Thinking about setting up a pond....

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PurpleSmurf

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May 4, 2005
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Colorado Springs
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I live in Colo. Springs. We have cold winters... sometimes but for the most part our freezes are short lasted and mildish. I'm thinking of putting up a pond / fountain in our front yard. We would leave the fish outside year round. One or two 200w heaters would be placed inthe pond from October to Last February / Early April. How deep would the pond need to be? 2' or 3'? I'll probably be limited to about a 4' x 4' x 3' pond unless I convinced my parents to let me dig into the yard.

I'll be limited as far as money goes (maybe $500), so I'll be doing any landscaping or construction but I'd like to save money for fish and not blow it all on filtration, so I was wondering if there are any DIY pond pump plans that won't cost me an arm and a leg.

Recommendations on fish or anything else?
 
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Would Biospira be worth purchasing for a pond? I could get one of the largest containers, use it in the pond and both my tanks...
 
You could try a pair of fancy goldfish.

How big do you envision your pond being?

And 2 feet or more will be needed to over winter fish.
 
The pond is still very much in the planning phase. I havn't decided on the location or shape and as such havn't settled on picking a depth. However, I have a few ideas of what I would like.

Our front lawn is, for the most part, pretty open and as such is my primary candidate for placing the pond; it gets a lot of sunlight, is easy to see from the street, and will be hard to ignore since everyone in my family spends time in the yard. The only problems with it I can think of are the trees that surround it. We have something that looses a huge quantity of leaves every fall and the maple tree in our neighbor's yard is pretty bad too. And since I'll be leaving for college about the time this becomes a problem there will be no one really interested in scooping leaves everyday. Add to that the fact that my parents want to put a large tree in the middle of the lawn and don't see the point in putting a lot of effort into pond/quarium maintaince (I get laughed for doing daily water changes while my tanks cycle)....

The side yard is viable but uneven and hard to access. I'd have the bonus of getting the pond placed outside my room (the only windows on the side of the house), but as an addition to the house a lot of it's beauty would be lost. However, my parents are planning on adding a walkway and possibly a sitting area on this side of the house, so it may not be totally ignored.

As for the shape I'd probably go with something "natural", large enough to fill the view from my room and deep enough to allow the fish to survive winter (would a heater be neccessary/beneficial?); so as dimensions go it'll end up around 12'W x 6'L x 3'D with a wiggly shore line and waterfall.
 
Without someone to take care of it, the fish will not survive. If there won't be anyone to take care of it when you go to college--I wouldn't do it.
 
Oh, they'll take care of it (at least my parents will). But they don't see the neccessity of doing water changes while cycling a tank because they never did when they used to have aquariums.

During spring and summer when the pond will need lots of maintanice I'll be home, and I'll be home on breaks every two or three months.
 
Not the front yard -- liability/ insurance probs

No -- not in the front yard!!

Some little kid will either wander over and torture your fish or fall in and rip up the plants trying to get out, or simply drown and your parents get sued for everything they own. Seriously, they may need to increase home insurance if they have a pond, particularly one more than 18" deep with sloping sides that would be difficult to get out of for dogs or kids.

"Mucking out the pond" is a major job to be done 2x/year if you get leaves in it. If you don't, eventually all the fish die then you breed mosquitoes.

Please do you folks a favor and make your pond a small one that is easy to breakdown once there is no one to clean it regularly.
 
Luckily there are no kids under 10 years old in the area :).

I have about 7 books on stocking, maintaining, and developing a pond to read. I'm not gonna jump into something that will require too much work and I'm gonna make sure my parents know how to care for it.
 
doesn't really matter about the kids. if there arn't any living there now, there may be later when someone else wants to buy the house. or some kid may come to visit.
 
Don't worry about any kids.

You need a deep pond in Colorado to overwinter fish.

And you make it a small pond with a big bog garden.

Maybe?

:huh:
 
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