Help me build a pond!

[koidude]

A buddy of mine has a big pond. Ive never tryed to build one. But every time I go over there I sit there and stare at his pond. He finally gave me a 12' x 17' pond liner. Said man go build a pond in your yard.

Hoping to get some idea's on what I should do with this liner. What filtration etc I would need also. This whole thing is new to me. Please help! How deep should I make this pond? How wide, how long, etc. I have been looking online all morning. There is so much info to go through it kinda makes your stomach twist!

Give me some idea's guys!

 

[j.w]

koidude

Real nice of your friend to give you the liner to start with. You could have it at a depth of 3ft and 4ft wide w/ a length of 9ft long which would give you leftover flaps for the edge of the pond to put the rocks on of about a foot or so all the way around. Course you need a filter and a pump and plants and the fish. Some like to DIY to save money and there are really good people here who know how to do that but I'll let them chime in to help you w/ that

 

[koidude]

Thanks for the welcome jw. My buddy told me he was tired of me using him for his pond! Its relaxing sitting out there watching his pond. Just so happened he had this liner sitting in his garage!

I have been reading alot today. Seems alot of people use a skimmer and a bio filter of some sort. I just need to figure out what filtration I will need so I can plan this whole thing out. I dont want to just dig a huge hole in my yard, and my bank account at the same time.

 

[fishin4cars]

Welcome aboard Koidude, Be sure and use the search if your looking for specific answers. this forum has tons of great information to be found, one of the best forums for garden ponders I have found. Your name says your thinking Koi, If that's the case build your pond for them, if you want plants and peaceful fish, stick with the goldfish. You can get away with it for a while but when they start getting big koi need a really different set-up than a water garden. Planning ahead now may save you a lot in the end.

 

[j.w]

It is so nice relaxing by the pond. Are you gonna have a waterfall? They add so much to the sound factor and create much needed oxygen by splashing on the surface of the water. If you check here in the DIY thread for filters etc. you will find a lot of useful info and then after you have checked it out ask more questions so you will totally understand everything before you get started. You'll need to decide what kind of rock you are gonna use and depending on where you live you might find some good free ones to use. Just make sure they are good to put near your pond water as some deteriorate over time and might send bad minerals into the pond. We have plentiful river rock here so that is what I used:

 

[rebelangel_3733]

Hello and welcome! I'm a newbie too and just finished putting in my pond and plants and just added a few fish a few days ago. It's really not to hard to imagine what you would like with what you have. I hope it is thick liner your using for starters. I used a pre-formed pond myself and added on a waterfall. I myself read and read and then came upon this site and read and read some more! I built my own filtration system also from what I had read off of here (only in a 10 gallon rubbermaid container not a 55 gal drum).
I got all of my big/medium rocks from my neighbor who didn't want them and a few buckets full of smaller assorted rocks from the local cement shop to finish up the touch up at the end of my rock experience (expect lots of boo boo's when setting up your rocks) lol. I drew out a few waterfalls I liked online that I saw and then just went to it on my own. So far so good! Good luck!

 

[rebelangel_3733]

here is another view of my imagination that became a reality

 

[Shdwdrgn]

Going by the dimensions j.w gave, you could have a pond of up to 800 gallons. That's a pretty decent size for a first pond! Keep in mind that koi can get two to three feet in length, so you may want to consider sticking with goldfish - but this would be big enough to support some koi.

At the very least, you'll want to build yourself a biofilter. A 55-gallon drum would be about the right size, and they're pretty cheap to make. Get a suitable pump to move the water, and you'll be ready to go.

As for digging the hole... Since you enjoy looking at your friend's pond, you probably already have some ideas of what attracts you to it. Plants are a great idea as they provide shade for the fish, and can draw interest from other critters like birds, dragonflies, and frogs. So you probably want to dig your pond with a shelf around the edge to grow your plants on. Based on what I'm currently planting, you should keep the shelf at 8" or less. Most bog-style plants require no more than 3-6" depth. Also consider varying the shelf height... perhaps making it 4" deep on the front side of the pond, and 8" deep around the back side, to give you more variety in the types of plants you can have.

