Planning my pond build

[BrianD]

Hello,

I am in the planning stages of putting my pond in, and have tons of questions. I have read many of the threads here, and have also ordered some water garden books. I will try to give some idea of what I am wanting, and I really appreciate any suggestions/advice. Thank you in advance.

To give you some idea of the canvas for this project, this is a picture of the back of my house:

I recently did some landscaping next to the patio, and now the patio area looks like this:

I would like to have a stream run along the landscaped area into a pond that curls around the patio. So, if you are standing in the backyard looking at the house, the stream will be the right of the landscaped area, and the pond will be basically in front of the patio. I want to keep the gallonage at around the 8,000 level since that seems the size that best fits my budget. I also would like to incorporate a bog, but I am not sure where in the set up the bog would to (between the stream and the pond?). I am also not sure how to connect the stream to the pond. I assume the pond level has to be even with the stream, or the fish couldn't access the stream.

I also am confused about the necessary equipment, and what isn't required. I don't want green water, and I don't want to undersize/underfilter the pond. I recently took down a 550 gallon saltwater tank, so I know it is always better to oversize than undersize equipment (at least that is true in the aquarium world).

I am also unsure of rocks/stones in the pond. I have read the threads here that indicate they can be a bad thing due to waste/detritus buildup. I would much rather I not have to worry about finding enough rocks/gravel for substrate for my pond, so I hope I can bypass the rocks.

I am also completely confused as to whether 3' is an adequate depth. The frost line here is about 30".

My soil is a heavy clay after a few inches of good topsoil. I will have a backhoe/Bobcat for digging the hole. My yard is fairly level (this is central Illinois, after all) and has a slight contour sloping down from right to left in the above pictures (to allow water drainage into a creek from my yard).

That is most of my rambling at the moment. Any and all advice is appreciated.

 

[addy1]

That will be nice.

Back hoes rule! lol, my honey bought me one for our first anniversary pressie now have torn up the yard, pond, stream, plants lol

Skip thinking of rocks in the pond. I had them in the past, got rid of them in the past lol, now no rocks.

You will get a lot of opinions on bogs, I love mine, it is all I have to filter my pond, never have an algae problem. Others will tell you they are a waste of time and will go sour on you.

You may want to go a little deeper in one part of your pond, mine is deepest spot 5 feet. Have the bottom slope towards your drains making that the deepest point.

There are a lot of diy filters you can build that will keep your pond clean.

To have the fish swim between the pond and stream, build your pond up a little above ground, you can use the dug out dirt or block, treated wood, use the dirt to build up a stream bed. That way you can have the stream and pond level to the point fish could swim up the stream.

Do you have herons there? you may not want your fish to get into that shallow of water, easy food for a predator.

Make sure your pond is above grade so you do not have run off into it. Slope the land away from the pond. During a storm check the area you want to build the pond see if you have any water run off issues, i.e. it is raining stream........

I went out during a lot of storms before i started my build to see how the water flowed off the slope where I was doing our build. Saved some headaches, could see how I need to change the slope to divert some of the flow.

 

[whiskey]

hello brianD welcome from england , reading your story quite agree with addy1 , also drainage problems can be a big headache, friend of mine lives in a area close to the coast and gets more than his share of heavy rain. He solved his problem by installing outlets just above water level using oblong vents to large bore piping and running pipework to the nearest drain or run off ditch. good luck.

 

[sissy]

Wow your land is flat and thats one nice lawn you have .You want a stream are you going to have a waterfall ,because the soil you are taking out would be great to hide your filters and give you on great waterfall into your stream .You do not want run off from your yard going into your pond at all so you will have to raise the sides .And a waterfall will oxygenate the pond really well .To birds one stone they call that .The fish will love the oxygen rich water too .I live in VA and our frost line here is 18 to 24 inches and I went a little over 3 feet in part of my pond .Keeps the water cooler in the summer and gives the fish a place to hide and also stays warmer in the winter .They seem to always hang out on the deeper side of the pond