I am building a pond for my mom, it will be 7ft across 11ft long and about 2 feet deep. it will have a water fall that is 1.5 feet above the water. I am trying to pick out a pump and filter, i have selected the laguna preasure-flo 1400 filter, and deciding on the pump, either laguna max flo 1500 or 2000, there is only a 20 dollar difference between the two. my only worry is that the 2000 will be too much for a pond this size. any suggestions.
New to building pond
- Thread starter bsr8129
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What type of fish are you planning on putting in the pond?
Cindy
Cindy
Koi will be in the pond, currently we have a 250gallon ish preformed pond, and we are upgrading to this larger pond. After reading several things i think we might go with the 2100 filter since it will be in sun all day and there will be a large quanity of fish
You can never have too much circulation, and if the turbulance is too much, you can use a valve to choke it down.
I would suggest that you go deeper than 2 feet. Koi do better in deeper water. IMO.
My upper pond is only 18" although I would have made it deeper if I could have. It has served me well for about 3 years and has had up to 22" long Koi in it. My new lower pond that is interconnected is 30" deep and is about as deep as you can go and still work on it without having to drain it first. Any deeper, and you cannot reach the bottom to pick up things when you are servicing it.
I'm not against going deeper, it is a matter of serviceability. There has to be a happy medium, for me 30" is it. Raccoons,GBH and Egrets have trouble fishing in 30" of water.
Of course a net is always in place when we are not here to watch over the ponds. Lately, the raccoons have been making raids and my alarms have worked to deter them.
I'm not against going deeper, it is a matter of serviceability. There has to be a happy medium, for me 30" is it. Raccoons,GBH and Egrets have trouble fishing in 30" of water.
Of course a net is always in place when we are not here to watch over the ponds. Lately, the raccoons have been making raids and my alarms have worked to deter them.
yea i have toyed with the idea of 3 feet, mom doesnt want it that deep, she have to go swimming to service it, and when i went o go deeper hit a pile of rocks that expand the whole lenght and width, not sure how deep they are, so im going to have to settle at 2 feet.
DrDave said:
I think this would be true if you were trying to tend to the pond without actually getting into the water.
I have a 5000 gallon pond that's 4 feet deep.
Since I live in Arizona where the temperature can hit 110 degrees in the summer, my pond doubles as an old-fashioned swimming hole.
It's not too hard to reach things in the bottom of your pond if you're wearing a bathing suit and are actually in the pond itself. I actually have ledges built into the pond which were originally intended for plants ... but I found that they make wonderful steps and when I sit on the bottom ledge on a hot summer day, I find myself sitting in cool water up to my neck.
:grumble: I too, have spent time sitting in my pond, soaking away the hot days of summer. :sun_smiley:
Meekaboo said:
It's nice isn't it ... sitting in cool water surrounded by vibrant fresh water plants, sipping an iced drink, and listening to the trickling sound of a waterfall?
Since I live in a desert, most of the greenery in my backyard comes from my water plants. Although I have some cattails and water chestnuts that are rooted in the pond itself, I have other plants in decorative pots and planters. As the plants grow, I move them around from one plant ledge to another to best show them to their advantage.
My water is crystal clear and it's fun to sit and watch the koi swimming past my feet. If I sit very still, a school of mosquito fish will swim right past my chest. Birds, ground squirrels, and lizards used to drink from the shallow bog garden but after I cat-proofed the fence in my backyard and installed a pet door, my four cats began terrorizing the wild critters. :bye2:
The dirt that was excavated to build this pond was used to build a five foot tall waterfall and an 18 foot long planter. Since I live in an old log cabin that was built back in 1910, I built the planter using the old poured concrete blocks that were used to build the original foundation. I also used these huge log stumps that I found in the backyard behind the garage.
I've tried planting vegetables in the planter but the blazing sun is merciless during the summer. Every vegetable I've planted has shriveled and died despite all mulching and watering.
I am therefore thinking about adding an extension to this pond. As a chef, I'm interested in edible freshwater plants. I currently have three water chestnuts but would be interested in planting more chestnuts as well as cress, taro, and water mint.
Sounds very peacefull, do you have any pictures to share?
The mosquito fish will preclude any offspring from your Koi.
The mosquito fish will preclude any offspring from your Koi.
DrDave said:
Argghhhh ... awww Joe, say it ain't so. :icon_sad:
When I first built this pond, I was concerned about stagnant water in the bog garden. Not only was the stagnant water unsightly, but I worried that it might be a breeding ground for mosquitoes.
Instead of biting the bullet and fixing this problem by partially draining the pond, and digging under the bog garden to expand the depth (since I had thoughtfully folded the liner instead of trimming it), I purchased two dozen mosquito fish as a quick fix.
The mosquito fish took care of any budding mosquito problems ... but of course did nothing to improve the quality of the stagnant water. I have since gone back and fixed the bog garden the way it should have been. I even planted a brick step to allow my cats easy access to the shallows since they seem to enjoy drinking water from the pond.
The mosquito fish population has since climbed from two dozen to several dozen.
Here's a picture of my waterfall. It's bounded by huge concrete blocks that were part of the original foundation of my log cabin.
This is my bog garden. It's got two water chestnuts. You can see the brick step that my cats use to get water.
Irises and dwarf bamboo are planted on the edge of the pond. I had a 2nd bog garden on the far left of this picture but removed the soil, deepened this area, and moved the water pump there to better improve the pond circulation. This also had the added advantage of giving me extra space in the main body of the pond where I enjoy soaking on warm days.
P.S. Pictured in the foreground is an old metal cooking iron that I found while excavating the pond. This iron would have been used to hold a pot over an old-fashioned cook fire. It's now being used to hold a solar powered lamp.
My one dozen mosquito fish became 1800 in 24 months. I killed them all.