Starting a Pond

[Zman16]

Hi,

My family might be starting small pond in our back yard, about 40ft perimeter. We already know where we're getting the air pump for it. I have a couple of questions. Do you need a filter for a pond? Since were probably getting coldwater fish for it I'm wondering what kind of fish can go in it, and which would be in the shallowest water for hibernation. I know goldfish need like 3 feet deep for hibernation when the ice freezes over, but it seems that it would be extremely hard to dig a 3 ft hole. Any help would be appreciated.

[azndeath]

Air pump ?

More like it needs to be like a water fall !

I say 4-3 feet would be better or even deeper it would keep the hairons away and the raccons from going into it !

[steve535]

this is a good place to start.
http://www.aquascapedesigns.com/messageboard/index.php
that is the system i use for my installations.do your research and remember "bigger is better".the biggest mistake people make is making the pond to small.

[wayne]

Yes there filters for ponds, and with that size you can either use a pressuriaed filter (like a giant cannister) or an unpressurised. There are other filtration strategys too depending on your d.i.y. skills, like simply pumping the water into a giant box of filter media (very coarse gravel ,bioballs a\and so on) , and letting gravity carry it back to the pond, possibly through a veg filter. Up to you, and what you think is practical.

For that size pond stick to goldfish.

As far as digging goes, hire a minidigger. Manually digging out is a p.i.t.a.

[Iggy]

Yes, ponds need filters, primarily for biological filtration and also to keep the water clearer.

Air pumps are fine, but pond pumps are better.

One filter system I use (mini-version) is at the following link, which I built myself for about $200 plus the pump.

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

It's not hard to dig 3 to 4 foot deep at all, its surprisingly easy actually, once you get going.

It's say stick to comets and sarransan goldfish for a pond that size, good for starters anyway. Once you get the trick, and re-build your pond bigger (it happens a lot), you can look into more expensive Koi.

My signature (below) has some photo's of my pond, which is a premade 180 gallon system. I store my goldies indoor (about 5' away from my computer acutually) in a 7 1/2 x 2 x 2 foot tank.

Welcome to the tank!

[Charlius]

Originally Posted by Iggy

It's not hard to dig 3 to 4 foot deep at all, its surprisingly easy actually, once you get going.

On top of that, think of the pride and satisfaction you would get knowning that "I made that!"

There ain't NOTHING like building something yourself be it a hole in a ground to food preparation. Kinda' the reason a while back that I wanted to build a DIY undergravel filter for my tank, until I figured all the trouble I'd run into later down the road, especially if I had to rehaul the whole thing.
I was gonna let the underparts of the filter show (kinda' like the clear gameboys they used to sell!) unlike how many people hide the bottom from view with gravel. This way, I'd also be able to tell better when the infamous UGF gunk would accumulate.

Hope your pond turns out OK. There's just so many cool things you can do with the pond. I would LOVE a pond in my backyard, but the house is kinda' rented, therefore, no such large projects are to be done (Can't even put a basketball hoop post into the ground, Boooo).