First pond, questions and... well, more questions!

[Mr.Fus]

Hello, I finally move to my own house this year, and after 15 years to dream about building a small pond to keep some koi we are good to go and start the process!!!

There is a lot of information and details on building a pond, but more you read more questions arise on the subject and the best is to ask now instead to try later to fix mistakes!

The location is North West Florida so soil is sandy (easy to dig, hard to shape), my plan is to build a rectangular pond (10x5x4), using EPDM pond liner and cinder blocks for pond collar to keep the edge stable.

If i understand fine vertical walls are a "no" unless a retaining wall can be placed to keep the sand from collapsing, so if i don't have a wall made of cinder blocks or a frame of plywood my options are to have the walls sloped and/or build on levels to fight gravity.

There it comes the first question: What other materials can be used to maintain the shape of the pond while being prepared?

Thanks!!!!

 

[Lisak1]

Welcome to the GPF and the pond life!

I won't be much help on the pond construction end of things, but you'll get some knowledgeable people to chime in here on that. However I do have two thoughts:

Number one - you mention "small pond" and "koi" in the same sentence and my ears perk up. Your planning a pond that is about 1500 gallons (and that's if you have no shelves or rocks in the pond itself). That is a great size pond for goldfish, but not so much for koi. Koi grow fast and need a good size pond to thrive. Lots of people start out thinking "koi pond" but realize that goldfish - comets, shubunkins, fantails, etc - can be just as pretty and fun to keep and you can have many more in a smaller sized pond.

Second thought - in your sandy soil, consider not digging as deep. You don't really need to go 4 feet deep, so it might be better to increase the dimensions and decrease the depth to improve stability - that is, if you have the space to do it. Surface area is often overlooked in considering pond and fish health.

Just a few thoughts! @Meyer Jordan knows Florida and Florida ponds - he can maybe help with construction thoughts!

 

[Meyer Jordan]

Where is NW Florida are you? I am in Pensacola and we may have similar soil.

 

[Mr.Fus]

Really close, Panama city... I'm aiming to keep 4-5 koi, and knowing myself i will building a second one later on the road! (I will take cleaning filters and skimmers 100 times over 1 mowing yard day!)

Before moving here i used to keep between 4 or 5 fishtanks, and one ocation i keeped a couple of beautiful kois but size was the problem, now i own my house and hopefully we will not be moving again so the idea to build something more adequate for the fish can become a reality, but as always i like to start small and learn then increase the difficulty of the challenge with bigger size!

 

[Meyer Jordan]

but as always i like to start small and learn then increase the difficulty of the challenge with bigger size!

I admire this philosophy. I would apply it to the type of fish that you start with also.
Keeping a pond is a bit different than maintaining an aquarium.

 

[sissy]

welcome and same thing here koi are great but then they grow and grow .Started with a preformed until front porch was finished then went to 1500 gallons then 2500 gallons since had lots of liner to raise the pond and then 35oo gallons and now at 5000 + gallons and only 14 fish and now have seen babies i must catch to give away .My koi are over 2 feet long and they will get lots bigger .Wish some one had warned me .But got them before I joined here .