Small pond construction plan/questions.

[Shay]

Wife insists on a fairly large (125 g) aquarium. That's fine, but I'm a perfectionist, and perfectionism at even that scale is a bit difficult and expensive. Now I want to build a perfect pond.

I'm thinking a 500-600 gallon liner pond, no place for herons to land, automated water changes, one shubunkin per 50 gallons, some fast growing plant during the summer months.

Don't want to do ground level because I have small dogs and because I fertilize my yard. Plan is to dig down 12" for insulation (Houston) and build in two courses of cinder block sides. This will end up 16" tall (4" above ground level).

Any advice on mortaring together cinder block greatly appreciated. How can I get an absolutely level base on the bottom of my pond in order to lay the cinder blocks squarely?

Over that, I'll build another 16" or so of wooden walls. I'm thinking something heavy like landscape timbers with a more attractive layer built around.

Advice on anchoring this layer?

Then spikes. I don't want herons landing on the edge of my pond.

Anyone know what they will and won't land on?

Last will be a fairly substantial tower beside the pond. This will hide my float valve for refills (burying a small water line) and a bucket-type filter.

Aesthetic ideas welcome here.

-Shay

 

[pbeemer]

perfect pond is in the eye of the beholder -- i'd settle for pretty nice.

Basics: check your building codes to see how far below grade you can go before it becomes a swimming pool with mandatory grading and fencing around it. out here, that is 18". aslo, ALWAYS us GFI / GFCI circuits for all your electrical sources.

levelling the course really requires 2 courses put down at once to secure the corners; in your case, you'll be done at this point. standard methods are to install string lines that are level and exactly at the height the blocks should reach, then start in one corner and work both ways until you close off at the other corner.

there are some mortarless CMU systems out there which would probably make you life much easier at this point; after they're in, you can grout them (certainly where rebar comes up) and / or coat one or both sides with reinforcing cement.

spikes are a bad thing -- your family and you pets will always be running into them, and guests will sit on them while trying to see the pretty fish.

in my limited experience, the best defense against herons is deep water with smooth sides so they can't wade in. herons don't dive, so if the water is up to their bellies they're pretty much unable to catch fish near the bottom -- if they bend over too far they fall over and go swimming. sadly, they eventually right themselves, but sooner or later they give up and fly away

for an edge treatment, how about making the top slant at about 45 degrees instead of being flat? they can't balance on the angle, and anywhere else they'll slide off. slant it outwards so it's less of a falling-in hazard, and so rain tends to go out rather than overfill the pond.

suggest anchoring the RR ties by having rebar embedded in your footing and sticking out to the appropriate height; dill matching holes in the ties and you're good to go. if you're really anxious about uplift forces, you could bend long pieces of heavy allthread into an L, put the foot of that into the concrete footing, drill and fit as above, and then use nuts and washers to tie the beams down.

 

[Shay]

perfect pond is in the eye of the beholder -- i'd settle for pretty nice.

Pretty nice it is, then. What I was getting at is that most of us have to make compromises in this hobby. A lot of people compromise materials; Too many compromise water quality. The compromise I'm most willing to make is size. Only one aquarium at the moment, and it is nice, but it would be nicer if I could more easily (willingly?) afford an overflow tank or a tank full of anubias nana.

Thanks for the advice, and your slanting top idea is genious. Been reading up on drystacking.

 

[garyfla]

Hi
Have run an above ground 5x10 made of stacked 4x4's since 82 Made it 18 inches above ground for sitting and to hold pots while the bottom is underground around 20 inches. The 4x4.s are just nailed together as long as the first layout is level nothing else has been necessary.
Gravity works straight down lol Used a fiberglass tarp for a liner which lasted for over 20 years lol. I originally built this to hold rainwater
but gradually turned into a water garden Mostly kept tropical fish until the freeze of 08 so is now stocked with feeder goldfish.
The runaway most serious problem in all the years has been predators mostly waterbirds but also raccoons, oppossums,turtles crayfish,toads
dogs,cats and most difficult to handle kids lol. Don't use filters or pumps as the rain purges it
There are a gazillion ways to build a pond just depends on what you want tit for. good luck gary

 

[Jennie Beth]

One thing to watch for regarding heron...
They don't have to land on the edge of your pond, or in it, to get your fish. I have an above ground pond, and learned the hard way that they can keep their feet nice and dry, and just reach over the edge...like picking food out at a buffet ...and so now it is netted!
Jen

 

[tracijane]

I have never had any problems with herons here in Missouri. We do own quiet a few German Shepherds who hate large birds though... any hawks or herons that show up get immediately booted off the property.
As far as plants go I would recommend some tropicals like hyacinth, lettuce, and frog-bit for your floating plants. They double their size in no time, and will provide protection for your creatures. You might want some underwater plants like parrots feather to provide more oxygen. A nice water lily can make the smallest or roughest water feature into a beautiful pond. Not sure what your climate is, but I have to replace the tropical every year, so I also use primarily native plants and supplement with the tropical during the warm months.
I am also obsessed with the perfect pond. I try and be satisfied with what I have, but I always dream of bigger pools in the future!! I have two 100 gallon above ground ponds, and a natural pond (50,000 gallon) which I am always trying to perfect.