Anyone else here have a fish pond?

[CarpCharacin]

I meant the pond itself.

I had the preliminary design done in 2014, I started digging it in February 2015, but I didn't actually get fish in it until April 2016, and I didn't get the filtration system revised until spring of 2017.

 

[CarpCharacin]

If you are thinking about building a pond @Texas Kiki, how big are you planning on making it?

 

[Kiki]

If you are thinking about building a pond @Texas Kiki, how big are you planning on making it?

I haven't thought much yet...but just by looking at yours and guessing the size I think I could fit something along the lines of maybe 5 feet by 3 feet nicely in my yard.

 

[CarpCharacin]

I haven't thought much yet...but just by looking at yours and guessing the size I think I could fit something along the lines of maybe 5 feet by 3 feet nicely in my yard.

Mine is 5 feet by 10 feet, and about 4-5 feet deep. If it isn't deep enough, predators will be able to get your fish. I also keep my fish in my pond during the winter. If you made yours 5 feet by 3 feet and 3 feet deep, that would be around 336 gallons. I'm not sure if that would be big enough for koi, but maybe it would be enough for one.

 

[Kiki]

Mine is 5 feet by 10 feet, and about 4-5 feet deep. If it isn't deep enough, predators will be able to get your fish. I also keep my fish in my pond during the winter. If you made yours 5 feet by 3 feet and 3 feet deep, that would be around 336 gallons. I'm not sure if that would be big enough for koi, but maybe it would be enough for one.

O wow...it didn't look that big to me.

I think I could get away with that size. Let me measure a spot in the yard tomorrow to double check what that looks like.

 

[CarpCharacin]

O wow...it didn't look that big to me.

I think I could get away with that size. Let me measure a spot in the yard tomorrow to double check what that looks like.

You should rent one of those mini excavators for digging it out, I dug out mine manually, and it was a lot of work. One day I was taking pictures of the progress, and the wheelbarrow was sitting next to it, and I tripped over the wheelbarrow, fell in, and then the wheelbarrow fell on me. That hurt, LOL.

 

[aart]

Building a pond is 20 times harder than building a chicken coop.
Some things in common, you're going to need twice the space(and thrice the money) that you think you will...and there as many ways to build and maintain as there are water keepers.
The filtration can take up as much space as the pond.
Oh. and it can take 4 times as long to build.

 

[aart]

How did your filtration system work? I built / partially designed my own filtration system, but I had to revise it in order to get it working properly. It's a moving bed filter, but I wanted to keep the mechanical filtration as part of the same filter, so instead of the water coming in the bottom and going out the top, it comes in the top and goes out an overflow in the side.

I played with filtration a lot, built a mini gravity fed system with Retro BD>vortex>mechanical(brushes>coarse pad>fine pads)>bio media with air>pump chamber>return to pond. Each chamber connected with valve to a waste drain.

Pics I have are a mess and I didn't document it all that well.
But here are some pics.
In 2010.

Upper pond this year, after 5 year of no filtration or cleaning.

Here's a schematic of my mini filtration system.
This does not show that there is a drain from the upper vortex to the lower drain system, or the drain valve connections from all the lower chambers.

 

[CarpCharacin]

Building a pond is 20 times harder than building a chicken coop.
Some things in common, you're going to need twice the space(and thrice the money) that you think you will...and there as many ways to build and maintain as there are water keepers.
The filtration can take up as much space as the pond.
Oh. and it can take 4 times as long to build.

Designing my pond was more fun than building it, LOL.

I played with filtration a lot, built a mini gravity fed system with Retro BD>vortex>mechanical(brushes>coarse pad>fine pads)>bio media with air>pump chamber>return to pond. Each chamber connected with valve to a waste drain.

Pics I have are a mess and I didn't document it all that well.
But here are some pics.
In 2010.
View attachment 1881395

Upper pond this year, after 5 year of no filtration or cleaning.
View attachment 1881396

Here's a schematic of my mini filtration system.
This does not show that there is a drain from the upper vortex to the lower drain system, or the drain valve connections from all the lower chambers.
View attachment 1881404

Do you have any plans to get it going again?

 

[aart]

Designing my pond was more fun than building it, LOL.

That's for sure!!

Do you have any plans to get it going again?

Nope. Physicality issues have curbed many previous endeavors, I can't get down on the ground to work on stuff anymore.
Actually think often about ripping out/filling the whole thing in.
It's been interesting watching it just exist. Thought skeeters might be a problem, but there's enough 'pond life' in there to keep them at bay. Lots of frogs in there every year so water quality must not be too bad. The couple lillies in there still bloom, one like mad this year.