Anyone in BC, Canada who has a pond?

[abayomiabys]

Here are some lighting photos I took a couple of years ago when I first started planning it. It gives me an idea of how much sunshine the pond would get it I located it there. I would love to be able to see it from the house.

8:00am Sunshine (above)
8:30am Sunshine (above)
9:45am Sunshine (above)
11:00am Sunshine (above)
12:00pm Sunshine (above)
2:30pm Sunshine (above)
2:30pm Sunshine (above)
2:30pm Sunshine (above)
4:45pm Sunshine (above)
6:30pm Sunshine (above) The Sump Pump has its own power. Sump is 8 feet deep and around 3 feet in diameter. Planning to reconstruct it and hide it within the pond landscape.

 

[abayomiabys]

These are just where the drain tiles are located.

 

[myswtsins]

Streams aren't that difficult to do, they do require some extra planning though. Like if you are not using 1 continuous piece you need to figure out your overlap, easiest to do a fall right at that point. But adding a stream later is also very easy.

Just to give you an idea of costs, my main pond is about 3000g (drawing a complete blank on dimensions though lol but about the upper size you are thinking), the stream is about 30ft long, the pit/skimmer/pump area is 9'x7'x4.5', the bog is 10'x3'x2' and we used about 22 tons of the cheapest stone available to us. I reused a lot of materials like barrels, the bog frame, some rocks and got big discount on equipment like the waterfall box, pumps and underlayment. Estimated cost including arrounding landscape is close to $15k. No labor or equipment costs. A few grand was for the rocks and you probably can get rocks cheaper there.

I live in central NJ. We do have raccoons and herons, the herons fly over every day but never stop as far as we know (someone is in the yard nearly all day every day though). I built my walls straight to deal with that and up until a few weeks ago I never had any possible predation. 2 fish have gone missing and I can't rule out predators but they are females and could be hiding in the cave OR jumped out running from males and were then eaten. *shrug* You have the right ideas (making the sides steep, no pots or steps that they can stand on, hiding spots) and I agree netting is horrible and I will do anything to avoid that. In your area wildlife may be more of an issue though. You do have a lot of tree cover so heron may not even be able to land. Bears....I have seen bears in ponds (moose even!) Just hope they don't come?

Properly installing a good skimming system will take care of tree debris. Underlayment will hinder tree roots, protecting the liner and will keep the walls sturdier.

The water table issue I have no experience with so I don't want to speak to that. Knowing what a big concern that is for you I will recommend a different forum where I know there are some canadian pond keepers (but in like 3a conditions) and lots of experienced keepers. Garden Pond Forum I do know from research that the water level in the ground would have to get pretty high before it would be strong enough to push the liner up cause the water IN the pond does hold it back. I worry more about it eroding the walls away.

Equipment can be hidden so easily. Depends what equipment you go with but examples are...a skimmer and waterfall box setup is hidden with fake rock tops, done. Barrels, trickle towers, etc. you can build mini houses that match your back houses or make them look like fish shacks. Since you are handy making your own fake rocks can be fun and give you complete versatility to hide your unique equipment. My skimmer and pump vault covers for example and I will be making more soon to cover other areas. If you go with a gravity fed system and have a big hole where the equipment is you can make the cover look like a dock. Worry about what equipment you want to use and we can find a way to hide it. Hidden equipment was important to me too!

Runoff is avoided by making sure your pond is not in the lowest point. If it is just build the area up a bit, doesn't take much.

Excuse all my typos please.

 

[abayomiabys]

Wow... you can make your own fake rocks? Cool... I'm going to look into that! Sounds interesting and I always love a challange! With regards to the raccoons and beats... I could add an electric fence wire around the top of my fence in the yard, MAYBE THAT WOULD KEEP THEM FROM COMING IN??? Not sure.

What's your bog for? Just bog plants?

As for equiptment... have no idea where I would even start. It's very intimidating.
What do you think of the sunlight in the area I was thinking? Too little? Too much? I did post lots of photos but don't think I pressed the reply to your response! Thanks for the other link... I will be sure to check it out.

Thanks again for all your help! It's getting me excited to build! Ya!!

