Koi crazy!

Mike designs and builds koi ponds across North America. At home, his ponds are bordered with water iris, reed grass, arrowhead, curly rush, miniature cattails, papyrus, taro, water mint, and weeping katsura.

Looking out over the bubbling waterfalls and ponds in his garden, Mike muses on the fish. "They sure add color and grace to a fish pond. And they keep the ponds clean at the same time."

There is a difference between water features and koi ponds, he says. "Water features have rocks at the bottom and have an average depth of about 2 feet. Koi ponds have a bottom drain, excellent filtration system, and are 4 feet or more deep. Koi ponds are also much lower in maintenance, due to the bottom drain and filtration. You never have to take the fish out of the ponds for cleaning, because debris is either pulled into side skimmers or into filters at the bottom of the pool."

Janel adds, "We've even seen koi up on their lower fins chewing grass from the edge of the pond. People think I'm crazy when I tell them that, but it's true!"

What fun!

The ponds and the fish provide both work and entertainment. "We have a few customers who just come here and look at the fish and sit by the ponds for six hours at a time," say Janel. "And they might just buy one fish! But what great people and what fun!"

Learn more:
Koi Acres
11100 240th Street
Scandia, MN 55073
www.koiacres.com
651/257-2589