An absolute beginner

[bagsmom]

Good morning! I'm excited to find this forum. After many years of hoping, wishing, and dreaming aloud, it looks like I may be able to build a pond! For the most part, cost has been holding us back. To do what I want to do, and to do it right, will cost some money. A pond will be a luxury! Not sure why my husband finally said it would be OK to go for it, but I am thrilled! I am currently working on finishing a dry creek (VERY long) that we started years ago. Again, cost has been the hold-up there. Rocks are expensive! For now, I will be doing research and working on ideas. So happy to be on here and can't wait to read!

 

[callingcolleen1]

Welcome From Medicine Hat!! I have had a pond for many years now, and it does not have to cost a arm and a leg if you do it yourself! I only paid for rocks once, and you are right they are expensive. I now get all the rocks I need from the outskirts of town, there on a farmers field and down by the river, where I walk my dogs everyday. I have been dragging rocks home for twenty years now, and now have so many I am cobbling around the pond. I feed my old koi dog food, high quality dog food for over ten years now they love it and eat out of my hand. Years ago I dug plants out of the creek and got some for free here and there. Some things you will need to get, a good quality liner and good pump and filter. I never needed a UV light, only had pea green water the first year, thst was over 22 years ago now. You don't need a uv light, you can get a good clump of sedges and they will clean the pond really good!
Good luck and excited for you!!!

 

[jmajid]

welcome bagsmom... you will find this forum a great help - i certainly have!

 

[sissy]

welcome and yep rocks are not cheap i have done 2 dry creeks but 1 came from rocks dug up from the 3 acres and the other was purchased rocks at 400 dollars a truckload .Just remember keep it all in budget because later you will change things any way .Do you have in mind size and shape .I did rectangular so not so many folds .Liner is most expensive part .I found dr fosters and smith was the cheapest as most others charge 60 or 70 dollars to ship and then i went with a energy efficient pump .You have to think of those electric bills and building your own filter gives you a feeling of pride .

 

[pecan]

Welcome! Curious your location?

Rocks are expensive but here in Utah you can buy a permit good for one TON of rock in various locations throughout the state. You pay for the permit and they provide a map of where you can go find the rocks. Permits are anywhere from $10-$15 per TON!. We need some more so we are going to go get some next weekend. Keep in mind you aren't going to a business to pick them up, you are four wheeling out into the desert or mountains to scavenge them yourself, but saves a ton of money.

Maybe where you live has something similar?

http://geology.utah.gov/surveynotes/gladasked/gladscaperock2.htm

 

[j.w]

bagsmom
Got my 1st liner from a nearby roofing company for pretty cheap and just as good as online fish stores. Bought 2nd one from irrigation company for my bigger pond. These are all fish safe. Bought my rocks from a concrete company here that sells all kinds of rocks also and for only a few bucks per truck load of hand picked rocks. I'm another rock hunter for free freak also. I find it in the wild and haul it home. Stocking up.......................you can never have enough rocks

 

[addy1]

to our group!
I have drug home rocks every time I see one.

I just filter with a bog filled with pea gravel and plants, no uv, one pump. Pond stays crystal clear and clean. The bog and plants do a great job. Like colleen says you don't need to spend a ton of money on a pond. The most expensive part of mine was the liner.

 

[sissy]

You could visit local streams .I did that and then when i went down to Maggie Valley and Cherokee NC I picked up a bunch of them from the creeks there .Even Chief Hicks from the Cherokee Nation there told me where to get egg rocks and next time i go down that egg rock location is going to get a visit from me .

 

[pecan]

Funny I have yet to meet a ponder without a rock obsession! LOL

I have hiked very steep difficult trails, find rocks on the way and throw them in my pack. My husband thinks I am crazy.

When I re-did a flower bed this year I needed rocks to border it. Not to worry though, I have a pile of in case of emergency rocks! LOL

 

[addy1]

Every where we drive I make poor honey pull over to get rocks if we see some worth getting. We haul them down from our pa lot by the car load.

 

[pecan]

Every where we drive I make poor honey pull over to get rocks if we see some worth getting. We haul them down from our pa lot by the car load.

LOL We were headed over to our daughters place the other day. We were on the freeway off ramp (in this area the off ramps are landscaped with rocks and plants and such), I noticed some beautiful rocks in the landscaping between the freeway and off ramp and told my hubby "I wonder if we could come back and get some of those?" He just shook his head "No" LOL

 

[Big Lou]

Welcome bagsmom.

 

[JBtheExplorer]

Welcome to the forums! I also wanted a pond for a long time but I was on a budget. My 400 gallon pond keeps me entertained though!

 

[j.w]

Ha, we were coming out of the fair one year and I noticed some rocks here and there on the trail to the parking lot................picked a couple up and told hubby to grab some. He refused at first but then I gave him the "big sissy eh look?" and he caved and picked a couple big honkin ones up

 

[bagsmom]

Thanks for the warm welcome, all! Pecan, I am in Zone 7 -- Georgia. I love rocks, too. When I was pregnant and overdue with my first child, my husband and I took his truck to a new subdivision in the excavation stage. We got permission to take rocks. I hauled a gazillion good sized rocks with my pregnant self and sure enough, went into labor that night! (AND acquired enough rocks to edge a very long bunch of flower beds!