Hi lemueltan,
I have researched building fish ponds in the past and I believe the
website, Pond Rushes, contains the best, most comprehensive
instructions anywhere and it's non-commercial. There are lots of links
to follow, all cross-referenced and illustrated.
POND RUSHES
Step 1: Thinking
1. How big will the pond be? How deep? Where?
2. Do you want fish? Plants? Both? What kind?
3. Do you want a formal or informal pond?
4. Do you want it above ground or below?
5. Liner type or rigid? Filtration?
6. What are you going to do with all the dirt?
7. What will it all cost?
Step 2: Research
"Your first job in researching a pond is to call your local building
inspectors to see what you CAN do. In some areas, all ponds are
classed as swimming pools and have the same requirements. Other places
have limits on size, or drainage, above or below ground, or even
whether you can do it yourself or need to have professionals do the
work. You also will usually need to stay a certain distance from the
property lines. Some of these rules may affect what you decide to
do..."
"Next, start to attend those seminars and club meetings you found
out about during the thinking process. I know you think you are too
busy, but you just might find out information that will prevent the
really nasty mistakes.
"Get your camera and start looking around you. If your local club or
a club near by has a pond tour, take it and take lots of pictures.
Visit your local arboretum, nature center, and/or botanical gardens
for ideas. Take lots of pictures and video. Check out your local zoo!
Yes, I said zoo. With the emphasis on natural settings, zoos are
installing ponds as part of their exhibits."
Step 3: Planning
"Once you have your existing layout down, you can start to
experiment with placement of all the things that will be in your
system..."
Step 4: Building
"The actual building of a pond is not really difficult. If you've
done your Research... and Planning..., the hard part is over. This
part used to walk you thru the steps like the books do. You've seen
this method also in the flyers, that pond kit you may have bought the
first time, and even some videos. Step 1 - Lay out the shape. Step 2 -
Dig and level the pond. Step 3 - Lay in the liner and fill it up. Step
4 - set your edging and fill it with fish and plants. But you will no
sooner get this done than you will start to realize that some of the
advise you get in those simple steps is wrong, and that there are
other things you could've done if you had really known, but it is too
late now..."
Plants and Fish
"OK, plants and fish. The easiest pond to take care of is one that
contains a balance of both plants and fish. Both are really necessary
to eliminate many problems and to enhance your enjoyment of your
efforts. If you have a pond with only fish, you're going to have to
work harder to keep your water crystal clear. If you have only plants,
you really have nothing more than a pretty mosquito factory. A
well-balanced pond doesn't need much more from you than a little
cleaning occasionally. It?s when you start adding stuff that you can?t
take out that you get into trouble..."
Tips [19]
Low Maintenance Ponding
"I've got the Speedos and the shades on because I'm going out to do
a bit of cleaning. If you're going to clean a pond properly, you have
to get wet... Got my shades, my bag of plant tools, fertilizer, and
fish food. And I've got my net. But this page isn't about how to
maintain a pond. It's more about how to keep that maintenance to a
minimum... If you've read the rest of my page, there probably isn't
much on this page that you haven't seen. It all ties together. Most
people that read my web site jump straight to the Building section.
Then I get all sorts of questions that are answered in the other
sections. Let's face it. Building is really easy. It's the other stuff
that's difficult and what you need to spend so much time on..."
Library
Other Stuff
1. What do you do with too many fish or when your fish get too big?
2. How do I divide my hardy lilies?
3. How do I divide my tropical lilies?
4. To pump or not to pump that is the question... Or is it filters? Or balance?
5. Some ponderings on the hobbie of ponding...
6. Chemicals???
7. Pond Piping Calculations from R. Totman
8. Winterizing your pond?
9. Building REALLY big and/or earthen ponds...
Links
Pond Calculators
http://www.pondrushes.net/
Additional websites:
How to Build A Water Garden or Fish Pond
* Calculators and other OnLine tools to help
plan & build a water garden or pond!
o Pond Volume Calculator
o Pond Liner Size Calculator
o Surface Area Calculator
o Selecting the Proper Pond Filter System
o Selecting the Proper pond Size Pump
http://www.watergarden.com/pages/build_wg.html
Building a Water Garden [with photos]
http://www.diynet.com/diy/wg_installation_maint/article/0,2029,DIY_14419_2270583,00.html
Building a Pond
"This will be broken down into 3 sections: The Pond,The Filter & The
Waterfall. It should be understood at the outset that if one talks to
100 Ponders (Pond aficionados), one will get about 350 ideas on how to
best build one, mainly consisting of: "How I built this one (100)",
"What I wish I had done (100)" & "My next one is gonna be like (150)".
http://www.exit109.com/~gosta/pond.sht
Pond Building Basics
http://www.angelfire.com/ga/earthwise/garden.html
Building a Pond [with photos] [9 steps]
http://www.tetra-fish.com/pond/buildpond.aspx
Goldfish versus Koi
"Although both goldfish and koi are related, they are not the same. A
couple of key differences make goldfish a much better choice for a
home water garden. Koi grow much larger than goldfish (18 to 24 inches
compared with 8 to 10 inches). More importantly from a water
gardener's point of view, koi are voracious plant eaters. Goldfish
will nibble at some plants but don't do nearly as much damage as koi.
Also, koi are best raised in pools with specially designed filtration
systems. Such elaborate (and often expensive) systems are not
necessary with goldfish unless you want a large number of them in your
pool or water garden. The only piece of equipment necessary for
goldfish is an airstone or small water pump to aerate or circulate the
water in hot weather. When temperatures exceed 75° F, goldfish can
become stressed by the water's low oxygen content.
Another advantage is that fine goldfish are available at garden
centers, water gardening specialists, and aquarium stores for a
fraction of the price of koi. Quality goldfish cost between $5 and
$50, on average, depending on their type and size; koi can cost 10 to
100 times that."
http://doityourself.com/pond/ongoldfishpond.htm
USDA Pond & Planting Zones
http://www.exit109.com/~gosta/pondzone.sht
Plants for the Water Garden
http://www.reemscreek.com/Library/plants_for_the_water_garden.htm
Transporting Fish
http://www.reemscreek.com/Library/fish_care.htm
Algae Problems in Water Gardens
http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/watergarden/algae.html
I was glad to provide this for you. If you have any questions, please
post a clarification request and wait for me to respond before
closing/rating my answer.
Thank you,
hummer
Search Strategy: I went through my own bookmarks to find appropriate websites. |
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