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Message: [QUOTE="ChiDIY, post: 513569, member: 20004"] Appreciate all the input; I now realize there are more variables in the fish decision than I found in my initial casual research. I'm leaning toward starting with a few goldfish and see how it goes for a few years. At this point I'm still ironing out the pond size & structure so once I get the build done and have a more accurate volume calculation I'll come back to the Koi/goldfish/how many, etc questions. My next steps are to finalize the shape: Here's what I'm thinking: [LIST] [*]remove the short wall at the top of the brick patio to be replaced with stone [*]expand pond into raised bed [/LIST] [ATTACH type="full"]158909[/ATTACH] I think I can build a retaining wall extending out of the water with just 2 or 3 boulders. The top of the raised bed is ~24" from the top of the first shelf and I have multiple rocks in the 24" range. Here's my plan: [LIST] [*]expand the pond into the raised bed and make a shelf that extends ~8" below water level [*]have the liner extend up over the edge of the raised bed [*]place 2 or 3 aqua blue boulders on the top shelf that extend higher than the top of the bed [LIST] [*]no stacked rocks - individual stones extending from the water to a few inches above the raised bed (or modify the raised bed to fit the rocks if need be) [/LIST] [*]for edging: fold over the liner and backfill with gravel/mulch ensuring runoff flows down sides of bed and not into the pond [/LIST] This will make a wall of stone that extends out of the water and serves as a retaining wall for the bed. This will be just to the left of the main viewing area and the pine tree will be right next to it. [ATTACH type="full" width="698px"]158910[/ATTACH] Once the shape is established I have a few days of digging to complete! Next big problem to deal with: building shelves in sandy soil!! A few thousand years ago my lot was part of Lake Michigan; ~a foot under the topsoil is mostly sand and rock. Anyone with experience building shelves that maintain their form in sandy soil (or other tips for working in sandy soil) please let me know about your experience. [/QUOTE]

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