first time pond owner taking the plunge

[jamesmacc]

Hi folks,
I'm james and i am taking the first steps to building my pond after a few years of keeping malawi cichlid tropical fish in a fish tank i built into the wall of my new house. I have always been fasented with ponds since my uncle kept a huge one since i was small.
I am debating wheather to built it in my garden or the land i have infront of my garden. i live in the highlands of scotland where its very remote. I have a 400 or so square metre garden which is fenced but beyond that i have about 4 acres of land. I was thinking of maybe putting a gate into the land and then building my pond there along with a gravel sitting area. This would also keep my young children from accessing it easily. My youngest is a month old and my oldest is coming up 5. He has been raised around animals, farm machinery and rivers etc so he is not daft when it comes to keeping away from things and asking me or his mum before going near something . My worry is when the youngest starts walking etc and doesnt have that common sense.
If i use the field then size is not limited, I have a 1.5 tonne excavator for digging it out but also have a 15 tonne one if required haha
Any suggestions with regards to using a lift pump or using a natural drain in the bottom of the pond, how would i go about building that, would i use some 4" drain pipes running underground and up into a filter and back through a waterfall and then lay some earth back over the pipes, lay the liner and then fill ?
sorry for waffling on but hopefully you can help with my new journey into fish keeping, stock wise i would like to keep something fairly hardy and easy to keep and feed

 

[Big Lou]

Welcomes James. Photos of your property please.

 

[mgmine]

Welcome James if you look on Youtube you will get a wealth of in formation on pond building. Everyone has their own opinion so I'll give you mine. I wouldn't go with a bottom drain it's something else to leak and I don't see a reason for one,it is after all a pond and not a swimming pool that must be kept crystal clear. The way I did mine was to put a pump in the skimmer and used flexible 2" pipe to circulate the water. For the filter I made a skippy filter and after words put in a UV light to keep it from getting green. I have a 45 foot stream with several waterfalls that end in a 2900 gallon pond. As Big Lou mentioned pictures of the land would help, it would give the community a look at what the terrain looks like.

 

[Becky]

Hello and welcome to the forum!

 

[tbendl]

Welcome, depending on what you want to build, I'd put it close to the house so I can see the pond from the house. Easier to hook up electricity and top off with water as well.

 

[jamesmacc]

Welcome James if you look on Youtube you will get a wealth of in formation on pond building. Everyone has their own opinion so I'll give you mine. I wouldn't go with a bottom drain it's something else to leak and I don't see a reason for one,it is after all a pond and not a swimming pool that must be kept crystal clear. The way I did mine was to put a pump in the skimmer and used flexible 2" pipe to circulate the water. For the filter I made a skippy filter and after words put in a UV light to keep it from getting green. I have a 45 foot stream with several waterfalls that end in a 2900 gallon pond. As Big Lou mentioned pictures of the land would help, it would give the community a look at what the terrain looks like.

do you have any photos of this so i can understand it better?
i will get photos of the landscape asap, i have non just now
I already have electricity set up where i hoped to put the pond in the past, its a waterproof double socket

 

[sissy]

Welcome Seems like you have an idea and pics will help us understand it all .How big ,how deep and what kind of fish .Ponddigger on you tube has great videos on bottom drains

there is a whole pond build he has showing install of bottom drain .I don't have one or a skimmer so can't explain them but hope this helps

 

[Dave 54]

Hi James welcome to the forum where in the UK are you from my friend my wife and I live in a not so sunny at the moment Plymouth Devon
We have a [pond with a bottom rain which is gravity fed we also fitted a 4" slide valve just prior to our filter which are vortex style filters in sequence see bellow :-

We hope this helps you visualize the set up

Dave

 

[haver79]

Welcome to the forum. I pond is a wonderful addition to the garden. Nice to be able to see it from the house. However putting it in your additional acres may let you be more flexable if room is an issue and there it sounds like you would be able to expand should you desire. All of us ponders it seems, put in our first pond and love it so much we want to go bigger and better. Sounds like you have the equipment at hand to do whatever you like. You may want to price liner as it will be one of your biggest expenses. The bigger the hole the bigger the expense with the liner and size of pump.