Connecting Two Ponds

[Culchie]

I was thinking of getting a Waterfall Pond kit and connecting it to a simple, seperate pond. Is this possible if both ponds are on the same level ? I want the fish to be able to go to each pond. I'm just juggling ideas right now. Thanks.



Wayne

 

[addy1]

The main issue would be a good water tight seal between the two ponds.

 

[Culchie]

I know. That's the problem I see too.

 

[addy1]

Are you going to have a stream, or just a cut out area between the two ponds for the fish to swim back and forth?

 

[Culchie]

I was thinking of two pools with a narrow passage under a bridge. But I think I'll give up on that idea. It would defeat the purpose of the bridge providing some shade for the fish. And I would probably have to get two sets of filters and skimmers. I think I'll just stick with the peanut shape.

 

[addy1]

So one liner, in a peanut shape? That would be the most water tight. They will travel down the narrows to the other pond, with the deeper narrows more protection for the fish from predators too.

 

[CountryEscape]

And, if you like plant bogs, you could use the extra liner in the narrow part to make shallow bogs on both sides. Just saying .... Make sure you post pics when you get the design decided on and start your build! We all love pics.

 

[Culchie]

Thanks for the info. And you have very good pics CountryEscape. Looks like you knew what you were doing. And it looks like your pond is in the same location that mine will be. Can I borrow your tractor ?? :lol:

P.S. I read that you shouldn't use carpet for lining, because it will mildew and I guess start to smell. Maybe it was just to get us to buy their liner.

 

[CountryEscape]

Well, you can pick and choose what you want to listen to and learn from the way I figure it. I found carpeting that was less than 2 years old, not old yucky stuff, and covered it with the underlayment, too. I don't mind if it gets old and cruddy, because it's underneath, no way it will smell or anything, there is water and pressure on top of it. I just had too many nails and pieces of glass that I dug up so I definitely needed some extra cushion under my pond liner.

Haha, my tractor has helped me immensely, for hauling the dirt away! I'm glad you liked my location of my pond. Planning to build another one this summer, put a "creek" between them, but only for asthetic purposes, as the whole purpose is for the ponds to not actually connect to each other. I don't want any koi fry ending up in the goldfish area. I want to separate the 2 species. Only bad thing is the new pond will not be as visible from the deck, but may build a bridge between the 2 pond areas, so can watch the goldfish from that. Good luck with your build! Looking forward to seeing pics as you go.

 

[addy1]

I have used carpet and carpet pad, dug one of my ponds up years later the carpet was not really gross, but this was in arizona a not real wet area. This pond in maryland we used carpet padding, we have a little dirt with a lot of rock.

Like country's idea of the possible bog on either side of the skinny area. When you place your liner in your new hole, just don't cut any of it until you make sure you don't want to do something with it like a bog etc.

 

[Shdwdrgn]

My first pond had a larger peanut-shaped liner with a waterfall spout on one end. This poured into a second, smaller liner. I put my pump in the smaller pond, routed the piping up to the barrel filter, which in turn poured out into the peanut pond (so the flow of the water was filter -> larger pond -> smaller pond). There were advantages and disadvantages to this setup.

The good was that the larger fish were kept in the larger pond, and when eggs were sprayed or babies hatched out, many of them were pulled over the spout into the smaller pond, where they were able to grow without being disturbed by the larger fish.

The bad was that if sticks, leaves, or ice blocked the water spout, the top pond would overflow, causing the bottom pond to be drained by the pump. This usually happened once or twice a year, and on at least a couple occasions, I came out to find the smaller fish flopping around in an inch of water.

 

[sissy]

underliner is anything that you can get free ,I have even seen newspaper used as under liner ,even plastic garbage bags to fill in when they run out of the free stuff .Now a lot of places that do carpet won't give it to you anymore because carpet companies have gotten wise and are recycling carpet and padding and make it against the law to take it out of there dumpster that is used to put it for recycle

 

[CountryEscape]

Here's an idea for getting good carpeting! Call carpet places, ask if they will be removing carpet in your area in the near future. Tell them you will come and take all the old carpeting. I got very lucky and asked and the very next day, they were replacing carpeting that was only 2 years old, had been peed on by dogs, new renters could not handle the smell. Needless to say, I got a whole house (even though it was not a huge house, it was plenty) of 2 year old carpeting, in excellent condition, not 3X the weight in dirt, for free. I went that same evening with my truck and hauled it away. I suspect if they know you will want it, you could even leave your truck and they would load it for you, to get it out of the way of the homeowner. In my case, the carpet layer WAS the new renter, so he was more than happy to let me have it.
Where there's a will, there's a way! The way I look at it, we are recycling for FREE! They can't complain about that, can they?

 

[Shdwdrgn]

My method of getting used carpeting was a bit more expensive... I had hardwood floors installed in my kitchen (guess where the old carpet went? ) After doing business with the flooring company, they were more than happy to let me raid their dumpster. Of course, if someone knew what became of their snow-white carpet (which had obviously been cared for and cleaned regularly), they would probably have a fit...

 

[CountryEscape]

Haha, yep your carpeting was quite a lot more expensive! The way I look at it, we are recycling the carpeting. I suspect places that don't allow you to "dumpster dive" for carpet remnants are because of those that went in, pulled out, made a mess and took only what they wanted. I wouldn't want that either! If a person is polite and puts back what they did not want, there would likely be no rule to not allow it. The carpet pieces I got were all 2-3' wide strips, which at first I was upset as I thought they should be whole rooms, but when I was moving them around, WOW did that make it very easy! And, who cares if they overlapped. I didn't have to deal with the folds in them at all. I highly suggest cutting the underlayment or carpet into strips. It was a breeze to lay out.