Newbie from Montana - can't believe they survived the winter!

[Montana Gal]

What did "addy" use for a liner? As my husband and I discuss the future of the pond, we would like to learn how to maintain it without electrical pumps and filters if possible. Could I get some snails or a bottom feeder to help keep the pond clean? But, then there is the issue of he winter freeze. Do other people let the pond freeze over?

 

[j.w]

Ok how come my last post won/t let me include a link and the rest of the stuff I typed? Anyways lets see if it will let me put the rest right here:
If you want to make a water fall there are different ways you can do it. You can use a container and run tubing from your pump to the container and surround container w/ rocks or build a wooden shelter around that............lots of idea's will come your way from people here. Just ask and keep looking at the way others have done theirs and if you see something you like just ask as we are here to help you. This will be a fun and rewarding project for you and your family :razz:

It appears that it won't let me post a link on how to calculate the gallons of water. Ok so I found this other site that tells you how to do it w/o a link:


HOW MANY GALLONS

At some point in time you will need to know how many gallons that your water garden holds. The following formula will help you figure the gallons
Note: Length, width and depth measured in Feet.


RECTANGLE OR SQUARE

Length x width x depth x 7.5 = gallons

CIRCULAR

3.14 X (1/2 the diameter x 1 /2 the diameter) x depth x 7.5 = gallons

OVAL

Length x width x depth x 6.7 = gallons

IRREGULAR, FREE FORM

Think of your pond as shapes: circle plus oval, oval plus square or
whatever shapes you may have. Figure the size of each “shape” and add the total together.

The best way to figure gallons, because most ponds are irregular shapes, is to time how long it takes to fill a five-gallon bucket. You can then divide the gallons by 5 and you will know how many gallons of water your hose is putting out per minute. Then when you fill your pond, time how long it takes to fill it with water. Take the number of hours it took to fill and divide by 60 to find out how many minutes it took Multiply this by the number of gallons. For instance if it took you 30 seconds to fill the 5-gallon pail, you know that your well is putting out 10 gallons per minute. Divide the hours by 60 to find the gallons per minute. Write this down in a safe spot! This information is vital should you ever have to "treat" your pond.




Example:

My well puts out 15 gallons per minute and it took me 3 hours to fill my lily tank. (3 hours x 60 minutes =180 minutes) 180 minutes x 15 gallons per minute = 2700 gallons. Now if I should have to treat this tank I know I have to figure 2700 gallons of water.

 

[Montana Gal]

thanks for the welcome. I didn't get the link to calculate the pump. Forgive my ignorance. Is the pump used to remove the water before replacing the liner? Or is it necessary for year round maintenance? I have another stock water tank I can put the fish in when we replace the liner.

 

[j.w]

Ok found the link to the kind of liner addy uses. It's called BTL liners and here is the link...............hopefully it will post: http://www.btlliners.com/

 

[sissy]

eastern koi has a great pond calculator on there sight length ,width and depth and you should be able to come close .I know mine says for my rectangular one it 7482.2 gallons .I can't believe that is right but that is what it says .But does not seem like that much water to me ./It even tells ideal stock level and marginal stock level and gives you pump size you should be using and liner size which is right as mine was bigger but have the extra just hanging over .37x22 and my liner was 40x25

 

[j.w]

thanks for the welcome. I didn't get the link to calculate the pump. Forgive my ignorance. Is the pump used to remove the water before replacing the liner? Or is it necessary for year round maintenance? I have another stock water tank I can put the fish in when we replace the liner.

The pump would sure help you in removing the water but it is mostly needed for year round use or at least during your non freezing months to add circulation and runs water to a filter of your choice in keeping your water clean and healthy for the fish. Save as much of the water from the pond so you can use it again so fish will be comfortable and not shocked w/ all new water.

 

[j.w]

thanks for the welcome. I didn't get the link to calculate the pump. Forgive my ignorance. Is the pump used to remove the water before replacing the liner? Or is it necessary for year round maintenance? I have another stock water tank I can put the fish in when we replace the liner.

I posted above where you posted this last post how to figure the gallons of water in your pond.

