Do any of you have a back yard pond?

[Lost_in_the_HTTP]

I have one. OK two.

Holes and liners won't cut it. At all. Too many uneven places, wrinkles and what not for stuff to hide in. Tried it, scrapped it.

Went with two preformed poly shells. One is about 50 gallons, the other closer to 100 gallons. Bigger one is the upper, flowing over a lip into the smaller, lower one. Built a small 'cliff' with random rocks and hydraulic cement to prevent leaks. 1/2 pipe runs from pump in lower pond to the tops of the rocks, over a small split waterfall into the upper, larger pond.

Flow is decent, but there are still some leaks somewhere and water level will drop several inches in a week or so.

But even with constant flow, algae still develops. Goldfish will eat some of it, but not all. Frogs are an issue to an extent, but they co-exist with the fish and the fish eat the eggs and tadpoles. They also eat mosquito larvae.

Pump sucks though ... power. A 500 GPM pump with a UV light (supposed to help keep water clear) burns 50-75 watts or more, which adds up quick when running 24 hours a day.

Got 50 or more goldfish guppies several years back. Through predators , cannibalism and disease I was down to six a few weeks back. Those six were probably 3-4 inches long. Then I tried a chemical to clear the water (instead of draining and refilling) that was supposed to be fish safe. It wasn't. And now there are none.

 

[skyking]

no, he has clay. No liner needed if constructed properly. If your clay has too much gravel and is free draining, ask around for some of the blue stuff.
overdig the hole, then import a truckload of the premium sealing clay from a nearby pit. It will be cheaper and better than any liner solution.
slope the sides of the pond 4:1 so it is easy to work on, then put 1' of the clay down and compact it with a sled. If it is too steep, yo-yo the sled with that mini ex and a rope. been there done that.
Now you have thick durable permanent solution that you can drive a stake in, form benches for aquatic plants, etc.

 

[Lost_in_the_HTTP]

My two ponds together aren't barely more than the size of a single mini-ex digger bucket.

 

[highland145]

My two ponds together aren't barely more than the size of a single mini-ex digger bucket.

Justified.

 

[Greenman]

The ground here doesn't drain at all. I filled a post hole with water to soften it up so I could drill it deeper and it did nothing. Two days later the hole was still full of water, and the ground an inch down was still hard as rock.
I'm pretty sure it's going to have to have a liner of some sort just to keep the water clear. My wife won't approve a "dirty" pond, so I don't think a clay liner will cut it, though I don't know enough about it to have an informed opinion.
I will have to raise the surrounding grade a bit to keep runoff out of it, the drunk that graded my back yard didn't do a great job. It drains, but just enough. In a heavy rain I'll have two inches of water over the whole thing for a couple hours.
I do need to look into running a pump 24/7, along with a UV light thing that's supposed to help keep the water clean.

Over this doesn't look like a set it and forget it operation.

 

[Greenman]

I have one. OK two.

Holes and liners won't cut it. At all. Too many uneven places, wrinkles and what not for stuff to hide in. Tried it, scrapped it.

Went with two preformed poly shells. One is about 50 gallons, the other closer to 100 gallons. Bigger one is the upper, flowing over a lip into the smaller, lower one. Built a small 'cliff' with random rocks and hydraulic cement to prevent leaks. 1/2 pipe runs from pump in lower pond to the tops of the rocks, over a small split waterfall into the upper, larger pond.

Flow is decent, but there are still some leaks somewhere and water level will drop several inches in a week or so.

But even with constant flow, algae still develops. Goldfish will eat some of it, but not all. Frogs are an issue to an extent, but they co-exist with the fish and the fish eat the eggs and tadpoles. They also eat mosquito larvae.

Pump sucks though ... power. A 500 GPM pump with a UV light (supposed to help keep water clear) burns 50-75 watts or more, which adds up quick when running 24 hours a day.

Got 50 or more goldfish guppies several years back. Through predators , cannibalism and disease I was down to six a few weeks back. Those six were probably 3-4 inches long. Then I tried a chemical to clear the water (instead of draining and refilling) that was supposed to be fish safe. It wasn't. And now there are none.

