Pond in the foothills

[MitchM]

Hi everyone,

Just started our first pond this past year, and am really glad I came across this forum. Tons of great information!
Everyone here has such beautiful ponds, hopefully ours will turn out just as nice!

I started the pond last May because I wanted to make sure to have it ready for the rains that come in June. We have a steel roof and the runoff from it is pretty clean.
We have a well water supply and I didn't want to over do the demand from it..

I'll start by posting some pics of my progress.

Chose a spot in the yard, spraypainted an outline and just started digging!


Thank goodness for the tractor and backhoe!

Came across a couple of hidden gems that didn't look too "liner friendly"


Got the basic hole dug, just needed some refinement from here.


Started putting in the underlayment and removing/crushing the biggest lumps of clay that I came across

 

[addy1]

Welcome to our group!

Don't you just love that kubota! I would be lost without mine.

We are on a well. I have been using roof water for the pond, for the last three years without an issue, but others will also advise against it.

Looks like you have extra underlayment.....................go bigger! lol
It looks deep, which is good for cold canada.

 

[MitchM]

The pond wound up being about 29' X 30', 5 feet deep with a 2' - 3' wide plant shelf between 6" and 24" deep. Total volume around 6000 gallons.
I was able to purchase a 50' X 50' liner that worked out quite well.
It was just me putting in the liner and it took about an hour.






I was able to beat the rainy season!
Rain was in the near forecast, so I started filling it from the well at a rate that wouldn't compromise the house supply. About 1gallon/45 seconds.


I ran a second hose from the rain barrels



..and finally, after about 1 week, it was filled.

 

[MitchM]

Thanks, addy!

 

[pecan]

Great Pond! Post more pictures if you have them. Can't wait to see it finished. What kind of fish are you planning?

 

[Ruben Miranda]

Hello and Welcome
The pond looks good so far.

Ruben M.

 

[MitchM]

A neighbouring farmer has a big pile of rocks in his field and has generously let me take as many as I want.
The pile is about 3/4 of a mile away but fortunately I have the Polaris to bring them back. Some of the rocks are 2' in diameter.




I didn't put any the rocks around the pond this year because I'm sure that the berm that I built up around the pond has got a lot of settling to do. No point having to do it twice.
The berm was made up of the clay that I dug out and came out mainly in clumps.

I built in some walls to cover the lovely pole barn in the background that seems to have turned into a "catch-all", lol. I'll get to that stuff later....


Planted some grapes, hops and kiwi vines.

 

[MitchM]

Thanks Ruben and Pecan,
I have 3 small koi and 4 shubunkins for this year. we'll see how they do over the winter.

 

[Craig58]

I think you need to recalculate the gallonage of the pond! 6000 seems very low for the dimensions you quoted.

If it is 5' deep and I lop off 6' for the shelves that makes the 5' section about 23x24x5 plus the volume over the shelf. To make it simple to account for curves and such if I drop the dimensions down to 20x20x5 that equals 2000 cu ft. There are 7.48 gallons per cu ft which makes the 5' section about 15,000 gallons. At 23'x24x 5 you are at 20,000 gallons. Plus the volume of the water over the shelf area.

I'm only pointing this out because if you are going to design a filter for this, or in worse case scenario you need to medicate the pond, you need reasonably accurate gallonage numbers.

Great pond though! I'm very jealous. I wish I had space for something that large!

Craig

 

[addy1]

Thanks Ruben and Pecan,
I have 3 small koi and 4 shubunkins for this year. we'll see how they do over the winter.

Babies in the spring!

That is huge! and looking good Love free rocks, so neat you have a great pile to get them from. Bet you use every single one.

 

[Fishylove]

WELCOME MITCH!! :wave:
Geez! Does somebody send out fliers to all Canadians or something ?!?!?
Seriously though bring them all on! More the merrier! Hah!

 

[callingcolleen1]

Nice thread you got going Mitch!! That "lake" your builting is coming quite nice, should turn out to be a fabulous view. Can't wait to see the finished" look!

fishy love I keep sending the flyers from my Arctic "greenhouse" igloo! Ha ha ha

 

[j.w]

Mitch
Man that pond is humongous!

 

[MitchM]

Craig, thanks for double checking those numbers for me. I calculated the volume by the time the pond was filling from the well, plus the roof runoff after how many millimeters of rain we received during the filling period. I didn't do a very good job describing the contours of the pond.
I left a pretty large underground peninsula about 2' deep that I want to convert into a bog type setup, plus another lower shelf in case someone or something falls into the pond. I wanted to give them a way to climb out if there's no one around to help.
I gave up trying to calculating the volume by measurements, but it's probably worth it if I have another go at it.

Addy, that would be cool if babies showed up next year! I'll be just as happy to find out that all the existing fish survive the first year. The price of the rocks is right, no doubt, but I think I'll need to buy some flat ones for sitting areas and for the waterfall.

Thankyou fishylove, isn't the internet great!? Maybe the cold weather is driving us all inside to our computers!

Thanks Colleen!

Thanks j.w., we're fortunate here, space is not in short supply. The bigger the water volume, the more stable the water conditions, so I maxed out where I could between the driveway and some trees, keeping the cost of the liner in mind.

 

[MitchM]

We have a natural spring fed pond on the far side of our property, so I grabbed 5 gallons of water from it and "inoculated" the new pond hoping to kick start the cycling process.




In October we had a neighbour visit the pond. A beautiflul cow moose.



She drank...and drank...and drank...
Finally I yelled "LEAVE SOME FOR THE FISH!"
She calmly raised her head and looked at me as if to say - "...and just what are you going to do about it?"
Using my better judgement I stayed on the porch.



She drank some more and went back into the forest where her calf was waiting for her.



I am now wondering if a moose would find pond plants interesting to eat. I had a few test plants in pots near where she was drinking, but she didn't touch them. Here's hoping.

 

[callingcolleen1]

That's Canada for you, we had a moose on the loose in town here too, they finally rounded her up cause she was causing too much havoc on the town!

 

[j.w]

What neat pictures of the moose Mitch! We have deer but a moose could really do some damage if it felt like it. Hope it doesn't decide it likes the taste of your plants or wants to take a dip in your pond!

 

[Craig58]

When canoeing in MN and up into the Canadian Quetico we often saw moose in the shallow areas of the many lakes there. They would often be in 3-4 ft deep water and then duck their heads all the way under the water to get the plants. Evidently they like new shoots under the water the best. I don't know exactly what they will graze on but it was not an uncommon sight on my trips there. I would be concerned if they started frequenting a pond with a liner as I'm sure their hooves and weight could do a lot of damage if they decided to wade in.

I'd keep an eye on Mom and calf!

Craig

 

[sissy]

Welcome Mitch that moose is pretty but thinking i will stay with the deer I have .Wholly rocks we are all drooling right now :razz: :luxlove: rock lovers here

 

[MitchM]

Thank you sissy!

The moose and her calf came and ravaged our fruit trees the night before I took that picture. After the pond visit I sprayed all the trees with a deer repellent, basically reconstituted cows blood...(yuck).
I haven't seen any deer or moose since. I don't like to spray that stuff until the bears go into hibernation because it makes the yard smell like an abatoire! Luckily it snowed shortly after and the bears are asleep for the season now.
We actually did have a small deer walk across our pond the other day when the pond was only half frozen...don't know what I'd do if I had a deer fallen through the ice!

sissy, you could always come and help me lift some of the rocks - then you could take some home on the plane with you! Airlines don't charge much for excess baggage these days do they?

Mitch