New Stock Tank Pond

[RichGuess]

Thanks, I had to hire the concrete cap out, it was beyond my scope…. Having said that, I could easily do it now.. There is pretty much a constant 2” gap all around, now that the tank is sitting in place.. I’m pretty happy with the outcome, but not the cost…. I kept the bog filter alive all the way, but now aesthetically, I doesn’t work. We built the countertop at 36” (code concerns) and with the 25” tall bog tank, it will look like a big still operating out back. There’s an area built for filters, a pump, and some supplies.

I’m pretty sure I can’t use a swimming pool liner, but this would be ideal, and they come in loads of colors.

I could install this before lowering into place.


couple more photos:

2” all around

Future Fisherman;

I sent out for three quotes for custom liners, and one has come back at $725.. ‘gulp’

Rich…

 

[RMaynard]

Thanks, I had to hire the concrete cap out, it was beyond my scope…. Having said that, I could easily do it now.. There is pretty much a constant 2” gap all around, now that the tank is sitting in place.. I’m pretty happy with the outcome, but not the cost…. I kept the bog filter alive all the way, but now aesthetically, I doesn’t work. We built the countertop at 36” (code concerns) and with the 25” tall bog tank, it will look like a big still operating out back. There’s an area built for filters, a pump, and some supplies.

View attachment 158358
View attachment 158362
I’m pretty sure I can’t use a swimming pool liner, but this would be ideal, and they come in loads of colors.
View attachment 158359
I could install this before lowering into place.


couple more photos:

2” all around
View attachment 158360

Future Fisherman;
View attachment 158361


I sent out for three quotes for custom liners, and one has come back at $725.. ‘gulp’

Rich…

Have you looked at this place?

 

[j.w]

The tub thing w/the liner in it looks fine to me. Whatever color you choose will turn green from algae anyways.

 

[RichGuess]

Have you looked at this place?
View attachment 158392

I did check them out, but after placing in my shopping cart, I was reminded nothing under 96 inches..
(Odd, it even allows you to enter a number under 96). I was apprehensive to gamble on it fitting my 92”..
It still may be the way to go though !

Rich…

 

[MermaidTracy]

Hello Everyone,
Been lurking here for some time. I have been planning a pond for several years. My first attempt was going the be in-ground, but I began to see some long term maintenance issues (utube) that I prefer not to deal with, so I covered the hole, and decided to look for something easier to manage. I realize KOI require deeper water, so we’ve decided that KOI won’t be in the plans. I have a co-worker, who split a large water tank in two, and buried both halves, and both halves are 10 ft dia and over 4 ft deep, still outside my abilities…
So, we have a very small stock tank already, and it’s been supporting 10 goldfish for several years now, and that seemed the setup most likely to succeed. Some initial planning got me where you see in the photo. I have a level pad, with electrical, and water, all ready to proceed.
View attachment 141411
Because it’s all new, I can pretty much take in any direction now. Eventually, there will be a “lattice” cover over the entire area, and a ~4ft feature wall directly behind it. I live in the desert area in southern calif, and I don’t believe the pond could survive in the full summer sun.
My reason for posting here, is I’m at a loss as to the best pump/filter combo, for this setup. My small s tank, is only about 75 gal, so practically anything works well there, but this tank is 750 gal… My thought process says a submerged pump, drawing through a filter box, pumping through a pressure filter with a UV light. I really want a waterfall of some sort, possibly a ”spillway” mounted to the “feature wall” behind the pond. (part of the enjoyment of a pond is the sound ). I left an area behind the wall with two independent 20amp circuits, and a pair of faucets, one on a sprinkler controller, and low voltage wiring.

On a side note, a bog filter interests me, but seems difficult to make happen, in this case.. Correct me if I’m wrong, but the bog filter would need to be “level” with the pond water level, and without a second container, it is almost impossible..


I didn’t say much here, but it sure came out long winded…
Any suggestions are welcome, Rich..

Oase filters are great. Check out Amazon or the pond guy

 

[GBBUDD]

For 700 bucks I'd learn how to parge and skim coat the inside of the block and use the tin pond to feed the cows. That is if you have cows.

 

[BenB]

I bought a pond liner on Ebay for decent price to put in the exact same setup you are doing. It's worked out quite well. I also have Koi and goldfish in it and have had Koi in shallowish water for 15 years now.

