1st pond

[charleyd]

Hello I am brand new to this hobby. I have always wanted a pond and I am in the process of putting one in. It will be 9x19 when done. I am going to stage the depth of the pool startinag at about 12" then an 18-24" and the deep end will be about 24-36". plan on doing some type of a waterfall feature. I was expecting to dig a hole, throw in a liner, fill with water and be done. After a little research I am finding that there is alot more to it. I look forward to the experience.

 

[fishin4cars]

welcome aboard!:regular_waving_emot In your area, I highly recommend going DEEPER! start at 2'-36" at the shallow end, 48"-72" at the deep end, Your not going to get much use out of a 12" deep end most pots for plants will be at least that. Deeper is more stable, 2' is about as deep as a Heron will stand in the water to fish, so if you go deeper than that you'll at least keep the king of predators out from INSIDE the pond. (doesn't stop them from fishing from the bank) The deep end needs to be 36" or deeper just to allow your fish to make it through winter, 4' is better 5' is even better. Cooler in the summer, warmer in the winter and with this size pond, You don't limit yourself to what kind of fish you decide to use, They can all live in a pond this deep and this big. If you go 36" at the deep end, your limiting yourself pretty much out of any good koi pond unless you plan on bringing them in for the winter. Price difference, a little more work load effort, quite a bit more, BUT WORTH IT!:lol::surfing:

 

[CometKeith]

Hi charleyd, Welcome to the forum! We have had a lot of people join lately from WI. I agree about depth. It should be at least 4.5 ft deep at some place so the fish can stay warm in the winter. Be sure to read about how to cycle a pond before you throw your fish in!

 

[addy1]

Welcome!

Deeper Deeper! Charleyd Mine is 5 feet at the deepest, we had 8 inches of ice last winter covering it.

Don't buy your liner until you are done digging and have measured your hole!

 

[koidaddy]

Welcome to GPF! I think most of us thought it was as easy a digging a hole, drop in a liner and fill up. Oh yeah lets not forget to mention removing all the river rock from the bottom once we find out how bad it is.

 

[taherrmann4]

Welcome aboard. Yes go deeper if you can. That is a pretty good size pond so if your digging it by hand going deeper would be a lot more work but worth it. It may be worth renting a digger for a weekend, this is what I did made it sooooo much easier. If you do, Rent it on Saturday morning for one day, most are closed on sunday so you get a free day b/c it does not have to be back till Monday morning. At least where I rent from that is how it works. They are also fun to play with sort of like digging in a big sandbox.

 

[charleyd]

I am next door to a quarry. The guy who built my house 4 years ago is digging the pond with a skid steer and a spade type attachment. He expected to dig the hole in a half hour. He spent 4 days digging it as he hit solid rock at 12" deep. Once he got to 3 -3.5" deep the rock is so solid he cant even chip it away. So short of blasting thats as deep as I am going to be.

 

[taherrmann4]

To get the depth you could always go up a foot or two. Not sure if that would work with the look you are going for.

 

[DoDad]

What lving things wtll be in the pond?

 

[sissy]

welcome charleyd and yes the learning never stops either and we find out new things everyday but the best thing is we make a lot of new friends here that are just as pond crazy as us .If you are next to a quarry that should have been expected I guess .What kind of stone do they quarry .It could be a great source of your stone choice and welcome add to your pond .Your house must be a beauty

 

[j.w]

charleyd

Good idea on building it up around the sides to add depth. If you are just having goldfish, I think they can handle the cold much better than koi but still wouldn't like being frozen in a solid block of ice. I suppose if you used a few heaters that would help but in the long run deeper would be better. Lot's here can help you w/ that as they have done the same thing :alieneyesa:

 

[addy1]

Wow charleyd, solid rock pond, glad you had the skid steer help. Guess what you have is what you will have, unless you build up. Post some pictures we will love to share your pain!

 

[charleyd]

Here are a couple of pics. It is about 11 x 19 and ended up about 34" deep at the deepest point. There are two shelves on the shallow end to give some variation in depth but you can't see them well in the pictures. I dont know if it was necessary but I lined the hole with a couple of inches of sand to help protect the liner. I only plan on goldfish and plants. I am also going to do some kind of a waterfall spilling into the deep end. Here is a pic of the pond and the pile of rocks we dug out of the hole. Yes I do plan on using the rocks to form the waterfall. I also have some very large rocks set aside from when they blasted my basement.

 

[addy1]

going good! Gold fish will take the cold easier than koi.

 

[sissy]

I was reading on one site that sand under and around the pond acts as insulation not sure if it's true but at least you are protected any way .Free rocks are better than paying for them .I just did my hillside and for 18 ton of rock it was over 400 dollars .I still have to get another truckload .Any free local rock cheaper and makes the pond look more natural .