New member from Northern, CA

[mireland62887]

Hi Everyone,

I've had a couple small (wine barrel stuff) ponds for years, with no worries about filtration, aeration, filtering, winterizing, etc. I've always wanted something bigger. Well, now that the kids are too old for their background playground set, I've reclaimed my space!!! Last year we broke down the play set with the anticipation of putting my pond in this spring.

The ground work is nearly done, and the edging and water course is next. It is going to be be 30" deep at the deepest, with a shelf at 18" and another shelf at 10". My best guess is about 1600 gallons. I'm using a 15 X 20 liner. The watercourse will have about a 4' drop and be about 10' long. My goal is a series of falls, but that is all still in the construction mode and subject to change.

My 9 year old son is helping me with ever step along the way so far, and he's just as excited about it.

Looking forward to learning a ton here. Thanks!

Mike

 

[Event Horizon]

Welcome...
Take lots of pictures, we would love to seem them.

 

[CdnJCR]

:regular_waving_emot Welcome

 

[sissy]

welcome and great bonding in ponding you and your son will have .Not sure how hot it gets there and if you have shade but i went 4 ft to keep water cooler .Make sure you let filter run for awhile before putting fish in you do not want to make it a bad thing for your son .Goldfish are easier and sturdier than koi plus they are not as fussy .

 

[j.w]

Mike and son
Nice fun project and rewards are wonderful. We'd love to see your photos of where you will put the pond and how you proceed with it. We have lots of tips on things like building pond up higher than ground level to prevent run off, hiding your liner using short rock ledge around the top, cleaning fine particles that cloud the water by using quilt batting in a pot under the falls and lots of DIY filter and other ideas. We are here for you :razz:

 

[addy1]

to our group!

 

[Mmathis]

Welcome! I can feel your excitement! Be sure to take pics you can share with us as you go! Are you going to have fish? If so, you may want to consider going deeper, at least having a section deeper, so the fish will have somewhere to go to escape extreme heat/cold. Also, might need to consider predators. It seems the shallower waters make it easier for them to have access for fish-snacks.

 

[Becky]

Welcome to the forums! :wave:

 

[mireland62887]

Mike and son
Nice fun project and rewards are wonderful. We'd love to see your photos of where you will put the pond and how you proceed with it. We have lots of tips on things like building pond up higher than ground level to prevent run off, hiding your liner using short rock ledge around the top, cleaning fine particles that cloud the water by using quilt batting in a pot under the falls and lots of DIY filter and other ideas. We are here for you :razz:

Funny you should mention all the tips. I'm doing JUST THAT! Friday is the filling day, but only after I modify the sides a bit to have a rock ledge (on two sides at least). I'll have one filter up and running at start up, and am in the process of making a 'Skippy' filter as well.

As far as pictures...prepare to be carpet bombed. While I have a full time career, I also have a photography business to pay for all my hobbies There will be plenty of photos once I put the shovel down for a bit.

Friday is waterfall construction and lining. Saturday should be the filling date.

But here's a question. From what I understand, the first fill up will wash most of the rocks off and will fill the pond with a lot of dirt. Should I just let it settle? Or partially drain and refill?

Thanks everyone

 

[fishin4cars]

Welcome aboard, On you question rinse everything you can, rock water fall, and anything that may contain dirt that would make the pond muddy, Pump that out and discard if possible, then start filling, No need to fill everything and the pump it all out, if you rinse then pump out you could probably clean everything with a fraction of the amount of water needed to fill. Also once filled and dechlorinated allow to sit for 24 hours then test your water and adjust everything before adding fish, starting off with pre balanced water helps prevent unnecessary stress on the fish that may have to be done later anyway. This also get's you familiar with what your water should test and be able to spot if problems start so you can adjust again with minimal adjustments. Most will agree that a good liquid drop test kit is best to use. Aquarium pharmaceuticals sell a master test kit that runs $30-$0 and I would also get a KH test kit which runs about $11 by itself. This test kit will work great for about a year to 18 months before the reagents need replacing.