I am very concerned about pond depth here in the Northeast. In the winter, we get to single digits at night, and on one rare occasion, I remember minus 12 degrees. Unfortunately, if one builds a pond more than 2 feet deep, one has to put a huge fence around it, which would not enhance our "wildlife sanctuary" back yard. I do know that one must put a bubbler in the pond during the winter, and also maybe a heater, to keep a hole open. But I am still concerned that 2 feet might not be enough.

Does anybody have any thoughts on this - encouraging words - suggestions?

I had thought of digging the pond 3 feet deep, and then putting huge rocks in the bottom so that a person walking on it would only go down 2 feet, and also the fish would have hiding places between the boulders.

Or maybe I could put the huge rocks there as above, and have a grate on top of the rocks so a person walking on it would not go deeper than 2 feet? But perhaps this would be bad for water circulation, and cause debris to collect?

Given a 2-foot depth, is it important to make it a certain size or gallon capacity?

I will be keeping some comet goldfish there - and hopefully some frogs will show up, too.

Any thoughts are most welcome.

As soon as the ground thaws, I will be out there digging!

I suggest atleast 3 feet deep. It depends on the climate. Some people only build about 2 feet, because during summer day, it would not heat the water up so badly and during winter it would not completely freeze, but it's depends on the climate of where you live, some places are colder than the others. Usually 3 feet is good number, but as for keeping koi or such, it must be deeper. For the bottom, you should just add pebbles and small boulders, but besure they can go down there. I know some people, if it's a small pond, they have a heater in the pond. That keep the water warm at the bottom for the fish and not freezing it. Also must use de-icer to leave a hole on the top of the pond so fishes can get oxygen. Some people leave the filter running, or fountain, but that will make the water cold, during winter, the water at the bottom is warmer and if the filter is running, it will make the whole pond colder, which is not a good thing.

I dont know if you want to build a pond in japanese style, with irregular shape, or the more formal style with regular shape like rectangle or square. Just make it a reasonable size, in lenght and width. The size of the pond, or how much gallon it will holds will depends on how many fish you will have in there. Most peopel start with a small pond, but later on they will realised that it's to small, not enough space, so I would say, build the biggest you can based on the space you have in your backyard and how much money you willing to spend.

Are you building it yourself, or you going to call people to build it for you. Before building it, be sure to do alot of researchs, and look at alot of different ponds to get ideas. So you can build a perfect pond the first time you build it. You dont want ot remove everything and fix this and that.

Thanks for the info! I will be digging it myself, and my husband will do the electrical and plumbing work. And we both get to place the liner and rocks. I really would prefer it to be 3 feet, but state codes will not allow it to be that deep. Even though the lake nearby goes to 60 feet! Go figure. It will have goldfish, and I will need all the suggestions I can get to be sure that it does not freeze in the winter. I hear about heaters, bubblers and boxes (like a chimney through the snow???)

that's great, digging can be a hard work, it's best if you can get help. Yes some state wont allowed it because it might interefere with water line.

Lol that is why it's best to do alot of research before building a pond so you wont have to get headache over it later lol

Your digging will be easy if you rent a small backhoe.

You can dig it two feet down, then cover it with a solar pool cover in the winter and put a pond de-icer in the pond to keep ice from forming solid. You can construct a decent cover over the pond for the winter. Lattice would be great for that, covered in plastic then take it down when spring comes....

I would not, under any circumstances, put stones in the bottom of the pond (or a grate). First they might puncture your liner. Second, all kinds of debris and mulm will accumulate around them and you will not be able to vacuum around them to get all the gunk out..... I have large terra cotta flue tiles in my pond for hiding areas for the fish. I laid extra liner under them to prevent them from cutting my liner. They act as hiding places for the fish and as shelves in the middle of the pond for water lilies.

Two feet deep is only adequate for common or comet goldfish.... Heat should not be an issue in the summer if you have adequate circulation of your pond water and shade part of the surface with water lily foliage or a shade cloth.....

Thanks for the ideas.

Terra cotta flues... I think I'll plan for that. I love the idea of the fish-hiding places, and I am constantly moving plants around in my garden, so I'm sure the water garden will be no different. An lattice with plastic for a cover - interesting. Consensus on rocks seems to be - none. Yes, many good thoughts.

As for the backhoe - we did rent one last year, and if you're as un-coordinated as I am, a backhoe is actually hard to use. My husband actually got the hang of it, eventually. We're torn (pun here?) between tearing up the yard yet again with large earth-moving equipment, or digging it by hand. We don't have to decide that until the ground thaws, and after mud season...

I've never heard of a regulation on pond depth? how about you install a good wrought iron fence around the pond, than you can dig it to 4 feet I would reccommend in your climate. And rent a backhoe

T

I would recommend goldies only in this pond.

Best option in my thinking for winter is to highly consider taking them in. Otherwise I'd get an aquarium heater drop that in and cover with a smaller greenhouse type cover.

The one side of my pond is 4 feet deep but only 2 feet below ground. We build it up from the ground 2 feet using huge rocks adn then the liner comes up over the rocks with more rocks on top holding the liner in place.