Backyard Koi Ponds With Multiple Levels

Backyard koi ponds are one of the most beautiful additions you can add to your private oasis. Koi are friendly, hardy fish that are calming to watch. Pond designs are as limitless as your imagination, however, when determining how to build your pond you may wish to consider adding multiple levels. Multiple levels simply means that you have ledges or shelves built into your pond that offer multiple depths. These depths will allow you to stock your pond with different types of plants as well as offer your fish a variety of environments.

  1. Plants

    • One of the first considerations when building a backyard pond is determining the best place to put it. This is mainly due to the availability of the sun and its relationship to the growth of pond plants. Another consideration when deciding on pond plants is the depth in which they grow. Some pond plants remain completely submerged, while others prefer to have their roots submerged while the majority of the plant remains above the surface and others still yet simply live on the fringe of the pond. In order to accommodate different types of aquatic plants in your pond, you must build multiple levels into your pond.

    Water Temperature

    • Another consideration for building multiple depths into your pond is your fish. As with most fish, koi move around in the pond based on a few factors, one of which is water temperature. Koi are cold blooded, meaning that they lack the internal structures necessary to regulate their body temperature. In order to maintain the proper temperature, they rely on the temperature of the water. Deeper water is colder in the summer than more shallow water and vice versa in winter. Oftentimes, you will find koi wandering along the ledge of a shallower region of the pond in the early morning hours to warm up and in the deeper recesses later in the afternoon in order to remain cool. Ponds that lack multiple levels make it much more difficult for the fish to regulate their body temperatures.

    Pond Freeze and Predation

    • Having deep areas in your pond is as important as having shallow areas. The reasons for this are twofold. One, having areas of your pond that are deeper than 30" is a paramount for ponds that reside in areas that are prone to freezing in winter. Ice will generally stop forming at around 30" deep, leaving the fish a liquid layer below that line in which they can overwinter safely. Deeper water also allows the fish to escape predation as well as helping to regulate body temperature.

    Building Levels

    • Multiple levels in a pond can be accomplished in a number of ways. Many pre-formed rigid plastic liners have at least one level that is shallower than the main body of the pond. Do-it-yourself pond builders that use flexible pvc liners can build multiple layers into their pond design by simply digging sections of their ponds shallower than others.

    Filtration

    • Having multiple levels in your pond can also help with filtration. Mechanical filters installed at the bottom of the pond tend to become encrusted with debris that collects in the bottom. This shortens the filter's life and also puts the balance of the pond in jeopardy. Mechanical filters can be installed in more shallow layers allowing the water to be properly filtered and preventing the pump from becoming clogged.