I am thrilled… I am moved into my new house and for years I said the first thing I am going to do is build my pond… and that is what Im doing because I have a lot of baby shubunkins and koi indoors who are quickly becoming adults! (I work in a pet store and am a sucker for the feeder tank, what can I say!?)

Anyway, the house is a mess, not unpacked, our dishwasher isnt installed, but I started digging out my pond tonight. I have been planning it out for a long time and have finally decided on a 1,125 gallon (approx.) in ground, lined pond–5' x 12' x 30" deep. I have the perfect spot up against my house and next to the patio–I can see it from inside, can sit next to it on the patio, its near my lone electrical outlet, and it will only get a little direct sunlight in the mornings each day.

There are weird laws in the city for building so I stood in line for 2 hours today to get a pond permit to build it. Turns out I have to draw up exact plans, have someone come out and inspect it, pay for a permit… I told the guy who was helping me that I had been told (by a fellow fish friend) that you can get fined for building and not having a permit. Know what he said? No, you dont get fined… they just require that you get a permit.

So here I am, digging up my backyard without a permit. No one I know has gotten one, and no one seems concerned. I am pretty sure I know where the gas line and sprinklers are and I will just dig carefully and adjust my layout if need be. Does this sound dangerous? The last time we built a pond we just started digging. Thats the way I do things.

Its really just going to be very simple and lame, for now, and money permitting, I will add to it later. Its really out of necessity more than enjoyment right now, as its not fair to keep these growing fish indoors. I have loved shubunkins for so long but have finally come to the conclusion that they dont belong in tanks. They are pond fish.

Anyway, Im excited and just wanted to pass this along. I'll post pics of my progress and hope I dont get into any trouble.

HI JS,
Kewl! The only thing I can say is that if your in a cold weather area, then go deeper..... 3 1/2 min so the koi winter over well.

As for the permit, it really depends. Do they consider a pond a swimming pool? Some do, some don't. I find that odd anyway, a pond is not a swimming pool,lol, in my humble opinion. However, some areas do and thats when you need a permit etc. Hope you didn't give them any personal info either. I just read someone did and they flagged her property on the records so she can't build one!

ooOOo have fun!!! we want piccys!!!

have fun! i can't wait for pics. Im going to dig the
hole for my pond at the end of september. So then next year
i can work on the liner pumps, decorating, getting rocks/plants ect ect

I dug my pond the same way, very carefully. I did hit the gas line with a backhoe LOL! Luckily just scraped the pipe clean on one side. So that part of the pond could only be a foot and a half deep. Hey, I didn't get a permit either! It turns out that in Idaho we are supposed to get a reservoir permit, but if you have a swimming pool you can build it without a permit LOL screwy state. Anyhow, good luck!!!!!!!!!


Scott

Well, at least your have your priorities straight! Good luck with it and please post pics.

I think all these things sounds like passing the buck to me... I didn't have to get anything here. Weird how things go in different areas though eh?

LOL No I didnt give them any info–its weird because I was all set to go get it taken care of legally but they really didnt seem too worried about it, so I didnt worry either.

As for 30" deep, I originally wanted to do more like 4 feet, but I am limited because of the size of my pond liner–it is only 12' wide. It does get very cold here in the winter, but the other pond I built is much shallower than this and has never had a problem. It doesnt freeze over or anything so I think I will be safe. Ive never done a liner pond before (my other one was cemented) so its kind of limiting in that sense.