Building a pond in Northern Ca. Hello

[kokaneejr]

Hello all,

Found this forum the other day when googling for info an pond building. I have been reading a lot and this seems like the right place to be. All the info and photos are great.

I have had a small 70 gallon plastic pond before with just plants, and I moved into a place with a pond connected by a creek and water fall a few years back and loved it. My new place has nothing in the yard but white gravel so I am planning on building a 6x8 foot pond joined by a meandering shallow stream about 8 ft long. In front of the stream I would like to put the filter. I would like to add a few fish but rather than koi my buddy has a small farm pond an I was thinking fingerling bass and bluegill.

Before I began reading here I talked with a local pond supplier who said bio filters were bad and I needed a filter with UV and backwash system. Now I want to make a 70 gal Skippy filter.

I will be digging it myself and I have lots of clay to dig in so it might take some time although we have had a wet winter so I better start soon.

Questions.... Do I need to do anything other than sand before I put down the liner as far as the clay goes?
Am I right in thinking the biofilter is the way to go?
Can I use a submersible pump for a return.? I don't want a waterfall just a slow shallow stream so the birds can come and drink and bathe?

Thanks and I hope I didn't post too much for a newbie....Craig.

 

[koiguy1969]

its never a bad to protect your liner with extra cushion....old carpet(remove any staples etc).. padding,breathable tarps etc...

 

[koikeepr]

Hiya craig. Welcome to the forum.

My pond has nothing more than sand under the liner and all has been well for 12+ years on that pond, but if you're open to more padding, by all means go ahead.

Biofilter is a great idea, and you can find a bunch of plans on the DIY and equip section.

You can use a submerisble pump, sure!

Does the current pond have any filtration at all? I think a 6x8 will be too small for bass and bluegill...even as fingerlings when you get 'em, they will grow very quickly. With a 6x8 you should really stick with a few goldfish and nothing more. Even a koi will eventually get too big.

 

[kokaneejr]

Thanks guys,

I will look for some old carpet as a pad it won't hurt thats for sure.

Koikeeper for fish what would be a better size I don't want to make it under size and have fish suffer. I know in reefing with my 55 gal I am limited to fish types. I can go longer as my yard currently has no pond and lots of gravel. :frown:8 ft is about as wide as I can go but would 12 ft be a better length or am I looking at a much larger dimention to try the bass/bluegill thing.

 

[koikeepr]

My friend, I still think even that would still be too small for blue gills/bass--you have to remember, that bluegills and bass can grow from 3/4-1.5 pounds per season--or even more if really well fed. Why are you stuck on these type of fish?

When you put fish in a pond or any captured body of water, you have to consider their full growth size--not what they are when they are fingerlings. Based on that, you'll probably get a max of two-three fish of that type in a 12 foot pond considering for their full grown size. Plus, it's not like a blue gill or a bass are pretty to look at from above in a dark pond. They sorta blend in to liner and are hard to see.

Tell us why you are only considering these fingerlings that really belong in a lake or a pond of many thousands of gallons? Wouldn't a smaller, yet more colorful goldfish (or even koi if you go to 12 feet) do it for you? Unless, of course, you are raising them for food and you will eat them.

Give us the scoop!

 

[koikeepr]

oh, and forgot to mention the feeding issue. I mean, it's not exactly easy to train these fish to eat pellets, so you'll need to be able to supply the insects, frogs, worms, and other smaller fish for these guys to eat.

I'm not saying you can't train 'em to eat pellets, but it's not a task for a novice, and you risk losing the fish in the process.

 

[kokaneejr]

Thanks koikeeper,

I am not stuck on them I just thought it might be cool to have a little (sort of) natural pond with fish you might see in a local farm pond.

As I am digging it myself I will probably have lots of time to actually figure out what fish I want. I was actually happy with the school of comets I had living in my other pond. It really is more about attracting birds and insects than the fish in the long run. My yard is really void of stuff right now as the white pea gravel is everywhere.

Funny pond story...When I lived in Oregon I had the wine barrel waterfall leading down a small creek to a larger 6X8 pond. I came home one very hot day to find a snake caught in the pond uable to get out. I am afraid of snakes but got my courage up and found a small stick to pick him up and make a rescue. He was swimming around and going under the water and the lip of the pond so he was no easy catch. I finally got him and placed him nicely in the shade about 10 feet from the pond. As I congratulated my self for being so brave he slithered past me and took a flying leap back into the pond!!!

