What are you pond plans for next year?

[fishin4cars]

Hopefully if all goes as planned will be building a temporary pond early in the spring, Then starting the Koi ponds. Hopefully can have them up and running before the heat of the summer or at least by the end of summer, then I'll take out the temporary pond and reinstall it more to fitting into the landscape. Going to be a busy year for ponding for sure!

 

[whiskey]

i plan to enlarge pond lenght, re possition water wheel to sit in pond, make ponds deeper fit 4" bottom drain install new homemade sieve, filter units and skimmer and new solid pipework plus raise pond walling on both walls and dig out to centre to 1.5mtrs and introduce a few koi to the goldfish......hopefully done before may with pic of build etc

 

[HARO]

Terry; where on earth do you get all that energy? I get tired just thinking about it.
John

 

[DoDad]

Sit back and watch my fish grow :razz:

 

[oldmarine]

I would have to agree with DoDad. I have a lot of little changes I would to make and/or improve on, but just don't have the gumtion to get it done. Maybe by spring that could all change.

 

[Catfishnut]

I would have to agree with DoDad. I have a lot of little changes I would to make and/or improve on, but just don't have the gumtion to get it done. Maybe by spring that could all change.

OldMarine,

Beyond getting all the intricacies of my bait tank/pond resolved, there is the FUN part awaiting me... That is to go out to the oxbow pond and catch my fish to stock my pond. This is a lot of fun for me as the oxbow pond is full of snapping turtles and bullheads and carp. You don't know what you are going to catch with every cast, but it is certain to be fun!

It is not easy to fish as the banks are steep and lined with old growth cottonwoods and oaks, making it hard to cast or even to find a place to stand. There are many floating logs and sticks and moss to overcome near the shore line, so it is the ultimate obstacle course for fishing. It's a really fun challenge!

One time out, I faced an exciting catch. The bullheads were biting hot and I was reeling them in hand over fist. I found the honey spot in the pond that day and kept casting to the same point and retrieving them over the same path back to shore over and over again. Because of the floating logs and sticks, I had to reel them in fast to avoid getting hung up. This made a lot of splashing and attracted the attention of a hungry snapping turtle. After about the 15th catch, my pole doubled over and dang near pulled me off the stump I was balancing on. A great "SPLASH" occurred and I was in for a real fight with a 20-25 pound snapper! I pulled him up and he went down and I flipped him over a log and he held on to the fish and slipped back in and I pulled him back up and he went right, I pulled him left and he swam out and I pulled him back and he went left so I pulled him over the log again and he slipped down! He was all over the place and really testing my 6 lb line and ultralight fishing pole! All the while, this snapper had hold of the fish with his mouth and front claws. He was stripping the meat off one side with one claw and eating it as I fought him and then switching to the other side for a better hold and eating from that side! THEN... ZING and the line flew up in the air and caught in a tree 20 feet up! Nothing left but a head and a skeleton! The hungry snapper was hungry no more and slipped away into the dark muddy water of the boggy pond. I just sat there and stared at his bubble trail and the remnants of a fish dinner hangin' in a tree!

That was FUN!

I cannot wait to get back out to the pond this spring and experience the thrill of stocking my pond in this way all over again. Obviously this doesn't compare to pulling in a record Marlin, but tediously balancing upon a hollowed out stump hanging over black and murky water and fighting a grizzly old turt over a bullhead was a blast! Yeah, that is what I am looking forward to come spring.

Gordy

 

[natbla]

AS I'm new to the pond, I have a list that I'm unsure will get done based on the constraints of money, time, and family needs. But here is my list:

Over the winter, I want to build a bio-filter system, and start pulling together the materials to put in an upper pond above my lower pond. As time allows, I'm cleaning the muck out of the original lower pond, so it will need all new plants put in the water come spring. I will be purchasing some very smal koy to go in the pond once the new filter is installed and water temps come up.

The upper pond will be 4 ft deep at the back, 2-3 feet deep at the front, and should be roughly 6' X 8' is size. This will set me up for widening the lower pond in 2013.
I'll need to put in a small retaining wall to get the upper pond level and not have runoff issues, and I haven't figures out where to put the filter inrelation to the ponds, and making sure they aren't an eysore.

But first, I need to install two raised gardens for my wife between now and March 31st, remove all the old plants and weeds, put down new weed paper, and build stairs from the patio to the upper yard area. I also want to find a way to provide shade for the large concrete patio area we have. Its on the southside of the building so it gets very hot in the summer out there. Of course all this is predicated on getting things cheap, and not having major issues elsewhere.

 

[sissy]

great place to get some free plants is from neighbors as they start working in there yards most a happy to share pieces of them .Rocks find an area where a stream is .I found some great looking ferns in a stream near my house .

 

[natbla]

AS I'm new to the pond, I have a list that I'm unsure will get done based on the constraints of money, time, and family needs. But here is my list:

Over the winter, I want to build a bio-filter system, and start pulling together the materials to put in an upper pond above my lower pond. As time allows, I'm cleaning the muck out of the original lower pond, so it will need all new plants put in the water come spring. I will be purchasing some very smal koy to go in the pond once the new filter is installed and water temps come up.

