the wall.So its gonna be in the middle or near the sides of my house.