I am a person who has been interested in nature and all things beautiful that Mother Nature has created. I started keeping fish when I was a kid; living in a small apartment. Those days, fish keeping is simple - jars containing bettas (Siamese fighting fish) and a small un-aerated and unfiltered tank containing guppies, sword-tails and angel fish. Mortality rates are high and it is only later I understand why.
As I grow older and have my own apartment in 1992, I starting keeping aquarium fish and learning the importance of nitrogen cycle, biological filtration, water quality, pH levels, fish characteristics, diseases and health and in general, how to maintain a well-balanced ecosystem.
In 1994, I moved from my apartment to a 2200 sq ft terrace house that comes with a 6m x 10m backyard. Relatively big in Singapore's context. This gave me an opportunity to explore the challenge of Koi keeping, having had hone my experience in keeping various kinds of freshwater fishes ranging from African cichlids, South American tetras/barbs and discus.
I had a vision of creating a Koi pond and water garden for my backyard. The internet provided many good readings and pictures of what my dream pond would or should be. One of the first few things I learnt is that a pond for keeping Koi has more stringent requirements compared to a normal garden pond. Learn how to keep water, then the Koi will keep themselves. Hence the filtration system is key to good pond design and good water quality. Many good Koi keeping websites provided me with the information I needed to design my first beginner pond.
A vision will remain a vision if there is no action. After some months of researching, it was time for action and the design and subsequent construction of my First Pond begins.
In subsequent posts, I will share my experiences of building my first pond, my adventure in keeping the Living Jewels (aka Koi) and the other 2 ponds in my later homes.
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