my Zen Water Garden and Koi Pond

[MMAX]

Good lookin pond. I have a 15' X 9' with a 4 step waterfall/stream. I comtimplated putting up a hut over it last fall but I went with the de-icer and one of my pumps pushing the warm water across the pond. I shut the main waterfalls off and just went with this system. The only problem with this is that it's murder on your power bill. I've read that running a de-icer is like leaving a hair blower on 24/7. What do you do though, all my fish survived. I went deeper with mine, about 38" in the middle, just make sure you have a 6' locking gate around the enclosure. I'll have to throw a few pics of mine in here. It's been running for about 3 years, looks good with all the plants grown in and the flowers blooming.

[kien]

Blooms!

[kien]

Fish!

[fishytime]

Ive always thought koi were purdy ( I have a koifish tat on my leg)......do you have any crazy expensive ones ??

[lastlight]

Love the shots man! Is that one plant anubias?

[kien]

Originally Posted by lastlight

Love the shots man! Is that one plant anubias?

Nope. Don't have any of those. I think you are referring to the Pickerel Rush (Pondeteria cordata). They are currently in bloom too actually but I figured I'd already maxed out my pansy quotient for the day.

My big water gardening experiment this year is trying to grow blue Nile River water lilies and water lotus from seed Last year I did manage to grow a water lotus from seed and get a few leaves from the seed. However, I made the mistake of placing them in the pond too soon and the fish at them

</pansy>

[kien]

Originally Posted by Dez

Love the pink lily. I'll have to get me one of those after my pond is built.

Ya, the pink is my fav. I have two pinks, a white and a yellow. Have had the 4 for the past three years and they have all bloomed every year quite well.

Originally Posted by fishytime

Ive always thought koi were purdy ( I have a koifish tat on my leg)......do you have any crazy expensive ones ??

Koi bring me a different level of enjoyment from watching my saltwater fish. The big differences being, I can sit by my pond and hand feed my koi and pet them as they swim by. They are so graceful and peaceful to watch from overhead as they glide through the water. The reef fish are quite different to watch as they are always darting around quickly, chasing each other.

I don't have any crazy expensive koi. The most expensive koi I have was $150 that I got when he was 6". He's now 20" and probably worth $500-$1000. All of the other koi were purchased at about the same length or smaller. They grow very fast. I have a lot of inexpensive American koi and mutts. Nothing showy other than that one I mentioned. I'm not really interested in the expensive showy fish. There are lots of pretty koi out there that are reasonably priced. I also have various goldfish, Sarasa, comets, Shubunkins, etc..