I then realized he was using the pond to stay cool. Also he was a Garter snake and with a little bit of research realized he was also probably hunting my fish. My final bit of humility came when I talked with my landlord and she asked if the snake had come swimming yet. I guess it was a seasonal event. That pond provided many experiences from a mom and 3 baby skunks to a flock of Turkeys and even a family of foxes.

I realized I live in a city now but I loved the way birds and butterflies would come to the shallows and get water and I am hoping to create a similar situation.

Once I get enough posts I will add some photos of my snake friend that old pond and my progress on the new one. Right now it is a bunch of rocks in a circle and a lot of planning to go.

 

[j.w]

Would love to see the pics of the snake and more :fish:

 

[PS3]

when we built our pond we used both sand and carpet foam the thick stuff
it worked well

 

[kokaneejr]

Hey all began the digging this week and it will take a while. Unbelievable how much one shovel full of clay weighs. Takes me 5 scoups before I have to empty my wheel barrow.

I am going to build a 75 gal skippy filter and started accumulating my supplies.

It will be fun and I am taking photos the whole way.
Now if it would stop raining!!

 

[koikeepr]

Congrats on breaking ground!

I'm beginning my new pond build this coming Monday as well. I rented a skidsteer to do some of the first removal of soil, and then finish off with the good ol' pick and shovel. Clay is a nightmare, particularly when wet. Very heavy. We have the same thing here where I am.

I'm going to do 5,000 gallons. 2 feet underground and 2 feet above (20 feet long, 8 feet wide). I'm going to do some old school DIY filtration, and some new fangled things too. I was considering a bead filter, but I got talked out of it by one of the premier pond builders in the US who gave me the opportunity to chat with him for a few hours this week. Says he hates them. I'm going to do 3 barrels on his recommendation. Also a skimmer (stop rolling your eyes at me Doc! LOL!), that I purchased from DoDad.

I'm going to do 2 aerated bottom drains (since my current retro drain turned out pretty good) and the skimmer feeding into an Aqua Sieve III. I would try to make a sieve, but it's just not worth the hassle--and folks that are master pond DIY'ers suggest it's not worth it. Next my pump will come and then my 3 barrels and finally out the waterfall and some TPR's. Since I'm doing this all on one circuit for simplicity, I'll need a pretty hefty pump--something that can push 7200 gph. I'll just hang onto my Sequence 4200 gph pump in case of an emergency back up should the main pump die for some reason.

I'm going to model it after that pond with the fish head spitters that DoDad posted a month back. Initially, I was going to keep my existing pond, too. But I've retrofitted the heck out of the poor thing (thanks to poor judgement by the owner who built it 12 years ago). The liner has had it (lots of pinholes) and the upper pond has started sinking since the fool placed it on treated lumber for support. And after 12 years, the wood is disintegrating because it's touching soil. So, I'm going to scrap that even though it would have made a good hatchery.

When it's all said and done, I'll be posting some stuff for sale in the classifieds section, like my Aqua Art Retro bottom drain, etc.

Do take photos and post 'em of your build and post em as you go along kokaneejr! We love to see that kinda progress.

 

[j.w]

Oh but once it's all done you can stand back and admire your work and feel the pride of a good job well done...............DONE?..............no such word in the pond dictionary, but it's all in good fun

 

[kokaneejr]

Wow kiokeeper, that will be really cool when done. I thought about calling a buddy of mine then renting a bobcat with a backhoe attachment but it is pretty narrow in my yard 20feet from my house to my neighbors fence. I figured I would be safer digging it than replacing at least one fence where he would have gotten in and anything else that broke.

J,W. it will be nice when done and I will feel good that my wife and I built it ourselves. I know it will never be done as I have a couple of reef tanks and I always want bigger and more!!

Anybody know if I can post a photo or link from photobucket with only a few posts? Otherwise I think I have to wait for 20.

 

[j.w]

I thought you only needed 5 posts to start putting up pics but I can't remember for sure

 

[koikeepr]

yeah, you should be able to post pics now koka!

My pond is going right up against my screened in porch, so we'll have limited maneurability, too. So, that's why part of it will be done by machine and part with machine.

I hope to have the spot dug on Monday morning, and then the forms put in for the concrete collar at least in the afternoon. I suspect on Tuesday we'll pour concrete.