Like many fish keepers, I began as a child, with a single goldfish in a bowl. It wasn’t until much later in life that I became associated with a full-blown aquarium. In fact, it was with my wife that our first filtered set-up found a place in our home. Now, we have two 55-gallon tanks inside.
Outside, we built two ponds. When I say “We built,” I mean everything from digging the hole, placing the liner, installing the filtration system, adding a bridge, lighting, landscaping, and irrigation.
Our “learning pond,” in the entry courtyard, is a 1,000 gallon pond. We started with the smaller pond and a big learning curve that included topics like: water quality, filtration, nutrition, types of pond fish, and more, before making the move to add the larger pond.
In our backyard, we built a 4,000 gallon pond. It was a lot of work, but we felt a sense of satisfaction in doing it ourselves. Plus, we are able to share the experience with others. Our ponds were part of the SKAPA Pond Tour in 2013 and 2015.
In addition to being a C.K.K., and member of K.O.I., we are also members of our local club SKAPA (Southwest Koi And Pond Association.)