 

[myswtsins]

Electric fence should do it! lol

The "bog" is my main filtration. The plants remove the invisible bad stuff from the water (nitrogen) and the gravel holds the solids which break down to feed the plants. I also have an empty space below the gravel in my bog that I can flush out if the solids build up (going on 3 years hasn't happened yet). Check out bog filters, they are great and my prefered method of filtering in conjunction with a skimmer with some mech removal (sponges). I wish I added an upper bog though.

Ok before you talk equipment, what do you want? Goldfish or Koi? Best not to mix them cause they have different needs (although I constantly consider adding a couple koi to my pond!). Your pictures indicate you want a "natural" looking pond and you leaning towards a bare bottom pond. I have a simple skimmer to waterfall system with a bog filter on a separate loop. Simple and effective. I do scoop a few leaves off the bottom every season but nothing major. I also stock lightly. If I wanted to stock heavier I would want to increase my filtration, probably by adding a barrel filter behind the waterfall hill (55g barrel with sand and gravel or bio media).

Bare bottom ponds lend you to be able to have a bottom drain. Bottom drains (BD) are very pro/con for me and many others. BD keep a really clean pond but by doing so it also eliminates natural good things like tadpoles, baby fish, nymphs etc. BD are usually more costly cause now you need the equipment to hook to them. You are also putting a hole in the lowest point of your liner which "could" lead to catastrophic failure. Installed properly that is uncommon but in your high ground water situation shifting would concern me.

It's hard to get a firm idea on light with those pictures and with the way it moves through the trees. How many hours of direct light do you think it gets? How many hours of dappled light? 1 hour of dappled light equals about 30 mins of light. It looks like no one spot gets a solid 6 hours of light, would you agree?

Glad to help and this excites me too, it's like planning another pond for myself!

 

[abayomiabys]

Very cool! Very intimidating thinking of all the Equiptment. I understand the bog now... I do have a fully planted 90 gallon tank and know about how bennificial they are and about the good bacteria and waste. I never thought about a bog for a pond.

Yes, did lots of research with the bottom drain and koi... I would love koi but think it may be a huge undertaking. And with the predictors... likes! I love any fish... goldfish as well! Like you... I thought about two or three koi with a few goldfish... I didn't realize they should not be mixed. I just like bigger fish and know goldfish can still grow quite large. As for the drain, I was streaming g away from it mainly worried that it would drain the pond. It's another highly controversial topic. I think if I ended up moving and building another one, and was much more e perienced, I would possibly consider it. You have a very good point with regards to the watertake and shifts... possibly leak.

My friend has a pond with a small waterfall down on Whidbey Island, WA... . it's not deep and her fish seem to servive... she doesn't even have any filtration. She has had her fish for years... and hardly does anything to it. At a landscape pond store they told me to just dig a hole and through a pump in there!! I would like to do it properly, but not overkill as I don't see myself over stocking it. I say an amazing video of someone's pond on the link you sent today... wow, got me excited! I could watch pond and fish videos ALL DAY LONG!! Lol

As for lighting, I don't believe it gets a full 6 hours of light a day but the sun it gets is afternoon which is the hottest time of the day. It may be close to 5 or 6 hours, but not the full pond at one time. I'm more concerned with huge allergy growths which I think I would be okay... you think so?

So many people tell me I'm nuts to build a pond and it will be massive amounts of work. I know if not done righ, that can be true so wanting to minimize that and plan as best as I can. Having frogs would be so cool! I feed the wild birds and have 5 stone fountains throughout the yard... the birds love them! They are so tranquil.our yard is very private and a pond would just bring it to life! Sure hope I can overcome the overwhelming feeling of all the equiptment. The bugging is not a problem.

Thanks again for your help... sure hoping to make my dream come true. I'm going to look through all your photos again!! Sure wish you lived closer.

 

[myswtsins]

Yup, my thinking as well, once I am more experienced I would like to do a koi pond with BD as well but for now I am very happy with my goldfish pond with frogs, tadpoles and plants (koi and plants usually don't work out). Goldfish and koi shouldn't be mixed but in reality people do it successfully I just don't know if I want to push that boundary yet.

People also CAN do non filtered ponds but that is not the norm, again not something I am willing to risk. You CAN just throw a pump in the bottom of your pond too but then you have to do more work yourself (to get all the crud that a skimmer would catch and it's hard to get to the pump to clean it). This is how you get ponds that are massive amounts of work, built properly it is minimal work maximum reward.

