New Pond In Kansas

[jason081180]

Hi everyone.
i have been looking around your site for awhile now and have made a plan for my pond.

I made some drawings in Visio and this is what I'm planning so far. The pond will be 3ft wide and 12 ft long and 2.5ft deep. There will be a 1.5x3 ft stream that I may make into more of a highly planted bog. The pump will be in the deep end farthest away from the waterfall that will feed the stream. The waterfall will be about 1 ft over the pond. The top of the pond will be about 6in above ground and the top of the waterfall will be almost level with my porch. The porch is 19 in above current ground level. With 2 layers of retaining wall bricks and a cap it should make the wall about 7 in above ground level and that is the exact height of the first step on my porch. I may get a 3 light system that will have one light at each end of the pond pointing towards each other about 1 ft underwater on the shelf to light the main pond and the third light will be on the side next to the house above the water pointing towards the waterfall to light it. The filter says it can only handle 750GPH and I know the pump says 1000GPH but I’m thinking that by the time it goes thru the tubing and up 1 ft it will be down to 750 anyway. Tell me what you think?

 

[jason081180]

here are some shots of my house where the pond will go. between the sidewalk and the house. Let me know what you think and any concerns you have.

thanks a lot
Josh

 

[DrDave]

Jason
Looks like you have put a lot of thought into the pond. How are you going to frame it? If I may, the surround is going to be bland and boring. Sidewalk and wall?

Why don't you consider using the other side of the sidewalk where you can landscape around the pond. Bamboo, Taro, and Papyrus make great plants to go around it and with a few large rocks, it would could then be made to look natural. There are many ground covers that can also be used to fill in. A few stepping stones and a sitting view point for meditation while watching your Koi.

I would continue the landscaping to include larger bamboo and other filler plants where you originally planned the pond.

Then people walking to your front door will be going through an exotic water feature and tropical surround.

Just a thought.

 

[koiguy1969]

i goota go with Dr.Dave on this.. not to mention your gonna have one long skinny pond, putting it there..the other side would afford all the flexibility of landscape to really make a nice water feature..and its expandable there. you will find that bigger is better and its never quite big enough...ask almost anyone with a pond ..they'll tell ya they wish theirs was bigger,or its gonna be!!

 

[jason081180]

yes i have thought of putting the pond on the other side of the sidewalk. ill talk to my wife about it but i know she wants it where were planning. i know it will not look very natural but i think im ok, maybe not great but ok, with what i have invisioned. i know i want it bigger i would like to get about 2-3000 gl pond. i have 2 75gl fish tanks and i would like a bigger one maybe 300gl. ill have to talk to my wife about moving the pond but everytime i say anything about the pond she gets mad cause were not building it tell spring. she says u have 6 months to plan dont worry about it now. But i want to have as best of an idea as posible by the time the spring get here.

 

[koiguy1969]

aye...tell her shes in charge of decorating the inside of the house but the outside and garage are yours!! ......... then after your divorse you can build the pond you want at YOUR new house!!....HAHAHAHAHA LOL

 

[stroppy]

formal ponds can look nice too ...and i like your waterfall im putting one in like that in my raised pond .... from a womens point of view if shes made up her mind .. i dont think your be able to change it :biggrin:
you could always build another bigger one somewhere else later

 

[DrDave]

You are doing the right thing by planning ahead. That said; Present the arguments I gave you along with a sketch of what it might look like. It is going to be impossible for you to service the pond against the wall. Trust me, whoever has to do the cleaning and work on it will hate that location.

Ask her if she is going to maintain it???

 

[jason081180]

Ok things have change and I have decided to move my pond to the back yard, pending my wife’s approval anyway. Now I have new concerns. I have plenty of room so I’m planning about a 10X10 or 12X12 pond about 3 ft deep with a 1 ft deep plant ring around the pond. I was going to just have a submersible pump in the deepest part but now in the back yard I have to think about trees and I think a skimmer would be a good idea. My question though is if I have a skimmer how will I get the things that settle to the bottom of the pond. I really don’t want to put in a bottom drain as this is my first pond I think I would mess it up. That’s also a lot more plumbing and I don’t know about that. Any ideas??

 

[99SRXMAN]

I see you found this fourm too and the planning continues....

 

[DrCase]

Dont worry Things will still settle to the bottom
I don't have a skimmer or a bottom drain
I run my pump low in the water during the summer and high in the winter
With that said
You could use a smaller pump in the skimmer box to help keep the surface clean
And use your main pump down in the pond

 

[DrDave]

My skimmer is a net on a handle. I get a lot of leaves and flowers from my coral trees but they are easy to remove with a net. It gives me a look at my Koi and allows me to stay on top of their health.
A good submersible pump will do fine. I have to pull mine out once or twice a year for cleaning, it takes only a few minutes and the pump is good for another year or so.

 

[jason081180]

Dont worry Things will still settle to the bottom
I don't have a skimmer or a bottom drain
I run my pump low in the water during the summer and high in the winter
With that said
You could use a smaller pump in the skimmer box to help keep the surface clean
And use your main pump down in the pond

My skimmer is a net on a handle. I get a lot of leaves and flowers from my coral trees but they are easy to remove with a net. It gives me a look at my Koi and allows me to stay on top of their health.
A good submersible pump will do fine. I have to pull mine out once or twice a year for cleaning, it takes only a few minutes and the pump is good for another year or so.

Well if both Doctors recommend the same thing I think I better do it. I’ll just plan on having the submersible pump in the bottom of the pond and I can add this In-Pond Skimmer if things get bad.

 

[koikeepr]

You could do a retro bottom drain like I have. It just sits on the top of your liner. The thing totally works and really sucks up any debris within a decent radius. I have an external pump, I'm not sure if these really work with submersibles. It wouldn't be too hard to find out. If I'm not mistaken, DoDad may sell these and he might know if it works with a strong submersible pump.

I'm glad you're going with a pond in the back--it's much safer to keep it in the back yard when it comes to kids and such potentially getting close to it. You will also not regret the bigger size.