Relocating my fish pond--and more questions!

[susiekirk]

Hello all! I am hoping for advice from you all! We moved into our home 5 years ago and inherited the fish pond in the backyard and the fun critters that came with it. Over the years, sitting by my little pond (approx 250 gallons, 12ft x 6ft x 2 ft deep) has brought me great joy and stress relief. Well, I am about to upset that nice little spot by building an addition onto my home, and we will have to fill in the pond for the foundation. Before construction begins, we are looking to purchase a rubbermaid stock pond and move it over near our pool, away from the construction, until we can build a new pond. This is where I begin needing input. I live in Memphis, and our summers get HOT! Our pool has almost full sun, but the area the pond was in is more shaded. How can I make sure I do not boil my poor fish in the temporary home until construction is over? Also, I am concerned about my ecosystem being disrupted. When in the temporary pond, should I put some of the rocks from my about to be filled pond in, so that the algae and whatnot on the rocks keep the water healthy? I have these cool round hollow bricks I have at the bottom now, so that they can hide when the Blue Heron comes for a snack. I have several different batches of frog eggs right now, and worry about frogs not being able to get into my temporary pond. Will my frogs be wandering around, looking for their pond they have made home for the last 15 years? Will they instead move over to my pool and start drowning in the skimmer (we have a few casualties a year, but I check it every night)?
We will have a courtyard built outside of the addition, and I was hoping to relocate my permanent pond in the courtyard after construction is finished. But I am back to the same concerns, as I will have to construct a raised bed and position a hard shell liner inside the bed and backfill the spaces with dirt and hopefully make a nice flower bed around the edge of the pond. But then i won't have my frog buddies visiting anymore, because of the raised bed.
I attempted to start digging a hole for an inground pond, but there was a huge oak tree taken down in the only place I could put it, and I cannot get through the deep roots. My husband just thinks this is all too much trouble, but I love my little ecosystem, especially when I have baby frogs and fish! Any advice would be greatly appreciated! I have absolutely no experience in creating a fish pond myself, and google searches have left me overwhelmed!

I have no idea what all we will find in the pond when it is time to transfer, but I know over the years there have been:
at least 30 goldfish
1 water turtle (have not seen since I bought it)
frogs
1 small albino water frog (have not seen since I bought it)
1 blue crawfish (have not seen since he was given to me at the crawfish stand last year)

It is going to take me forever just to get in there and make sure I transfer every living thing in there!

Susie

 

[JamieB]

Welcome!
To start with, get the biggest stock tank you can, or multiple ones, deeper is better than wide if you expect to still have fish in there come summer. Each one will need filters, and airstones in hot weather. You can set up a pvc frame and cover it with fabric to make a shade.
Next, I would suggest you figure out the best place for a pond. You’ll want a nearby outdoor outlet to run pump and what nots, some shade, and space appropriate for the pond. I suggest you read through the new construction threads, you’ll see where others have learned some tips and tricks. Now, if you still want to go where that stump is currently at, I’d suggest burning it out if you can. Tell hubby break out the drill, and drill either one good hole dead down the center, or several. Each vertical hole then needs a connecting hole going down from the side of the stump. That provides airflow for the fire. Coat that with an appropriate fuel source, let it soak in if it’s not something such as gasoline which will evaporate off, add another coating, and burn it. You’ll want the stump dry as can be for best effect.
Hopefully the wood that does not burn will be easier to remove once it’s reduced in size and charred.
Instead of doing a hard sided preformed pond, can you consider doing a liner instead? We have many threads that cover what works best, how to do them, where to find them.... all the info is available just by reading. Avoid pvc liners as they get brittle, but epdm is common, and well liked. When you build your pond, think of things like going at least 3 ft deep to provide more water volume for your fish, putting in shelves for plants, maybe a gentle slope along edges for frogs, and turtles.
When you go to move the pond, use a pump to move the water till it’s shallow enough for you to catch the fish. Carefully place them in their appropriate containers. Don’t be surprised if you never see the turtle, it probably took off unless you have the pond well fenced. Then carefully set all the pond plants into the containers, a few rocks, and if you find the frog and crawdad, you’ll want to set them in a smaller container with a good filter and airstone going non stop. Count your fish as you move them over. You may find much less than 30, or you might have a lot more! When you build your new pond, keep that number plus potential babies in mind.

 

[addy1]

Welcome to the forum!

If you go wth a stock tank, try to move as much of the original water. as you can. Rocks, plants etc so you will start with mature water, better for the fish and critters.

 

[j.w]

and welcome! If your pond is 12' x 6' x 2' it is way more than 250 gals.
More like 800 gals.

POND VOLUME CALCULATOR [How Many Gallons is My Pond?]

Use our pond volume calculator to work out the surface area, volume, liner size and minimum recommended pump size for your pond in a variety of units.

concalculator.com

 

[poconojoe]

Don't worry about frogs, toads and turtles. They will find your relocated pond. They seem to have a natural radar for locating water. Maybe they can smell it, I don't know...

