new to here and to having a pond!

[xxchickyxx89]

so this is where i say a little about why I'm here. well, I'm Shauna from a little place called Everson, PA. population??? about 850 growing up my mom had small ponds here and there that I would all but take over after they we're set up feeding cleaning sitting and watching and even the occasional waiting til my mom would take all the fish out to clean but leaving a bit of water in the bottom and me being the prankster i was sneaking down to the creek grabbing a cray fish and tossing it in just to watch my mom turn white. lol. now I'm on my own just bought my first house and decided to put my relaxation oasis in I'm working with enough space to put in 2 ponds the smallest being a finished size of about 4' x 8' then another larger pond of about 12' x 12' seems pretty simple? not quite were working on a small hill with a gradual slope of about 3ft between the 2 ponds. we have decide to do a kidney shaped pond and work with the natural slope to build a waterfall smallest pond being at the top and largest at the bottom. anyways that's the basics of it looking for any advice i can get anywhere from homemade pumps to plants. i plan to fill it with koi when it's done. my biggest concern right now is how i will get the water to pump from the largest pond back to the top of the smallest. any help is appreciated. thanks for reading my ramble!



Shauna

 

[addy1]

Welcome to the forum. There are a lot of people here that will help you with your plans.

Post some pictures of your build site that also helps.

I don't know of any homemade pumps, but homemade filters work great. If you want your fish to be happy make you pond deep 3 plus feet, this helps a lot when it gets cold. My pond in maryland had 8 inches of ice on it this winter, five feet at the deepest area. Keep straight sides to help with keeping herons and other fish lovers away.

The pump size will depend on the volume of your pond and the head i.e. the length of pipe and the height it has to go up to get to the upper pond.

With planning you will have a great system when done.

 

[j.w]

Shauna

 

[sissy]

Welcome Shauna and good luck on your first new home .I'm sure your bursting with pride .Not sure about Pennsy pond being only 3 feet my cousin Freddy lives in Benton PA and his first pond was 3 feet and nothing but problems with loosing fish .He went to 4 feet and has been fine since as he thinks they where lacking oxygen from the long winters and he uses a pond deicer .My pond goes from 2 feet to 4 feet ,you could do the same also pond does not have to be 1 depth all the way .I started at the waterfall 2 feet and then went to the other side of the pond being 4 feet and also have a smaller waterfall over there with a filter there too .DrDave has good filter advice on his sight under his name you can click on it and he shows a filter build and you can also google it .They have great video's on you tube for filters also and if you build it yourself you will save money . You have a slope that is great for a pond with a waterfall .You can check out Addy's as she has a really pretty pond on slope with a waterfall

 

[CometKeith]

Hi Shauna, Welcome! Did you consider using two pumps? One for the waterfall up to the small pond and the other to your bio-filter? There is a lot of advice how to make your own bio-filter in the forum.

 

[xxchickyxx89]

pics are soon to come didnt have time to get them on here the other day. we are still doing the rough draft work design and stuff we have thought about doing 2 pumps, my fiance has thrown out something like a double sink idea for the 2 ponds both having a drain in the lowest part of the pond where they would then drain out into a filter and from there pump the water back into the ponds again, not sure exactly how that will work yet. I'm a little worried it will be too much for some of the fish to handle and they will get sucked in. any ideas on this? we will be building everything ourselves including the digging and moving of the dirt by hand we bought software from punch to help with the layout and design once we have finished the project on that i will be posting pics of it also. thanks every1 for helpful tips

Shauna

 

[xxchickyxx89]

finally got pics uploaded. only 3 for now there in my album.

 

[sissy]

which house is yours in pic and do you have to put a fence up to protect the neighbors and what are your building department laws there and your homeowners insurance requirements .We have non here but seems a lot of states do .

 

[xxchickyxx89]

ours is the 1 to the right in the pic. we wont be very close to the neighbors house so i don't think a fence will be needed as far as the ins we are good to go building permits were not positive on yet can't get anyone to call us back yet.

 

[sissy]

you may want to make sure you would not want a fine .I know my cousin Freddy in Berwick PA needed a permit

 

[xxchickyxx89]

thanks.
were still in early beginnings of the process I'm 1 of those ppl who wants to know everything i possibly can b4 i start anything measure twice cut once type of thing.

 

[sissy]

Good for you you know what you want and I know you can do it .Go get em girl .And your pond will be fantastic