 

[sissy]

this is the one I used at eastern koi and then printed it out so i have it

 

[j.w]

Here's the one I tried to post earlier: http://pet-expo.com/trivia/ponds-figuregallons.htm

 

[Montana Gal]

thanks for the links and the calculator. Now I need to figure out what size liner I will need. I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed. That futurepets.com link has a pond education section I need to read. Any other suggestions? Can I create a pond without a pump and filters, or am I just dreaming? Is there such a thing as a solar pump? Hmmm? That could work.

 

[callingcolleen1]

You could always leave that pond as is and just start another pond closer to the house. Ponds can be made out of many different things, like Rubbermaid cattle troughs, then there is the pre-formed ponds (can be more difficult to fit in ground) and the regular pond liner. The pond liner is easy to work with and digging the hole can be the biggest issue sometimes. You have many options, and the fish are small, so they will be fine for the time being so take your time and make a budget and plan. There are also many threads where people built ponds and posted their progress as they went along. You can look at many different ideas and find a plan that will work for you. There are also many different pumps and filters to choose from as well. Your fish are small so you can save money and look for pumps on sale. You don't have to go really big and spend lots of money at this point, cause the fish are small. I manage my ponds quite well with a collection of different pumps and filters that I got mostly on sale. I do like to have a pump that has an attachment for a good pre-pump filter. The filters that come with most all pumps are usually junk and I fit another big filter to pump that I found at a pet store.

Some people have a bigger budget and can afford a better pump and Skimmer. I never had a Skimmer and do quite well without one. I personally don't have a skimmer as I would be worried about small fish getting sucked in, and Skimmers could be difficult to run all winter. Most people do have the pumps and Skimmers these days and most are very happy with that set up and just shut the Skimmer down for the winter. Skimmers are nice cause they suck all the leaves and stuff out and help keep the pond clean.
Some people say their Skimmer does not suck the fish in, so I can't say for sure as I don't have one. If a small fish does get in the Skimmer trap, it will be fine and can be fished out if trap easy enough.

Don't stress out to much, take your time to look at all your options. I never had a plan though, 21 years ago I just got a small pre-formed pond and was happy with that for the first year ..... then I had to make it bigger, and bigger, and bigger ...... crazy addiction!

 

[Montana Gal]

looking at the cost of a new liner ....$$$. So now I'm looking around for economical repair solutions. Even if we get another year or two out of this current liner that would be nice. Then we can save up and fix it the way we want. I saw a you tube video where a guy used poly and venture sheathing tape to patch up leaks and supposedly lasted a few years. I like the price. But will it truly be waterproof? Any suggestions. There are a couple of sections up by the rim of the pond that have puncture holes. If I can keep costs under $50 i would be very happy.

 

[sissy]

how big is the pond because rubber roofing for my pond costs around 185 dollars .You can call people and get quotes at least and see which would be the cheaper root .I know on here some one used a water proof glue to patch .They cleaned the area real well .The bottle of glue maybe on here someone will remember .I wonder if that spray rubber stuff would work on pond liners .I know i used it for a stock tank around 3 years ago and that is still sealed and got it at an auction no one wanted it because of the crack .15 dollars for 250 gallon rubbermaid stock tank and 10 dollars at lowes hardware for the can .

 

[Montana Gal]

I got a quote for .62 sq ft for the EPDM 45 mil liner. I couldn't find anyone here that knew of the BTL liner. That was a little cheaper on line. Using an online calculator for my 10' x 11' x 4'deep pond it said I needed a 22 x 23 liner. Even if I go with 20 x 22 it still comes to $273. I'd rather spend that on putting in a vegetable garden or a chicken coop. I've been looking around and found some threads about the underwater sealers. I'm headed to town in a bit and I plan on stopping by the hardware store to see what they have to say. Stock ponds are fairly common around here so I hope to find some good solutions. Even if temporary. I just want to keep enough water in the pond for the fish. When it gets to the middle of summer they will need that extra foot of depth to stay cool, I imagine.

 

[j.w]

If you are looking for super cheap some people have used these. I myself have never used them so can't tell ya my opinion on them: http://www.billboardtarps.com/collections/pond-liners
Here is a site that talks about using them in ponds: http://www.permies.com/t/15231/frugality/billboards-pond-liners#135063

Here is a search I came up w/ all kinds of answers..............I just googled Billboard liners for ponds: https://duckduckgo.com/?q=Billboard+liners+for+ponds