Starting a bigger pond

[hammer1320]

I was able to talk the wife into a bigger pond and I have a few questions about the steps to take. I kinda want to get all my ducks in a row before I jump head first (thats what I usually do and it dosnt work out for me, LOL). I would like to do at least 500gal. or more if possible.

I am sure I should dig a hole first before i run out and buy anything like pumps, or liners. I see 20, 45, and 60 mil liners and im not gonna do the 20, is the 60 mil worth the money, or stick with the 45? I heard some people use carpet padding for under the liner, is that ok cause I just came up on 3 rolls in my grandmas garage.

I am going to either do the 55 gal. drum or the 70 gal. stock bin for the bio-filter. I did a 5 gal. filter on the small pond I have now and the results were mind blowing. Is there a general rule of thumb for filter sizes? Or is it just the bigger the better? The freeness of the 55gal. drums from the carwash sounds fantastic but I have no problem spending the money if it will make my life (or the fishes) easier.

Internal or external pump is my next question. If I dont go over 1000gal. would a inwater pump work ok? I would love to do bottom drains but they scare the crap outta me. Has anyone played with the retro bottom drains? Can you even do bottom drains with a inwater pump?

Everyone on this site is very helpfull and I look forward to your ideas, and products to use. Thanks. P.S. IM KINDA STOKED!!

 

[koikeepr]

You're heading in the right direction, hammer.

Decide on size of the pond first, and then build on that. If I were you, I would go twice as big as 500g. In Ohio, you'll first want to start by going at least 3 feet down, as you don't want the whole thing to freeze over in the winter.

45ml liner is perfect and you don't need anything greater than this. Carpet padding is perfectly fine as a liner base--just make sure it has no tacks and such.

The rule of thumb for a barrel is 55g for every 1500g of water. The more you over filter the better. If you did 1000g pond, 1 single 55g filter would be good.

I had the Aqua Art retro drain on my old pond, and it was great at keeping the pond floor clean. I now have two real drains on my current pond. Bottom drains work best with external filters and not internal ones. Google Aqua Art and see what it does. An external pump means no wet hands or electrocution and better overall wattage consumption for the power you get. They can be a bit more expensive on the front end, but save you money on the back end every month in general. Sequence (look at the Sequence 750) makes a great pump, and we have a vendor here on the site, DoDad, who sells 'em cheaper than what you can find advertised online.