Questions about my next pond

[Sisha]

Every time I move I build a new pond and never had pumps in them. Don't do mosquito fish as they eat frog eggs and tadpoles by nipping chunks out of them till they die a slow death. They are illegal here for that reason. Build it and they will come, the frogs that is. Just make sure the pond only gets 5 to 6 hours of sun per day maximum in summer to limit algae growth and a good balance of plants, boggy patch for bees, a way for animals to get out if they fall in and a shallow rock for birds to bathe. Be aware it will get noisy at night. We have double glazing and still have to turn up the TV. Oh and I use clay sewer pipe for hiding from predators. If you want a pump, I use a solar on one of my ponds, it's 12 years old but only put the pump in 2 years ago, it runs 15mins per hour, day and night for oxygenating but a shallow pond doesn't need it, it just sound nice. My large ponds have pumps but they are in full sun and deeper. Enjoy your journey of the build

 

[sissy]

I don't know much about wildlife ponds b ut abandoned ponds turn into wildlife ponds I guess .I have taken out a few abandoned ponds and found the smell was horrible so you want to avoid that happening .A sewer came to mind with some of them and more amazing to me the fish were healthy in them .Longest one was abandoned for over 5 years by realtors knowledge

 

[JamieB]

So long as you stick to 2’ at the deepest, and have lots of surface area, you should be ok. I found when my pool pond didn’t get any attention, no pump, just fish, they did fine. It was 3-4’ deep, but 22’ across circle, so my surface area worked with wind to oxygenate the water.

 

[bagsmom]

I posted it somewhere else but my frog pond idea has grown a little bit. Grown in size, ambition, and definitely grown in EXPENSE! Dotted line is underground electrical and white square off to the right is an electrical box (or where one will hopefully go.

 

[LarryM]

I would go with mosquito fish for that type of pond. They will definitely take care of any mosquitoes that will love to drop eggs in the still water. Rosy Reds are also a good cheap choice but they won't tolerate extreme warm water as well as mosquito fish. Rosy Reds are more attractive and if they don't survive the warm water just spend a couple dollars and add more when the weather cools down.

 

[LarryM]

I posted it somewhere else but my frog pond idea has grown a little bit. Grown in size, ambition, and definitely grown in EXPENSE! Dotted line is underground electrical and white square off to the right is an electrical box (or where one will hopefully go.
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Ain't it amazing how those backyard projects end up costing three times as much as we originally pkanned? I just finished building a chicken coop for my wife today. I originally figured it would cost around $500 to do it. But when we decided to do an enclosed run with it the total cost of the project was a tad over$1400. It's still worth it when I think of the years of enjoyment we'll get from it. And hey, "free" eggs. I figure when we get about 5,000 dozen eggs, that chicken coop is paid for!

 

[bagsmom]

Ain't it amazing how those backyard projects end up costing three times as much as we originally pkanned? I just finished building a chicken coop for my wife today. I originally figured it would cost around $500 to do it. But when we decided to do an enclosed run with it the total cost of the project was a tad over$1400. It's still worth it when I think of the years of enjoyment we'll get from it. And hey, "free" eggs. I figure when we get about 5,000 dozen eggs, that chicken coop is paid for!

OH MY GOSH! The 3x phenomenon is a true thing!!!! We have always said this at our house. However long you think it will take, multiply by 3. However much you think it will cost, multiply by 3. My husband always grossly underestimates both time and cost. He says he is just an optimist and I'm a pessimist! LOL
I also keep telling him he needs chickens. The man eats 4 eggs for breakfast every single day! I bet your chicken coop and run are both great!

 

[addy1]

Hey let it grow this is the time to make it as you want it! A pita to change later.

 

[Lisak1]

My husband is an optimistic underestimator, too. And then tells everyone "it cost three times what we thought it would!" I try to remind him that his "estimates" are based on zero experience, but he insists on figuring it out ahead of time and then dying of shock when he gets actual estimates from people who do the actual work. We're a good match that way. I always think "that's IT? That's worth it!" Haha! If I can't do it myself, I figure I'm at their mercy!

 

[addy1]

lol My hubby was a estimator, in a way, for the gov. Worked with contracts. He is lousy at estimating the amount of time it will take us to do something. lousy..............He states a time I add x2 to x 3 his time(and I am usually right). Money wise we are usually pretty close.

 

[Sisha]

I would go with mosquito fish for that type of pond. They will definitely take care of any mosquitoes that will love to drop eggs in the still water. Rosy Reds are also a good cheap choice but they won't tolerate extreme warm water as well as mosquito fish. Rosy Reds are more attractive and if they don't survive the warm water just spend a couple dollars and add more when the weather cools down.

Mosquito fish "Gambusia" are banned in Australia for a very good reason. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosquitofish_in_Australia or CSIRO