Pietermartizburg - one of the finest Koi ponds

Pietermaritzburg Koi Pond

This is a stunning three tier Koi pond, with a total fall of about 15m. The filtration 'plant', certainly one of the biggest that I have seen, is housed right out of sight from the pond system about 40m away, and is neatly located on the edge of the property completely out of sight.

The owner is a keen animal lover as evidenced by his collection of dogs, cats and one parrot. Tadpoles that have grown in the pond system and have turned into frogs are dutifully rounded up once a week and transported approximately 5 kms to the nearby canoe club where they are set free under cover of darkness.

A low stocking density will be the order of the day with the owner wanting fewer higher quality Koi in his pond.

The filter system feeds water to the first 60 000l main Koi pond. Two bottom drains on this pond account for about 20 000l/hr which is fed into a settlement chamber housing two Answer 410's (seen at the back right of the picture below). The settlement chamber is located only a short way from the pond, and is destined to be covered by a wooden deck.

An overflow from the far end of the pond serves as both a surface skimmer, and the feed to a second, smaller 30 000l pond.

This pond is served by one bottom drain and also feeds to a second settlement chamber (located to the right - not shown) at around 10 000l/hr with a single Answer 410 doing duty.

This is a shot from the smaller pond showing the spill over from the main pond as it falls down into the second pond...

An overflow from this pond then winds it's way down an concrete and rock stream to the bottom on the garden where the water collects in a small 5 000l pond.

A second shot of the stream as it winds its way to the bottom of the garden

From here the water is returned all the way up slope to the main filtration system, as well as to returns in the two main Koi ponds. The filtration system currently turns over about 20 000l/hr.

The pump house depicted below is almost completely hidden...

and the pipe work is about as neat as any I've seen

The proud owner intends to keep Koi in the two main ponds only. Total water capacity in the ponds is approximately 140 000l.

The filter system is nothing short of awesome. The owner has literally 'gone to town' with a filter system that has huge capacity.

Two concrete constructed vortexes set the scene. Plastic bags filled with plastic tubing act as a temporary bio media until Kaldnes can be installed. As can be seen the water level in each chamber drops as a result of the head loss across the plastic bag media. This problem will be solved with Kaldnes that has a zero pressure drop. Each chamber is in excess of 1500l with a total capacity of well over 15 000l. Note the water lettuce adding valuable additional vegetable filtration.

Each chamber has it's own drain purge...

As can be seen from the picture of the last chamber, the water is crystal clear with the bottom of the chamber easily visible, 1.5m down...

All in all, a stunning Koi pond. The lucky Koi - Agnes, Monty (black and not in this shot), Orca and 'the Small White One' are sure to enjoy their new home. Happy Koi!