I'm finally starting to build our new pond.
I have the site all marked out.
But there were one of two things I want some advice on...
Here is a drawing of the pond, in rough, really rough.
Section 1 is going to be the shallowest part of the pond. Its intended to be for my mum's frogs, frog spawn and some nice shallow water plants.
Section 2 is the next shelf in the pond, I'm thinking the water at this point is going to be
2ft deep.
section 3 is the deepest and main part of the pond. I want this to be
3ft deep.
I'm digging into stone riddled clay. My thoughts are if our 12 year old dog can dig it, so can I. But I've never done a days gardening in my life, and I have mobility problems in all 4 limbs, so this is going to be an ordeal!
My questions are...
1) What is a good depth for the wildlife part of the pond. I was thinking maybe 12 inches.
2) What is the best kind of liner for the pond? I've been looking at the Oasis Butyl Liner @ 0.75mm and the Firestone rubber pond liners @ 1mm.
I was going to line with sand and then line it with underlay before putting down the line.
I was thinking 1mm, because I'm a worry-wart and it is going to be my baby.
3) How deep should the layer of sand be? Is an inch ok?
4) I was thinking of putting gravel on the liner surface in the wildlife section - an attempt at protecting the liner from the sun. Suicide or ok to do?
Finally,
How to transfer fish from one pond to another?
I was thinking, fill the pond with rainwater/tap water mix, plant it, then leave it a fortnight or so to settle. After that introduce the fish straight into the new pond. I figured by then the water should have settled into a close approximation of the other pond. Not to mention with the leaks we had last summer, they survived a daily top-up of tap water.
Or, my mother's suggestion, pump the water from one pond to the other and move the fish over as soon as the level is ok in the new one.
so...
5) The step by step process of moving fish from old to new?
Thanks greatly!
Sen
Ghost
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