New Pond

[gg99free]

I'm going to start on setting up a new pond in our backyard soon and was wondering if anyone had any advice. This will be a brand new setup and it will be a small, dugout, 6x6 pond or so. Any suggestrions on liner, pumps, depth, etc.....

What kind of fish would I be able to keep? Would Koi be too big? What about Shubukins? I heard they are not as big and expensive but almost as nice?

I am a total novice on ponds so any help would be greatly appreciated.

I'll probably start posting some pics of the general area that the pond is going in and keep posting during construction. If anyone has any suggestions during any of the process, I would be happy to hear it.

By the way, I would like to hide the pumps entirely and not use a drop in pump that shows the hoses if possible. Is that possible? How do you seal the liner around the pump? Oh well, I'll just have to wait for some of you guys to respond back.

Thanks

George

 

[spewns]

woo hoo george!, you're gonna love that pond. i have had a few that i built in the past (none currently but have one in the planning stage) and i loved them.
6x6 is a fine size but depth would depend on where you live and if you want to keep the fish outdoors for the winter. 3' is a good all purpose depth. if it gets hot outside they can go deep to keep cool or in winter to keep warm.
I have never tried an underground pump/filter system so i cant advise there. you can hide the wire and hoses with plants, rocks, decor...etc.
koi are too spendy for me so i never raised them but i did have shubukins and comets and they did fine. they bred too. had a bunch of babies to take to the LFS to trade for things i needed. i also had a bullhead catfish (very cool. ate out of my hand but very territorial with the channel cat i tried to put in with him.), 1 elegant slider turtle, 6 crawfish and some bulfrog tadpoles that did mature but the cats got them. Believe me those frogs do some screamin when the cats get them too! you may not want them if you have cats. nothing worse than getting up at 3am to go on frog rescues. oh yeah....you dont want a bass either (illegal in CA).......found that out thanks to my EX husband lol. almost wiped out my whole pond but it was cool for awhile in the inside tank till it got too big. more fun than watching oscars feed.
it really helps to NOT locate the pond too near deciduous trees. leaves foul the water. and shade the pond from the sun with lillypads or floating plants like water hyacinth, it will keep the algae down. i like duckweed but it tended to clog my pump/filter when it would sink for the winter.
I just looked at your profile and see you live in california. thats where i lived when i had my ponds and i used ,for underwater plants, "anacharis". grew like crazy and kept the pond nice and clear. i shaded my pond with the water hyacinth. very pretty flowers and also grows like crazy (keep in mind that LFS will buy or trade for your excess plants too).
i could go on and on here but i hate to use so much space and bore you with my enthusiasm.lol message me if you want more info or e-mail at lab_rat15@yahoo.com

 

[gg99free]

Thanks Spewns,

I'll take you up on that offer when I start to dig the hole out. Our temps are really pretty good. The coldest it's ever got here was in the 40's which was only for a day or two. It's mostly in the 80's - 90's in summer and the 60's in winter. Does a deeper pond mean better as far as water quality, etc... We have extremely hard clay soil here and it's almost impossible to dig out but we may hire someone to dig it out or I'll just be digging out 1 inch every day after work for a few weeks. Do you happen to have any pics I can see of anything you've done before? I'd really Love to see someone else's pond and how much work they put into it. How long would something like this take as far as hours/days go?

Thanks for posting.

George

 

[fishfreek]

Just curious on evaporation with a pond. Would you have to add additional water should a dry spell come on?

I can see how a water restrictions would have a huge impact if someone had to compensate for evaporation.

 

[spewns]

Hi George,
The temps in Ca. are perfect for year round ponds. You know I have no idea about the depth and the effect of water quality. I have never done any chemical testing of water on either my indoor tank or outdoor ponds.It has only been since i set up this new tank that I have ever tested water and let me tell you it is a pain. All i know is that in the indoor tank and in the outdoor pond my fish were usually healthy,active and breeding. I made my own filter which I attached to the pump. You can get a million designs online I am sure. My first pond was a 5'x5'x3'. It is my opinion that a pond really shouldnt be less than 3' deep in any area. Here in idaho it is necessary for the fish to be able to go to the bottom of a frozen pond to hibernate and not freeze. In the hot Ca climate it is good for them to be able to go deep to escape the heat. running your pump can adjust water temp by running it in the cool of the day during the summer and during warmer hours of the day in the winter. I made a filter out of an old 5 gal bucket and lid. i filled the bottom of the bucket with plastic curlers with a plastic mesh over that. then i put in some pea gravel with plastic mesh over that and then i filled it to about 4 " from the top of the bucket with clean sand. I had a hose that was attached to the pump that fed into the bottom of the bucket and forced water up through the layers and overflowed out the top hole in the lid.when i wanted to clean out the filter put a hose in the hole at the top to force the water out backwards. I had fittings at both ends of the bucket. i know this description isnt the best but i think you can get the idea. there are probably better do it your self filter plans out now. I hid the bucket inside a half whiskey barrel that i had attached flashing to form a spout. the wiskey barrel sat at the edge of the pond and the filtered water poured into the pond after filling the barrel half. i hate to use the space here so i will add more to this later and answer your questions the best i can. ~Lisa~

 

[spewns]

OK, part 2 of the running series.
Liners............uh......never used one...... yet. My first 2 ponds were cement. In cal. freezing weather was not a concern and liners were not popular at that time and not as readily available. One thing i did learn was leveling the edges of the pond. I didnt do that on the first pond and when I filled the pond it was obviously not level. After the plants started growing the level was not obvious and it looked fine. I am not a carpenter or very handy but it went pretty well. The plant I had for underwater was Anacharis. Alot of it. I tried to plant it but the fish quickly uprooted it and it just kinda floated. It thrived and kept the water very clean. For the surface to shade the water and help reduce evaporation I used Water Hyacinth. Very prolific and pretty flowers. The fish would lay thier eggs in the roots. I really like duckweed as a floating plant but it has a habit of sinking in the winter for dormancy and wreaked havoc with the pump. You will probably have an abundance of plants but a privately owned local fish store will usually be happy to buy or trade for your excess. I would do that and feed my excess to the chickens. They loved it. lol.