I think the lighting will be very good for marginal plants and possibly OK for water lilies too while at the same time not be very strong so algae shouldn't be a big problem.

I could watch pond and fish videos ALL DAY LONG!! Lol
Sure wish you lived closer.

I could too! I like to travel, got a spare room?

 

[abayomiabys]

Haha!
Yes, a couple of years ago a few people almost talked me into just throwing a pump in... but I general, i like to learn new things and enjoy the challange... so I just wasn't completely sold on their idea. Which is why I kinda dropped the pond idea cause the equiptment part completely overwhelmed me. Sooo this is me catching the pond bug again, and seeing if I can give it another try to see if I can make it happen.

Just deciding on how far to go an what is necessary for lower maintenance. I don't have a skimmer on my 90 gallon but know I know it's a must with the trees. My husband and I gave lived here for 25 years, and the developments are slowly creeping in where they want to buy our land. Although we aren't selling. With that being said, I don't think I should go as extreme with a complete koi set up. My first pond needs what is best to keep my fish healthy and have somewhat less work for me.

Are your frogs noisy? Not sure my neighbours would me too happy with frogs... although I know I would love them! Lol

I'd love to know more about the goldfish/koi in the same pond? I find it interesting.

Thanks again!

 

[abayomiabys]

Yup, my thinking as well, once I am more experienced I would like to do a koi pond with BD as well but for now I am very happy with my goldfish pond with frogs, tadpoles and plants (koi and plants usually don't work out). Goldfish and koi shouldn't be mixed but in reality people do it successfully I just don't know if I want to push that boundary yet.

People also CAN do non filtered ponds but that is not the norm, again not something I am willing to risk. You CAN just throw a pump in the bottom of your pond too but then you have to do more work yourself (to get all the crud that a skimmer would catch and it's hard to get to the pump to clean it). This is how you get ponds that are massive amounts of work, built properly it is minimal work maximum reward.

I think the lighting will be very good for marginal plants and possibly OK for water lilies too while at the same time not be very strong so algae shouldn't be a big problem.



I could too! I like to travel, got a spare room?

Would love to see any of your set up photos... you have a pump... skimmer and a filter? Do you have ozone? I'm so impressed! Looks great! How did you tackle your algae in the streem? I believe if I dig down I will have to reinforce the dirt sides as with the water table, the bird if much wetter in the fall, winter and spring months. It will sure add to the expense.

Also, have you or anyone else heard of using carpet underlay for the bottom of the pond before the liner is installed? Someone said it was a great idea.

Thanks again... Enjoy your evening!

 

[myswtsins]

I only have bullfrogs (sadly cause I want green frogs cause they are not a skittish) and they croak here and there but it's rare to hear them. I have heard that bullfrogs can be VERY annoying though.

I will look for more setup pictures when I get a chance. They are on a hard drive i don't currently have hooked up. But here is an explanation...from the main pond I have a negative edge skimmer (which I do not recommend, if/when I change things I will get rid of it) which flows to my DIY skimmer box, through holes in the skimmer box water falls into the 9x7 basin filled with barrels, at the bottom of that is 2 pumps, one goes to the waterfall to stream back to pond and the other goes to the bog which overflows through a couple pipes back into the main pond. I have large sponges in the skimmer and waterfall box that I rinse...not as often as I should lol, maybe once a week at most. The skimmer box also has a DIY net/basket that I empty as I needed. And the waterfall box has a bag of bio-media which I think is totally unnecessary and I plan to replace it with more sponges eventually. I have almost 30 varieties of plants also filtering the water in different areas. Overall I like the setup and think it is sufficient filtration for a not overstocked pond, in 3 yrs I have yet to see any nitrates. I can leave it for weeks and the only issue is string algae but I have an algae problem, always!

Algae - I am trying patience, adding shade and more patience. I'm told with my situation and water test results that it is just a matter of time before the pond becomes balanced and algae should subside. With that said the algae is the worst it has ever been. We did plant a tree to eventually give more shade to the stream since that's where the worst algae is (and the water gets a bit too warm as well) and set up an umbrella (which has stopped green water blooms).

I think reinforcing the side walls might be needed.

Yes, people use carpet under their ponds. I've heard it can break down though and cause problems later though and you have to be really through to make sure there is no staples or nails or such in it. I think carpet with a layer of real underlayment on top (closest to the liner) is a good choice though.