Need Advice Getting Started

[Lardeelion]

Hi everybody. Long-time lurker. New to ponds. Put in my first last summer. It's a small pre-formed, half-in and half-out of the ground. I'm a long-time aquarium hobbyist, so fish, plants, filtration and water chemistry aren't new to me and I had no problems.

I'm attaching a photo of where I want to put my next pond. (Yes, it's cluttered and hideous. It's been a long winter.) It's not an ideal space, but it's the only space available to me at this point. It's against the house where we can see it, it's partially shaded, and it's next to an outlet. The open yard is covered in bikes and swings and squirt guns. So this is the spot fate has given me, for better or for worse.

It's not level. More importantly, runoff comes down the sidewalk on the right, makes a right turn and flows across the bottom sidewalk. It takes some of the dirt from that patch when it does, and - here's the fun part - that runoff has at least a little bit of crud from the street in it. The water in the street can't actually jump the curb, but water from the public sidewalk water can come down my way.

So I'm going to need to build up, build a berm, right? I've been going over ideas all winter and have yet to form a plan. The back left corner will be where the waterfall goes. That's all I know. Should I build the entire space up? The space is about 4x4; not a big pond. I've not yet figured out what kind of rock I want to use, or how exactly to construct. My husband is not handy, and my 3-year-old will be lurking around trying to fall in so I need stability in the border rocks. Do I add dirt first? Do I take the dirt I excavate and use it to build the berm?

Would anyone be willing to tell me what you would do if this was your space with which to work?

 

[Lardeelion]

I re-posted this in the Newbie forum. Not sure how to delete this thread. Apologies.

 

[Catfishnut]

Lardeelion,

Trust me, this was a good area to post this question. Welcome.

You have a problem here with dimensions and previous construction. You have a footing for a deck or porch right there and that is not going to help you. I would not excavate anything here (dig down) because you risk structural integrity of the deck or porch footing.

You really cannot build much of an above ground enclosure (like a concrete walled pond) as that would minimize your pond size even more.

My idea here is to locate an IBC, cut the top off, wrap the exterior with cedar wood planks (or simple chimney style bricks) and take full advantage of the limited space that you have. What I am thinking of will be a huge savings on cost, labor and it would maximize the whole pond's entire dimensions.

Here is an IBC (Intermediat Bulk Container)

It is an HDPE plastic cube tank, surrounded by an aluminum or galvanized steel framework to provide structural strength to the tank. They have fittings already built in, so that is a huge plus.

You can cut the top of the tank open and cut the sides down as far as you need to go to make it the appropriate height. I believe they are approximately 4 1/2 feet deep and that square If you simply cut the very top off, you can have a 3.5 foot deep, 4.5 x 4.5 foot square pond. I am not really precise on the dimensions here, I am just measuring my neighboors IBC tank in my mind.

Attach cedar wood planks or decorative covering over the metal frame and hide a few things creatively and you have a made to order pond for your limited space and it will be extremely cheap! You can search ebay or craig's list etc for IBC's in your area and you will find them.

Notice that they are on "skids" so you can get under them and lift with a fork truck if available.

I would probably paint the interior or line it to change the color. Either that or leave the interior walls translucent white and install multicolored LED lighting around the tank before you close it in on the outside. Then you can turn on the LED lighting and it will shine into the pond through the sidewalls and "glow" whatever color you select. You'd have to keep algae off the interior walls of course to allow the light to shine through.

I don't know if you like this idea or not, but this would be precisely what I would do in that limited space. And I do believe that you can be very creative to make it look fabulously attractive!

Gordy

 

[Mmathis]

Welcome! I'm not the one for advice, but we have lots of people on GPF who can help you with that.

 

[Lardeelion]

Thanks so much Gordy. It never even occurred to me that I might be disturbing the porch footing! Yikes.

I will absolutely look into this. In reality, there actually are other spots in the yard where I could dig; my husband was hoping I could stick close to the house so he could continue to mow uninterrupted. But this IBC is a very interesting possibility. Thank you for your thoughts!

 

[Catfishnut]

You are welcome! If you decide to get one of these IBC's, will you send me a PM (private message) or post it public here with photos? I would love to see your end result. My neighboor's IBC isn't hidden or decorated. It is just a tank sitting out by his patio and looks just like the pix I posted of an IBC. He's just using it for bait... Minnows for fishing.

But I think it has bigger and better potential and your spot would be fitted well for one of these.

Gordy

 

[sissy]

Yep just watch for ground water with melting snow and heavy rains it is not the ideal conditions and if your property slops to the area you will have ground water .I am putting my pond rebuild on hold because of ground water.Craigslist around here sell those tanks I had one cut the top out and used it for a holding tank and then sold it and wish I had not .But do have to say the one I got was tall and kinda hard to get the fish in it as my height limits me being only 5 '2" and it was 5 ft tall .Trying to put fish in it was a nightmare ,even ladder did not help

 

[AnthonyRibis]

I used this guys video series to build my pond. Get a google account/youtube account and you can post questions directly to him. It make take a him a few days to answer but he will. The link is for patio ponds

 

[Catfishnut]

Anthony,

I just watched that very same video just a couple of weeks ago. Enjoyed it very much! I like how he does things.

Gordy

 

[sissy]

yep ponddigger patio pond with bog filter and he commented back that the plants roots clogged it and holes had to be bigger and he had to take some of the plants out and trim the roots on the rest of them .Eric is a hoot with his pond builds and goes into great detail .People these days are going more into pondless waterfalls for sound than fish ponds ,less work and nice sound

 

[Lardeelion]

You are welcome! If you decide to get one of these IBC's, will you send me a PM (private message) or post it public here with photos? I would love to see your end result. My neighboor's isn't hidden or decorated. It is just a tank sitting out by his patio and looks just like the pix I posted of an IBC. He's just using it for bait... Minnows for fishing.

Gordy

I certainly will. Today is supposed to be 55 in West Virginia so it may be a good day to sit outside and stare at the ground and consider my options.

 

[Lardeelion]

yep ponddigger patio pond with bog filter and he commented back that the plants roots clogged it and holes had to be bigger and he had to take some of the plants out and trim the roots on the rest of them .Eric is a hoot with his pond builds and goes into great detail .People these days are going more into pondless waterfalls for sound than fish ponds ,less work and nice sound

I've watched most of the PondDigger videos; haven't seen the patio pond yet!

 

[sissy]

It is a nice build and I really liked his one pond build with Billie Jean the pigmy goat .He responds to all your questions or comments right away and will really help

 

[AnthonyRibis]

@ Sissy Haha Billie Jean, its funny how that goat pops up in videos and no one skips a beat. I just watch the spring cleaning series, I think I can wait till next spring as there isn't much yuck in my pond.

@Lardeelion 55 I am jealous. We have a warm up and we almost hit 50 yesterday, but this time of year if its warm is super windy, 45mph gusts today. Next week we are back into the 20's, but we are at least heading in the right direction.

 

[Lardeelion]

@ Sissy Haha Billie Jean, its funny how that goat pops up in videos and no one skips a beat. I just watch the spring cleaning series, I think I can wait till next spring as there isn't much yuck in my pond.

@Lardeelion 55 I am jealous. We have a warm up and we almost hit 50 yesterday, but this time of year if its warm is super windy, 45mph gusts today. Next week we are back into the 20's, but we are at least heading in the right direction.

Oh yeah, we are going to plummet right back into the 20s on Monday. Hideous.

That goat made the videos.