Any good books on pond construction?

[Family Zoo]

I am looking for book recommendations on pond construction. We plan on doing most of, if not all the install ourselves. We have an area behind or pool about 60 feet by 30 feet that we want to place the pond.

We live in north of Jacksonville, Fl. Our soil is dense grey clay about 5 inches down.

A few of our neighbors have earth ponds about 30 feet in diameter and about 8 feet deep with either a waterfall and or a fountain. A couple of the neighbors have a few Koi in the ponds (along with other fish and maybe turtles). The ponds look great but it’s difficult to see the Koi (or any fish) because of the water clarity being very low.

I’m leaning towards an earth pond if I can get the clarity issue figured out. If not, then depending on material costs it will either be a concrete or lined pond.


I’ve also cleared a spot in our front yard of trees that is about 100 X 100 feet that we also want to place a large earth pond. I have been contemplating doing this one first to gain the experience.

[CarolinaGirl]

If you build an earth pond and stock it with koi, you will not get nice clear water. Koi love to root and dig in the mud. They will keep the water pretty well churned up. Most of the koi hobbiests that do use mud (or earth) ponds, only keep the koi in the ponds part of the year, then move them to liner or concrete ponds for the remainder of the year. The ponds need maintenance to repair damage caused by koi, they need liming to kill off parasites, and the fish need attention to remove parasites. If you are new to koi and want to enjoy seeing them, you would be much better off building a well designed koi pond. Go to the AKCA (link below) and check out their book store. They offer several very nice books on building koi ponds and filters. Also, study study study before you dig the first shovel of dirt. There is a lot to learn and you really will be much happier if you learn it all BEFORE you dig, rather than after you have already installed the pond. Nothing worse than investing a lot of time and money in a pond and then wishing you had done something differently.

AKCA - Associated Koi Clubs of America - Welcome To The

[Family Zoo]

Originally Posted by CarolinaGirl

The ponds need maintenance to repair damage caused by koi, they need liming to kill off parasites, and the fish need attention to remove parasites.

What kind of damage do they do to a mud pond?

[CarolinaGirl]

They dig holes in the bottom and in the dam. They love to root and dig in the mud.

[Russell Peters]

Originally Posted by Family Zoo

I am looking for book recommendations on pond construction. We plan on doing most of, if not all the install ourselves. We have an area behind or pool about 60 feet by 30 feet that we want to place the pond.

We live in north of Jacksonville, Fl. Our soil is dense grey clay about 5 inches down.

A few of our neighbors have earth ponds about 30 feet in diameter and about 8 feet deep with either a waterfall and or a fountain. A couple of the neighbors have a few Koi in the ponds (along with other fish and maybe turtles). The ponds look great but it’s difficult to see the Koi (or any fish) because of the water clarity being very low.

I’m leaning towards an earth pond if I can get the clarity issue figured out. If not, then depending on material costs it will either be a concrete or lined pond.


I’ve also cleared a spot in our front yard of trees that is about 100 X 100 feet that we also want to place a large earth pond. I have been contemplating doing this one first to gain the experience.

Earth ponds are a great environment to grow and nuture Koi. Japanese breeders do drain and groom their ponds every year. The maintenance is necessary to ensure the long term health of the pond and the Koi. If you do not do the maintenance on your pond you will eventually have unhealthy conditions and problems with your Koi. Just a thought.