I was just wondering how you make a pond...

Shovel out a big whole?
Or is it better to have some type of guard from the dirt? Such as plastic tarping?

Noah

For my pond we dug, layed sand, cloth liner and then pond lining. Expensive and time consuming but well worth it. We luck out with the rocks because we were able to get them all off our property which has an old barn rock foundation.

Here's pictures if you'd like to look:

http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/view?p...267&uid=1383606

A pond is more than just a hole, but that is one of the steps in making it yes. First you should decide how large you want your pond to be. What you are going to make it out of and are you going to have fish? What kind of fish? If just gold fish your pond doesn't have to be that big. If you are going to have koi it needs to be pretty good sized. Also, it depends on where you live and if you are going to leave the fish out during the winter as to how deep you are going to go. You should also price everything before the dig to make sure that you can cover the cost. The pond liner is expensive but cheaper than cement or gunite. Next after deciding where to put it and how large it'll be you should have some idea has to how you are going to do the filtration. Nothing sux more than to put in a large pond and finding out the filtration system you wanted to go with really isn't going to do it for that much water volume and surface area (or your pump is going to beat up your fish because it's too large for the pond and water is going everywhere). You might need a bottom drain, a skimmer, and a bio falls. You may have to do a lot of plumbing and if you've done your homework before you start you'll know what your going to do with all those pipes. Run them under the pond? Around the pond? You may also want to consider your electricity. The best way, I think, is to run a line from the house underground to a safe area (maybe an out building? or possibly a box that is made so the weather can't get in like rain, snow, etc...) close to the pond so you can conceal your electrical chords for the pump. Also, are you going to put rock in the bottom (like an aquascape design), you may want to research this type of pond, or if you are going to do a typical Koi pond design, no rocks and flush walls to the bottom of the pond with no rocks in the bottom (these are easier to clean especially in the fall and spring).

Remember that a pond is just a large fish aquarium, you have to maintain it in order for the fish to stay healthy. If you let up your guard you can get major nasties and at this moment I am still fighting them and have been for well over a month now. One fish still sick, but the rest of the population is good. This can cost a considerable amount in order so save a popultion of fish from something that one (like Myself ) could have prevented if things would have been takin care of like they should have. Not to mention the work it involves to cure sick fish. So my advice is, build a pond they are awesome! I enjoy working around my pond, doing different things with it, and just sitting by it watching the fish eat. The fish are the added bonus because they are amazing, I love koi, I love my koi, and I'd love to have more koi! BUT do your research, a lot of research, and then after you've done research you'll probably need to do more. In fact one doesn't stop doing research in order to get the pond experience right. There is a lot to learn but it is a rewarding hobby and an enjoyable one. Learning is fun anyhow, right A pond without fish is easier than with, but it's also a pond without life (IMHO) the fish bring it to life, and with the fish included it becomes a part of you and that is really cool.




Good luck and please when you start the dig remember a camera, take pictures, keep us up to date and post pics. Ask questions and those here will gladly give the best answer they can come up with to help.


Scott