New pond, needing advice please.

15 years ago

It's been 8 years since I posted to this forum. I am from Michigan (zone 5) and posted daily for 2 years. I sold that home 6 years ago and dearly miss my pond that took me 2 months to dig and 3 ruptured disc in my neck. I am feeling a little intimidated by the new pond. I thought I would get some input before going further. Please advise and share any ideas, concerns or info that could help. I will post a photo of the pond so far.

I estimate that the pond will be around 2800 to 3000 gallons. I will have 5 or so 8" kio. I ordered a 4200 gph pump online. I am putting in a bottom drain in the deep end (3 ft.) and would like to put in a skimmer in the opposite shallow end (16".) I am going to put a 100 gallon settling tank ground level by the deep end next to the waterfall hill which will go into a 100 gallon bio tank then into a tank with my pump. ( A dock will go over all this that is accessible). The bottom drain will go to the settling tank than to the bio, pump, then up the back side of waterfall and into a 5 ft. round pond with lots of plants and rock. From there down a short 12 foot stream and back to the pond. Can I also run a pipe from the skimmer to the settling tank? I was told by the company who sold me the pump that this pump will handle all this. Does this sound OK?

I have not built any shelves yet, not sure on what I am doing for the edges of the pond. I am thinking 1' boulders or maybe flat sandstone. I have a lot of soil to move for the stream and waterfall yet. I want it all to look natural, not mounded. I have another home in northern Michigan with 420 different varieties of perennials, so the new pond will have a huge amount of plant life around it.

My liner should arrive today. 45 mil, 20X30. Bought on ebay for $239.00 and $100.00 shipping. I would like to build the drain and skimmer myself. Any ideas on any and all of this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!! Renee

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Comments (8)

kevip711
15 years ago
Renee, sorry about your neck I also got physical damage to my leg building my pond which I have tried for years to fix to no avail.. not sure if this will help but here is the link to my pond build.. I am not into pond shelves as I dont think they look natural so I built a kinda depression in one of walls to house my plants.. its worked out great.. my pond is slightly bigger than yours but my site might give you some ideas.. I bored out boulders for my waterfalls which I thought looked alot better than the standard waterfall.. anyway let me know what you think and hope my site can give you some ideas.. got to Koi Pond link for the pics.. and hit the first link for the building of my pond..

Here is a link that might be useful: My Pond
renee48624
Original Author
15 years ago
Thanks Kevin. I have been to your website a few days ago and stared and stared at your pond photos, its gorgeous!! You did a great job!

I agree about the shelves, I had them in my last pond just for boulders to sit on and an occasional plant which both seemed to get knocked in the pond daily by the larger koi and raccoons. I love your idea and I am going to try it along with making some pockets outside the pond (extra lining hanging past edge) for invasive plants like cattails. Keep the ideas coming! I bought 3 ton of boulders today, the pond will have a boulder edge. The shallow end will have my deck right up to the water.

My biggest scare is starting the waterfall....I just sit and stare at that pile of dirt and try to figure out how to start..it's keeping me from sleeping at night.

Thanks so much, Renee
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Welcome to the joys of building a pond. I have the Savio compact skimmer (because of it's size). I used a 2" bulkhead fitting in the bottom of the skimmer in that space between the filters and the back of the skimmer. I use a small threaded filter in this bulkhead fitting in the skimmer--just in case small fish came through the skimmer I don't want them in the pump. From the bulkhead I have a short piece about 3" of ABS, then a 90 to bring the pipe up again before going into the pump house. My skimmer and pipework is only about 18" away from the pump. 2" ball valve then a wye as joins the line from my sc. My valves are Ipex valves (given to me by a friend) so have quick disconnects for the pump. I glued the fitting that comes with the skimmer for a submersible pump into the skimmer. The one problem I have with my new pump is that I can no longer run skimmer only when shutting down the sc for water changes. The skimmer draws down too much and the pump wasn't getting enough water. So that might have to be something you calculate for in sizing your pump. In my case I would have to be drawing water from another source-perhaps a midline point but don't have space for any more prefilters before the pump. I also don't have my bd plumbed into the skimmer--someone else will have to advise you on this and draw down issues. If you do a search on this site there are instructions for installing the Tetra bd. If you rock the bottom of your pond there really isn't much point in the bd as it just won't work. The knife valve is to shut off the flow to the pump and or sc for maintenance. Ball valves are usually used to control the flow of the water. Leaf trap/priming pot even if external pump is in ground is a good idea. I didn't have one and found out the hard way when filter floss got wrapped around the pump. If I had a leaf basket it would have got caught in there. Also the Savio waterfall filters are expensive. A skippy type filter would give you more filtration at about 1/3rd the cost.
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kevip711
15 years ago
Check this out.. although I didnt steal his idea.. as I think I did mine first.. he charges thousands for the rocks.. but with a boring drill you can do your own..

http://www.classykoiponds.com/html/pictures_of_waterfall_stones.html
kevip711
15 years ago
One more thing I forgot to mention.. I saw your pics.. dig your pond deeper if you are going to have koi.. I wish I could of but from my pics you can tell I couldnt due to hitting solid rock.. I wanted 4 ft but only got barely 3.. good luck and happy ponding.. its alot of work.. but its worth it ..
RexAnne
15 years ago
Hey there Renee-
I was just looking at your dig and I know you said you've had another pond before, so you probably already have thought of this, but your pond edges strike me as low. Are you thinking of building them up any? I would be concered about rain washing in. Just a thought :)
RexAnne
renee48624
Original Author
15 years ago
Hi RexAnne, Yes, I have 2 foot boulders being delivered today. They will be set in the edges with the liner behind them and more larger rock behind the boulders. My last pond was not constructed correctly, hence the reason I am here asking for help. So please, anyone just jump in and set me straight!

I am taking Kevin's advice about no shelves and digging the deep end a little deeper. I can easily go to 4 foot in the deep end and still be able to fit the liner properly.

I am looking at bottom drains online with confusion on which one to purchase. How much difference in an aerated drain than just a simple $50.00 drain? Do they really make that much of a difference in forcing the debree down the drain to justify over $200. I need to make up my mind and get it ordered right away as we here in Michigan are losing our warm days quickly. I do not plan on fish till next spring but would like to at least get it filled and running before the snow flys.
pikecoe
15 years ago
Do a search on the forum "4 Inch Bottom Drain needes asap"This might give you some ideas while waiting for someone to answer you. Glenda
kevip711
15 years ago
I am not familiar with a aerated drain, I just have the standard.. my only complaint with the standard is the cover has come off a couple times, it sucked a fish in once..

New pond, needing advice please.

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