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The Turner Pond

    Here are some pictures of our pond all the way from the beginning of its existence. We did a lot of planning on this pond. The most important factor I think that helped us be successful in our endeavor, was the fact that we joined a Koi club before even having started! The way we had intended to do it would have been a disaster for the fish and heartbreaking for us. We were probably the only people in the club who didn't have a pond but boy did we learn a lot. We found there were lots of people either having problems with their ponds or installing second ponds that would not have the same problems that the first one did. It helped us immensely to know what not to do. 

    You see there is not a set way to build a pond. You just take into consideration the real estate you have to use and then key points you want to include. Choosing a good filtering system is important and that may dictate space that you need, aside from the space that the pond will take up. There are many Koi clubs across the country and the world for that matter. Use the Internet to find them and then give them a call and just go to the meetings. You will find lots of people who have been in the hobby for years and who are more than willing to share their knowledge and enthusiasm about the subject of Koi and keeping them.

    We chose to have our pond shot with gunnite (this refers to a specific type of concrete that is pneumatically blown out of the end of a pump hose onto the substrate, producing a rough, natural surface) instead of having a liner. In our opinion, there just seemed to be too many problems that people had had with liners. Since our pond was going to be 5 1/2 feet deep, 20 feet long and 10 feet wide, and we have a 35 foot creek running into it,  and also the fact that with all the area of seams we would need,  we decided our best bet was to do it all in gunnite. More costly initially, but in the long run, for us we feel, saved us maybe a lot of time with installation and troubleshooting.  You do need to put a sealant on the gunnite and that is the only thing that we were not happy with. We did a lot of research and thought that we had made the right choice but we have not been pleased over the years. In our opinion, there does not seem to be a perfect sealer for these ponds. One that will hold up over the years. We had no problems with the sealer for the first couple years. We hand picked the rocks to surround the pond and stream.  We think it is a nice combination of looking somewhat natural without looking like it is too far into the woods . We definitely did not want anything too formal.  We look right into the pond from up above in our great room window so we enjoy the pond and fish all year round. 

    It is a really good feeling to know that we did everything ourselves but the gunniting, and that we are really happy with it. It adds so much to our lives to have a peaceful place to go and just relax. We thank all our Koi-nutty friends who when asked for their opinions gave us good advice and thoughts based on their own experiences. Enjoy!

 Contact Information :   Tropic Art    

            Feel free to contact us with any questions or comments about our pond .

               Email:  info@tropicart.net