All these pond posts are inspiring me. I want to build a pond for, what else, comets, and have come up with the following plan. I already have a fountain in my back yard, sitting on an almost 4 foot square, 1 foot deep basin. Here is a picture of how it looks now.

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My plan is to dig out and expand it, following the lines in this picture
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(Sorry the pictures are a bit shadowy, the sun is really bright today.)

This would give me a roughly 6' by 6' square that I'll dig at least 2 feet down, with a little odd bit on the side with the fountain. It works out to about 500 gallons. There is already a power outlet along the fence for the pump and filter.

We get flooding rain here at times, up to 6 inches in an hour, so I'm a bit worried about the pond overflowing. My current idea is to build a low dry brick wall around the pond, with the liner coming up a few inches above grade, and the bricks above that. Normally I would keep the water level at grade. My fountain has an overflow pipe to the storm drain that I could use too. Then hopefully when it floods, the water would have a chance to drain out before the fish get washed away. If anyone else has experience with this, please let me know your solutions!

Now I just have to buy the liner, and construct a filter. Oh yeah, and dig the thing before the temps get into the 90s around here!

Wait, I forgot, I also have to go lay in a supply of chocolate!

That looks like a great spot for the pond! It looks like it will be shaded during the afternoon, kind of like how mine is.

As far as the overflowing, I've ony ever once had that happen in my years of having ponds. Luckily we got outside in time as the fish were washing away. The brick wall sounds like a good idea, too. Or maybe you could configure some sort of netting around the pond, to let the water flow out but keep the fish inside. That probably wouldn't be too aesthetically pleasing though. The best thing I've done is just drain the pond down a bit when I know heavy rain is coming.

Are you planning on using the current fountain for your filter? How many GPH does it push?

As far as runoff water, fish water is an excellent fertilizer for plants. I had a neighbor once ask how I kept all my plants looking so nice, and when she saw all my fish tanks she said, "Ohhhhhh...!" Maybe you could run a hose to the garden or flowerbeds when it's time for a water change. That way you don't have to just waste all that water down the storm drain.

Keep us updated! I'll eat some chocolate for you. Does cake count?

Yes, you certainly have a lovely shady spot for your pond. I just looked at the weather forecast for Houston tomorrow, and it looks like you have four degrees to go before you get the pond dug! Yikes! It is such a bonus that you already have electricity out there. The flooding rain does seem to be quite a problem, though. I will be interested to hear how your solutions to that problem work out.

How many comets do you have to put in the pond? And how big are they? I have my 5 wee ones, and I hope they're ready for the big wild world in a few months.

(BTW, at this house, cake counts double.)

The pump I have now is really small, maybe 50 or 100gph. But the fountain has a large hollow space in the middle, with just a small pvc pipe up it, so I'm trying to think how I could use it as a filter. I know I'll need a bigger pump.

I definitely like the idea of using the runoff water for the plants! As a former Californian who lived through two droughts, I can't stand to waste water. Even thought my fish tanks are upstairs, I still sometimes bring down buckets after a water change to pour on the flowers.

Thanks for the comments. I'm not sure how many comets I'll put in yet. I only have one lonely one in a 20 gallon take right now. He's about 2.5 inches long minus his tail, but he's getting bigger all the time. I was thinking just 5 or 6 to start with. I need to leave space for those fish I can't resist when I go to the store!

Cake is always good! We just finished off my daughter's chocolate birthday cake. Nothing like a couple of under 10 girls wired on chocolate all evening long!

I'll bet your fish is lonely, and will love it when he (or she) has playmates to romp with in a large new home!

I have a fish that was given to me, that lived for a bowl for years, and I had her here in quarantine for a while. She would sit on the bottom and look so sad. When I set up a 40-gallon for my fish (this one plus 4 other smaller ones), it was amazing to see - she now swims and pokes about with the others and doesn't seem sad at all. They are so much fun to watch as a school.

I do worry very much about night critters, when they go outside. Especially since the fish are so tame. What kind of predators do you have to worry about in Houston? I'll bet you have fish-eating water birds. I hope you don't have alligators.

Fortunately we don't have any alligators since we are close to the center of town. My husband used to work south of Houston, and they would sometimes get alligators in the parking lot!

