Building a new pond(s) need advise

[Steves55]

I'm finally ready to get rid of the ABS plastic POS pond I've had for years. It's about 200 gallons & my fish (Pond Comets) are outgrowing it by getting bigger & having babys. I have 4 that are nearly 10" long!
It's located on a small hill in my 1/2 acre back yard.
My plan is to install a new pond in it's place (EDPM 45 mil liner)- size to be 6' wide by 14' long, 18" deep at one end, 30" deep at the other. I will definately use a skimmer this time. No Koi BTW. Just plants & Comets.
I also plan to build another pond at bottom of my 4' tall hill, slightly smaller- probably 8x8 or so, but shallower at one end w/ a skimmer too.
Between the 2 will be a rock stream & waterfall(s) probably short, 4-6 ft long w/ a turn in it & a 4' elevation change.
My thoughts are to filter each pond separately & then use a separate pump to move excess water from lower pond to upper to spill over & down the stream. I've talked to people & they tell me I wouldn't need the skimmer in the upper pond w/ the stream, but I would like the ability to shut off the waterfall feature if I wanted to & keep both ponds functioning on their own.
Any thoughts? Links to pics & products? I'd like to see one done this way.

 

[frloplady]

sounds like a nice set up. I like streams betweeen 2 ponds.
What is the filtration going to be? I'm a big fan of bottom drains as it will keep the bottom much cleaner...easier to clean the more often it will get done. You could make some settlement tanks from 55 gallon drums or stock tanks or fertilizer tanks or?? Put a drain to waste in the bottom of the settlement (feed it to a garden!) and a lot of solids will be taken out of the pond as well. Pump from that to a filter or series of filters (again 55 gallon drums can be dandy DIY filters) and gravity feed from the last barrel to the top of the falls.

Do you have predatory birds? Herons? Kingfishers..raccoons? Ok the raccoon isn't a bird, but they will all like your 18" depth. Otherwise you might need to keep the pond netted. The other consideration is that an 18" deep pond can get quite hot in summer in California sun.
I'd go a bit deeper if you can, even going some above ground can look very nice. I had to do that with my koi pond to get the 5-6 foot of depth I wanted. 18" above and 18" below will give your goldies a lot more protection from predators and also heat. It will help them in winter if you have cooler winters where you are.

HTH

edit: sorry, re-read your post with the depth..but I'd still get rid of that 18" depth and keep it 30 or even deeper. Lilies can always be put on a milk carton or bricks to raise it up a bit.

 

[Steves55]

Not sure on filtration yet, just in the planning stages at this time.
I'd rather do mostly biological filtration. Entire bottom of pond will be mixed sizes of rock- maybe sidewalls to- to hide the liner from view. Lots of surface area for bacteria- plus it looks more real. I was thinking of using the 18" area of pond to run the stream through & densly plant that area. Make the plants work for me. No preditors unless you count my neighbors right behind me. I have a dog but she could care less about the pond. She is 3 years old & so is my old pond. Everyone I talk to says bottom drains are out- unless you have Koi. I want it to all look as natural as possible. 55 gallon drums would be hard to conceal.

 

[frloplady]

Ever see the cleaning having to be done on a rock bottom pond?? Once the algae grows on the liner and with plants you won't see black liner anyway. How can we make a "natural" pond in a tightly enclosed system? Nature has millions of gallons per fish, we have a handful.

If you want the natural bio filter you can use lots of water hyacinths, but what happens to the crud they catch? Even if you just have a bottom drain to use to drain out the crud on an occasional basis...

when you clean that rock bottom pond out for the first time..get out the clothespin for your nose and have lots of time. I watched a commercial place clean their "natural" pond out once... No thanks, aint' going there.

My lily pond going in this summer (after using pop up kiddie pools last year ) and will have bottom drains and a skimmer, though maybe the skimmer will have to be next year..but the bottom drain will go in first. The filter last year was an inpond pump and it was clogged regularly with junk that would have normally gone to the settlement...and in your rock bottom pond it will just sit on the bottom and rot?

I LIKE the look of rock bottom ponds..I do not have the time or the money to do or to pay someone else to clean it. Even my kiddie pools I never looked at the bottom, I looked at fish and lilies..and cleaned the intake on my pump on a regular basis..

55 gallon drums can be concealed in ground, behind a screen, under a deck, behind the waterfall.

Fish can survive or fish can thrive... what we do makes the difference in that. Goldies survived in the little goldfish bowls on the kitchen counter..but did they thrive???