My new "Big" pond

[medxam]

Just signed the contract for a formal 10'X15' liner pond with decorative masonry around the edges. Will be approx 3' deep but after adding river stone will be more like 2" deep. By my calculations, this should come out somewhere between 2500 and 3000 gals. Will have a box waterfall on one end and a skimmer with filter on the other. There will also be a central fountain with its own filter. I plan to keep koi and goldfish. Will this pond need an aerator? Any other suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

medxam

 

[DrCase]

With a high water fall and the fountain you should be good with the oxygen

You might want to think about the foot of river rock on the bottom
It may look nice ...but it wont be good for the fish

 

[DrDave]

My 10' long, cascading waterfall is all the oxygenation my pond gets and it is plenty.

 

[medxam]

Dr Case,

I practiced medicine for 40+ years but know little about fish ponds except that there id one in my brother,s yard that my grandfather had built some 90+ years ago and one that some kids and I built about 20 years ago, bowl shaped and concrete lined. Neither has a filter or any of the goodies. Both contain many gold fish and koi, that appear to thrive.

I want to do it right with this pool. Why do you think that I should not put any river rock in the bottom, which my professional pool builder recommended. We were only going to put in about 6 in. The professionals thought it would become a biologic base.

Should I have one end (the one with the skimmer), dug deeper than 3' and if so, how deep. Do you think that the bottom should be left bare? I need all of the help that I can get.

Respecting your judgement,

medxam

 

[medxam]

Dr. Dave,

Many Thanks for your post. I will try and keep my waterfall as high as I can.

medxam

 

[DrDave]

Thanks, I'll try to answer your question to DrCase while here. The reason for not having rocks or gravel in the bottom is;
Bacteria will thrive in it and become septic. Short term it may be beneficial but long term it will become a source for Dropsy and other diseases because of the unclean conditions.
Now if you have a few large rocks and a lot of circulation and no dead spots, this is acceptable.

Ask the professional to show you his personal pond and if he actually has one, examine the circulation and filtration. It is one thing to sell and build, but another to do it for yourself.

Not a single prefessional Koi breeder anywhere has gravel in their pond bottoms.
That said, a running stream can get away with rocks and gravel, as long as it does not find it's way to the deep end.

As a former medical professional this should make perfect sense to you.

 

[addy1]

After reading a ton of posts on rocks, you are better off not putting them on the bottom of the pond. They do collect poop, leaves, junk and grow algae.

 

[hewhoisatpeace]

Hate to use this link again today, but this page http://www.aquaart.com/drain.html has a great explanation of why you don't want anything on the bottom. If you put rock, it will just get covered with the brown hairlike algae, so you won't see it. And guess what? If you don't put rock, the liner will get covered with the brown hairlike algae, so you won't see it. But, with no rock, you can sweep the crap to your bottom drain (please put a bottom drain in a newly built pond). You can tie that to the skimmer (isolate each one with a gate valve), and use an external pump with a prefilter basket to keep the heavy junk out of the pump & out of the filter.

Run those thoughts by your professional, or you can just ask me for design help. I don't yet have a lot of experience with ponding, but I have a lot of research knowledge and construction experience. Don't make an expensive mistake, Doc!

 

[DrCase]

medxam
if you could make your deep end opposite your water fall end
every thing that makes it to the bottom will be flushed to the deep end
for easy removal

 

[medxam]

Many thanks. You have convinced me to not put rocks in the bottom and to put the skimmer on the east end (prevailing winds are from the southwest).

Now how about depth. Remember this will be a 10X15 ft rectangle for plants, koi and goldfish.Should it have a shallow end and a deep end? If so, how deep should each be?

medxam

 

[addy1]

In hot arizona, I had mine 4-5 feet deep, kept the water cooler, in cold maryland building it to be 4-5 feet deep slowly becoming shallow enough to walk out of, to keep it warmer in the winter. I have read at least 36 inches for cold weather climates. Others may have other opinions.

Yours could be all one depth, unless you want lilies, but even then you could put them on stands to get the right height.

 

[DrDave]

My 2 main ponds are 18" and 30" deep. Both have shallow sloping bottoms to the max depth indicated. For a freeze prone pond, I would definetly provide a deep area for the Koi to go to that I can easily keep open with air or other means. I am in southern California and don't have the freeze to concern myself with.

I keep my juvenilles in the upper, shallow pond along with my floating plants. The lower pond has the older breeder koi and no floating plants, although I have an Island that floats with plants in it.

 

[DrCase]

My lower pond is 2ft by my water fall and 3ft on the other end

 

[medxam]

Many thanks for all of the additional information. My construction is now on hold until I can work out these new details. A bottom drain is now a must. Many thanks hewhoisatatpeace for the link. I see you live in Pendleton, SC. I was brought up in Simpsonville and went to Wofford and MUSC.

Anyone have an ultraviolet light sterilizer and should I consider on?

medxam

 

[DrDave]

So I take it that you are planning to use an external pump?