I've never seen raccoons around here, but we do have opossums. The neighborhood is full of dogs, and cats are few and far between. I know there are egrets about a couple of miles south that fish in the bayou. I have been wondering about putting some fruit-tree netting over the pond. I may have to find out how tall the birds are and dig the pond deep enough so they couldn't reach the fish. I would hate to loose any fish to predators.

Even if you don't see egrets or herons nearby, they may still find your pond. I had a blue heron take out several fish in our large pond, while my Mom watched through the window. They weren't even afraid of her large pit bull! They are very bold and once they find your pond they won't forget it.

We are in the middle of a large city but have ponding basins throughout, and there are always birds around. We also have raccoons and possums, even in the city. I used the fruit bird netting but just doubled it up. I don't fill my pond to the top and we secured the netting with screws all around.

I'm sure you can rig up something to keep them safe.

We have been diging and it is now about one foot deep, and piles of sand that are about one foot two inches tall.

Here's a picture of how far we got this weekend.

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As you can see, I'm not above using child labor, but I do pay in brownies!

i would def work for u

Wow, actual digging! I am envious. (Well, actually I'm not envious of the work, just that you're under way already!)

I wanted to pass something along that I picked up this weekend at a "Build a Pond" seminar. I don't know the type of pond filtration you are planning, but these folks sell the waterfall+skimmer method (vs. the bottom drain method.) But they did mention that their skimmer had an overflow pipe that comes out the back, just so the water does not overflow the pond during extreme weather. Presumably the fish wouldn't get into the skimmer, and wouldn't then go out the back pipe - better than have them float over the top. Anyway, that may or may not be useful information, but I thought I'd pass it along. I know you did have design plans already in mind.

I also have recipes for various chocolate goodies, if that should become necessary. Digging is hard work! I think it's grand that your daughter is involved, and I suspect you will both enjoy it so much when you can enjoy relaxing days by the pond, playing with the fish! Good luck!

Thanks for the info on the overflow pipe. I always appreciate any advice, since I'm totally new at this!

Here is the latest progress photo.

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Our soil is pretty much solid black clay, under about a top 6 inches of sand. Digging is rather slow going. Last night, the last thing we did was drain the water from the old fountain liner into the main pond area. I said to my girls, "oh, that will be gone by morning." Well, this morning, the water is still there, and doesn't seem to have drained away at all! If my pond liner ever gets a leak, at least the fish won't be in any immediate danger.

We already had an overflow pipe on the old fountain basin. You can see the white pipe in the photo, and it goes back to a drain in the lawn you might just be able to see behind the watering can. Houston is the only place I've ever lived where they put drains in the grass! That drain goes out to the gutter, and I have see water back up into it during very heavy rain.

I've been thinking for the filter to put filter media into our fountain pot, get a decent pump, and have the clean water overflow out the top. I was at a really nice garden store yesterday, and they also suggested creating a bog filter in the pot, but I'm not sure if that would be enough filtration for goldfish.

Now I just have to get my lawn guys to help me put the incredibly heavy pot up on the side so I can finish digging.

How's the digging going? I have to use a pick-axe to break up the "soil" before I use the shovel. Just a thought, as you get deeper into the clay. That looks a lot denser than my soil.

Also, one thing I picked up at the pond seminar is that a high water table under the pond isn't good, and could raise the pond liner. I'm not too sure about this, but your clay does seem to hold water. I don't know if this is a serious problem, or what solution could be, so I'll just pass that along. Unfortunately, I'm completely new at this, too, so I can't be much help.

You are making steady progress, and I love to see the pictures as you go - I'm sure the finish pond will be beautiful!

We did some work over the weekend, but it rained yesterday so now the hole is full of water. I think the water table is actually fairly low, but the "soil" (read clay) drains very slowly, if at all. Heaving of house foundations is a big problem around here with the heavy clay if it dries out too much, then gets really wet. Usually we get a lot of rain and humidity. This town was built on a swamp!


I thought I would post a cautionary photo of our digging over the weekend. We have a sprinkler system with electronically controlled valves, and apparently the wires were just buried in the ground with no covering!
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My husband was digging where there was a lot of sand, laid under the old fountain basin when he hit a drain pipe, and running right next to it were all the wires! I'm just glad he didn't go through any of them. Fortunately, I was planning to build that area up anyway, so we wont have to move them.

We also got the pot tipped over so I can re-plumb it.
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Next on the list is complete the shaping of the pond and install the liner. I'm getting excited to see what the final shape will look like!