Begining plans for a large Pond, I'm looking for suggestions and Ideas.

I am beggining plans for a large pond for sometime in the future. It won't be anytime soon but I want to plan ahead so I don't mess it up.

I made a post the other day but it was too constricting so I started this one in hopes of getting some more feedback. This is the link to the old one. http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=167064

I will be working on drawing up a new picture in a while. I have decided to make the waterfall/stream a little longer.

So far i have made some major changes to my ideas already.

I will list them out some more in the future though as its getting late now.

One thing I am considering is a giant sump in part of my bog area. I am looking at what would happen if I took a very large galvanized stock tank and buried it in the bog area and filled it with a layer of clay/ manure in the bottom and on top of that out 6" river rock till about 1" below the surface then a layer of 1-6" river rock and plumbing it in between the pond, before the chemical filter, but after the mechanical filter, and had the output go into the waterfall. I would then plant me a weeping willow in it that would be a nitrate hog, and put in some very large boulders around that area. You would never know there was a tank or anything there it would just look like the rest of the bog area. This would also allow me to have a tree near my pond without its roots damaging the liner and I beleive it would stunt its growth enough I wouldnt have a monster. Any comments on that?

I will post more later but as I said I'm very tired.

Thanks in advance.

I couldn't get my scanner to work so I just took a picture of it. Sorry about the quality.



The pond itself will be around 5ft deep in the middle and then slope up to the edges where it will be 1 1/2' deep. The edge there will be broken up with river rock so its not just square.

The waterfall would be made of slate until about 1/2 way down where it would switch to river rock. The slate would be large slabs about 3" thick, the same as the top of the wall. The pool at the beginning of the stream would be about 2 1/2 feet deep and be used to house guppies.

The red w/blue is the filter system. I would like to have 2 intakes that lead to a mechanical filter that I can change. Then I would like it to go past My hidden sump/willow tree, on to a Biological filter. I think that the flow down the stream would be too much for my guppies to handle so instead of having all the water going that way I would like to also install some jets to keep all of the detriutus from falling down to the bottom, that way it would have a better chance of getting sucked into the filter system. The jets are in red. What do you use for mechanical filtering?

The Wall would be 18" tall and made of river rock and capped with 3" slate. On the inside the slate would have a 3" overhang to prevent turtles from escaping. The ground would be covered in 1/4" -6" river rock with groups of large boulders to break it up.

The basking area is just a piece of slate layed upon a mound of river rock. Probably all mortared in place to prevent it shifting.

The green is plants, I plan on having among other things. I would like some suggestions for plants as well.

Caladiums
Cana
Water Iris's
Taro/ Elephants Ear
Horsetail
A weeping willow
Japanese maple
Lilies
Victorian Lilies
Creeping jenny (what other ground covers work good?)
What kind of vines do good in a bog?

Inhabitants,

4 Res (These are all I hear talk of what other kinds of turtles can you keep?)

Guppies
Danios
Crawdads

I'm still looking for suggestions on a large fish. I think I will end up with just small ones though.

I think thats just about it. I would love to hear some suggestions.

Thanks In Advance.

What about a red tailed catfish for a large fish?

What about a red tailed catfish for a large fish? Jk, I want to have more than one kind of fish and more than one fish as well.

I was thinking that the RES, and maybe another species of turtle Still looking for suggestions on that.

For fish Guppies, Danios, Mousquito fish, and some American flag fish.

What do you think of that group.

I think they would all be able to reproduce in a planted 5000g pond and they all will live quit well together I belive. I want a big pond/bog instead of a backyard pretty much. And I want to live in the country so permits should be easy.

Really no comments no advice?

Thanks I will have a look at that tommorow. For now though its off to bed.

How many drains would you suggest?

If I get my way the water part will be around 20x20.

I will work on my scanner tommorow as well. Or I could just darken up the pic with a fine tip sharpie and remember to turn off the flash.

As far as the general layout though do you see any stagnant places or places that need work?

Thanks though.

Any where there might be stagnant water I plan on putting in a jet to pust detrius up into the water column to be filtered out.

I was thinking a large central drain and several more where the water is a little calmer. I will probably need close to ten.

As for a skimmer I think I would place it on the very left were most of the debris will be pushed by water current.

I thought about the trees too and I think that if I do have a tree it will be something like a japanese maple that maxes out at around 8ft set far away from the pond.

I wonder how glofish would fare in an outdoor pond? They can't be any worse than danios except predetation might be higher.


As for my bog area. Could I use this as a dumping ground for my waterchange water by using some kind of valve to direct water into a distribution pipe layed around the garden every 4-5 days?

Any more suggestions on the filter systems? And general layout?

If not I would love to learn about some plants and get your ideas on favorites.

Does anyone know of a good vining plant for a bog area?