Want a pond but what is the cost?

[leoskee]

Hello everyone. I am doing some research into the costs of running a pond. I would like to create one in my backyard but I would first like to know what I am in for. I dont want to start up a pond to later find out that it will cost me an arm and a leg to keep it up to par. Im in the reef hobby and I learned the hard way how much money was involved. The cost of electricity is a major factor.

I would like some of your input as to realistic costs of keeping a healthy and thriving pond.

Thanks.

 

[thejetskiqueen]

Here is a calculator on Savio's website that you can use to calculate electricity costs. Savio

 

[leoskee]

Thanks. Ive found several online calculators for electricity. What I am asking for, besides the electric costs, are the regular maintanence items. What does it take to keep a pond going strong? The cost of chemicals, filtration, etc... Im looking at building a pond that is roughly 6'x10'.

 

[thejetskiqueen]

I understand about being in the reef hobby and having a lot of costs, but I have found that the pond costs much less. All you need would be dechlorinator, maybe some activated carbon and media bags. We have 2 reef tanks and the pond cost less to build than our oceanic 30 gallon cube and much less to maintain. We did not use the startup bacteria, just let nature take its course.

 

[kirscp]

20 x 20 60 mil Liner - $250.00
Pump - $100.00

UV Clarifier - $130.00 - Will help with green water

Fish - ???

Landscaping - ???


The rest of the expenses would depend if you buy the filters or build your own. I would add a skimmer, I used a pool skimmer that I purchased for $25.00. You could easily use a rubbermade tote with filter media, or a 55 gallon drum with filter media. You can search skippy filter, and get quite a few ideas.

I don't add any chemicals to my pond.


The cost will depend on how much money you want to stick into it.

 

[leoskee]

Thanks for the info. Yeah, keeping a reef is expensive. It seems that mother nature takes care of a lot when it comes to ponds. A lot of what I do with my reef can be applied to a pond.

From what you listed the costs are not that great. I think it will cost more to landscape the pond than to set it up.

As far as equipment is concerned, I would rather DIY than to buy from a manufacturer. Just like in reefing, DIY projects are tailored to your exact needs. Is there a place that has good DIY plans out there? I did not find much in this forum.

Thanks.

 

[kirscp]

With my pond I have a bottom drain (DIY), that flows into a settling chamber (DIY), pump then pumps the water into my skippy type filter (DIY), which is my water falls.

I then have a skimmer, flows into another chamber, then pumped through my UV, and back into the pond.

I will be adding another skippy filter / bog filter yet this year.

Here is my skippy filter. It is a 150 gallon stock tank, they have several different sizes. I then filled it with filter media, I used the power floor wax pads.

Here is my settling chamber: I used the liner from my old pond.

Here is the workings of my skimmer system:

My pond if 2 1/2 feet above ground. I did this to help keep my daughters out, and give me more volume with less digging. I am still in the "construction" stage. I started last fall. Now I just need to finish up the landscaping part.

 

[kirscp]

My pond is 12' x 12' x 5' deep, give or take a bit. My costs were (estimated):

$400 - for pond liners, which includes the one for the skimmer box.
$100 - for the 150 gallon stock tank.
$25 - pond skimmer
$300 - Pond Pumps (2 of them) Got spendy pumps with low electrical costs.
$130 - UV
$50 - Misc PVC Pipe, fittings, etc.

I over did it on filtration, but didn't want to cut myself short. Nothing worse then spending a lot of time and money ... just to end up with inadaquate filtration.

My previous pond was around 1,000 gallons and I used a $75 UV and a rubbermade tote as a filter. Kept my pond clear, as long as I kept the filter media clean.

 

[leoskee]

Wow. That a lot of great DIY work. Im glad you posted the pics so that I can see everything.

How does you skimmer work? I dont see anything that would "skim" the surface of the water.

 

[kirscp]

We are getting some rain right now, but once it stops I'll post some pics of my skimmer setup.

I added a 3" PVC pipe out the bottom of the skimmer, as it had 1 1/2 or 2", and I was concerned there wouldn't be enough flow for my pump. It took a bit of work to keep it from leaking, but I did get it.

The PVC pipe flows out of the bottom of the skimmer 90 degrees at the ground, then 90 degrees into the holding tank. I added threaded PVC and aluminum screen to aid to the skimming of smaller particles.

My plan is to add more filter media and some carbon to that tank.


The only items that aren't DIY is the pumps, but if I could have made efficent pumps, I would have! :icon_smile:

 

[kirscp]

Here is a picture of the skimmer. The only downfall of the pool skimmer is the basket is small and you need to empty it quite often. A headache during the fall, but pretty easy to work around. That is not water leaking from the skimmer, it is fiber glass resin, which I used to seal up the 3" pipe that I added.

I added the threaded pipe into the chamber where I can add a larger skimmer. The pipe with the window screen was a temp solution.

I spray painted all the skimmer parts flat black, as they came in a light grey color.

 

[leoskee]

Thats some great work. Where can I get plans for all of the DIY items?

 

[DrCase]

the feeling you get when a freind looks at your pond. is priceless

 

[kirscp]

Thats some great work. Where can I get plans for all of the DIY items?

Some from the net, some I just made up myself. Pulled a lot of ideas from http://www.bickal.com

That skimmer setup is setup #2. The 1st didn't survive the winter, which was just two 20 gallon totes plumbed together with PVC pipe. They got too brittle this winter and cracked. Was no big deal, they were only a temp solution.

I would never build another pond without a settling chamber and bottom drain either. Spring cleanup is extremely easy. I just plop the garden hose in the pond, to fill back up to ideal level, and push all the crud on the bottom towards the bottom drain. Goes into the settling chamber and there it stays. I don't have any pumps directly in my pond. I drained my old one a couple of times due to clogged fountain heads or other filter issues. I can still lose a lot of water, about 1 foot or 1,000 gallons, but that still leaves 4,000 gallons to keep my fishies happy.

I want with 4" PVC for my drain. It accomidates my small koi 3-4", whom venture too close to the drain, frogs, and my large snails. The only time I had an issue with koi was when I put new ones in. Now the new ones seem to keep with the regulars.

 

[Big Lou]

Happy ponding! It is a wonderful journey.