 

[RichGuess]

Well, what seemed to be some simple choices, turned a bit overwhelming.. I bought a liner back earlier in this thread, but later began to seek a cleaner method. (a custom liner) After wrestling with choices, I decided to use the liner already in hand.. It seems the liner I purchased is massively thick and stiff. I layed it in the 105 deg heat to soften it up some, BUT, it’s still too stiff to install. With two people standing in the tank, the liner will not conform to the 90 deg wall at all, it seems to want to crease.. . So, I conceded I purchased the wrong liner.. After researching the “pool” liner possibility, I decided the 25mil pvc liner may not hold up long, and replacing a liner in a finished pond does not sound fun.. So, I checked 2 local Koi shops for pond liners, and locally a 15’ x 15’ liner is right at $400.. Not happening.. Found a 45mil on Amazon for $200, went ahead and dropped the dime on pump and filter combo along with the liner. Delivery next week.. We’re getting close to water..

I’m concerned about running the pond low, if there’s a malfunction, so some sort of float valve is in order, but where would that be mounted ? Is that a valve to cut power to the pump, or does it shut a valve somewhere to stop water flow ?

I bought this valve for topping off the pond, has anyone ever used one of these

I’ve never setup a pond this big (It’s not that big to anyone but me) so please let me know if there’s anything I should watch out for, or any pointers..

On another note, I bought these faux rocks and decided they would look great in the pond.

I cut some holes for fish access. The rocks are hand laid fiberglass, and are fairly smooth on the inside. I sanded the openings so there are no rough spots at all.. ( good idea ? / bad idea ? )

Wish me luck !

Rich…

 

[RichGuess]

The pond is looking good, I haven’t had time to post here for some time..

I filled the pond back in Aug. Waited 2 weeks before adding fish. The wife kinda went overboard, and purchased tooo many feeder fish, so there will be some thinning someday.

Right now everything seems great, there are 16 goldfish, and 8 red minnows. The whole process was not without issue though….

After 2 months, everything turned GREEN… The large faux rocks, along with all the pebbles on the floor grew a solid 1/4” of green fur.…. It quickly looked very depressing.. I bought a test kit, and everything appeared OK though. At that point the pond was still in full sun, so I assumed algae was thriving in the california sun, as well as the filter not fully up to speed yet. I placed a smaller portable filter in, from another established pond, to help out until the full filter system kicked in. That seemed to work great. I’ve since added 70% shade cloth over the patio lattice roof, which helped but was overkill. It’s been 4 months and the algae has subsided, Just within the last 2 weeks, and looks great now.

But, without sunlight from above, the plants have began to thin out… I opted to add some lighting above to stimulate plant growth in a controlled manner. I put them on a timer to simulate the natural cycle of the sun…. I’m not sure the water lilies like the reduced sunlight, as they’ve notably started producing smaller leaves. In fairness, the lights are 5ft from the water surface, and for full effect they should be about 30” or less. Just watching for now.

Looking down on the pond from above is tough because of the overhead glare, of both the lights and the sunshine. I tried several budget lights in the pond itself, to help illuminate the fish , but none looked bright enough to keep.. Still on the hunt.

I would have never believed the temperature could respond so dramatically to a body of water this large. Through the warm months, 70f to 84f was the norm, but when outside temps dropped into the 40’s, I suddenly saw water temps in the mid 50’s. Im not sure how comfortable the gold fish are with 50 deg f. but I may need to warm it up some.. At 800 gallons, finding a reasonably priced heater will be a challenge. I bought an 800w submersible heater, for about $50… and it’s very underpowered. Temps have been below freezing for 3 days now, and this heater can keep the pond right at 60f. It had to be set to max, to achieve that though, and that won’t be pretty when the weather warms back up. Thinking it will be a seasonal thing only. I found 1500 watt heaters out there, but still rated for just 350 gallons. The plants seem to be responding poorly to the the cold water too.


I’ll try to assemble some structured / sequential photos later.

Rich…

 

[Hound Heaven]

Not sure about minnows but I can assure you that goldfish do not need a heater and can survive icy temps.

 

[sissy]

reminds me a fish tank great job . Fat fantails would look great in your pond and do not have as many babies as goldfish and are prettier to look at / they are also slow and are easy to teach to eat out of your hands . They get to know your face and will come to you when they see you . I have 2 and sad to say have never had babies and have had them since 2005 or the koi have eaten the babies because they are slower and easy to catch

 

[j.w]

reminds me a fish tank great job . Fat fantails would look great in your pond and do not have as many babies as goldfish and are prettier to look at / they are also slow and are easy to teach to eat out of your hands . They get to know your face and will come to you when they see you . I have 2 and sad to say have never had babies and have had them since 2005 or the koi have eaten the babies because they are slower and easy to catch

It would be fun to have a pond full of those pretty different colored fat, wiggly, fantails