Pond

[ShrekDawg]

Has anybody ever made a pond before? We have always wanted one and are thinking of adding one but I guess I'm just not sure which kind is best? Like one of the hard plastic molds or the flexible liner stuff. We recently found one of the hard plastic ones at our local dump but it's not very big. I mean, it's pretty big, but I think I want something a little bit bigger? I can add photos of it later. But anyway, what is best or easiest? I currently have 4 goldfish and they are rapidly outgrowing their tank so I'm going to need to either buy a new, bigger tank, or build a pond soon. Preferably I would just build a pond and not shell out the money on a tank since we want a pond anyway but I may have to do both because it has to be a certain depth to not freeze, right? We are in southeastern MA. I also would like to possibly add more fish eventually, like maybe some koi, which is part of the reason I want a bigger pond. Also does anyone know if there is any place that might either do estimates or would come out and help us at least figure out a location for one? My mom wants a "pretty" one and likes rocks and waterfalls so I'm not even sure if building one ourselves would be best or if hiring someone would be best. Any other tips or advice you could give on maintaining one or what to plant or anything else like that would be appreciated too. Thanks in advance.

 

[cmom]

I built a pond almost 20 years ago. This is an old picture. I used a rigid pond around 100/120 gallons. I need to take a new picture.

 

[X_and_Z]

I have a large backyard goldfish pond. There are great pond forums out there that are worth lurking on for advice. Pond keeping is a lot like chicken keeping in that:

• up front planning makes things a lot easier and less traumatic
• there are always trade-offs and you have to decide what is acceptable to you
• there are lots of different goals in pond keeping and the type of pond that you keep/the advice that applies will depend on these goals
• climate plays a huge factor

Hard plastic liners are good as are rubber pond liners - you have more flexibility with the rubber liners, but rigid liners can be simpler.

If you want fish, plan for filtration, cleaning, water changes, winterization, predators, etc. first. Think larger, deeper, steep sided, bottom drains, external pumps...

If you just want plants shallower sloped or stepped designs are fine. You can get by with smaller or no pumps.

If you want sound you can do pondless waterfeatures that are easy maintenance.

This is my pond when it first went in (the current iteration - this was a total yard re-vamp). It ~14' long x ~10' at its widest and ~5' deep at the deepest with plant shelves at the edges. It is straight sided so that herons/egrets and raccoons don't have easy access.

And here it is today - a little messy and green since it is very warm right now. The goldfish are hiding in the depths where the water is cooler. I started with 6 4" goldfish and now have too many to count ranging from ~10" to 3". Goldfish breed even faster than rabbits...

 

[featherhead007]

Lake is fed by the Tule river, and streams from the Sierra mountains.

 

[ShrekDawg]

ya coons can be a pain.

Yeah they can be! We've had a couple try to get in the chicken coop, climbing up on top of the run (we thankfully have wire over top), I guess cause they slept outside? Now since we moved the chickens to a new part of the yard (new coop, same run), they haven't tried to get the chickens, maybe cause they're sleeping inside now, but they've been eating their food! There was digging where one tried to get in but didn't and then just a week or two ago we shined a flashlight over and saw a VERY fat one sitting next to the run, reaching through the fence, eating their food!! I guess cause we blocked his entry hole lol ANYWAY. Long story short, we now have hardware cloth next to the food bowl and are planning to put it all the way around (run is chainlink) and haven't had any issues since but yeah. I think I know why that coon was fat LOL and surprisingly the food is lasting much longer now

 

[X_and_Z]

Forgot to add links to some good starter articles:
http://www.aquaart.com/helpfularticles.html

https://macarthurwatergardens.com/pages/planning-a-new-pond

https://lochnesswatergardens.com/blogs/pondblog/how-to-choose-a-pond-pump

https://blog.thepondguy.com/2008/06...oking-for-water-garden-q-a-week-of-june-27th/

 

[tjo804]

Great advice Xander

I had a liner pond in Michigan I love love loved it! For fish plants and even just a couple cinder blocks in the bottom to make safety tunnels for fish to hide from predators

I recommend a larger filter than manufacturers recomend kinda like the prefab coops that support 6-8 layer hens

For winter I never had to worry unless power went out. As long as you keep the surface water moving the fish can get air moving water is harder to freeze. If you do a waterfall feature you may want to stop and drain that part for the winter. I never moved the fish out for winter and it was in mich so comparable winters. The plants may have to be moved or replaced like gladiola bulbs.

Koi oh I miss mine! They would come to the surface of the water when they heard my voice. I had a blue one that would hand feed. They are much like chickens take your time get to know them. Koi are a goldfish/carp mix so will do pretty well in your area.

Good luck keep us posted!!!

 

[ShrekDawg]

Wow thanks for all the advice!! It's very helpful!!

I didn't realize koi could be so friendly!

 

[ShrekDawg]

The pond in my backyard:View attachment 1440687

that's your backyard!? it's gorgeous!!

 

[featherhead007]

that is awesome, gotta ask is there fish in it?

Trout, Bass, and Bluegill. And the occasional catfish! I eat a lot of fish!