Future Pond

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Hi, I don't even have a house yet but I am already planning my pond when I move out of my parents' house. We've had a small pond for years and it's so lovely watching our 5 fish swimming about, but it is quite small and I've always worried the fish don't have enough room so I want to have a lovely spacious pond in my own garden.
I've found a raised pond kit, 400 gallons from Garden Oasis that I think I would get but I am thinking that frogs might not be able to get in as it's a couple of feet high. I do love having tiny froglets hopping around the garden! Does anyone have experience with a raised pond kit that could offer some insight? I think I would also get an all in one filter, pump and fountain with a UV light, is this a bad idea? Also the sides of the pond are quite sheer (no shelves at different heights) so what kind of plants could stand to be over 2 feet deep, or what could I use that's made of fish-friendly material to stand plants on? I'm thinking 400 gallons might be ok for 8 little shubunkins, does that sound alright? Any input or ideas from expert pond-hobbyists would be greatly appreciated. I'd love to create a thriving habitat for my future fishy friends.
 
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Thank you :) I have wondered about burying the raised pond slightly but then I think if I'm going to dig why not dig a whole pond? I wouldn't know where to start with that though!
 

Mmathis

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Thank you :) I have wondered about burying the raised pond slightly but then I think if I'm going to dig why not dig a whole pond? I wouldn't know where to start with that though!
There ya go! You start at exactly the same point. The only real problem is if you have enough room.
 
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I'm by no means an expert pond hobbyist, but I DO enjoy sharing my opinions. :p

It seems unlikely to me that frogs will venture into a raised pond, and I've heard that it's very important for frogs and other forms of wildlife to have a slope leading into the water (so they can exit the pond easily). That might be hard to get with a raised pond kit. But I don't have any experience with frog ponds, so take that with a grain of salt.

An all-in-one pump filter and fountain sounds like it could make cleaning a bit of a pain, but I don't see why it would be a bad thing.

You can use PVC to build frames to put flat rocks on to hold planters, or you can simply build a fabric planter into the pvc shelf directly. Paint the PVC with Krylon Fusion paint to protect it from UV damage. Krylon fusion is fish-safe.

Lilies do well at those depths, of course. You may also find some species of cattails that can handle being that deep, but they might have to be really ungainly.

You have a range of floating plants to choose form, and some submerged plants will grow very long stems and reach up tho the surface (like parrots feather and primrose creeper).

You can also make floating planters. Take a small fabric pond planter and attach it to a pool noodle cut to size. Try to stick with smaller plants for these planters, as you can't have a lot of substrate before you get sinking problems. However, small lightweight plants like creeping jenny, water clover, or perhaps even bog lilies would work well.

If your pond kit has a wooden frame, another option is to attach some kind of anchor to the wooden frame, and then hang planters into the water.

And, of course, yet another option is that you could simply build a bog-garden for your pond. Pump water into an attractive planter that sits over the edge of the pond. Install a spout or slit so that after the water fills up the planter a little ways, it spills back into the pond. Then you can fill the planter up with pea gravel, and plant all sorts of pond plants you might not have been able to in the pond itself!

There are tons of creative ways you can add plants to a pond without any shelves, it just requires some patience and ingenuity.
 
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Welcome. I inherited an in-ground pond but wanted to make it deeper to wouldn't freeze solid over winter, so I used cinder block to raise the level. For your situation, the thought occured to me you could use the same concept but IN the pond to provide shelves. Other benefit is that within a very short period of time beneficial bacteria will colonize on the cinder block. This will benefit ecosystem and turn the cinderblocks into a bit of a decoration. Good luck on the build.
 

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Welcome. I inherited an in-ground pond but wanted to make it deeper to wouldn't freeze solid over winter, so I used cinder block to raise the level. For your situation, the thought occured to me you could use the same concept but IN the pond to provide shelves. Other benefit is that within a very short period of time beneficial bacteria will colonize on the cinder block. This will benefit ecosystem and turn the cinderblocks into a bit of a decoration. Good luck on the build.


Your pond is absolutely beautiful! Thank you for the advice, I can only hope I manage something as nice as yours!
 

mrsclem

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As far as frogs getting into a raised container, I have stock tanks ranging from 100-300 gallons, all above ground. Frogs have had no problem getting in but you do need to provide some way for them to get out. If you plan on having plants that would give them a launching area to jump back out.
 
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I'm by no means an expert pond hobbyist, but I DO enjoy sharing my opinions. :p

It seems unlikely to me that frogs will venture into a raised pond, and I've heard that it's very important for frogs and other forms of wildlife to have a slope leading into the water (so they can exit the pond easily). That might be hard to get with a raised pond kit. But I don't have any experience with frog ponds, so take that with a grain of salt.

An all-in-one pump filter and fountain sounds like it could make cleaning a bit of a pain, but I don't see why it would be a bad thing.

You can use PVC to build frames to put flat rocks on to hold planters, or you can simply build a fabric planter into the pvc shelf directly. Paint the PVC with Krylon Fusion paint to protect it from UV damage. Krylon fusion is fish-safe.

Lilies do well at those depths, of course. You may also find some species of cattails that can handle being that deep, but they might have to be really ungainly.

You have a range of floating plants to choose form, and some submerged plants will grow very long stems and reach up tho the surface (like parrots feather and primrose creeper).

You can also make floating planters. Take a small fabric pond planter and attach it to a pool noodle cut to size. Try to stick with smaller plants for these planters, as you can't have a lot of substrate before you get sinking problems. However, small lightweight plants like creeping jenny, water clover, or perhaps even bog lilies would work well.

If your pond kit has a wooden frame, another option is to attach some kind of anchor to the wooden frame, and then hang planters into the water.

And, of course, yet another option is that you could simply build a bog-garden for your pond. Pump water into an attractive planter that sits over the edge of the pond. Install a spout or slit so that after the water fills up the planter a little ways, it spills back into the pond. Then you can fill the planter up with pea gravel, and plant all sorts of pond plants you might not have been able to in the pond itself!

There are tons of creative ways you can add plants to a pond without any shelves, it just requires some patience and ingenuity.

Thank you for sharing, there are some cracking ideas there! Yes the more I think about it the more it seems that digging and building my own makes more sense for frogs, it'd be very hard to get a slope from a 2 foot high pond to the ground, and I could dig shelves in. The floating planter idea is particularly brilliant, I will definitely look into that!
 

addy1

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Welcome to our forum!

Post your build we love to follow along and help with suggestions!
 
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Welcome to our forum!

Post your build we love to follow along and help with suggestions!

Thank you :) I haven't a clue where to start building my own but if I do I will definitely post on here, you seem like a very helpful bunch!
 

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