Also keep in mind variations in pond size. If you only dig it to 30" deep, that gives you another 12" of liner for the width, so you could make the pond 5' x 10', and the sides wouldn't have to be so steep to get the final depth. Since you are in Florida, you don't have to worry about freezing like many of us, however you still want to retain some depth so your fish will have protection from predators.

The best information I got when trying to decide how to build my own pond came from looking at pictures of other people's ponds. There is a huge variety of possibilities, and you will find little pieces from different ponds that you want to try to put into your own. Find those ideas that you like best, and see if there are any special considerations to make them happen. At the very least, try to plan ahead for any ideas you might want to add in later (like a waterfall). Even if you don't have the money to add that feature now, build around the idea, and leave yourself room to add it later. It really sucks to have to tear out a whole area later on to add that new idea!

 

[koidude]

jw that is a beautiful pond.

rebel angel. That waterfall is awesome. Great job!

Shdwdrgn great info!

I do have a 55 gallon barrel in my shed! I was just reading the diy biofilter thread last night. I think I might have almost enough pvc sitting around to do this also. I know I have the light grate stuff in my shed from a past project. Anyone have an idea of what size pump I will be looking at for this size pond?

 

[addy1]

koidude, make sure you use block to build the walls of your pond, florida soil is very sandy, it won't maintain as just dirt walls for your pond. Ask your buddy how he walled his pond and do the same. I have a friend that dug a pond, in florida, the walls collapsed with the first big rain, had to redo with block.

A 800 gallon pond look for a pump that does at least 800 gallons an hour. Laguana, evolution series, sequence. Watch for electricity use, to keep the running cost down.

If you are going to add a waterfall, watch the head the pump can handle, i.e. the height it will pump the water too.

In florida, you do have herons, lots of them, don't put in plant shelves and keep the pond at least 3 feet deep to keep the fish safer from them. You can put plants on containers like milk crates. If you do a plant shelf make it so the fish can't get to the shelf, makes them easy prey for the birds. My plant shelf is 2 feet deep, if the plants need shallower water, I put them in deeper pots to raise the soil height.

I am a bog lover, with the florida growing season..........year round...........you could have a beautiful one!

Oh and welcome to the group!

 

[Malak]

Welcome and good luck. FYI, the pond liners only have so many years of life. Ask him if it was ever used, and for how many years. Also, the thickness determines how many years it will last from the start. For no worrries, most use 45 mil liners. This gives you 2-3 decades before issues.

 

[addy1]

Welcome and good luck. FYI, the pond liners only have so many years of life. Ask him if it was ever used, and for how many years. Also, the thickness determines how many years it will last from the start. For no worrries, most use 45 mil liners. This gives you 2-3 decades before issues.

One of the bigger concerns would be dry rot from sitting around in the heat. Just check out your new liner for cracking etc, ow you should be fine.

 

[fishin4cars]

Pump size I recommend at least a pump that is rated for twice the pond capacity, 800 gallon pond, 1600gph pump. It's better to go a little bigger than you need, more circulation as long as it's not way over kill, give the fish more oxygen, it give you mare to be able to do with the pump, waterfalls, filter, circulation, etc. You can always bleed back straight to the pond if you have to much water for a use or split it off to something else, This also allows for more head pressure and if you have to rum pipe for a distance to the filter you will still have enough pump to do the job.

 

[koidude]

Glad you guys asked what thickness etc the pond liner was. It was 20mil. I went to this pond place not to far from me this morning. I got some idea's, and also got a better pond liner. It is now 15' x 20'

I just did some research and it looks as though I can do a 10' x 5' x 3' pond.

I also looked at pumps while I was up that way. I also found that I like the idea of having a bigger pump. If needed it can be throttled back.

 

[Malak]

Also, adding "underlayment" first increases the life. Could he use both liners?