Pond Tips
I see you visited our home page and looked at our ponds! We have a small
pond that is a preformed fiberglass pond and a larger one that is the heavy
rubber EBPM (or something like that) flexible liner. Some suggestions and
things that we found out:
I would definitely go for the flexible
liner, not the preformed. It is easier to work with since it can be any
shape you want and you don't have to worry so much about getting it level.
The problem with the hardshells are that if they are not exactly level,
you can really tell and it looks funny. Also, the flexible ones are cheaper
(but use good 45 mil EPBM - not the cheaper PVC) and you can make the pond
deeper which is very important in Indiana if you want it to be a year-round
pond. It should be at LEAST 3 feet deep in part of it to be year round
for fish and we dug ours about 4 1/2 feet in the deep end even though the
pond itself is not that big. But 3 or 3 1/2 feet should be fine. Our preformed
pond is too shallow and we have to empty it over the winter and put the
fish in the big pond.
You will need a decent pump (we have
a Beckett pump) and there are guidelines for figuring out what size you
need based on the volume of your pond which you can roughly figure out
(I don't have the calculation off hand, but you can find it on the web).
A filter of some sort is not necessary if you don't have a lot of fish,
but is a good idea. And at first you have to test your water for Ammonia,
Nitrites and Nitrates until it stablilizes (about 6 weeks). You have to
add a couple cheap goldfish to start the cycle and they *might* die as
the ammonia spikes and since pet store goldfish are not always the healthiest.
But as the natural biofilter forms from the bacteria, your water will stabilize
and then you can gradually add more fish.
Also, if you make a waterfall (and
it is a good idea since it aerates the water and provides places for good
bacteria to grow) then be sure to line the back of the waterfall with liner.
They also sell fake waterfalls which don't look too bad and might be an
easier way to go. I know that all our leaks have been around the waterfall.
After the pond is filled, you need to start the pump running and then measure
down to something in the pond. Then check again in 30 min. or an hour.
If the water level is dropping, you have a place where water is escaping.
If that happens, start looking around for places where the ground is wet
and see if you can isolate the leak. Usually it is just where the liner
is bent and the water is running out of the pond instead of in it.
And when you measure for the size of liner you need, make sure you include
enough for the waterfall area. It is definitely best if you use all
one piece, you get much less leaks that way. We didn't include enough
so we had to use a separate piece for the waterfall area and drape it over
the big pond liner. We have trouble with it leaking and should have
used all one piece.
We also made our own biological filter.
We took a large plastic garbage can and set it behind where we were going
to have the waterfall. We cut a hole in the side near the top in
front and took a piece of PVC pipe and stuck it thru the hole, using a
screw on piece on each side of the hole to tighten it against the hole,
and we used glue to secure it tightly (make sure it is safe for fish if
you use glue - you don't have to, it holds pretty well). We had the
PVC pipe stick out about 6" and added a connector so it pointed down slightly
at the end. This is where the water comes out of the plastic can
and flows down the waterfall. We filled the bucket with biological
filter material. We used special plastic ribbon that you can buy,
but it can be just about anything. Curlers, plastic soldiers, pieces
of PVC pipes, anything with a lot of surface area with ridges and stuff
for the bacteria to grow in works. We ran the hose from the pump
over the edge of the can (we cut a notch in the top so the top would go
on) and down to the bottom of the can. The water comes into the bottom
of the can and flows up thru the filter material until it reaches the PVC
pipe where it comes out and forms the waterfall. One thing we didn't
do that I would recommend is to put another piece of PVC pipe at the bottom
side of the can and put a shut-off valve on it (something to close it off).
That way you can just open the valve at the bottom to drain the can when
you want to clean it. We have to use a small pump to get most the
water out and then scoop the rest out. After you get the filter ready,
you just build up dirt and/or stones around it to cover it up, put the
lid on and put a nice plant on top to hide the lid (we use a fern).
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