 

[addy1]

Don't worry about frogs, toads and turtles. They will find your relocated pond. They seem to have a natural radar for locating water. Maybe they can smell it, I don't know...

They found my pond before I even got water into it.

 

[poconojoe]

They found my pond before I even got water into it.

Ha!
I don't know where the frogs and toads all come from, but they always show up.

Now, if I can get the bats to come to my bat house, that would be great for mosquito control.
I put up a nice bat house two years ago. A good one from the bat Conservancy. Nobody has come yet.

 

[addy1]

My bat house is empty also, been hanging for years................... so it just hangs I do see bats flying so they are around.

 

[susiekirk]

Welcome!
To start with, get the biggest stock tank you can, or multiple ones, deeper is better than wide if you expect to still have fish in there come summer. Each one will need filters, and airstones in hot weather. You can set up a pvc frame and cover it with fabric to make a shade.
Next, I would suggest you figure out the best place for a pond. You’ll want a nearby outdoor outlet to run pump and what nots, some shade, and space appropriate for the pond. I suggest you read through the new construction threads, you’ll see where others have learned some tips and tricks. Now, if you still want to go where that stump is currently at, I’d suggest burning it out if you can. Tell hubby break out the drill, and drill either one good hole dead down the center, or several. Each vertical hole then needs a connecting hole going down from the side of the stump. That provides airflow for the fire. Coat that with an appropriate fuel source, let it soak in if it’s not something such as gasoline which will evaporate off, add another coating, and burn it. You’ll want the stump dry as can be for best effect.
Hopefully the wood that does not burn will be easier to remove once it’s reduced in size and charred.
Instead of doing a hard sided preformed pond, can you consider doing a liner instead? We have many threads that cover what works best, how to do them, where to find them.... all the info is available just by reading. Avoid pvc liners as they get brittle, but epdm is common, and well liked. When you build your pond, think of things like going at least 3 ft deep to provide more water volume for your fish, putting in shelves for plants, maybe a gentle slope along edges for frogs, and turtles.
When you go to move the pond, use a pump to move the water till it’s shallow enough for you to catch the fish. Carefully place them in their appropriate containers. Don’t be surprised if you never see the turtle, it probably took off unless you have the pond well fenced. Then carefully set all the pond plants into the containers, a few rocks, and if you find the frog and crawdad, you’ll want to set them in a smaller container with a good filter and airstone going non stop. Count your fish as you move them over. You may find much less than 30, or you might have a lot more! When you build your new pond, keep that number plus potential babies in mind.

Thanks so much for this valueable information! I am headed to the feed store now to get stock tanks!

 

[susiekirk]

View attachment 136815and welcome! If your pond is 12' x 6' x 2' it is way more than 250 gals.
More like 800 gals.

POND VOLUME CALCULATOR [How Many Gallons is My Pond?]

Use our pond volume calculator to work out the surface area, volume, liner size and minimum recommended pump size for your pond in a variety of units.

concalculator.com

Oh lord! I had no idea. Lol. I asked my husbands best guess. Looks like i need several stock tanks.

 

[poconojoe]

Thanks so much for this valueable information! I am headed to the feed store now to get stock tanks!

Don't use a galvanized stock tank unless you intend to place a liner in it. The zinc in the galvanizing is said to be unhealthy for fish.

 

[brokensword]

They found my pond before I even got water into it.

I thought the story went; they were WAITING for me to fill the pond up!

 

[brokensword]

Ha!
I don't know where the frogs and toads all come from, but they always show up.

Now, if I can get the bats to come to my bat house, that would be great for mosquito control.
I put up a nice bat house two years ago. A good one from the bat Conservancy. Nobody has come yet.

maybe they did and the mosquitoes got 'em...

 

[susiekirk]

Well, after a weekend of back breaking work trying to dig my new fish pond, and running into nothing but stumps, I have decided to buy a 250-300 gallon preformed pond and construct a raised bed, inserting the pond in the middle of the bed, and infilling with dirt between the bed and the pond. Then I can plant some plants in the dirt, and still have my pond, just without killing myself to build it. I figure if I am building a raised bed, I can construct a detachable roof to put over the pond to protect the fish during construction time. This way I don't have to move the fish twice, causing more stress to them. It's not my ideal set up, but it is better than what I am currently working with! Thanks for all the ideas, now I need to head over to the construction feed to see about what others did! Thanks ya'll!

 

[susiekirk]

Well, after weeks of digging through the oak roots, my new pond is finally finished! A blue heron visited the old pond last week and snacked on half my fish! I found about 30 baby crawfish while mucking out the old pond, but not the parents! I suspect they are well hidden in the old pond. I won't drain the old pond yet because I have several hundred tadpoles in there now! Once they turn to frogs I will drain it completely! Thanks to everyone who commented!