A beautiful pond is an important element of a balanced garden.
It provides the movement and serenity associated with water and a cool haven in hot weather.
Add in the flashing colors and infinite variety as Koi come to the surface to feed and you have a winning combination.
Here are the main elements necessary to have a thriving Koi pond.
A Koi pond represents balance.
The goal is to create a complete, artificial ecosystem.
When this is achieved you conquer several goals: Your upkeep is minimized.
An ecologically complete pond takes care of itself to a large degree.
You achieve beauty.
It comes by itself as you add in the various elements that are needed to maintain the ecosystem.
A working Koi pond is much more than just a big hole in the ground filled with water.
The pond itself is a living organism that lives and breathes and the various plant and animal elements it enfolds contribute to its overall health.
There are three elements that work together to achieve harmony.

1. Water
2. Plants
3. Fish

Water Ideally you would have a small, pure creek that you could divert water from for your Koi pond.
Most of us, have to make do with the city supply.
The most important thing is that the water is pure wherever it comes from.
You have to monitor the water quality and compensate for any problems before introducing the fish.
The factors you have to correct first are pH levels and any pollutants.
After your pond is up and running you will also have to keep track of ammonia levels and nitrites.
What could possibly happen to pollute your water? Several things.
For example, if you are taking water from a stream, chemical contamination from farms or industry upstream of you is a real possibility.
Rotting animal carcasses upstream of you are another.
Either one of these contaminations could occur long after you have done your initial testing.
Farm run-off especially is a seasonal problem that can take you by surprise.
City water is more likely to be polluted by additives like chlorine which are added to make the water safe for human consumption.
Even well water is subject to pollution at ground level.
The bottom line is that you can't take your water quality for granted, ever.
Plants There are two types of plant to be considered.
The first type is the plant life that surrounds the pond and provides its setting.
Whole books have been written about the aesthetics of Koi ponds.
All I can do in the course of a short article is define the goal.
The pond should look like a natural, necessary extension of the landscape it is a part of.
Get some books, look at some pictures.
If possible, visit a couple of well-known Koi gardens.
This will give you a feel for what you are after.
Within the pond there will be two kinds of plants: floating and rooted.
There are many types of floating plants like water lettuce or water hyacinth.
Throw a few into the pond and they pretty much take care of themselves.
The biggest problem you will have once they get established is that they will multiply so fast that you will have to remove the excess periodically.
The Koi will help with this because they are omnivores and love to eat plants.
They are especially fond of water hyacinth.
That's a good thing, too, because the hyacinth is a prolific breeder and can choke out a pond in short order if left unchecked.
Rooted plants need to be in pots.
This presents a problem because the Koi will forage in the pots, digging up the plants and dirtying the water.
The solution is to cover the deep pots with netting and gravel.
Shallow plants like Marsh Marigold can sit in pots on pedestals.
This type of plant can't be completely submerged in any case, so ensure that the water level only comes up to just below the lip of the pot.
Fish Establish the pond first.
Fill it with water and let it sit at least for a couple of weeks.
Once you have the water quality under control add your plants and give them a while to settle in and become established.
Once you have done all this, its safe to add the fish.
Start with just a few and add others gradually.
Don't forget, the goal is balance and having too many fish destroys that balance.
Don't try to go cheap on your fish.
Get to know other people who are caring for Koi and find out which suppliers they recommend.
Once you have found a supplier, be prepared to pay a fair price for quality fish.
Cut-rate Koi will always have something wrong with them and may even introduce disease into your pond.
One good thing to have is a smaller isolation tank.
Before introducing new fish into the pond proper, keep them in the smaller tank for a couple of weeks.
This will give you a chance to get to know them before releasing them into the pond.
You will also be able to detect any diseases they may be carrying and deal with them before integrating them with the older established fish in the actual pond.
Final Thoughts The goal of a Koi garden is to foster serenity in people that visit.
This is achieved by a balance of all the natural elements, each present in just the right degree.
Getting to that point is an art form that cannot be explained in words or books.
Books are important, but only as a first step.
In the course of your reading, you will come across a list of well-known Koi gardens.
When you can, go and visit them, absorb their principles and then apply them to your own garden.
Over time it will get better and better.
Don't forget, a Koi garden is not meant to be looked at.
It is meant to be experienced.
If you succeed in your quest you'll find yourself returning to the garden in all weather just to hang out, be calm and achieve harmony with your environment.
Good luck!