Building Ideas

[crawls]

I have been thinking about doing and above/below ground hybrid. Maybe 10 x 5ft (maybe larger or smaller) and build up the whole thing with bricks around it to create an above ground pond, but still digging down a portion of it for deep water and maybe a shallower shelf and then shallow water from ground level up the top of the bricks.

Good idea? Headed in the right direction? All options are still open so please by all means tell me what you think and what I could change or improve on.

This will be my first garden pond and I've been doing a bit of research on it and I think I can handle the maintenance and upkeep so I'm ready to try and start building one!

-Cory

 

[addy1]

What kind of fish are you thinking of? With shallow areas the herons will love you sushi you will be feeding them. If you keep the shallow areas lower than 18 inches that will usually deter them from feeding on your fish.

Deep areas are great for the fish, to help with hot and cold weather. Try to do 3-5 feet. What kind of temps to do you have there?

I have a walk out area for anything that falls into my pond.

 

[crawls]

What kind of fish are you thinking of? With shallow areas the herons will love you sushi you will be feeding them. If you keep the shallow areas lower than 18 inches that will usually deter them from feeding on your fish.

Deep areas are great for the fish, to help with hot and cold weather. Try to do 3-5 feet. What kind of temps to do you have there?

I have a walk out area for anything that falls into my pond.

I was thinking goldfish or koi.

We have very hot summers (can get up to 95-100F) and pretty mild winters, maybe one hard freeze a year if that.

I guess I could use the shallow area I said earlier as a filter section and just expand the deeper parts?

 

[addy1]

Sure that will work also. My pond in arizona is 5 feet deep or so, the water stays around 85 degrees in the summer (and the summers there are horrible hot)

If your pond is out in the sun, make it deep to keep the water cooler. Since you are in the planning stages you can change it to whatever will work lol. The shallow area could still be part of the pond, just make it deep enough to discourage herons from standing there waiting for dinner. I have read they don't hang out in water over 18 inches deep.

Koi get quite large and need a good amount of water and great filtration, goldies are more forgiving with the filtration and don't grow to the size of koi.


I am sticking with goldies just because of the easier care they require.

 

[sissy]

koi get big fast I can tell you that for a fact .My Auntie Ag is around 2 ft or more now after 6 years and was really small when I got her now I call her a submarine .

 

[crawls]

I would love to have just one or two large fish. That's why I'm leaning towards koi

 

[addy1]

goldies and shubunkins can grow to around 12-18 inches. My goldie and shubunkin in arizona are quite large. Well large to me, but not large to a koi keeper lol

 

[sissy]

hint they have babes too lol I have given at least 30 away friends are starting to hide from me when they know my fish have had babes lol:lol::yikesu:

 

[stroppy]

i think you need to go bigger if you want koi ...someone will tell me if im wrong but isnt it meant to be about 1000 gallons per koi ...also if you get very warm summers the water will get warmer with a raised pond ...so might be good to go a few more feet below ground also as addy has said slopes are not such a good idea ..also a bottom drain is a good idea for koi of course if your just wanting goldfish you wont need to build it as large :0)

 

[sissy]

mine starts at 2 feet goes to little over 4 feet .But aggie and Bert are getting large and may transfer them to the new pond at the other house once I clean it up and figure the whole thing out which will take the whole summer I'm guessing and that pond by what I can see so far is around 20x30 less or more and depth is a question

 

[j.w]

If you really have a choice then make it the bigger the better especially w/ koi. You will not regret it if you do. And even w/ goldfish big is good. It's kinda like boats...........once you start out w/ a little one you always wish to go bigger..............so why not go big in the beginning if you have the room and the money for the huge liner, pump and filters (lots of DIY ideas here so cheaper w/filters) :lol:

 

[sissy]

I was looking at that pondepot sight and they have really come down in price and 1 time shipping fee of 9.99 thats not to bad and there pumps are really a good price

 

[crawls]

I'll have to look at the actual measurements whenever I get home and let everyone know, I work offshore 2 weeks at a time and I've got a week and a half to go.

I've got a small mother in law house in my backyard and I want to go the length of that, it may be closer to 15 or 20ft across and I don't think I'd be able to go much wider than 5-7ft.

Its a new house and I'm trying to guesstimate off my memory!

But bottom line, if I can't go big go for goldfish?

 

[sissy]

guess I'm glad I'm not your mother-in-law drownings not an option I would chose especially in a fish pond lol you should take pics of it from all sides so you can look at it when you work off shore will help you plan it in your spare time.They do have some pretty gold fish now If I had it to do over would go with goldies too

 

[crawls]

I may just do that. I've got a few projects I've got to get knocked out before my son's birthday next month so I'll have a busy time home but I hope to at least get this planned out. I doubt I'll be able to start on it but I may go ahead and start buying materials so I can space out the cost of it better.

What's an average cost for a DIY pond? $5-600?