Starting fresh-What would you do different?

[R. Rock]

Hello!
I would appreciate any experience tips. I have denied a water feature for years because of the maintenance and the cost of electricity. It does seem I am not going to be able to talk myself out of it any longer. Perhaps would you go pondless and just have the falls, put in a larger pump from the start, install two liners to prevent a hole ( I will use a 30 mil. liner) avoid the fish so you could just use inexpensive bleach for chemicals? What are you're electrical costs? Any and all are appreciated; thanks.

[Chris_W]

Hi there,

For me I went actually went in the other direction and went with a lily/reflecting pond made of railroad ties, foam panel glued to the inside, then a good pond liner. It is filled with water lilies and goldfish (to keep the insect population down). I don't feed the goldfish - they survive on their own - and the only pump I run is in the winter to keep a spot open in the ice - basically a submersible pump on the bottom with no tubing just pushing the water up.

The construction was simple, the maintenance is simple (just clean up dead leaves/foliage in the fall), no pumps to worry about, the water stays crystal clear so long as I put water hyacinths and water lettuce in during the summer.

When I used to have a waterfall, bio filter, and large pond with lots of fish that I fed all the time I really didn't notice much of an electricity difference - probably no more than running an extra fridge or freezer - definitely much less than a space heater or dehumidifier.

I hope that helps a little. Sorry I don't have any pictures right now, though.

Chris

[govgirl75]

I have a small, preformed pond with a smaller preformed pool that starts the waterfall. Easy to install. Dug the hole and used the dirt to form the mound to hold the smaller, upper pond and provide a flow for the waterfall.
We have goldfish and a couple small koi. In the summer, the pump operates the waterfall. In the winter, we do as Chris does and just have it agitate the surface to keep it from freezing over entirely. The exchange of gasses in the
open water is necessary for the fish to survive. Spring has a little clean up to get the leaves out (the pond is under a Dogwood and near several other trees) and get the waterfall running again. We have a hardy water lily that we just leave in
all the time and it comes back every year. We also add the small water lettuce and a couple other plants that might strike our fancy when we are at the pond store. Then it is pretty much just enjoy the pond.
The costs aren't much. I didn't notice a difference in the electric bill for the pump or the few low voltage lights we put around it so we could enjoy it in the evening. The fish winter over, so if you start with a few inexpensive goldfish, you probably won't have to buy more.
The down side......I wish I had put in a much larger pond. It is addicting.

[Gardentoad]

I have a small garden pond (about 800 gallons) at the southwest corner of my house. It is right next to the electrical outlet and deck. It is beautiful to view from the deck in the summer, but in the winter I can only see a small part of it from a window. If I had it to do over I would have run the electric out further and put it further from the house so I could have a nice view in the winter from the windows. Also, it is in full sun. I would rather it had at least afternoon shade.The water gets very warm and I I have to take a lot of string algae out of it or it clogs the skimmer. I originally had it too shallow to not freeze solid in the winter so I made it deeper about 8 years ago. 5 years ago I changed the small pool that was a waterfall into a small stream that wrapped around the back of the pond for about 8 feet long. I get much more animal activity at the stream than I ever had at the pond/waterfall alone.
I stocked the pond with koi originally but they eat frog eggs and are really too large for such a small pond so gave them away and put small minnows called rosy reds in it. They are cheap, prolific, easy to see, will live through the winter and I don't have to worry about them becoming lunch for another animal.

Last spring we put in a 30' stream that ends in a small pond in another area. It is visible from the house, has shade in the hottest part of summer and is alive with birds, bugs,reptiles and amphibians. I Did try to cheap out with a homemade skimmer but have just this spring bought a nice skimmer and added it. It's my favorite place in my gardens now.

I am getting too old to be arranging large rocks.