me and my shovel - my first pond

[x-Adam-x]

starting construction on my first pond to keep koi in! I've never done this type of work before and it hit me all of a sudden to do this. A co-worker of mine is a fish freak and has a few aquariums so a lot of the inspiration came from him. we got to talking about building a pond someday and it jus hit me that that's what i want to do. I've got my yard staked in the basic shape that i want and i anxiously want to start digging! I want to put in a waterfall pouring into 1ft of water going to 2ft and then dropping to about 4-5ft since i read that koi need about 4 ft of water (?) . I haven't exactly figured up how much water this will hold. ROUGH figuring for the deep end i came up with almost 4000 gallons! did not think it would be this much so i might make it a little smaller seeing as its my first pond. deep end is 12.5ft by 12.5ft. any input on this project will be much much much appreciated. anything to filter referrals, pump referrals, depth, even if you jus think the pond looks bad :bowdown: .feedback please!!! These are pictures of what i have staked out orange - shape white - waterfall black - depth change

View attachment 2777

View attachment 2778

View attachment 2779

 

[koikeepr]

Looking good! I am eager to see this build happen. Good dimensions, so far!

 

[DoDad]

Hint: go 4' everywhere. Those steps just invite preditors and if you have a bottom drain it would be in the deep end and no benefit to the shallow end.

 

[DoDad]

What are your thoughts on filtration?

 

[D&RW]

You've come to the right place. Folks here have tons of experience and DoDad sells top quality equipment as well.

One thing you might consider is researching the methods of filtration, plumbing and pumps because it will very much affect how you decide to build. You're in a perfect position to "do it right", the first time. If you do it "right" you will have much less maintenance, healthier fish and much more enjoyment. I put the word right in parenthesis because clearly there are a number of ways to do it, but making sure your decisions will work is the key item.

I think the classical pond design has plumbed in bottom drains, preferably aerated. These feed by gravity to a settling chamber and then to a filter. From there the water is picked up by an external pump and returned through a UV light then via angled fittings (can't remember their name-TPRs I think) to the pond. the angled fittings create a flow.

The pump and filter need to be mated properly, i.e. proper capacity and preferably low energy usage. You want to turn over the water, i.e. run it through your filter at least once every hour (some say two hours). So if you're planning a 4000 gallon pond, you'll want at least a 4000 gallon/hour pump and a filter that can handle that flow rate.

Please do yourself a favor and with each step ask for opinions. People here are very friendly and helpful and there are some serious potholes in the road out there. They can help you avoid them.

A waterfall is another part. You don't have to have one, but I think most do. Building those is another complete set of requirements and planning. I'm not saying this to make you anxious, just prepare you for taking the time to research it and do it right the first time.

A couple other things come to mind although you've probably already thought of these. 1) decide where you want your electrical supply to be and run 20 amp UG line out to the sites. You could get by with 15 amp, but 2O is a bit better. 2) Look at your yard from the perspective of landscaping, not just the pond. Once the pond is in you'll probably want to dress it up and so trying to visualize that will give you more of an idea where to put it.

 

[x-Adam-x]

my idea behind the gradual drop was for the waterfall to have rocks to run over and make small rapids plus i hear that the rocks with help with filtration and it would look cool. from there i was gonna make the drop from the 2ft to 4.5 - 5ft a straight drop to that 5 ft depth for the idea of deterring predators- no plan on the fish being in the 1ft - 2ft area. if that still won't work let me know and maybe i can figure out something else i like. filtration - my co-worker said we could make a filter from lava rocks and filter material. I've never even owned an aquarium so he's been my biggest source of help and now i got this forum :smile: . so maybe a suggestion from you and or others on a filter? Thanks D&RW - this is great info - one thing in there that threw me (because i hadn't heard it before) was the settling chamber. what is this? is it needed for a pond? what purpose does it serve?

 

[DoDad]

Build a waterfall with a small stream and let it cascade into the pond,

 

[D&RW]

Thanks D&RW - this is great info - one thing in there that threw me (because i hadn't heard it before) was the settling chamber. what is this? is it needed for a pond? what purpose does it serve?

You are welcome. Let me just say though, I'm no expert. I'm still a neophyte and learning. Best idea I could have for you is to take some time and read some of the basic threads here. Also, you might want to spend a few $$ and get a couple books out there. One title I know is good is: A Practical Guide to Building And Maintaining a Koi Pond: An Essential Guide to Building And Maintaining (Pondmaster S.)

A settlement chamber is the first container through which water goes on its way to the biological filter with media for the bacteria to grow on. A basic settlement chamber is just an open box where water goes in on the intake and then goes through a few dividers that allow the sediment and fine materials to settle out to the bottom before the water goes on to the filter. This chamber usually has a drain so you can clean it out periodically. I tried to find a good, but simple picture of one but couldn't.

 

[koidaddy]

One thing I noticed is you say you want to start small. Go BIG from the start if you can. I started small @1000 gallons. That lasted all of 6 months before I was buying a bigger liner.25x35.

Also get more filtration then you think you need. Mechanical and biological. This will make it more enjoyable. Nothing worse then putting a nice pond in and you can't see through the alge/muck.

Good luck.

 

[koikeepr]

koidaddy is right on. Plus, a smaller pond is much harder to maintain and stabilize from water parameter flucuations. It's much easier to maintain a larger swimming pool, for example, versus a small hot tub. Issues with water change more slowly since you are dealing with a larger body of water.

 

[D&RW]

I'm in the same boat. I started with a 2000 gallon pond and that lasted one season before I more than doubled its size. "Everybody" in this hobby says you'll be amazed after you finish how small what you built looks. The hole can look enormous, but the finished product much smaller.

You said you were thinking about 4000 gallons. That's a good basic size in my opinion, if you have room for it. Too, I'd make one end a bit deeper than 4 ft, but 4 ft is an acceptable minimum unless you're way north and get really cold temps.

 

[koikeepr]

D&RW is so right. You look at this hole and you think--my God, it's massive, what have I done?!

And then you get the liner in and such and you think immediately, shucks, I should have gone deeper. Go as big as you can so you don't have pond builder's remorse. LOL!

 

[Olee]

+1 on going bigger to start. I am planning the expansion of my pond after only 1 year!

 

[x-Adam-x]

I'm gonna have my yard marked wednesday to find out just exactly what i can do. my neighbor helped on construction on the properties in the area and theres not supposed to be any lines in the backyard. I found out differently tho lol. very first hole i dug smack in the middle of the deep in about 18in - 2ft down, i found what looks like a feed line and i my heart sunk! so i filled in the hole and put some sod over it lol! so i should find out wednesday what exactly i can do :fingersx: , but i will take everyones advice and go as big as possible. I'm shooting for about/at least 3000 gallons and 5 ft deep seeing as the peat gravel will take up a little depth i assume (once again i assume that's what needs to be in the bottom?). I'm only 5'8" so i might have to take a small ladder in with me lol :biggrin: . I'm taking a trip with my co worker this morning to go rock hunting and get him some creek sand. more updates on the way! keep the feedback coming - tremendous help :bouncycig:

 

[koikeepr]

That would be a great size. Stick to it!

When we dug down, I hit a drainage ditch at 2.5 feet down exactly on top of where the pond was to be. Didn't find that out until we had excavated the whole hole. I was going to go down another 1/2 foot, but that ended that. I just made some it up on the part that was above ground.