[schildkoi]

Quote: Originally Posted by mikegarcia Carolina Girl Thanks for your observations. I have built hundreds of watergardens. In all my years of doing such, I have only been asked twice to build a traditional Koi Pond. I turned down the jobs because I did not want to get into settlement chambers and uv lights. In my experience, people don't generally ask for Koi Ponds because frankly, the number of water gardens to actual Koi Ponds is very lopsided. Tons of advertising is out there for water gardens. If there is advertising for traditional Koi Ponds, it is very little, In fact, I haven't seen any in my area! I have never tried to talk someone into a watergarden who had wanted a traditional Koi Pond. I can't speak for others. I can't see how a person (client) could pay thousands of dollars for something they they didn't want in the first place. The old saying "buyer beware" is true whenever a person is shopping, especially for big ticket items.

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That bolded section is so very true. But here's the rub, most "clients" don't really know what they want. Most R&G installers either a) don't know the differences or b) don't explain the differences between a koi pond and a watergarden. The "a" option can be dealt with through eduction but that "b" option is what can be really upseting, especially in light of the fact that many of the R&G marketing literature depicts koi in an R&G pond. I am sure you saw the ADI pamphlet regarding the 20 or so "Myths" concerning ponds? A few years back, I diseted every one of ADI's points showing how totally wrong each of their points were and this is a company (as you know) that has had the facts explained to them time and time again over the years and yet they were still putting out this very misleading literature as "marketing". That leaves the impression with those who actually know better that its an intentional misrepresentation and the uniformed buyer is the victim. Although "Let the buyer beware" may be true, "intentional misrepresentation" is the foundation for many legal actions.

Here's a few questions for you to consider:

Do you survey prospective clients as to what their "wants" really are? Do they want fish? If so, what types and size and how many? Then, based on those questions do you know what the actual capabilities of the proposed pond really are and give the "clients" a dos and don't list? Such as the numbers of fish (types and size) that the pond is designed for? Do you spell out the required maintenance program and any associated costs?

Now, as for your own "koi" pond that you are planning, what depth? what structure? Have you gotten the plans certified by an engineer (I believe that is a California requirement by the way). As you progress, I would strongly recommend that you post your design and specifications for some review here. That could save you a lot of heartache later.

Steve