Small garden pond help

[Stella1955]

Welcome, Also coming from a planted tank world I would look at your new pond much like a planted tank being 33 gallons the water parameters can change very very fast. I'd do the 10-to 30% water changes every week during the growing months this will do more for your water clarity then any filter. Mother nature will probably out pace your little filter. Plants are also a huge benefit to the equation the more shade you provide to your pond the less algae will explode so if by trees or by say lilly pads the less light the better your pond will be clear/ less algae. 6 foot wide by 6 foot deep is a challenge to build maintain and can be dangerous. if the sides ever gave way and you were in the pond for maintenance it could be a real problem. was there a main drain with the pond that deep?

Thanks for the information. I appreciate it

 

[Stella1955]

Welcome @Stella1955 !

One question to clarify - you said you do not have plants or fish in your pond. Do you plan to have either in this pond in the future?

I haven't thought of adding any fish or plants at this time. I know some plants can be invasive so I am thinking on whether or not to add plants

 

[Stella1955]

If all you will have is plants, you could get by without a pump/filter. Can you take a few pics of where your pond is now, to give us an idea what you are talking about.

I am surprised that you were able to find a pond kit (your 1st pond) that was for 6 feet deep, AND only 8’x8’ wide! Most of us don’t go that deep, as 2’ - 3’ are sort of average pond depths. Gosh, I’ve dug a lot of holes in my life, but never anything 6’ deep, and even my pond that is around 3.5’, we used an excavator to dig. It’s no wonder you had trouble with that particular pond!

When I ordered the pond kit I was so new at the aspect of having a pond. I over calculated and made more work for myself than was needed. After working with dirted, planted tanks and reading up on ponds I realized what terrible mistakes I had made and I could just kick myself for getting into a project like I did and not knowing what I know now.

 

[Mmathis]

When I ordered the pond kit I was so new at the aspect of having a pond. I over calculated and made more work for myself than was needed. After working with dirted, planted tanks and reading up on ponds I realized what terrible mistakes I had made and I could just kick myself for getting into a project like I did and not knowing what I know now.

We’ve all done something like that — it’s how we, as humans, learn from our mistakes. Or, in many cases, learn from the mistakes of others, which is one of the great things about forums like GPF. We all mess up, or jump in too deep (pun not intended), and when we come here for help, we are sharing what we’ve learned with many other people, to hopefully help them not make the same mistakes we made.

 

[Lisak1]

I guess I'm a little confused - no fish, no plants and only 33 gallons... why would you need a de-icer? Or an aerator? And why are you worried about "invasive plants" in a 33 gallon container? What do you mean by "water garden"?

Can you post some photos of your pond? Maybe we are missing something -