Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Koi Ponds and Safety

It is important to build your Koi pond keeping safety in mind. You want your Koi pond and the space you’ve created on your property to be one of peace and tranquility. You don’t want your Koi pond to become the scene of a tragedy that could drastically alter your life, that of a loved one, or that of an innocent child’s. By adhering to simple yet important rules when it comes to safety around Koi ponds, you can avoid a tragedy altogether.

The safety of children is mor important than anything else. Your Koi pond shouldn’t be accessible by children when you aren’t around your Koi pond or are away from home. Unfortunately young children have been known to drown in pools, spas, and even Koi ponds when they encountered these things and no adult supervision or precautions were in place, remember children are curious by nature. You should put a fence around your Koi pond to prevent children from getting close to the pond when you’re not around and is an important consideration for maintaining safety so you can enjoy your Koi pond with peace of mind. Then teach your children that they should never go near the Koi pond without an adult with them. Fencing will also keep your puppy or that of neighbors from getting too close to your Koi pond.

If you use motorized, electrical appliances in your Koi pond such as submersible lighting, waterfalls, or a pond pump there are a few rules you need to follow to be safe. Only use sytems and products made for outdoor use. If you do use such items as a radio or CD player when relaxing around your Koi pond, make sure to keep them far enough away so they don’t come into contact with the water which could result in you being electrocuted, or ruin your music player. Routinely check the cords attached to these appliances, checking for frayed, damaged, or worn areas. Immediately discontinue using any appliance with a damaged or worn electrical cord as using them could cause electrical shock or catch nearby items and shrubbery on fire.

Your Koi pond can be a source of great enjoyment for you and your entire family and an escape from the hectic lives most of us lead today by simply following these rules for safety around your Koi pond.

Friday, March 9, 2007

Koi Ponds-Time to Think Spring!

As I sit looking out my office window watching th snow melt, I can't help but think of all the spring chores just around the corner. Of course, this time of year I look forward to getting out and working in the yard. And of course that brings me to my Koi Pond. I really haven't done any planning yet on what I want to do this year so I won't go into it now.

For now I'll just start planning what I want to do with it this year. It's just fun to think about on these last days of winter. It won't be long, I really look forward to my Koi Pond. Technorati Profile

Saturday, January 27, 2007

The Benefits of Koi Ponds

Sure, having a Koi pond is rather trendy these days. With their growing popularity it seems that everybody wants a Koi pond. But are there any real benefits to having your very own Koi pond? The testimonials of happy Koi pond owners, real estate agents, and even from doctors reporting on the improved health among their patients who have a Koi pond certainly indicate that there are benefits to having your own Koi pond.

The presence of a Koi pond on a piece of real estate raises that properties “marketability” many real estate agents will tell you. This makes it easier for the agent to attract prospective buyers to the property and often plays a key role in how quickly that real estate will sell and at what price. .Buyers are drawn to real estate that have such added amenities as Koi ponds and the mystical beauty they hold and many of them are willing to pay higher asking prices to purchase a property that contains a Koi pond. Real estate that has real market value not only increases the likelihood of a homeowner getting a higher asking price from a buyer, the real estate surrounding a property having a Koi pond are also benefited with higher values.

Koi pond owners report that having a personal Koi pond to enjoy at their leisure allows them to relax and reduce the amount of stress that the average always-on-the-go lifestyle that most of us lead can cause. De-stressing near the water’s edge is also a time for getting in-touch with one’s inner- spiritual self as well. Many of these Koi pond owners share that they feel “rejuvenated” after spending quiet time near their Koi pond. They report a sense of “centeredness” and feel they are more capable of handling the stresses of everyday life head-on.

Some doctors have begun to voice their opinions about the benefits of having a personal Koi pond. They have gained these opinions by witnessing improvements in such medical conditions as high blood pressure, anxiety disorders, and some heart conditions in patients known to have their own personal Koi pond. Stress can exasperate these conditions and doctors are always looking for ways they can recommend to their patients for reducing the amount of stress in their lives for better health. Doctors have even found that many stroke and heart attack sufferers recover sooner when they have an area they can access frequently for relaxation, such as with a Koi pond.

What Are Koi Ponds?

There has been a lot noise made about them in recent years. Everyone is talking about getting or already having a Koi pond, but just what the heck is a Koi pond? Is it a pond of special seaweed? No thanks! If I get a craving to be covered in seaweed I will schedule an appointment at the spa and follow my seaweed wrap with a soak in a tub of mud. Or maybe unlike me you actually know that Koi is a kind of fish, not seaweed.

Did you know that Koi is a carp fish? They are very much like the goldfish in .color and size that most of us think of when thinking about the kinds of fish in tanks and ponds. This is due in large part to the efforts of breeders wanting to increase the Koi fish’s’ popularity among consumers as some Koi fish varieties have an ‘inconspicuous’ gray coloring to them. Some of the more ‘colorful’ Koi are found to have colors such as: black, red, white, blue, and yellow. Koi have ancestral ties to China and Japan. Like goldfish, Koi fish are a hardy breed of small fish.

Koi fish don’t need a lot of fussing to keep them in optimum shape either which explains their popularity among the majority of us who aren’t looking for yet another task to add to our daily to-do lists. They are a cold water fish and therefore your Koi pond needs to be deep enough to allow them to find cooler water near the bottom of the pond during especially warm months of the year. A Koi pond that has at least 4 feet of depth will also allow your Koi fish to survive wintry temperatures when the surface of the pond is likely to freeze. It is a good idea to place your Koi pond nearby large, leafy trees as this will help to hide your Koi from would-be predators such as birds, raccoons, and neighborhood cats. If predation upon your Koi fish becomes a problem you may need to install some sort of netting that will keep predators from getting into the Koi pond and having a go at the Koi.

So now you have discovered that a Koi pond isn’t some new-age contraption for holding seaweed. Instead a Koi pond can be an a mesmerizing scene in which to relax around as you watch your Koi fish swim, eat, and maybe even peek at you from time to time.