Good info, thanks.

 

[Lost_in_the_HTTP]

Over this doesn't look like a set it and forget it operation.

Falling/blowing leaves and grass clippings will keep you busy.

 

[Greenman]

Falling/blowing leaves and grass clippings will keep you busy.

This is just getting depressing. Maybe I need one of those wall hung waterfalls...

 

[Lost_in_the_HTTP]

Screen grab from overhead security camera. Whole thing is maybe 15 feet long by 10 feet wide. Little bit in disarray since I can't be outside much in heat.

 

[Steltek]

This is just getting depressing. Maybe I need one of those wall hung waterfalls...

Hey, all the good things in life are apparently depressing so you are in good company....

 

[sdifox]

I don't, but one of my uncles has a Koi (fish) pond, it's actually pretty cool. He dug a little then built a wood wall around then added a liner to get the water level higher.

He moves them all to his basement in winter but he wants to experiment with the feasibility of heating it in winter so the water doesn't freeze. I'm not sure how easy that will be to do though.

In Timmins? That's a lot of BTU.

 

[sdifox]

I think I need one, with a waterfall. I know I need a hole, a liner, probably a couple fish, and that pretty much plumbs the depths of my knowledge on the subject. Lots of info is available, but it's all the fun happy chirpy stuff, what's the down side?

Start with a fish tank. If you can deal with the hassle of a indoor fish tank, then graduate to a pond.

Maybe a indoor living wall is more your thing?

Example




You can have a fish pond below it and pump the water to irrigate the plants. Fish waste will go through nitrite cycle and feed the plants.

 

[Greenman]

Cool idea, not sure where I'd put it.

 

[skyking]

It won't be "dirty". You can put some nice colored rock over it if you like. That clay does not give up, you said so yourself.

 

[sdifox]

Cool idea, not sure where I'd put it.

Where your wife says it goes.

 

[sdifox]

Everybody thinks about mosquitos. My wives cousin had a small pond in her back yard. It quickly became infected with Frogs frogs that loved to breed and breed and breed. It became so loud they couldn't sleep at night for all the croaking such.
They tried reducing the population, scooping out the billions of eggs etc... and none of that worked. They finally drained the pond and filled it in with dirt.

Frog Soup Recipe

The last time I cooked frog, I learned that if you have a frog slaughtered and skinned and leave it in the refrigerator overnight, the next day the limbs will still be inclined to jiggle back and forth and the chest will still puff in and out. Mouth agape, I watched what seemed like a completely...

www.seriouseats.com

 

[pcgeek11]

Frog Soup Recipe

The last time I cooked frog, I learned that if you have a frog slaughtered and skinned and leave it in the refrigerator overnight, the next day the limbs will still be inclined to jiggle back and forth and the chest will still puff in and out. Mouth agape, I watched what seemed like a completely...

www.seriouseats.com

I like fried frog legs!

 

[BoomerD]

Where I live, if you put in a pond, you have to protect it from marauding raccoons who will eat your fish...and eagles, falcons, hawks...and great blue herons...all of which will eat your fish. (not to mention hungry black bears)

 

[highland145]

Where I live, if you put in a pond, you have to protect it from marauding raccoons who will eat your fish...and eagles, falcons, hawks...and great blue herons...all of which will eat your fish. (not to mention hungry black bears)

Hmm..dead hookers?

 

[BoomerD]

Hmm..dead hookers?

You buyin or sellin?

 

[highland145]

You buyin or sellin?

Swapping.

 

[Greenman]

Hmm..dead hookers?

You think he could catch a live one?

 

[highland145]

You think he could catch a live one?

4 knee surgeries....nope.

 

[BoomerD]

You think he could catch a live one?

 

[mindless1]

Big TV, many videos to choose from, and no mosquitoes.

Moving water, fish and frogs eating them, it all reads good to limit mosquitoes but if you have a tiny bit of standing water anywhere, mosquitoes will find it. If you have significant vegetation nearby, they will live there just because it's more humid, even if there is no standing water.