Pond build (Pic heavy)

[ogrefcf]

Well, here's my pond build from the last week. Overall I really like it and it was fun to build. Adds quite a calming effect. Over all it's about 6x4x3 and around 400 gallons. Not quite big enough for Koi unfortunately, but wife didn't want one one bigger with the kids. Still plenty of room for goldfish, Comets, Shubunkin. With the three foot depth they should over winter okay.

Back corner where the pond went


My little helper


Hole started

[ogrefcf]

Making sure the holes okay.




Big enough for all three!

[ogrefcf]

Truck load of rock. I am lucky to have a pit about three miles away. $20 for a truck load. Of course I had to load it unload it. I was sore for three days after.


One of the bigger rocks

[ogrefcf]

Water lilies found in the local classifieds for a couple buck. I had no clue what to expect on these things lol. They looked nasty.





Did some research and figure out how to pot them up and what media they go in.

[ogrefcf]

Hole dug and under layment going in to protect the liner. Just used carpet got it free from a friend.



Liner going in. This was the bulk of the cost.


And starting to rock it in.

[ogrefcf]

And finally filled, rock done, fish put in, and flowers planted around. I have some water water hyacinth for the filter and the pond. I didn't get many pics of the filler, because I rebuilt it. Pluming this gave me the most problems. I may or may not have swore a couple times and made multiple trips to home depot.

I used a 20 gallon plastic storage bin from Walmart for the filter. Used the filter for the base of my water fall. Filled it with pot scrubbers from the dollar store for the filter media. I have a 800GPH aquarium pump I had lying around I use to circulate the water and feed the water waterfall. When I get some extra money, I am going to at least double or triple the GPH. Over all it was a fun project and a great learning experience. Gave me plenty of ideas for the next bigger one!



I have creeping jenny and moss planted around the rocks. I am hoping the will fill in the cracks and go into the water. I will fill the filter with the water Hyacinth to help hide it and filter the water. Still need another Hosta for the top left next to the foam flower. Thinking of going with Rain forest sunrise. I can't wait till the fish get bigger and the plants fill in!

I am going to put a small cedar fence up around it. I will paint it the same color (red) as my pergolas. Don't want to take any chances with the little one running around.

[Chris_W]

That looks great, and thanks for the progression of pictures! Goldfish will be fine in here year round, but don't overfeed them or you could get a population explosion or pollute the water too much. The filter might be able to handle much of it, but in general they can fend for themselves and really don't need much food other than as a treat. Can't wait to see it all planted up

[ogrefcf]

Thanks for the advice on the fish!

[thy]

The pics are all gone, too sad
Now you have to secure it with stones, stonepiles or something like a fence for the twins
Wish I could see the pics