How much is this REALLY going to cost ?

[bean6924]

Hi all,

I really need your collective wisdom on this one...

So, a year ago I started out with a pondless waterfall. Fell in love with it and wanted a pond, so I started digging this spring.

Now everyone is telling me to go deeper and wider, or I'll regret it later. (I'm building a 700-1000 gallon goldfish pond, but thinking I should be thinking of building a larger goldfish / Koi pond just in case I want KOI in the future.

Is this smart? If so, what is the real price and time commitment difference between a KOI pond (3000 gallon?) and a garden variety goldfish pond...? I can start digging deeper now, as I'm going to end up calling the city to see if I need a permit for all of this, and I'll need to install a $3000 fence in any case for safety...

I have not purchased any skimmers, filters, concrete blocks, plumbing, fish, test kits, plants, etc. etc., but I'm sort of at the moment where I need to estimate how much my pond will really cost. This is all DIY by the way.

So, the photo below is where I'm at. I wish I could show you the whole picture (yard, stream, etc.) as I'm really excited to see how my pond will fit into my landscape.

I guess in the end I'm asking everyone to tell me whether I'll fall in love with KOI a year from now, and how easy this is to predict :bye2:

thanks!

 

[sissy]

welcome but it really depends on what bargains you can find and how much you can do your self .Filters I built liner I got was a leftover from a roofing contractor .So far to date I have now spent 380 dollars .I'm cheap .Rocks I trolled streams and picked up along side the road .One filter is a over sized tote doubled up and other is a tank I got from craigslist 3 for 20 dollars .Lava rock in my filters less than 4 dollars a bag .Plants from clearance rack 25 cents a piece .Floating plants a bag full at a garden center here 5 dollars ,Fish at a koi farm 1 dollar up to 6 dollars .Wish i had not gotten koi .(9 years and over 2 feet long ) Activated charcoal less than 5 dollars from pet mountain .com and pump was 59 dollars at harbor freight and new one was 139 dollars .Crushed oyster shells 10 dollars a bag .PDZ horse stall refresher (zeolite ) 5 dollars for a ripped bag .Dollar store laundry bags to hold the stuff 4 for a dollar .Filter blue stuff reusable furnace filters 5 dollars a piece .Lotus plants from seed and got pods from hobby lobby 3.75 .Pots free from other plants .peroxide 8 dollars for 4 gallons .Toilet bowl brush for cleaning 3 dollar for 3 of them .Tank adapters from pet mountain.com less than 7 dollars for 2 of them and 4 dollars for a small one .Sump pump hose 10 dollars and bought 2 bags of them .Test kit from pet mountain also less than 10 dollars .

 

[sissy]

I'm a cheapo and bargain hunter retaining wall block 50 dollars off craigslist and concrete block off craigslist also ,guy had extra and did not need them .no skimmer no need for one and forgot the ball valves got them from a house auction and they were in a box of plumbing stuff iI bought for 5 dollars .Lots of great plumbing stuff in the boxes .

 

[Mmathis]

Well, there's no way to say what you'll be in love with in a year or even 2 years. Koi? Maybe. Goldfish? Maybe. But from the doubts that you are expressing, I would say you need to go ahead and go as big as you can NOW [as much as your resources will allow]. For one thing, larger ponds are easier to keep "stable." And if you end up deciding NOT to go with koi, you'll still have a nice pond that you can do a lot with.

My biggest financial reality check was the cost of the liner. So, we went as big as we could with the limited space we had, as didn't want to come back in 2 years and have to repeat that cost. But, again, it depends on what is in your budget [of cost, time, and energy].

 

[bean6924]

I'm a cheapo and bargain hunter retaining wall block 50 dollars off craigslist and concrete block off craigslist also ,guy had extra and did not need them .no skimmer no need for one and forgot the ball valves got them from a house auction and they were in a box of plumbing stuff iI bought for 5 dollars .Lots of great plumbing stuff in the boxes .

welcome but it really depends on what bargains you can find and how much you can do your self .Filters I built liner I got was a leftover from a roofing contractor .So far to date I have now spent 380 dollars .I'm cheap .Rocks I trolled streams and picked up along side the road .One filter is a over sized tote doubled up and other is a tank I got from craigslist 3 for 20 dollars .Lava rock in my filters less than 4 dollars a bag .Plants from clearance rack 25 cents a piece .Floating plants a bag full at a garden center here 5 dollars ,Fish at a koi farm 1 dollar up to 6 dollars .Wish i had not gotten koi .(9 years and over 2 feet long ) Activated charcoal less than 5 dollars from pet mountain .com and pump was 59 dollars at harbor freight and new one was 139 dollars .Crushed oyster shells 10 dollars a bag .PDZ horse stall refresher (zeolite ) 5 dollars for a ripped bag .Dollar store laundry bags to hold the stuff 4 for a dollar .Filter blue stuff reusable furnace filters 5 dollars a piece .Lotus plants from seed and got pods from hobby lobby 3.75 .Pots free from other plants .peroxide 8 dollars for 4 gallons .Toilet bowl brush for cleaning 3 dollar for 3 of them .Tank adapters from pet mountain.com less than 7 dollars for 2 of them and 4 dollars for a small one .Sump pump hose 10 dollars and bought 2 bags of them .Test kit from pet mountain also less than 10 dollars .

