Your builder builds.
We make sure they build right.
A pond is too expensive — and too permanent — to leave the koi-specific decisions to a contractor who's never owned one. We work alongside your builder, 1-on-1, on the four specs they almost always get wrong.
Two paths to a pond done right.
Whether you're starting from a clean lot or rethinking what you already have, our role is the same — bring koi-specific expertise into the process before mistakes get poured in concrete.
You're building a new pond.
From bare ground to first fish. We work with your contractor or builder from the planning stage onward, making sure every koi-critical decision gets the right answer.
- Site assessment & placement guidance
- Equipment sizing for your specific pond volume
- Plumbing layout review before excavation
- Build-phase consultation as questions come up
- Commissioning and start-up support
You're redesigning an existing pond.
You already have a pond, but the original design isn't serving your koi anymore. We help you plan the redesign — what to keep, what to change, what to demolish — without wasting the work that's already done.
- Current system audit & honest assessment
- Identify which problems are fixable vs. structural
- Redesign plan with phased options
- Coordinate with your builder through the changes
- Smooth transition without losing your existing fish
What we get right.
These four decisions determine whether your pond runs quietly and cleanly for two decades, or gives you problems within two seasons. They're also the four things most builders quietly guess at.
Pipe Sizing
Undersized pipes choke flow, oversized waste money. We size to your actual pump capacity and pond volume.
Pump Sizing
Turnover rate, head pressure, energy cost. We match the pump to the system, not the system to the pump on sale.
UV Sterilizer Sizing
Too small and you fight algae forever. Too big and you waste power. Sized to flow rate and contact time.
Filter Sizing
The single biggest determinant of water quality. Sized to bioload, not bag price.
What goes wrong without us.
We don't say this to scare anyone. We say it because every one of these is something we've been called in to fix on someone else's three-year-old pond — at a cost that would have paid for the consultation ten times over.
A consultation costs a fraction of any one of these mistakes.
The contractor specced a "pond filter" sized for a small water feature, not a koi-loaded system. Within a year, water quality is unmanageable. Fix: rip out and replace the entire filtration stack.
Drain installed where debris doesn't naturally collect. Solids accumulate in dead zones. Anaerobic pockets form. Fish get sick. Fix: drain the pond and re-plumb — or live with chronic issues.
Builder oversized "to be safe." The pump runs 24/7 at double the necessary draw for the life of the pond. Fix: replace the pump with the right one, eat the original cost.
An undersized UV unit got picked because it was cheaper. Flow rate exceeds the unit's contact time. Algae wins every spring. Fix: replace the UV, plus the inline plumbing to fit it.
Four phases. One koi expert alongside your builder.
We don't take over your project. We work in parallel with whoever's building, focused exclusively on the koi-side decisions they aren't equipped to make.
On-site assessment of your property, your vision, your existing pond if there is one. We learn what you want before we tell you what's possible.
Sit with your builder's drawings (or develop the spec if there isn't one yet). Lock in pipe, pump, UV, filter, drain, and skimmer decisions.
As the build progresses, we're available to your builder for koi-specific questions. Catch problems before they're under concrete.
First-fill, equipment start-up, water chemistry establishment, and the handoff to a pond that's actually ready for koi.
Flat fee.
Scaled honestly to your project.
Bigger ponds need more design hours and more build-phase visits. We price accordingly — no hourly billing surprises, no padded estimates.
You get the consultation fee in writing before any work begins, and it doesn't change unless the project's scope changes.
When you source through us,
the consultation often pays for itself.
Equipment purchased through Cots Koi as part of your build comes at direct-sourcing prices. For most projects, the savings on the equipment package offset the consultation fee entirely — sometimes more.
Not a discount trick — just how we structure the relationship. We have no incentive to over-spec, because we're not marking up the gear.
Get a koi expert in the room before the concrete pours.
Tell us about your project — what you're planning, what you're working with, what you wish you knew. A quick phone call to see if we're the right fit is always free.