IS Ponding a dying hobby?

[koiguy1969]

i only run my ad on craigslist while i have fish to sell.... so its been a month since i've had any to sell.. like i said, i sold out in 10 days. but my fish are usually in the $3 - $7 range ..some alittle more, depending on size and looks...never sold anything for over $10.00

 

[addy1]

I'd love a huge pond. I have the yard for it, but its just not affordable for me, and I don't have as much time as I'd probably need to take care of it. Maybe someday; Its definitely one thing I hope to do in the future, but my 200-ish gallon pond will be just fine, and its good practice for if I do ever get a larger pond.

I certainly hope it isn't a dying hobby. Backyard ponds are important to a lot of insects and animals that are losing their habitats.

My build (no clue on total gallons) 27 foot long pond x 10-20 foot wide, large bog. Maybe 10000 gallons if not more adding all the small ponds found cheap on craigs list. I found some receipts, the largest expense was the liner. I spent around 2 k on the build (subtracting pallets of rock)

The only care it gets is an occasional skimmer clean out (once a month or so unless the leaves are dropping) Occasional leaf basket clean out, once a month or so. Once or twice a year I net the bottom of the pond to remove extra muck. The bog / gravel/ plant filter takes care of the pond with no care from me except removing plants to keep my path open and a place for the birds to bath.

 

[sissy]

very true I have taken out several ponds for realtors that are selling bank owned property .To many people don't want the added expense or want the problems and some don't want the liability aspect .Small ponds are mostly what I took out and one larger pond .Some ponders just give up ,start out they want every thing and then fish die and they just give up .I went with the size pond I knew I could handle by myself .The other house I own has a pond and when it is time to sell I will take this pond out and move fish there and Mike can have them .I was a cheapo when i built my pond ,but sure wish I had known about koi

 

[sissy]

In NC they have a large fish farm that actually travels around and they sell every thing in fish ,including stocking ponds .They have an ad on craigslist now

 

[waynefrcan]

Thanks for all posts here. I agree with everything being said. At my last house the pond was a plus for making the sale, as I see 4 years later they still operating it. Don't think it increased the value, for the buyers it just increased the interest in it.

Sissy, I bet more then half of ponds are just getting backfilled when properties sold. It is happening up here as well. Not the economy, just people don't like the work involved. Could be also because most ponds I see here are rock lined and we all know the extra effort and expense that is needed to keep these things operating, or poor designs.

 

[waynefrcan]

What is the main cause of these import crackdowns for koi? Just a quick search brought up the herpevirus on koi, is that why?

 

[waynefrcan]

Addy1, your tractor you bought to excavate was alone over 2 K lol. Come on dear add it all up, I would say you're in the $5,000 - $8,000 range for your masterpiece, including rocks, liner, equipment, tractor, plants, shrubs, etc.

 

[addy1]

lol I don't count the tractor..........ow we are over the 15k range. My honey bought that for more than putting in a pond. I was adding pond only, since my rocks, my plants are more than a lot would have, or less than others. Most don't buy a tractor to put in a pond, he bought it for me to use for way more than the pond. We have 4 acres to play with. If I add the bought rocks, they were under 1k, would need to find the receipt to get the exact, the pea gravel and pallets of rocks. Most of the plants were nearly deads, cheap rack from lowes. Flowers ...........seeds.
The pump was around 150, so with rocks, liner, pump under 3k. Not counting my labor lol

 

[sissy]

we all fight for those cheap racks .I even got free plants from lowes they were throwing away and just asking scored me some nice plants .Some died but a lot of them lived .Some of the pots were from mothers day plants and I got some nice pots and manager was happy she did not have to spend the time or money on getting rid of them .I just happen to go to the store that day .People here just don't like ponds plus insurance and banks find them a liability they don't want to take on .My pond will come out when it is time to sell

 

[sissy]

addy how is your pump you got from the house in Arizona working

 

[JohnHuff]

My house came with a pond when I bought it. If I had known it was this much trouble, I would have asked them to fill it in too.

 

[waynefrcan]

Lol good one, no, you love this hobby too much. :heartpump:

 

[waynefrcan]

My biggest expense was the excavator [bobcat] and backhoe as I had to hire out for it. Later I rented one for the final stage.

 

[addy1]

addy how is your pump you got from the house in Arizona working

It is working great. Before it got here I had picked up a sequence one to use. My az pump pushes a little more water so using it. Lim Dragon pump, little pricey, one reason I the tenants ship it here once we had the pond torn down.

 

[MitchM]

Wayne, it could also be the perspective of your retailer.
A lot of retailers are having to re-think the way they do business because of how convenient online shopping is these days. A cheaper price for almost anything is out there.
We also live in a largely commodity driven province and the world economy isn't looking so hot these days. A lot of people might be thinking the party's over.