Could I?

[pondntn]

I had big grandiose pond plans that have since scaled back considerably for several reasons.
I like simplicity.
I'm wondering if I could perhaps do something like this:
More or less a gazing pond.
Shallow, 6 or 8 inches deep all around.. FLAT bottom (area is flat) lined with thick ply black liner. Maybe 3 or 4 feet wide. Some filter system and a little water movement, not sure yet.
But..quiet water or as still as possible, with a bottom that you can see. It's in full sun. So, it'd probably get too hot for a few lil goldfish for summer.
Maybe drop em a plant in for shade in the hot days.

Like simple and quiet and contemplative area with low maintenance.

Dunno...just rethinking original plans.
thanks

 

[addy1]

The problem with a real shallow pond, will be algae growth, The water will get warm, you will have great sunlight to get that green stuff growing. You could do a fishless pond, treat it with chemicals to keep it algae free.

 

[Waterbug]

6 or 8 inches deep isn't enough for goldfish and maybe even too shallow for Mosquitofish depending on location.

Here's a 3" deep pond I did once. I did keep Mosquitofish in this pond but this had shade and an underground reservoir holding half the pond's volume.

I mortared over the liner to protect it. 3" of water isn't much protection. With mortar you can also go with a cheaper liner since it is protected.

This did have a 10" deep box in the center with a basket and water return to a buried 55 gal drum which contained the pump. This pond was in the strip of ground between the sidewalk and street. So keeping the pump buried in the drum kept it out of sight and away front the kids.

Coolest thing about this pond was the birds. Robins over wintered in San Jose in huge flocks. They would come to this pond to bathe, 20-30 birds at a time would roll though for almost an hour. Maybe 300 birds in the flock, plus lots of other birds. Hummingbirds would bathe on the lip of a tiny water fall and drink on the wing out of the falls.

Water movement can help with a mirror surface. Water surface will collect dust and look ver dull. A skimmer keeps the surface perfect. All you need is an overflow, not a pond/pool skimmer. You can have a waterfall and keep a mirror surface by having a catch basin. Sound of falling water and mirror surface...nirvana.

One thing I didn't do, but hope to someday, is have a cut out in the middle of the pond where I could plant something like a Japanese Maple or bonsai Black Pine. That's something you can't do easily in a regular depth pond but would look so cool in a shallow pond.