"wish you didn't get koi"? is that because of the size of your pond, or how much they eat, cost? I'm curious on how you think about them as pets.

 

[bean6924]

Well, there's no way to say what you'll be in love with in a year or even 2 years. Koi? Maybe. Goldfish? Maybe. But from the doubts that you are expressing, I would say you need to go ahead and go as big as you can NOW [as much as your resources will allow]. For one thing, larger ponds are easier to keep "stable." And if you end up deciding NOT to go with koi, you'll still have a nice pond that you can do a lot with.

My biggest financial reality check was the cost of the liner. So, we went as big as we could with the limited space we had, as didn't want to come back in 2 years and have to repeat that cost. But, again, it depends on what is in your budget [of cost, time, and energy].

thanks turtle... I think you're right. just as big as I can get. I just ordered a 15 foot x 25 foot liner, but I might return it to go deeper. My plan was around 10 feet x 8 feet x 2.5 feet (with a small section at 3 feet). I can expand to 12 feet x 7 feet x 4 feet.

 

[capewind]

I agree.. get the biggest liner you can afford/fit now, as many say they should have gone bigger, or will add more ponds. 12 x 7 x 4 sounds nice to me;-) But I already have a 20x30 liner (or is it a 25x30), and a 15x25 liner (future bog, now part bog, part fish pond), and just bought another 20x25 (will eventually just be for hubbys lilies) .... all three are additional to the original plans;-) (Need hardscpaing work complete to do the future main ponds, these we had room for sooner LOL) ...

The liner cost is one of the worst expenses .. other items depend on your patience level (I refuse to pay highway robbery for rocks for example), and how handy you are. Check out the DIY section for homemade filters ...

We have both Koi and goldfish (comets and shubunkins) ... Koi need more room then goldfish (get much larger), and supposedly are more fussy ... we treat them both the same.

 

[sissy]

They get big and get big fast .My pond is ok size for me to take care of .I have only 13 fish but still feel it is to many .I have 2 filters running and 2 pumps .Depends on how much you want to spend on electric also .My pond is 25 x10 and just over 4 feet deep .But time spent on it lately is not enough .I did not really realize how big it was until I measure it .I did not remember just how big I went .I just dug to what I could for the size liner I had .I have all 3 also koi ,goldfish and shubbies and fantails .

 

[Mmathis]

thanks turtle... I think you're right. just as big as I can get. I just ordered a 15 foot x 25 foot liner, but I might return it to go deeper. My plan was around 10 feet x 8 feet x 2.5 feet (with a small section at 3 feet). I can expand to 12 feet x 7 feet x 4 feet.

The deeper, the better! Mine is 3000 gals. with a 4' deep center section. The rest averages around 2.5' - 3'. By not making the WHOLE pond go to 4', might have saved a little bit. But once you get into those really BIG liners, who knows ....

 

[bean6924]

I agree.. get the biggest liner you can afford/fit now, as many say they should have gone bigger, or will add more ponds. 12 x 7 x 4 sounds nice to me;-) But I already have a 20x30 liner (or is it a 25x30), and a 15x25 liner (future bog, now part bog, part fish pond), and just bought another 20x25 (will eventually just be for hubbys lilies) .... all three are additional to the original plans;-) (Need hardscpaing work complete to do the future main ponds, these we had room for sooner LOL) ...

The liner cost is one of the worst expenses .. other items depend on your patience level (I refuse to pay highway robbery for rocks for example), and how handy you are. Check out the DIY section for homemade filters ...

We have both Koi and goldfish (comets and shubunkins) ... Koi need more room then goldfish (get much larger), and supposedly are more fussy ... we treat them both the same.

If you could only fill your pond with goldfish or koi, what would you do?

 

[capewind]

If you could only fill your pond with goldfish or koi, what would you do?

I love my goldfish, but without a doubt, the koi ... Much friendlier.

 

[HTH]

Goldfish don't go around dumping all the dirt out of plants.

Goldfish seldom jump out of the pond so they can dry out in the sun.

...

But I like koi too. Just had to stand up for the gf

 

[bean6924]

How important is it to not have shelves? I sort of need them because there is a conduit line preventing me from digging deeper in one spot (you can see the shelf in my original pic above). I know predators are a problem, but my property will be fenced in (hopefully keeping racoons out). Herons would be the only threat. I like the idea of a shelf aesthetically, but if predators are that big of a threat I can just dig much deeper and narrower.

 

[bean6924]

The deeper, the better! Mine is 3000 gals. with a 4' deep center section. The rest averages around 2.5' - 3'. By not making the WHOLE pond go to 4', might have saved a little bit. But once you get into those really BIG liners, who knows ....

How many Koi can you comfortably fit with 3000 gallons?

 

[gardengimp]

FYI .,, raccoons can climb fences. Though not the solid PVC fencing I read. They can also dig.