experience needed for setting up a garden pond for the first time

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I appreciate the help.

The soil is not sandy but there are a decent amount of roots where I want to put the pond. The area I want to put the pond had a lot of vines and bushes which I cut down. How much digging should I do to make sure that there are no roots that can make a hole in the liner? The pond will be about 4-5 feet from trees but they will not be overhanging the pond. Would you suggest that is far enough?

Do I need to purchase the waterfall and skimmer and hook up the plumbing before I dig the hole? How deep a hole do I dig for the waterfall? At what point do I need an electrician?

Can I mix Koi with other types of fish (tad poles, turtles, mosquito fish). Is 4 feet deep sufficient for Koi or do I need deeper? How many levels should be in the pond? How wide should the deepest point in the pond be?

Thanks.
 

sissy

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Waterfall and skimmer come after you dig and all the dirt you dig out use to build up the water fall and sides of the pond so dirt from heavy rains does not wash into your pond .You can mix any type fish and I have koi but in 9 years they are now over 2 feet long and are fussy about water quality and ph .My pond is just over 4 feet deep and that is because of summer heat here .After you get the pond dug and figure out everything call an electrician and most will know by looking at it what you will need and where to put outlets .Make sure you have enough outlets and they are on different circuit breakers .This way if one breaker does trip the other one is still working ,you don't want to come home to dead fish .I have 2 pumps and they are on different circuit breakers if one breaker trips the other pump is still working .Plus if one pump goes out you are not scrambling around trying to find another pump so fish don't die .
 
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StuartLawrence27 said:
I appreciate the help.

The soil is not sandy but there are a decent amount of roots where I want to put the pond. The area I want to put the pond had a lot of vines and bushes which I cut down. How much digging should I do to make sure that there are no roots that can make a hole in the liner? The pond will be about 4-5 feet from trees but they will not be overhanging the pond. Would you suggest that is far enough?

Do I need to purchase the waterfall and skimmer and hook up the plumbing before I dig the hole? How deep a hole do I dig for the waterfall? At what point do I need an electrician?

Can I mix Koi with other types of fish (tad poles, turtles, mosquito fish). Is 4 feet deep sufficient for Koi or do I need deeper? How many levels should be in the pond? How wide should the deepest point in the pond be?

Thanks.
I've never really seen any need to "buy" a waterfall, there are a lot of DIY ways to build and plumb a waterfall without purchasing any sort of specific waterfall box.
You'll want to put some type of underlay beneath your liner, especially if you are worried about roots or have very rocky soil. You can "buy" some ridiculously priced liner underlay, but again, if you want to save money and end up with something that will offer better protection, go to a big flooring store and ask about picking up some used carpet. Often they'll take you to the their dumpster in the back of the store, they are usually too happy to have people grab the used carpeting and roll end bits of carpet out of there. The last time I did that the store manager told me they charge him $500 to get it dumped, so the more he can get rid of for free the longer it is before he has to pay that 500 bucks. Anyway, it makes great underlay for the liner, in fact you can generally get plenty of carpet underlay while you are in there dumpster diving.
As for the size and shape of you pond, everybody has different ideas about shelves and levels, but nobody but you really knows what you want as far as plants, fish turtles and other aesthetics. For sure most people will agree that you want to have a deep area to your pond, I would recommend at least 4ft deep, and please don't put any rocks on the bottom, save them for around the edge and along your shelves. And that brings up another thing, when you are leveling your pond please build a shelf area on the shore for rocks to sit just below the water level so you can hide the liner along the shoreline. IMHO nothing detracts more from the aesthetics of a pond then seeing the black rubber liner all around the shoreline.
You obviously have access to the internet, check out the pond forums and youtube, look at as many ponds as you can and copy the features you like. It you aren't sure how they are built then ask, but don't just ask how you should do it, because everybody will give you different answers. Find out what you like and want first.
When I first started getting into ponds, and wanted to keep turtles in it, lots of people told me you "can't have turtles in a pond, they'll make a mess, they'll eat all your plants, the'll eat your fish, etc...". Things is there are plenty of people who do have turtles in their ponds and they don't necessarily do all those things, and I did end up keeping turtles in my ponds and never really had any of those problems. So be sure to weigh and reason all the advice you get.
Can you post a picture or a video of a pond that you like and you'd like to build? If you can do that then you'll get more useful advice on how to proceed with your pond build.
 

sissy

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Yep totes come in handy but I do cut the handle off one to double them up .Mucky is right you tube is great and video's are easy to follow in most cases .Plus so many idea's your head will be swimming
[sharedmedia=core:attachments:52791].I would love a stream but not worth the work for me . :cheerful:
[sharedmedia=core:attachments:52790]
 
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Hi Stuart. The majority of us here have built their own ponds. I recommend that you read some of the construction threads. There is really a lot to know about pond building. I started out with a few hundred gallon pond and mine keeps growing all the time. I think its smart to stick to goldfish. It will be easier to maintain a pond with a lower bio-load. Also goldfish exhibit really interesting behavior especially around mating season. Some of the key points are; you don't want to build it in the lowest part of your yard because flooding is bad, you should raise up the sides a little to prevent this no matter where you build it, you need to think about it's relationship to your viewing point. Are you going to be able to see your pond and fish from your favorite sitting area? Also you probably don't want constant sun because the water will get hot and you will have an over abundance of algae, but you don't want too shady of an area where some plants won't grow or trees may drop a lot of leaves and organic matter. Keeping a pond is a journey and building it is part of it. It can be a great hobby. For starters you have found a place with a wealth of information and good people that are willing to give you advice so you have made a great first step. I recommend you start a thread under pond construction on GPF and seek help as you plan it out. You will definitely get an earful! Regards Cometkeith
 

sissy

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I see it looks like pines there and they drop a lot of fine needles and make the water acidic .My neighbor and I took a pine down near her pond because of the needles blowing in clogging her pump and causing water quality problems .She was lucky it was just a small pine .
 
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I appreciate the help and I will post in the pond construction thread.

I think it's a Skylands Oriental Spruce, I've never really seen the tree drop any needles. To be safe how far from the tree should I place the pond?
 

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