Pond questions

B

Bonne46

AC Members
May 20, 2009
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Hey everyone, some of you may remember I had a thread discussing about building a pond for my RES turtle a little bit ago. Me and my mom decided for right now we are keeping the turtles in the tank till spring so we can get everything we need for the build and proper location and all. But I have a few questions for you.

First question is, what is the best locating for a pond, were it gets the most sun or half and half sun?

Second question is on filteration. What would be the best filteration to get for a pond? I might be able to get a swimming pool filter from my dad since he ownes a pool business, or will that be to powerful? Pond will be atleast 5' deep and not sure on how wide but it'll be a decent size.

3rd question related to the filter as well. When I get the filter and I'm building the pond how should I run the filter with the pond? Should I cut a hole in the linear to put a bulkhead on it with gasket and have the hole connected to a piece of pipe to go to the filter and the output would be a waterfall? I'm trying to get the pond kinda clean from pipes and eveything (going for natural look).

Thats all that I have now, probably will think of more.
 
Half and half sun is best. It will give the turtles time to bask. 6 hours of sunlight will also allow you to grow just about any flowering aquatic plant you like.

A skimmer will allow you to hide the pump and plumbing can be buried under excavated soil. At five feet deep, you will need find a way to areate the deeper parts. An air diffuser or bottom drain will circulate the depths. I would avoid pool filters since they are not made to handle fish and turtle waste, but your father may have another option for that.

Look into local pond/Koi clubs in your area. People are always looking to upgrade filtration systems and you could find some deals w/them.
 
A location where the pond gets sun for most of the day is idea, especially if you are planning it around your RES. They are a basking turtle and will spend many hours in the sun. Be sure to have some good size floating logs or positioned driftwood in the pond for basking purposes.

For filtration, I would look into a biological sump style. These are fairly easy to assemble out of plastic 55 gallon drums, can be buried and will be able to handle the amount of waste the RES is going to produce.

Look into a preformed pond as well, the rubber liner is awesome, but as with any material, will weaken over time. We are actually in the process of replaceing he liner in our 13,000 gallon pond because of a rip in the liner.

If you have the space or location, construct a small water fall for water movement, as opposed to an air diffuser, you don't want to disturb any of the muck that will build up on the bottom. The bacteria and biological filter will take care of most of that. Not only will the water fall move water, but it's nice to look at and listen to.

Be sure you put a fence around the pond as well, or you will only see your turtle the day you put it in the pond. It will wonder off.

If you have any questions, my family has installed and maintained backyard water gardens for close to 15 years, I can give you websites and answer any questions you may have about them.
 
I was looking at a preformed liner but they don't offer them as deep as I need it to be (5') so I'm forced with getting a liner. For the coverage I was looking at putting pressure treated 4x4's around the area with 2 underground and about 5 ontop with rebar supporting them. Then was going put a metal fencing on top to keep animals from getting into it. Not sure though yet on it, I'm trying to get the area to look real nice and not tacky.

Lifelessform do you have a website that shows how to build that filter?
 
Air diffusers are supplemental areation. They are not meant to be the sole form of filtration/areation, unless on ponds over 20,000+ gals. Once ponds get over four feet deep, the need for extra areation in those depths is highly recommended.

You do not want any muck or mulm to accumulate on the bottom. This will incourage parasites and aerobic conditions which will use oxygen needed by the fish.

www.aquascapesinc.com
 
That is entirely untrue, the muck on the bottom is nothing but biodegraded matter. Not only does it provide fertilizer for plants within the pond, it provides a substance for frogs, etc to hibernate in. Our pond is 4' deep, been running since the early 90's and has 6-8" of muck on the bottom, always. We have never had the need for aeration nor have we lost fish because of it. Just like any pond or lake in "nature," the soil on the bottom is just part of the ecosystem. Yes, it houses bacteria, but that bacteria is what is breaking down the fish or turtle waste. A proper filter and sufficient flow back will eliminate the need for extra aeration.

The only thing you need to be worried about is methane build-up in the winter when the surface freezes. All you need to overcome that is to get a pond heater and keep a hole melted in the ice to allow the gas to escape.

Here are several different versions, the last one is a pre-built model:

http://www.blondieswebdesigns.com/water_garden/filter/index.html

http://www.skippysstuff.com/biofiltr.htm

http://www.frpfiltertank.com/home
 
If your muck in the pond is giving off methane that is an entirely differnet story. Have you smelled your muck lately? You should get a good wiff when you replace the liner. Have you tested water parms. after it has been stirred up? It does contain good bacteria, but probally has harmful bacteria as well as parasites like Trichodina.

There should not be any, or at least very little organic solids present if BB is properly breaking it down and mechanical filtraton is good. Any organic soilds left are not broken down and still decompossing using dissovled oxygen from the water. The frogs and snails have many plants in which to hibernate in the root mass of them, not detritus.

Yes natural lakes and ponds have soil on the bottom, but they also have a very large surface area and many forms of BB in combination with a lot of plants. My pond has gravel on the bottom that acts as the soil. The plants are directly planted into plant pockets filled with gravel, no soil. The amount of plants helps maintain water quality and a turnover rate of about 3X per hour keeps everything well areated.
 
I keep an area in my pond with about 10-12" of "pond muck" at the bottom to give something for the turtles to hibernate in. Hasn't caused any problems so far.
 
How many gals. is your pond?

A small area of mulm is OK, but the entire bottom is just asking for problems.
 
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