Looking for the "sweet spot" in ponds size

[Lucas_TX]

Hello everyone,

I'm interested in opinions on the ideal size pond. I have two acres so I have room to do whatever I want (withn reason). I'm only interested in a wildlife pond, particularly dragonflies. Fish would just eat my DF larvae, so I don't want any. I have a certified wildlife habitat already and lots of native plants so a pond is just a natural extension of that.

My goals are small enough to be affordable, not too hard to create and easy to maintain. Big enough to be easy to maintain and support wildlife.

I'm pretty sure it will be flexible liner with a submerged pump going to a small water fall, maybe the water fall will be a skippy filter?

I have sun and can put it in a place where there are not a lot of overhanging trees. I have quite a few large oak trees but they will be north of the pond and the prevailing wind here is from the south, so I don't think that will be a huge problem.

I have a couple of Purple Martin poles in my yard and they consume a lot of DF's so I want the opportunity to put some back in the environment. There is a small manmade lake about .25 miles away and a big lake < 2 miles away and a ton of DF's in the yard all the time, so I'm confident we'll get some fairly quickly.

Since I am starting with a clean slate I'm very interested in your suggestions.

Thanks

Teri

 

[Lucas_TX]

Hello everyone,

I'm interested in opinions on the ideal size pond. I have two acres so I have room to do whatever I want (withn reason). I'm only interested in a wildlife pond, particularly dragonflies. Fish would just eat my DF larvae, so I don't want any. I have a certified wildlife habitat already and lots of native plants so a pond is just a natural extension of that.

My goals are small enough to be affordable, not too hard to create and easy to maintain. Big enough to be easy to maintain and support wildlife.

I'm pretty sure it will be flexible liner with a submerged pump going to a small water fall, maybe the water fall will be a skippy filter?

I have sun and can put it in a place where there are not a lot of overhanging trees. I have quite a few large oak trees but they will be north of the pond and the prevailing wind here is from the south, so I don't think that will be a huge problem.

I have a couple of Purple Martin poles in my yard and they consume a lot of DF's so I want the opportunity to put some back in the environment. There is a small manmade lake about .25 miles away and a big lake < 2 miles away and a ton of DF's in the yard all the time, so I'm confident we'll get some fairly quickly.

Since I am starting with a clean slate I'm very interested in your suggestions.

Thanks

Teri

 

[koikeepr]

Here's a tip: For sanity, don't build it under trees, as the falling leaves will be a nightmare to clean up.

If you gave a max budget, we might be able to help you a bit more. How big do you think you'd be able to go/want to go?

 

[Lucas_TX]

Here's a tip: For sanity, don't build it under trees, as the falling leaves will be a nightmare to clean up.

If you gave a max budget, we might be able to help you a bit more. How big do you think you'd be able to go/want to go?

It won't be under the trees, it's just that I have a lot of trees but as I said the wind is blowing the other direction most of the time.

Budget is hard to pin down since it's hard to figure out how much it will cost until you know how big it is. I'm tying to avoid going into this with any preconceived notions.

I guess if we spend more than about 2K I'll get a lot of push back from my spouse, so that might be good number to start with.

Thanks

Teri

 

[Lucas_TX]

Here's a tip: For sanity, don't build it under trees, as the falling leaves will be a nightmare to clean up.

If you gave a max budget, we might be able to help you a bit more. How big do you think you'd be able to go/want to go?

It won't be under the trees, it's just that I have a lot of trees but as I said the wind is blowing the other direction most of the time.

Budget is hard to pin down since it's hard to figure out how much it will cost until you know how big it is. I'm tying to avoid going into this with any preconceived notions.

I guess if we spend more than about 2K I'll get a lot of push back from my spouse, so that might be good number to start with.

Thanks

Teri

 

[koikeepr]

$2k is decent to build a simple pond with lots of DIY equipment in it. For a pond that size, the greatest expense will the liner and pump(s).

Begin by digging your hole and getting it to the right size and shape you want. You can check the two calculators below to start to pre-determine what the costs of some things will be.

Then, you should start looking on Ebay and other sources now. Remember that you'll need 45mil EPDM liner and have it shipped to you. Use a liner calculator to figure out what size you'll need. You'll also need some kind of underlayment for your liner (like old carpeting and rugs). Carpet shops usually throw old carpeting out after they remove it from a home, so go ahead and ask them for it. It's free. You can also purchase pond underlayment pretty cheaply at the places that sell liner, too.

Next, you'll need to figure out how many gallons of water your pond will be so you can determine your pump and equipment size. You can use another calculator to figure that out.

 

[addy1]

It won't be under the trees, it's just that I have a lot of trees but as I said the wind is blowing the other direction most of the time.

Budget is hard to pin down since it's hard to figure out how much it will cost until you know how big it is. I'm tying to avoid going into this with any preconceived notions.

I guess if we spend more than about 2K I'll get a lot of push back from my spouse, so that might be good number to start with.

Thanks

Teri

We are doing a nature pond also, not huge, medium size, I have planted flowers, grasses, etc that the critters enjoy eating. The bog will be full of plants, hoping to attract more bees, butterflies, etc to our yard. I would love to know more about your yard, we have around 4 acres, acre plus in untouched woods vines etc, (and poison ivy)

I used a liner from http://www.btlliners.com/ which, well according to my searches, a little tougher than the EPDM liner, it comes 24 or 36 ml at .41 or .45 p/sq foot.
We bought the 36 ml due to the deer that are walking the stream.
It is not as easy to install as the EPDM, I used it on my other pond, you just have to fuss with it a little more. If you have dirt and not rocks like we do, they say it can be installed on raked dirt, no under linement needed. We put carpet pad under ours, we have rocks with a little dirt. I used craigslist to find the pad.

