building an above ground pond?????

[dragon174]

i am planning on building an above ground pond using landscape timbers. i want to have a couple of different area's where the water will fall / drop from a higher point of the pond into the main area. i am also planning on using some slate rock in different areas of the pond.

can anyone give me advise on how to build the tiers for the water to fall into the main pond? currently i'm planning the main dim. of the pond to be a 16' x 16' square.

thanks.

 

[BlueCrystalMan]

Only advice I can really give you is to build up the falls area using brick or cinderblock... cover it with dirt, then your liner, and then build up the falls (obviously from the bottom up)...

Come up with a design in your head, draw it out if you need to. Most important thing to remember is DO NOT be disappointed if it doesn't come out like you wanted, and plan on redoing it a few times to get it right. It takes the first timer on average 3 to 7 attempts to get it 'right'... and even then, you may not be happy with it... The higher you make it, the tougher its gonna be. And try not to be too perfect either... you want it as natural looking as possible.

 

[RogerMcAllen]

Ok, is the pond going to be entirely above ground, or partialy above, partialy below? How deep do you plan on making the pond? You say you want several places for water to fall in, do you mean specifically a waterfall, or does this include spitters and fountains?

 

[dragon174]

pond

the pond will be completely above ground. i just went and looked at the area again, and i am going to make it 8' x 8' squard. i would like one area to be a waterfall and maybe a couple smaller areas in different places to be run offs (does that make sense).

any drawings/sketches/pictures would be greatly appreciated. are there any books that one could read to get more ideas?

 

[BlueCrystalMan]

There are a lot of books out there... Home Depot carries them, as does most bookstores. This was an artists rendering of what I wanted mine to look like:

It was my own design rendered by a friend. I used that as a base. Someone else in here did an above ground pond in their home. I believe it used landscape timbers for the sides. She posted pics in this area somewhere.

 

[BlueCrystalMan]

Here ya go, dragon: http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewtopic.php?t=21038

 

[RogerMcAllen]

This might be a little off topic, but what do you plan on doing in the winter time? Your pond will freeze solid, making it unable to sustain any life over the winter.

For some waterfall ideas, I started this thread a white back:
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewtopic.php?t=25216

Let me know if you like any of them and I can give you some pointers.

 

[dragon174]

this pond won't have any fish.... at least that's the plan for now. it is mostly just going to be for looks. i really hadn't given much thought about winter time. i plan on installing a drain value for easy cleaning and draining so i might just have to drain in in the winter. how can you de-ice an in ground pond, but not an above ground pond? i know that might sound like a dumb question.

 

[RogerMcAllen]

The ground can store heat better than air. A few feet down, depends where the frost line is, the ground never goes below freezing, so water deeper than that line should stay liquid for the most part. We had this discussion once before, if I find the thread I'll post it. From personal experience, my upper pond (completely above ground) freezes solid almost immediately after the air temps get below freezing.

As far as an aestetic pond it sounds like your idea should work. The bottom drain is a really good idea. My only concern is that perhaps in the future you may want to expand or add plants/fish.

 

[RogerMcAllen]

Here is the thread where we got into a discussion about the difference in insulation in an above ground vs in ground pond. We start to get into it more around the 2rd/4th pages.
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewtopic.php?t=15592&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=30

 

[Guest]

this pond won't have any fish.... at least that's the plan for now.

A pond with no fish will quickly become a mosquito breeding ground in the warm months. You don't need many fish to keep the mosquitos from breeding there, $1 worth at your lfs will do the job. Also, as discussed in anothe thread, you really don't have to feed the fish much, if at all.

 

[AquaBear]

A pond with no fish will quickly become a mosquito breeding ground in the warm months.

An excellent point that I hadn't considered. I'm toying the idea of putting in a pond next year. I was considering doing just a decorative one. I suppose I could treat it with chlorine or something to control mosquitos, but I might want to just go all the way and try one with aquatic life in it. Two friends of mine have ponds in their yards and they actually look like fun.

Thanks for the tip.

--Aquabear

 

[BlueCrystalMan]

If you don't go with fish, try a fountain or two. And yes, they ARE fun... I really enjoy the hobby...