Impact Resistant Coatings
POLYUREA KOI PONDS
Designing Better Aquatic Habitats with Liners Made From Spray Elastomer Technology
BUILDING PEACEFUL ESCAPES AT HOME
Our homes are much more than simple shelters, but are the place where we can take refuge from the stresses of day-to-day life and build our very own slice of heaven. The problem is that this can unfortunately be more difficult to achieve than we’d like to admit. Family photos, cultural objects, keepsakes from travel – those all-important items we’d first save in the event of a fire – are the foundation of what makes home, home, but they’re not enough on their own. For many people it’s about finding ways to appease the senses, whether visually, auditorily, olfactorily, or otherwise. This desire is often satiated through dynamic elements like water features that have been valued for their elegance for millennia and take many forms.
Amongst the fountains, waterfalls, and swimming pools, there’s one type of water feature that’s prized above the rest and famous for its cross cultural symbolism. This water feature is the koi pond, a historically Japanese tradition that’s now internationally synonymous with peace and tranquillity as well as luxury and prestige. Their status and the more practical aspects of building and maintaining a koi pond do, however, mean that they can be challenging to construct and maintain for the long-term benefit of both you and your koi. Koi ponds must thus be carefully designed and robustly constructed if they’re to exist as serene escapes instead of your newest source of headaches and the best way to secure the former is with polyurea spray elastomer technology.
Amongst the fountains, waterfalls, and swimming pools, there’s one type of water feature that’s prized above the rest and famous for its cross cultural symbolism. This water feature is the koi pond, a historically Japanese tradition that’s now internationally synonymous with peace and tranquillity as well as luxury and prestige. Their status and the more practical aspects of building and maintaining a koi pond do, however, mean that they can be challenging to construct and maintain for the long-term benefit of both you and your koi. Koi ponds must thus be carefully designed and robustly constructed if they’re to exist as serene escapes instead of your newest source of headaches and the best way to secure the former is with polyurea spray elastomer technology.
A CRASH COURSE IN KOI POND DESIGN
Koi ponds aren’t your typical water feature. Building an artificial habitat at home that can support your koi requires meticulous design and precise execution, and there’s both an art and a science to their installation. But like many other time-honored Japanese traditions, mastery takes time and patience, more than most of us are able to spare. The good news is that we can share our professional insights to help ensure your koi pond will be everything you’ve dreamed of and more, much more.
Let’s start with some specifications. From our experience there are three basic rules of thumb to follow, with the first being to design your koi pond at least 3 feet deep so that fish have plenty of room to swim and cohabitate. Secondly, and in the same vein, we recommend approximately 25 square feet of pond per koi fish it plans to house. And lastly, and not totally irrespective of your koi pond’s dimensions, your koi pond should contain no less than 1000 gallons of water. If you follow these three guidelines your koi will be happy and healthy so you can be too! But there’s something else your koi demand besides adequate space and that’s adequate shade. Water plants are a necessity to afford these shaded underwater spaces and they should cover about 15 – 30% of your pond’s surface. More than just shading, water plants also support a healthy ecosystem and can provide a source of food and filtration depending on the chosen plant species.
But our final recommendation is perhaps the most important – use small rocks in your koi pond’s design. Why is this so important? Well beneath the rocks, pockets of hydrogen can form and initially lay dormant. With time, these pockets can grow to the point of bursting, and trust us, that would not be good for the fish. You can avoid this problem in the first place by opting for smaller rocks that are light enough to prevent the formation of these dangerous pockets of gas. But if you already know a thing or two about koi ponds, then you might be wondering how to hold down the liner, or the material used to keep pond water from escaping into your home or garden that’s often held in place with larger rocks and debris. The answer is polyurea koi ponds.