 

[spewns]

oh man. i just noticed i repeated a bunch of info....sorry I am burning the candle at both ends these days and well, i messed up.

 

[spewns]

Dont hate me for all the space i am using......evaporation could be a concern now that the water prices are higher and restrictions are in effect in CA. I dont recall using that much water but i did use the water for my house plants and it seemed I topped it off once a week.Couldnt tell you how many gallons that was but i would like to mention that i DID use dechlorinator each time.I drained the pond in the early spring and late summer just to clean out the muck but the restrictions were not in effect at that time. I am guessing about 15 gals a week during the hottest summer months. I should be getting a scanner in a couple months. i will try to find the old pics and send them in. One more thing i would like to mention is when i was digging the pond i wasnt able to do it in one day due to the soil. i had to soak, set and dig. Dig a hole. fill with water, let it soak in and dig again. took a couple, 3 days to do it.

 

[reefrunner69]

Dont hate me for all the space i am using......

That is what this space is for. Please feel free to use it to further our hobby or simply help a fellow hobbiest. There is no need to apologize...

 

[fishfreek]

hehe, I think your just trying to pad your post count.



No problem at all.

Post away.

 

[gg99free]

Hey Guys,

This post was suppose to be mine! Stop giving yourself Koodies.......oops, I mean Kudos posting your comments!

Ha Ha! J/K!

Spewns,

I agree with Kevin, no problem on the space. Keep it coming! I need all the help I can get. And if you hadn't already noted, the pond area is kinda light in info soooooooo................. I'd like to start posting in my pics on progress and such soon. I'll probably start digging the area the beginning of Sept. or so.

Thanks for all your help and comments and don't stop, Please!!!

George

 

[Guest]

Pond owner for many years. My advice would be, read everything you can get your hands on before you start digging. Tons of good advice out there. The best book I found is "The Complete Pond Builder" by Helen Nash. ISBN 0-8069-3866-8. As for liner, Firestone EPDM liner is the way to go. Ignor British books, they mostly don't appy in the USA. I never used a preformed shell (like you see at garden centers) but I just don't like the way they look. Only a bazillion filtration options, you'll have to decide for yourself.

Oh yeah, the most important thing: Anybody who tells you a pond is low/no maintenance is utterly full of it! Cleaning filters, scooping leaves and algae, pulling dead stuff off plants, winterizing, spring preparation, all takes time and you have to GET IN THE POND at least 4-5 times a year. for me its more like 8-10 times.

Having said all that, I love my pond! Sitting outside in the evening with a frosty adult beverage and listening to the water makes the entire world dissapear!

 

[fishfreek]

corvuscorax,

Could you put the book review in the review section on the book you mention?

That would be great.

Thanks for all the helpful advice.

 

[gg99free]

corvuscorax,

That's pretty funny that you mentioned that book. I already purchased it months ago and have read it a few times now. Thanks for the advice. I'll keep everyone posted. I think next weekend will be the start up weekend.

 

[spewns]

I was wondering how the pond is going. Haven't heard anything about your progress.
Is West Nile a consideration in its completion? :? lol

 

[Guest]

Yeah GG99, how's it going? Break you back yet? Ain't diggin' FUN!!!!

I only say this because I've been there.

We need a progress report!

 

[gg99free]

Sorry it's been so long but I've kinda went off the posting for a month or so now. I check in every now and then but we just implemented WebSense on our Business Net and everyone is being screened out (Including me! I'm the one setting it up!) Anyways, since work tracks what we do now, I can't be on line most of the time anymore. Bummer!!! I do stop in occasionally when I can and I do check at home every chance I get but my wife keeps our new Dell pretty busy most of the time(Works at home)

Well, back to the subject. We decided not to go with a pond after all.

1) We are adopting another child and we're afraid she may accidently jump in. (Don't want to be negligent parents!)

2) We are currently going through another Adoption screening (Agency comes and looks at your house and recommends changes, etc... in order to adopt) and they won't like the pond idea! Bummer!!!

3) I tried digging! YIKES!!!! I'm talking Clay that's harder than Concrete here!!!
4) We've decided a small fountain is probably a better idea! It's currently going in as we speak!

Well, that's it for this front. Sorry it's taken me so long to get back on line here.

Just FYI, I currently visit Kevin's (RR's) site and this one only. Not enough time for the rest currently. I'll try staying a little more active but I'm afraid it will have to be on Mon and Wed morning's only. It's the only time I have that I can't be traced. I'll also check in on the weekends when we're not out of the house.

I really miss this site. Talk to everyone soon.

 

[fishfreek]

I really miss this site. Talk to everyone soon.

And we really miss you as well.

Glad things are going good for you and good luck with your adoption.

Business Net and everyone is being screened out

WHAT? U mean you cant justify visiting this site for work related information? GEEZ. Whats it gonna take? Do I need to create a forum for work related questions?

haha

Dang its great working for a college. All open minded people and you cant rightly block sites with out impending the pursuit of greater knowledge.