Building a new pond - so many questions

[LoganinMD]

My thirteen year old son has decided our home needs a koi pond - according to him the bigger the better. He has roped in his ten year old sister, and the two of them are voraciously digging up my yard!
I had thought we would do concrete pond, but after reading a bit here, I realise that is probably not a good idea - seem to be too many complaints about cracks.
I read up here on the gravel bog filter, and we can definitely do that.
We are aiming for 6000 gallons - is that a bad idea for our first pond? I am concerned that bigger ponds have bigger problems and that it will all get overwhelming for us.

 

[Alpravinosh]

Welcome to the forum!
Big ponds in my opinion will not have more problems compared to a smaller pond. With a bigger pond the volume of water is much greater hence temperature fluctuation is much less than a smaller pond. For me the only downside is you will need to spend a lot more money. The pump has to be bigger or you will need more than one bottom drains, a large filter is needed as well as a more powerful UV light. You may also want to consider about aeration which will help in many expects. Also to add on instead of concrete you will use a pond liner which also has to be much bigger and hence more costly. But with all that said with a bigger pond you can have a larger fish load and if you are raring koi, they can reach to great lengths. If you ask me though in my country Malaysia, the OASE brand from Germany is really good. The water is always crystal clear and their liners are engineered to house the friendly bacteria more effectively, and to my surprise all their products is much cheaper than my local brands for the same function. But than again I am not sure about the brands in your country. Well that is all from me, hope it is of great help. I will definately encourage you to build a big pond.

 

[RobAmy]

Bigger is more work up front but it will make for more enjoyment later. It will be a fun project with your kids. Show us the progress along the way.

 

[addy1]

6000 is a good size. Bigger ponds, to me, are more stable. And the fish do better over the winter. Mine is around 8-9000 maybe more, if I add up all the ponds it is over 12000 probably. You can tell I never did a water measure.

No bottom drain, no uv used, just a big bog for a filter, also no koi. I wanted easier fish and plants in the pond.

 

[LoganinMD]

We would really like to do a bog filter. We had initially planned on a bottom drain, but if we can filter with bog only that would be great. Could the bog be fed with water from a bottom drain? I can't see why not, but thought I had better ask in case I am missing something.

 

[sissy]

I don't have a bottom drain and no skimmer and I just net the bottom of the pond with a swimming pool net .I do have 2 filters since no one ever told me that koi produce a lot of waste .Test kit for water and bacteria to get your pond started .Have you decided on out of water pump or submersable pump .You will need to think of aeration and what kind .If you want a bottom drain some can be gotten with a difusser .I was to chicken to cut a hole for a bottom drain .You tube has some great video's by ponddigger that give great info .You will have to think about predators in your area fly over and ground ones .

 

[CountryEscape]

Welcome!!! Wow, amazing your kids are getting you excited about this at such a young age for them. They are totally right, bigger the better. Keep in mind you will be using a liner, and check your local lumberyard for sizes that they carry when you decide on the side and so forth of your pond. Make your pond minimum of 3' but better if deeper. Around here, liners come in 10 and 20' wide. You can use a separate liner for the bog, if it's big. I also have no UV nor bottom drain, and my goldfish pond has only a large (about 1/3 surface area of the pond) bog, and it stays crystal clear. Koi pond has a smaller bog, waterfall filter and both ponds have skimmers. Koi pond is never as clear, but that bog is maybe 1/10 surface area.
Start a new thread and show us pics of your build, from the beginning. You will enjoy looking at it later, too!
Another idea, be sure to make steps going into your pond, so it's easy to get in and out. Keep in mind once your pond is "seasoned", there will be slippery algae on all edges of the liner, so make the steps nice and flat and wide enough to easily stand on. If you want a ledge for more plants, consider that as you dig, too. The most fun is "molding" the pond before you put the liner in! But, just be sure to measure and know how big the liner is or can be so you don't have to put dirt back to make sure your liner is large enough.
Good luck!!!

 

[addy1]

I filter with just a bog, draw the water from around a foot or so off the bottom. For me it works great. I net the bottom of the pond once, maybe twice a year, mainly in the fall after the leaves fall.