Let’s start with some specifications. From our experience there are three basic rules of thumb to follow, with the first being to design your koi pond at least 3 feet deep so that fish have plenty of room to swim and cohabitate. Secondly, and in the same vein, we recommend approximately 25 square feet of pond per koi fish it plans to house. And lastly, and not totally irrespective of your koi pond’s dimensions, your koi pond should contain no less than 1000 gallons of water. If you follow these three guidelines your koi will be happy and healthy so you can be too! But there’s something else your koi demand besides adequate space and that’s adequate shade. Water plants are a necessity to afford these shaded underwater spaces and they should cover about 15 – 30% of your pond’s surface. More than just shading, water plants also support a healthy ecosystem and can provide a source of food and filtration depending on the chosen plant species.
But our final recommendation is perhaps the most important – use small rocks in your koi pond’s design. Why is this so important? Well beneath the rocks, pockets of hydrogen can form and initially lay dormant. With time, these pockets can grow to the point of bursting, and trust us, that would not be good for the fish. You can avoid this problem in the first place by opting for smaller rocks that are light enough to prevent the formation of these dangerous pockets of gas. But if you already know a thing or two about koi ponds, then you might be wondering how to hold down the liner, or the material used to keep pond water from escaping into your home or garden that’s often held in place with larger rocks and debris. The answer is polyurea koi ponds.
POLYUREA KOI PONDS
There are koi ponds, and then there are polyurea koi ponds. But what exactly is the difference, really? Unsurprisingly, the difference is polyurea, plain and simple. Many koi ponds are designed with unattached liners anchored in place by large rocks or bricks that can lead to the aforementioned buildup of dangerous gases. Moreover, this means that you’re also only one curious fish or buoyant brick away from a draining koi pond and a not-so-natural disaster on your hands and in your yard. These problems are compounded by traditional liners’ susceptibility to tearing or puncturing, which can be every bit the problem as a shifting liner.
Instead, polyurea can be used to install a more permanent and reliable koi pond liner that outperforms traditional solutions and provides a level of peace of mind that you’d expect from a water feature created for this very purpose. Polyurea is spray-applied and rapidly curing as well as quick and easy to install with minimal maintenance requirements over its decades-long lifespan. Most importantly, it’s every bit as safe as conventional liners, if not more so! Polyurea is made of 100% solids with no solvents or volatile organic chemicals (VOCs), so your fish are safe and sound with polyurea in the ground (rhyme intended).
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Koi ponds are like any other water feature in that they can be small or large, intricate or complex, and these factors are reflected in the price. Small koi ponds can cost as little as a few thousand dollars but larger installations can easily exceed five figures, but in either case, polyurea koi ponds can help save money to make it less expensive on the whole.
Polyurea koi ponds are but one type of water feature that specifies the material used to construct the liner. You don’t need to employ polyurea for a successful koi pond, but it’s widely considered the superior solution for koi pond liners because it’s safer for fish, cost-effective in the long term, an exceptional waterproofing material, and easier to maintain than traditional methods.
Polyurea is safe for koi fish, just like it’s safe for people. Polyurea poses no chronic or acute health and safety risks after curing thanks to its 100% solid composition and exclusion of solvents and volatile organic chemicals (VOCs). Polyurea is actually so safe that it can be formulated for potable water storage and other food-safe applications.
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SWIM AGAINST THE CURRENT WITH ARMORTHANE
SWIM AGAINST THE CURRENT
WITH ARMORTHANE
Koi fish are symbols of perseverance because they’re known to swim against the current, doing precisely the opposite of most other fish and earning an exalted status in the process. So our advice is to make like a koi fish, swim against the current, and partner with ArmorThane to construct your home’s new water feature. We’re the world’s one-stop shop for everything polyurea and polyurethane and polyurea koi ponds are just one of our many areas of expertise garnered over nearly 40 years in business. Our polyurea products are formulated and manufactured in-house to protect surfaces across the globe and build better habitats for one of the world’s most beloved aquatic creatures. So if you’re ready to get started, simply give us a call or drop us a line via email or contact form, and one of our 24/7 customer service or technical support teams will be ready to answer any questions or help get you started towards a new polyurea koi pond.
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ArmorThane has built a strong reputation over the past 30 years for producing high-quality, durable protective coatings.
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