This page is highligting a recent Koi pond that we did in St. Simon's Island, Georgia.  It's true title is a, "Helix Advanced Under Gravel Suction Grid Ecosystem Pond".  Our client had another pond built at his previous home. He knew the joys of having a pond from previous experience, but he also knew the pitfalls of having a pond that wasn't appealing looking with substandard filtration. So he enlisted us to create a masterpiece.

Along with the Koi pond, we also added some lighting, plants, and a stone patio that comes right up to the edge of the Koi pond.  Our client had a beautiful bronze statue that found it's new home in the bog filter.

When speaking on the phone, our client told me that there was an elevation change in the yard that we could work with.  Doing most of my work in, "FLAT!!! Florida", I got really excited.  That excitement dwindled when I visited the proposed Koi pond site in person, and found it sloping in the wrong direction. ARRRR! 

My initial letdown was soon replaced with excitement when I realized we could have a sunken garden feel by stepping the patio down from the upper pathway.  We still had a task to get our 5' of elevation for the waterfall. Lot's of landscape blocks!

So we got our wall up, and measured out the Koi pond, and started our excavating only to find disaster.  I have an auger attachment that we use sometimes for digging deep holes.  It can dig a 30" wide hole x 4' deep in like five minutes.  Considering the Koi pond was to be 4' deep, I hooked the auger up and started digging.

I got about 6" in the first hole.  So I moved, and the next hole went down about 9".  I went all around the Koi pond, and got no deeper than 9" with the auger.  What in the world?

It turns out there was a massive stump right in the Koi pond!  What were we going to do?

Earlier in the morning on the way to the job, we happened to see a big semi truck pulling a giant stump on it's trailer.  What an ominous siting?  We commented on how much of a pain that must have been to remove.  It was like 10' in diameter x 5' tall.  So we knew we were in trouble.

Thank God for our friend that sent a very gifted stump grinding expert out to us.  This guy came out and looked like he was going to get his $50,000 machine stuck in our Koi Pond.  He eliminated all of the stump and roots to about the 2' deep level.  Thank God!  Unfortunately the final 2' was extremely difficult to excavate, and we lost a day and a half battling the remaining roots.

We had to take extra time to carefully cut back the root ends that were everywhere so they would not puncture the liner.  We added a dab of Great Stuff foam to each root tip for liner safety, and doubled up on our under liner.  (Under liner is thick non woven fabric that can be compared to a thick weed fabric.)

Once we got through that mess, everything fell into place nicely.

The Koi Pond is has several filters, and several methods of oxygenation.  There is a large Helix Moving Bed Waterfall Filter, a bog filter, a Helix skimmer, and an under gravel suction grid.  Based on the Koi pond's water volume and water flow, the water is turned over more than four times per hour.  Water pulls from the under gravel suction grid and a bottom drain, as well as the Helix Skimmer.

One of the coolest oxygenation methods is the 2 air pumps.  One of them powers the Helix Moving Bed Filter complete with K1 Kaldnes filter medium, and the other one pushes air up through the rocks in the perimiter of the Koi pond.  This Koi pond was the first time I used the perimiter air in the rocks.  The oxygen levels will be through the roof!

Take a look at the video.