 

[LoganinMD]

I am now much more reassured about a large pond!
Our lot is surrounded by many tall trees, so we get a lot of leaves in the fall.
The pond is going to be out in the full sun.
We will do a bog, but are thinking of a bottom drain, no filter, no UV light, which will feed into the bog.
Next question, what about aeration - our lot is pretty flat, so I don't know if the little (planned) waterfall will aerate enough.
Would it be a good idea to do a bottom drain with diffuser?

 

[sissy]

remember to take lots of pics because when they get older it is the one really great thing they will remember .I wish my mom was a pic taker so I could have pics of me and my father building our pond ,but I have the memories .But it is hard to tell people just how great it was without the pics to back it up .I can remember my mom sitting in a chair beside the pond supervising the dig She had a heart attack shortly before so that was all she could do .But she was always this side is crooked, this side is deeper and that side is not shaped right .

 

[Mucky_Waters]

Actually bigger is usually better. A larger body of water has more stability

I am now much more reassured about a large pond!
Our lot is surrounded by many tall trees, so we get a lot of leaves in the fall.
The pond is going to be out in the full sun.
We will do a bog, but are thinking of a bottom drain, no filter, no UV light, which will feed into the bog.
Next question, what about aeration - our lot is pretty flat, so I don't know if the little (planned) waterfall will aerate enough.
Would it be a good idea to do a bottom drain with diffuser?

Bottom drains are really great for reducing the amount of cleaning maintenance required in a pond, but for them to be at all useful they need to be just one part of a bigger system. Plumbing a bottom drain directly to a bog would be a huge BIG mistake!
The idea of a bottom drain is that it is placed at the lowest area at the pond bottom and, if designed properly, all the mulm and debris (leaves) that settles on the bottom of the pond gently gets pulled through the bottom drain and goes to the next filter component of the system where it is captured and removed. This next component is designed to be much easier to clean without disturbing the pond itself. Usually this is some sort of settling chamber or a sieve. A bog is not easy to clean, in fact it's probably the hardest type of pond filter to clean out.
If you have a lot of trees and leaves around your yard, you'll also want a good skimmer in your pond, and before you get too far along you should really be thinking about how you'll be plumbing that in.

If your kids are into this pond you have a great opportunity to not only create something really beautiful, but also create some wonderful family memories that will last you your entire lives. I suggest you do a lot of research and make it as positive an experience as possible and avoid trying to cut corners. Some people jump too fast into digging a hole and filling it with water and end up with a swamp nightmare on their hands. Not the sort of memories you want to have I don't think. But with a little research before throwing things together you can avoid a lot of pitfalls.

 

[Mmathis]

Welcome! That's an ambitious project for a couple of youngsters -- but not impossible. That's also a LOT of dirt to move, so hope they have thought that out thouroughly [and what to do with the dirt after they get it out]. Be sure you and the kiddos do as much reading and learning as you can -- on every aspect of ponding.

When I was doing my research [I have goldfish], I decided that a larger pond was actually easier to maintain, water-quality-wise, than a smaller one. You have more room for error, but have to be careful not to over-stock with fish.

And if it was me, I personally would start with goldfish since this is a first-time endeavor. Learn as much as possible [because there will be a learning curve and there will be problems along the way -- it's a given], then transition to koi. But that's just me. I've been on the GPF for about 4 years, and going into my 4th season with my pond. I've been very fortunate in all respects, but I've also read too, too many horror stories from folks posting who just jumped into it, unprepared -- and their first posts on here were asking for help about a problem that could have been prevented if they had just done their homework ahead of time.

Best of luck, and keep us posted!

Oh, and never stop asking questions [that's how you learn]!

 

[LoganinMD]

Thanks - that is just what I needed to hear. I am pretty sure we will need a bottom drain and skimmer for the leaves. Back to the drawing board. I take this means two pumps - one for the bog and one for the bottom drain filter system?

 

[Tula]

Another thought....koi really destroy plants. So if you desire water plants, goldfish / shubunkin / comets, are the way to go. I have koi, but surround my lilies with deer fencing and zip tied them shut.

 

[LoganinMD]

We are going to stick to goldfish, shubunkins, not koi.