Pond

[Alive again]

Looking at putting in a pond for plants/fish. We have a liner and a smaller preformed one. Need info on design/plants/fish depths (Yes, we have cats). Running elec and pumps/filtration. We have lots to learn, so anythign would be helpful-even recommend good resources for info. Thanks!!!

 

[MrsRocking-W]

Our "small" pond project started 3 years ago when we bought our home and the previous owners had put in an above-ground pool which we insisted they remove. Under the pool was many yards of sand...most of the back yard was lawn and no fence, not much to look at or work with. We chose to use about 1/3 of one end of the pool sight after having found a "kit" from our local home depot. The kit included liner, pump(35gph)fountain and directions. What we thought would be a "weekend" project has taken these past 3 years to come to completion and a labour of love. Be devoted to this project or don't even start! We have learned so much...what to do and what not to do and some lessons have been expensive and some cheap. If you could give us an idea of what size (dimensions as well as gallons of water desired for size)both my husband and I would be glad to tell you all we have learned and try to point you in the right direction to go. For example, what kind of earth are you having to dig into?, will this be located in front of property or rear? (your desires play a big part in what to do and where) do you have a lot of money to spend or are you on a tight budget, etc. We'll be checking posts all day or you may respond to us in private msg if you would like.

 

[Iollain]

You don't need filters and stuff for a small pond, you need a few fish to keep the mosquito's away, some shade plants on the top, and some oxogenater plants, they usually go to the bottom. I've had a small pond for about 6 years this way and it does great. Never lost a fish but i bring them in before the ice covers the pond, put them out at the end of April. You might need to add water sometimes to replace water that is evaporated. I notice this one goes through a period every season where you can't see very far down, but it clears up.

 

[MrsRocking-W]

I guess someone needs to define "small pond"

 

[Rocking-W]

we consider our pond to be small and it's about 1500 gallons. And have found over the last couple years that there is much to learn keeping plants and fish healthy and alive.

 

[Iollain]

This is like the one i have, it's 2 1/2 feet deep ,about 5 ft across i think. I only have goldfish. Had one koi that disappeared overnight. I gave up on trying to keep the top plants alive all winter. Have a pond lily that i've had for 4 years that survives the winter at the bottom and i throw the cattails down there for the winter that i keep on the sides. You guys have way bigger ponds than me looks like.

 

[Alive again]

Thank you for your responses!!! The prefab is very small. we bought it used and it has a waterfall we may actually use with the liner instead. So the prefab would be still water and only 15-20 gallons not really deep enough fro fish 12 inches or so-or at least that's my understanding. It would be in the back yard in partial sun/shade or full shade under a pine tree. But we were thinking of avoiding the pine and the falling debris issues. The liner kit say 270 gallons and is a kit I bought at clearance at Walmart. The filter/pump set up l;ooks pretty cheap and I'm not sure if we would be better off getting something else. We ar3e on a tight budget. (The pond is a ten year anniversary gift and we've been married 22 and could finally afford it on clearance this last year ) We will be digging in clay, but plan to line with sand and surround pond/liner with river rock type stones. We are hoping to have plants and goldfish, but don't have a clue about pumps/filtration/plants/fish type stuff or if any water care is necessary. I did score a water lily and water iris on clearance at Walmart this year and they are growing in five gallon buckets right now. Not sure if pond should be shaded or sunny. Lots of general questions. thanks for any help you can be.

 

[MrsRocking-W]

because we are newbies the system won't let us answer your pm, don't understand this but please write to us at our regular email rockingw1@verizon.net and we would be blessed to be able to help someone else with their pond!!

 

[MrsRocking-W]

It was my husband's and my experience that you could save a lot of money by being selective on plants...we purchased most of ours when lowe's put their pond plants in the clearance section...usually around july/august in our area of the northwest. Waterlilies have a mind of their own and different lilies require different depths of water. We found several websites where you purchase plants that have good detail on planting depth... a good place to identify what plants you do have. Some lilies will survive freezing water, others will not. Fish... the first season we started with comets, about 6 I think and they didn't do well...the pond was only about 4 weeks old and we had a lot to learn.
From that point on we experimented with feeder goldfish from the local pet store that were 8 for a dollar. Some lived through the first winter, others did not. The ones that made it into spring were healthy for the first week and then got very ill. We spent WAY too much money on pond testing kits to determine our ph level and making the water softer or harder depending on which way the wind blew that day. My mother had told me tales of my Grandfather keeping goldfish in his stock ponds back in Illinois years ago and never did ANYTHING special to keep them alive and they grew to be quite large. So why was it so difficult to keep fish alive in a pond in my backyard? Finally, can't remember where we found the information, (for goldfish variety at least) we learned that as the fish go into winter and come out of winter they will eat as much as you feed them but their metabolism is determined by the temperature of the water. We bought fairly inexpensive thermometer which stays in the pond tied to string and now we check the water temperature...feed once a week, once a day, whatever the thermometer says and we have had the same goldfish (huge now) for about 18 months. So much more to say but taking up a lot of room in the forum!

 

[Iollain]

new pic

 

[mfarley]

Looks great! You'll have to include some more pics. =)

 

[Kris123]

I was thinking about putting in a small pond in our front yard. I think that is not going to be in the near future though. They are pretty, but sound like alot of work.

 

[Iollain]

No they are really not a lot of work, one day a year in the spring i drain all the water and clean it out with old rags, then fill it up and put the plants back in, the fish, and buy a few oxygenater plants and a few floaters for shade. Have 3 floating metal balls i got at the Walmart for decoration. Feed the fish at least once every few days, and i have to catch them in the fall because the pond is not deep enough to keep them out all winter, then i put the side plants down to the bottom for the winter, that's just about it. Once the first fish is caught they seem to know that your after them and they can be tricky then lol. We had about 25 baby fish to catch too last year.

 

[""]

We had koi in our pond when I was a little girl. I loved them.

Here's a link for you if you are interested in keeping koi

http://www.vcnet.com/koi_net/

It talks about Koi, filters, breeding, etc.

 

[Phatbowser]

A pond is wonderful to have, the best place for them is near a garden.

 

[cristalblaze]

We have space for a small pond, plus garden. It is a matter of deciding what we want. I hope it isn't too hard to do. I think that picture up there is so beautiful. They are worth the effort, if there are not too troublesome!