me and my shovel - my first pond

[x-Adam-x]

Here's my Heinz 57 rock pile i got today - pretty happy with how it turned out

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And my crown jewel i found for part of my waterfall! - has natural grooves that will make an excellent spill i bet

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[x-Adam-x]

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[jason081180]

you said something about pee gravel for the bottom? do not do this! nothing should be on the bottom of the pond. just leave the liner exposed and the algae will coat it and it will all blend in. having rocks on the bottom allow the poop and muck to stay there instead of going thru the filter. also i would stay away from lava rock in the filter. Use something like strapping or there are many other options. read some of the other posts on here for ideas. lava rocks clog up to easy and are hard to clean. ponds and aquariums are different things so i would take the advice of the community on here above your friend. if hes telling you to use rocks. i like the idea of your pond as far. as a filter i might go with a 150GL stock tank filter. there are many designs on here for that. or if people say 150GL filter is not enough try two. then you could have two waterfalls as well. koiguy1969 has some wonderful plans on here for building some and makes and sell the weirs for them.

 

[3qtkidz]

I was going to say the same thing about the rocks at the bottom. (Especially peat gravel) You wouldn't believe the about of muck/poop that can get lodged in those little rocks. I am no expert, but I have experienced that issue myself.

 

[x-Adam-x]

alright then - no peat gravel. thanks for stopping me on that! I'm gonna take DoDad's advice and just dig my hole to see what i'll need which means post pictures and info so ya'll can tell me what i need . I have been doing some reading and TRYING to gain knowledge but its tough to absorb because i'm so so new to this. it's hard for me to visualize and understand i guess :bouncycig: . all this feedback is great! thanks!

 

[jason081180]

it can be overwhelming at first just give it time. a good site to start with is Pond Planner just read threw it a couple times.

 

[x-Adam-x]

wow - awesome info! makes things a WHOLE lot clearer. still a lil murky, but not NEAR what it was. thanks soooo much

 

[x-Adam-x]

Everything I'm reading says it would be best to have bottom drains but it sounds like its a beast since everything is buried. is this the only system that effectively removes fish waste from the bottom of the pond?

 

[jason081180]

there is the Tetra 2" Vacuum Bottom Drain and the Aqua Art Retro Bottom Drain both of these do not need to go threw the liner so no burring and no liner cutting. there are also in-pond skimmers so no liner cutting again. i am building my first pond now and buying the Aqua Art Retro Bottom Drain from koikeepr. She says it works great. I'm going with 2in flex pipe for my whole pond.

 

[x-Adam-x]

o nice! so it sits on top of the liner and goes up the side of the pond? that sounds so so much better - all i could think about is what if it gets clogged since its buried. good deal - whats the price on that drain?

 

[jason081180]

yes just goes over the side of the pond wall or threw it.
Tetra 2" Vacuum Bottom Drain is $34.95 from webbs online
Aqua Art Retro-Drain is $89.75 from aquaart.com

maybe you can find better prices. I don't know. PM dodad he sales pond equipment

 

[x-Adam-x]

started digging this evening for about 3 1/2 hours (with considerable smoke breaks ) and this is what i got so far

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happy so far - there is some water in that deep spot which i expected because it's pretty low and flat here where i live and that is a lower part of the yard. i did know going into it that (because of run off) its not the greatest idea to put a pond in a low area but i'm gonna build a small dirt slope around the pond to keep the run off away. when its time for the liner - will a little water be an issue? note: not finished size or depth - depth will be uniform

 

[Squidhead]

started digging this evening for about 3 1/2 hours (with considerable smoke breaks ) and this is what i got so far

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happy so far - there is some water in that deep spot which i expected because it's pretty low and flat here where i live and that is a lower part of the yard. i did know going into it that (because of run off) its not the greatest idea to put a pond in a low area but i'm gonna build a small dirt slope around the pond to keep the run off away. when its time for the liner - will a little water be an issue? note: not finished size or depth - depth will be uniform

An option would be to use what you dig out and make a berm around the pond. You can tapper it to the existing grade so it's not as noticeable. This will give you more depth quicker and help with run off. I have a similar type build going on now. I am also on the higher side running a drainage pipe, well actually a leach pipe under gravel to divert water away. I am using that gravel filled ditch to run my plumbing for my waterfall and electrical condiut to my pumps.

 

[x-Adam-x]

that's exactly what i was thinking about doing with the drainage pipe but didn't think about using for the electrical - thanks! still got quite a bit of digging to do

 

[koikeepr]

there is the Tetra 2" Vacuum Bottom Drain and the Aqua Art Retro Bottom Drain both of these do not need to go threw the liner so no burring and no liner cutting. there are also in-pond skimmers so no liner cutting again. i am building my first pond now and buying the Aqua Art Retro Bottom Drain from koikeepr. She says it works great. I'm going with 2in flex pipe for my whole pond.

Don't get the Tetra drain. It plumbs from the top of the drain and not the side (like the Aqua Art one), so you have this pipe going up and over in your pond, which aside from being annoying--your fish can bump into it if spooked.