The upper pond will be 4 ft deep at the back, 2-3 feet deep at the front, and should be roughly 6' X 8' is size. This will set me up for widening the lower pond in 2013.
I'll need to put in a small retaining wall to get the upper pond level and not have runoff issues, and I haven't figures out where to put the filter inrelation to the ponds, and making sure they aren't an eysore.

But first, I need to install two raised gardens for my wife between now and March 31st, remove all the old plants and weeds, put down new weed paper, and build stairs from the patio to the upper yard area. I also want to find a way to provide shade for the large concrete patio area we have. Its on the southside of the building so it gets very hot in the summer out there. Of course all this is predicated on getting things cheap, and not having major issues elsewhere.

So after cleaning 3/4ths of the pond bottom, and falling in last night (the water was a little cold). I finally have an accurate measure of the depth of the pond. And I've over estimated the size of my pond a good bit. I thought it was between 3-4 ft deep under the waterfall at the back. Instead, its 2 ft deep all but the 6" shelf at the front of the pond. So I have only 440 gallons to work with. This means no koi until I build a new one). On the plus side, if I want to expand it down and back it wont be hard to do as long as I get a new liner.

 

[baeya]

I need to finish a few things I started last summer. I need to put the final cap layer on the retaining wall I built for my bog. Then I need to tidy up the rocks around the DIY filter I built last summer. Thanks to this forum, after having my pond for 8 years, last summer was the first summer the water was clear. So, I'm looing forward to getting it started up in the spring and having a clear pond for the whole season.

While the Koi are sleeping, I'm getting into aquariums. I have 9 new Angelfish in a new 90 gal. tank. I'm enjoying them in the winter as much as I enjoy my Koi in the summer!

 

[JustJack]

We spent all year this year trying to undo all the things the previous owner did wrong and made great progress, but there's still a list for next year. We finally found and fixed all the leaks, but now the pump is pooped out, so that has to be replaced. I also want to remove all of the rusty rebar he had surrounding the pond (I don't want our granddaughters near it) and move a few plants to make the landscaping work better for us. Hubby has bad knees, so this is all on me. We do live in Florida, but the water is still chilly, and my short little legs will be in there for awhile trying to get that old pump out and figure out what that idiot did down there (the idiot being the previous owner who put in the pond and did everything backwards).

 

[sissy]

It's great to get a pond already done but sometimes the work trying to figure out what they did is harder than starting new

 

[JustJack]

That's especially true with this guy. He did everything backwards or jut flat out wrong, and he did not think like a normal person. We've been told he did all of this stuff under the influence of various things we won't mention. It's become quite clear that must have been the case.

 

[CountryEscape]

JustJack, it sounds like you have your work cut out for you, but ohhhh the fun when you get it all fixed and can enjoy YOUR accomplishment! Sounds like it will be 100% your project once you are finished.

My goals for 2012 are to get the 14 koi I purchased ... last month ... into my pond, but to first build a second smaller pond (my original is about 4,000 gallons) so that I can move all the goldfish into the smaller pond (it will be at least 3.5-4' deep as well). But, how to build the new pond and where to put it so that the 2 ponds will interconnect and so forth is going to be the test. I'm thinking of having the second pond somewhat lower than the first one which is about 8" above ground level. I think if the newer pond is 5" above ground level, I will still keep out the ground water, but I can possible have water running from the original pond into the new pond, and thus circulating all the water for everyone. I would have to have a pump in the bottom of the second pond, and possibly run it into the same DIY Skippy filter. but haven't figured out how to do that and keep everything beautiful to the eye. Thinking of a bridge between the 2 ponds, and maybe a stream of some sort running from one to the other. Of course, that would mean keeping the water level within a couple inches of the same height at all times. But. I really like the idea of a small stream. Drawback ... I can stand on my deck and see the full length of my koi pond as it is now. If I add another pond, I won't be able to see the fish as well from the deck. So, plans will be drawn and re-drawn all winter, I suspect!

I, too, have 2 indoor aquariums (I watch them all evening. as they are in my living room) that I enjoy year round, and now with the basement "pool" housing the new koi, I have them to feed and watch as well. It seems I have definitely done something right in this last year, reading and learning so much on this forum. as I have lost very few fish in my aquariums. whereas earlier last year, it was common for me to lose one or two out of every 4 fish I bought for the aquarium. So, thanks once again for all the knowledge I have absorbed this past year. May the coming year be just as much fun!

Patti

 

[JustJack]

What you're describing sounds a lot like what we have. The guy did have good ideas, just didn't execute them well. I'll try to post pics this week if I can get some good ones, but I'll try to describe it the best I can. If you stand on the back porch, our pond area would be to the right and takes up that whole side of the back yard. The waterfall is at the far back corner of the lot, and it flows into a bog area parallel to the back fence. The bog flows into the catfish pond, which angles back toward the house, and that pond flows into the koi pond which is lower and turns back around to meet the side fence. The water pretty much makes a horseshoe shape with no water along the side fence, if that makes sense. There is a bridge over the koi pond and a deck in the middle of the horseshoe shape. Problem is, like you said, I can't see the fish unless I'm standing on the bridge or the deck. But at least now I can actually stand on the deck without fear of it collapsing under me since hubby and the neighbor rebuilt it from the ground up this past spring!