The skimmer I bought from hayward, wide mouth pool skimmer (for vinyl pools) 15 inch weir, with a good basket, for around 100 on ebay, it has a float that will shut if off if the water level gets to low to save the pump. Added an additional leaf basked to go before the pump for 49 (ebay)
Misc pvc piping, would have to add it up, all 2 inch.

The bottom drain is going to be slotted pvc piping running the length of the pond, with the bottom of the pond sloped, v shaped ie down the middle of the pond, the pvc will lie at the bottom of the slope. And a t of pvc at the deep end sloped towards it. The leaf basket will grab any big stuff that might hurt the pump.
And the pump has a leaf basket also.

But total around 2k or under. (not counting anything not directly related to the pond ie plants, most rocks we have gathered)

The filter is going to be a large bio filter, ie bog. With 2 inch pvc feeding it. The next expense will be the pea gravel for it.

Hope this is helpful, we just started the dig in april.

 

[addy1]

It won't be under the trees, it's just that I have a lot of trees but as I said the wind is blowing the other direction most of the time.

Budget is hard to pin down since it's hard to figure out how much it will cost until you know how big it is. I'm tying to avoid going into this with any preconceived notions.

I guess if we spend more than about 2K I'll get a lot of push back from my spouse, so that might be good number to start with.

Thanks

Teri

We are doing a nature pond also, not huge, medium size, I have planted flowers, grasses, etc that the critters enjoy eating. The bog will be full of plants, hoping to attract more bees, butterflies, etc to our yard. I would love to know more about your yard, we have around 4 acres, acre plus in untouched woods vines etc, (and poison ivy)

I used a liner from http://www.btlliners.com/ which, well according to my searches, a little tougher than the EPDM liner, it comes 24 or 36 ml at .41 or .45 p/sq foot.
We bought the 36 ml due to the deer that are walking the stream.
It is not as easy to install as the EPDM, I used it on my other pond, you just have to fuss with it a little more. If you have dirt and not rocks like we do, they say it can be installed on raked dirt, no under linement needed. We put carpet pad under ours, we have rocks with a little dirt. I used craigslist to find the pad.

The skimmer I bought from hayward, wide mouth pool skimmer (for vinyl pools) 15 inch weir, with a good basket, for around 100 on ebay, it has a float that will shut if off if the water level gets to low to save the pump. Added an additional leaf basked to go before the pump for 49 (ebay)
Misc pvc piping, would have to add it up, all 2 inch.

The bottom drain is going to be slotted pvc piping running the length of the pond, with the bottom of the pond sloped, v shaped ie down the middle of the pond, the pvc will lie at the bottom of the slope. And a t of pvc at the deep end sloped towards it. The leaf basket will grab any big stuff that might hurt the pump.
And the pump has a leaf basket also.

But total around 2k or under. (not counting anything not directly related to the pond ie plants, most rocks we have gathered)

The filter is going to be a large bio filter, ie bog. With 2 inch pvc feeding it. The next expense will be the pea gravel for it.

Hope this is helpful, we just started the dig in april.

 

[DrDave]

I hope that the thinner liner will hold up if deer are actually walking on it. Their hooves are very sharp.

 

[DrDave]

I hope that the thinner liner will hold up if deer are actually walking on it. Their hooves are very sharp.

 

[addy1]

I hope that the thinner liner will hold up if deer are actually walking on it. Their hooves are very sharp.

Me too! I spoke to the company, it is thinner than the epdm, but a different type of material, very tough.

 

[addy1]

I hope that the thinner liner will hold up if deer are actually walking on it. Their hooves are very sharp.

Me too! I spoke to the company, it is thinner than the epdm, but a different type of material, very tough.

 

[Lucas_TX]

$2k is decent to build a simple pond with lots of DIY equipment in it. For a pond that size, the greatest expense will the liner and pump(s).

For a pond what size? That's what I'm trying to figure out, what size do people find to be the right compromise between too small and it gets all yucky and too big and it's expensive to create and maintain?

Thanks

Teri

 

[Lucas_TX]

$2k is decent to build a simple pond with lots of DIY equipment in it. For a pond that size, the greatest expense will the liner and pump(s).

For a pond what size? That's what I'm trying to figure out, what size do people find to be the right compromise between too small and it gets all yucky and too big and it's expensive to create and maintain?

Thanks

Teri

 

[koiguy1969]

For a pond what size? That's what I'm trying to figure out, what size do people find to be the right compromise between too small and it gets all yucky and too big and it's expensive to create and maintain?

Thanks

Teri

larger ponds actually become easier to maintain than little ones.. some maintainence may take alittle longer than on a smaller pond but will need doing less frequently... it takes a larger pond longer to " FOUL UP" than a smaller pond. and water parameters are more stable both temperature wise and chemistry. you'll find dollar for dollar our DIY designs outperform any storebought filter even some at twice the price and more. you have to ask yourself:
1..what kind of pond do i want?......formal or natural looking?
2.. is it going to be a dedicated KOI pond or a gardenpond with fish?
3.. can I build the neccessary equipment (capable?) ?
4..how will i stock this pond? (number of fish) p.s we all tend to stretch that number as far as we can!