I have kept koi for 20 years, and my wife and two sons take an active interest in our pond which is 14 years old, and is home to 19 koi ranging in sizes from 15 to 29 inches in length. The pond is roughly 18ft quarter circular in shape, and has a depth of 5ft and 6 inches. There are three bottom drains piped to a discharge chamber for the easy removal of waste.

The biological filter system is concealed beneath the walkover bridge and includes 3 chambers. One containing filter brushes, one containing gravel, and the 3rd containing filter matting.

The heart of the system is a one third horsepower swimming pool pump which circulates the water around the pool via a 30 watt ultra violet clarifier, which helps keep the water clear.

The pond including filter contains 5,600 gallons of water. The pond was built using concrete blocks on a 12 inch bed of concrete, and was lined with 3 layers of fibreglass.

Work was completed in six weeks, at a cost of £2000 including, patio, bridge, and pergola.

A pond can be built for a lot less than this, especially if a butyl rubber liner is used instead of fibreglass which is very expensive.

This koi is a soragoi, an almost transluscent appearance with a hint of lilac or light purple colouring at the edges of the fins. The modest elegance of this fish makes it one for the more experienced koi keeper.

The fish to the right is known as a tancho sanke which is one of my favourite types of koi.  A sanke is a white fish with a red and black pattern, and where the only red is on the head of the koi, this makes it a tancho sanke.

Japanese words used to describe koi colours etc.

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Hi,     red.

Sumi,   black.

Ochibashigure,   (blue/grey fish with brown pattern) autumn leaves falling on water.

Tancho,   name given to koi with red circular pattern on head, named after tancho crane. A white bird with the red pattern on it's head.