plan for pond, comments?

A

-[AnThOnY]-

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Jun 12, 2008
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New Orleans, LA
my granparents want a pond/waterfall, as in my grandma wants waterfall and grandpa wants pond lol, so ive starting designing a combination of the two for them, here is what ive come up with today

has a waterfall right next to the patio which can be easily seen, which feeds a 15-20' stream that leads into a roughly 15'x15' pond with a shelf about 8-10" deep and a deeper section probably around 2' deep

stream will have a bed of round river rocks that when reaches larger pond disperse into either a sandy bottom or darker substrate

let me know what you think, thanks :)

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Ponds are so fun. I've built several. Of concern is the 2 foot depth. I would need a bit more info before I could give much advice:

1. What part of the world do you live in? In many areas, 2 feet would freeze!
2. Is this for goldfish? Koi? Other?
3. What is the sun exposure like?

With a waterfall and stream that large, you are going to need a really really big pump. Have you thought about filtration? I have found streams to be problematic. It usually requires "seaming" 2 pieces of pond liner together. Can be leaky! My best success has been to build the waterfall on the edge of the pond pouring directly into it, but streams can be very cool if done correctly. Water lilies and lotus and many other pond plants need water a bit deeper than 1 1/2 feet. Mos of my ponds have been at least 30 inches or deeper. It is a good idea to provide shelves at different depths for many types of plants. Good luck!
 
i live in louisiana, so coldest it gets most of the time is about 30 a little lower on rare occasion, was planning on having a waterfall filter up top and putting a skimmer in the big pond

sun exposure would probably be partial to full sun, i think the waterfall would be the most shaded, getting some sun later in the day

and i think my grandpa wanted a few catfish so maybe just some mud cats or even some redtails (if feeling couragous)

and as for the stream seam problem ive found a site that sells stream liners, its a 5' by 20' sheet

and was actually thinking of making it deeper, maybe make the shelf about a foot and a half and make the deeper part about 3 feet

watcha think?
 
Keeping to 2 foot is fine but you will want to include a 4 foot area somewhere near the centre because a some point no matter where you live it will freeze at some point
 
Cool. Good information. The filter/pump thing is good, too. With full/partial sun you should be able to grow most any plant you like. Deeper is good. I always try to have several levels of depth to accommodate the various needs of my plants and fish.

Catfish, eh? Hmmm.... Most (all) pond liners are black. Most (all) catfish that would be suitable for your climate are black or dark brownish. Just my opinion, but a catfish pond as a backyard water feature would be... uh... boring(?) Plus the cats typically live on the bottom. IMHO, koi and goldfish are a far better choice for a backyard pond. They are colorful, especially against a black background. They are "designed" to be viewed from above. They swim all throughout the water depths, and become quite social. Many koi will come right to their owner when you clap, ring a bell, etc. because they know they will be fed. I have met koi that liked to be scratched! They require little care. I know plenty of folks who do not even feed their pond goldfish and let nature take care of it. Just my opinion, but catfish have none of these qualities and make for unseen, boring pond inhabitants... and I am a catfish enthusiast in aquariums!

I like your ideas otherwise and hope that your grandparents enjoy their pond!
 
Your plan looks good but I do have a couple of recomendations. I have built several ponds with streams and have never had a problem, just make sure you overlap into the deeper portion so that flow is pushing the liner down, not lifting it up. In the stream use various sizes of rocks, it looks much more natural. I build mostly koi ponds and the minimum depth I would reccomend is 3'. If predators are an issue in your area I would leave out the plant shelves, or at least for the most part. They give racoons, etc, a nice wadiing area to catch fish from. When I build a pond for fish I make it at least 3' deep with sides that go straight down. This will protect fish from most predators except for diving birds and otters. You might consider adding a bog area for plants if you want them. Also large fish can destroy plants either by eating them, rooting in them or turning them over. The bog can keep the plants safe and still provide filtration. I would also not add any substrate to the main pond. It will become a nutrient sink and cause ammonia problems. Pond substrates are much more difficult to clean than aquarium substrates. The last thing is go as big as possible, it is much easier to do it initially than to take it all apart and redo it when your Grands decide they want a nice collection of koi, which happens more often than not. Sorry for the excess length, I'll shut up now.
 
well the whole catfish not seeing thing, figured using sand as a bottom would help? but making me rethink maybe should see if they want to go with some koi or something along the lines of cause koi are kind of expensive, guess as alternative could go with some comets or something, just have to see what they want :)

thanks for help
 
yanbbrox said:
Keeping to 2 foot is fine but you will want to include a 4 foot area somewhere near the centre because a some point no matter where you live it will freeze at some point
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that is completely not true, especially in warm areas of the country (such as louisiana, florida, california, etc) where it doesnt even SNOW, ever..

that said, i would make 2ft deep the SHALLOW section, and 4ft deep the deep section, just for volume purposes. :)
 
well calculated with 2ft pond the stream is about 300 gal and i beleive the pond was close to 2500 gal, not quite sure what it would be if i went to 4 feet...alot bigger lol :)

but yea when its cold the most ive seen is a 5 gallon bucket with a very thin sheet of ice over it
 
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