New pond, now we want it bigger..

[CometKeith]

Hi KatnRandy, Welcome to GPF. It is probably safer to do the new liner in the fall than the spring. Even though people associate cleaning with spring I think it is safer to do it in the fall. In the spring your fish resistance to disease is usually quite low coming out of the winter. When you change the liner you can keep the beneficial bacteria in your filter alive by adding an airstone to it while the system is down. The bacteria needs moving water to stay alive. You probably want to wait until it is a little cooler and the fish start to slow down. If they are really active it may be tough to keep up with their waste if your pond needs to cycle again. I did a full liner change last summer and made the mistake thinking that there was enough good bacteria in the new pond by using a lot of the same water that it did not need to cycle again. I was wrong! You should check their water regularly with a test kit once you put them in the new pond and do partial water changes if needed. Also consider going bigger and deeper than your plan otherwise you will probably want to enlarge it again next year!

 

[fishin4cars]

Thanks for the responses, and the welcome.

We sit outside and stare at the yard, and the pond, and all the work we still have to do, but i know if we lay the brick patio around the pond there's no going back. Luckily we're both on the same page about this, and we both want a bigger pond, so i don't have to convince him, haha.

One of the biggest motivators are the lovely pics everyone on here has. Every time we see a bigger pond we get a little more jealous that ours is so tiny! We never knew when we started this we'd become such enthusiasts!

I think everyone needs to post a pic of their pond and lets get this motivation kicked into high gear. Bigger is better, If your already thinking about it, it's only a matter of time, Been there done that! BTW, congratulations.

 

[sissy]

I didn't go big ,i only did what i knew I could handle by myself but adding 2 filters really helps keep the water clean and plants help even more .

over filter over aerate the pond and seems to really keep the water cleaner .I set a loose hose that is tied to my bridge with a ball valve and it aerates the surface water and helps keep the pond clean and 6 inches off th floor of the pond i have the same set up but not so strong to keep the water moving and been 8 years of work ,but this idea seems to really work for me .

 

[addy1]

Bigger is better, this is not my biggest, but was as big as I wanted to dig at the time.

My arizona pond

 

[CometKeith]

Addy, your pond and landscape are so amazing. Every time I see it i am in awe. Fishin your koi pond really came out fantastic. Everything else looks like it is coming out great too. Sissy, I have two pumps and one is connected to a bio-filter and the other just runs extra water to my waterfall and is actually a stronger pump so it wouldn't be a problem to put a filter on it. I was thinking of adding a filter to that one too. Are you using the same filter for each?

 

[sissy]

No 2 different filters and got those acurel filter pads from pet mountain 10x14 and love how easy they are to clean and how much they pick up .I have been using them for 2 weeks now and finding for the price of 4 dollars they work pretty good .

 

[taherrmann4]

Here you go:

 

[sissy]

Realized you may be asking i use another pump for the second filter now and I am going to making a bigger filter this fall for the one with the wood around it and put more plants in it next summer because i found the plants really help clean the water before it goes down and the comes back up the 3 inch pipe that comes out a 2 inch that has an aerator hose in it to help aerate the water .I am also going to make it wider and put in 2 tank adapters and still keep the water going down and then coming back up with 2 of those pipes . .I was looking at a 60 gallon stock tank that is oval .But have to say again I really think the plants help keep the water cleaner and thats why I like the 60 gallon stock tank it will give me more room for plants .I may even get 2 stock tanks and change the other one also .I have a 2900 gph pump and a 2150 gph pump .I could get away with one pump but decided to see how 2 would clean .

 

[icerabbit]

Yes.

We had a small pre-formed pond where we used to live. We were very happy with it. Then wanted it bigger. Upgraded to a larger (but still small all things considered) pre-formed pond. Then moved it to a shadier spot. At our current location I have conceived two new larger ponds. One is being built currently. One will be for next spring.

How deep is your pond?
Given your location, I suspect your pond will/may freeze solid. Every winter, we take our fish inside in the fall as temps start to drop and approach freezing, before the whole thing fills up with leaves anyhow (near several trees); then drained the small ponds against them cracking from freezing. (due to the small size I'd cover them with plywood/multistrand to avoid a family member stepping in) know rain water and snow melt has filled up the larger one once and it did not crack, but that may just have been luck or due to size/shape/frost outside the pond/...

I've tried one winter to keep plants over winter in the basement, but I think I needed better/more grow lights ... which probably would raise the electric bill too much and might raise an eye brow with law enforcement

Then start over in the spring.

Anyway, if you want to have / build a larger pond next spring and build a deck, do more landscaping etc. I would recommend to start planning and digging now. Reason being that in certainly two of the springs I worked in our small in-town garden, the snow was gone, sun was up, etc. when we started with "let's put a small pond here" and one time "let's move the larger pond to this shadier space instead" I was chipping ice 2 inches under the surface. I had to wait a few weeks for the ground to thaw before I could continue. Of course removing loose soil and exposing frozen soil to the sun helps expedite things, but it is something to keep in mind depending on how much wider and deeper you want to go; as well as thinking about your overall landscaping being completed before your wedding.

Congrats on the engagement

 

[KatnRandy]

Well, we finally finished our pond. Increased the size, changed the layout. Our first pond was about 500 gl this one is about 1500. We had 17 fish going into the winter and lost all but one.

 

[KatnRandy]

Another view.

 

[Mmathis]

Thanks for the update, and sorry to hear about the fish

Pond looks great. Now, when's the wedding?

 

[KatnRandy]

Ahahaha! When the rest of the yard is complete!

Our aim is for next August. Backyard wedding. Right beside the pond.

We now have in mind to build a greenhouse and veggie garden, but that will have to wait until next year...one project at a time.

So, we went to Florida earlier this year and gathered a very large amount of sea shells. Are they safe to put in the pond?

 

[dieselplower]

I was shocked when the original post said the pond was initially 1000 gallons. Glad the realization was made it is closer to 500 but probably more like 400. This is important to know when it comes to stocking level, pump and filter decisions, or if treatments need to be added to the water etc. Do you know how to calculate pond gallons? I suspect you may have overestimated again. Obviously, this pond needs to be deeper if the fish are to survive. We are here to help

 

[KatnRandy]

Nah. This time we are dead on. It is, after all, a rectangle. Pretty hard to mess up. And I used the pond calculator. The depth is just under three feet, so it shouldn't freeze this winter...we hope.

Maybe it just looks smaller then it is. Here's one with sideways Randy beside it as a comparison.