How To Build A Pond - the right way

[AgentOrange]

In the heat of SUMMER, I have pissed off a few:watermelon:, and others just drifted. Posts are down except for me. I really enjoy this forum, hope it picks up again.

To that end, have been wanting to post how I would build a garden pond. No one gives a crap about that, but it will be fun for me. Since traffic is down, I can sneak it in. This will be a long thread and will be fun - for me. Any comments or questions will be appreciated. Water-critter keeping has been a long time hobby of mine.


I think 99% of advice given on ponds is wrong. Some idiot posts something, it is repeated a thousand times by lazy people and becomes fact. That is how the internet works.

All pond installations are different. Some are Lake Hartwell and some are a pot with a plant. It is kinda like choosing a plant for your yard, many considerations must be taken into account if you want success.

I put in my first outdoor pond around 1995 --> 5 gallons. I was hooked. I scraped out a hole, lined it with concrete and made a water fall with plastic saucers. I was a happy/proud guy. It had a lot of flaws or as I call them - "teaching moments".

I knew nothing about outside, but had been an above average aquarium guy for many years. I mostly have that hobby nailed down. I have had one of more aquariums since 1970. I have one now. My first attempts go back to the 50's when I caught crayfish or bought gold fish for a dime. Outdoor critter keeping uses the exact same science.

I put in a 125 gallon pond that went well.
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Before I moved South, I put in ponds to move my critters to. It consisted of three 220 gallon ponds from Home Depot linked together. It was great and I could not believe how happy me and my critters were.

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I build a box, hauled in dirt to fill it and located the top pond there. There is a spillway on the right that drops water into the second pond, then it flows to the third. From the third it goes under ground to a 55 gallon trash barrel I dug into the ground and put a pump into. The water is pumped to the top pond and gravity takes over.
It worked great. I just had a canoe then and used it to haul those rocks over from an island (lots of work). This is a later photo after I had some plants and Ivy growing.

Soon, I wanted more. I had learned a lot. This thread will be about me building a 4000 gallon pond and how I went about it. You can learn from my mistakes and get ideas as to how to go about building your project.

[elgrau]

Oh, I thought you meant a REAL farm pond. I've helped build (or watched them being built) a few in Ohio. Takes a dozer and a judicial location choice.... Gravity and rainfall does the rest. Great for fishing and ice skating fun in the winter! Also it's best to add a drain pipe and barrel at the lowest point (with pipe run to a point down a hillside that's lower than the pond bottom). This is great if the pond ever get's overrun with a fish species that you don't like: just drain and start over!

[trav0810]

You have your own little slice of Paradise there AO!

[TNRabbit R.I.P.]

I've read your account from your yardcrap blog before; I'll be interested to hear the latest updates to your pond adventure!

[AgentOrange]

Part 1

Back in early 2005, I was on the deck drunk and decided I needed to build a bigger pond for my critters. Like with most projects, sat on the deck for months using cold beer to help me devise a plan. I am a slow thinker. I like to have every angle covered before I do anything as I am lazy. At the time I had three 220 gallon pond tubs linked together, but they could not swim back and forth. It was all good, but I wanted more water for my critters. I had/have seen many expert videos on how to dig in a pond on TV and the web. Most of the advice there did not fit me, and some I knew to be wrong. Most experts are not experts.

I was not an expert at pond digging, but pretty much knew what I wanted and what was necessary. Back here in the woods we have Coons, Herons and etc that can eat your pond critters. To that end, I decided to go against the experts and their "shelf" banks and go straight down for at least 3 foot. That stops all wading by critters who are not me.

I wanted bigger, but one man a good Beagle can only do so much.
Rubber pond liner comes in grades and sizes. Good quality is not what you see at Home Depot. I opted for the best quality I could find as you don't want to have to redo this too often. Liner only comes so wide, so that limits options unless you can seal seams. I did not want to get into that fool's game. I found some rubber liner in Alphretta, Ga that was 20 foot wide. That meant if my pond was going to have depth around 45 inches, it could be ten foot wide. So, I decided on 10X15 foot, about 4000 gallons.

Here is my original blueprint.

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That may make a pro like Ed shutter, but I had a plan.:distrust:
I knew digging it would be hard, so decided to wait and start in cooler weather on the first day of Nov.

[AgentOrange]

Part 2

As July wore on, I got impatient:). By August 1st, I was working. That is not a good thing as temps hit 100 here in Summer and humidity is high:sorrow:.

I made my first mistake then.
A lazy man with a shovel digging into hard red clay is a not a good thing. Learn from my mistake, rent a back hoe.

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I went out every morning before it got too hot with my pick/shovel and slowly got a hole carved in. That took a few weeks but was good exercise and cheaper than a gym. Swing that pick and shovel out what falls is hard work. Two things I hate are are painting and digging. This was "extreme" digging, and slow going. As you can see in the photo, there is an incline so I took the dirt and built up the rear. The dirt had to go somewhere.

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I worried about a couple things as I dug. Water is very heavy, over 33,000 pounds in this case. I did not want it blowing out my sides. Rain erosion on the sides could also cause a big problem some day. I even fantasized a chipmunk digging in and biting my rubber wall:cower:.

To that end, decided to line the hole with 2" boards. To do that I sunk 4X4s every 18 inches 2 foot down into the clay. That is hard, slow work. I poured a few tons of concrete on the sides. Every time I went to town I came home with a load of Sakrete in my tiny truck with bumper dragging the road. I did not mix it, left that to ground moisture. By the time I loaded all those bags, unloaded and dumped them, my arms were starting to look like Popeye's. At the very rear of the pond, stacked them like sand bags.
Bottom line is the pond ain't moving.

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[elgrau]

AO wrote: "Most experts are not experts"

That's true if they are simply "arm chair" experts (and that's the most common kind..). Doing is the great teacher and you learn things about whatever you're trying to do that you would not figure out in 1000 years of just thinking about it (anyone who does "projects" that he's never done before knows this truth). This is why Western man will never figure out how the ancient Egyptians built the pyramids. You only figure that out if someone tells you that you MUST do it (or die, or starve, or be whipped, or simply be denied access to your deity's heaven) and here's how many men you have to do it with. Then in the process of trial and error and "necessity being the mother of invention", you find a way.

[AgentOrange]

Part 3

Slowly the hole is getting deeper.

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All experts tell you to put in a bottom drain. That might work for most people, but not so much for me. A bottom drain sucks out your critters and gets clogged. In a pond this deep, no one wants to go scuba diving every week to clear it, no one wants the fish and tadpoles sucked out.
As you can see. I have started working on my drain pipe. A drain pipe keeps the surface water clean and greatly reduces the chance of ever finding your pond dry and the critters dead. It negates the need for the expensive skimmers sold by the pond industry. The drain pipe will empty into this 100 gallon tub I will dig in at the rear. The pumps will be in this, not in the pond. Pumps will work the tub and gravity will work the pond.
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This will keep the pond at a constant level. Nothing is in the pond to pump it dry. Rainfall will not flood it, just overflow the tub and water my plants.
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I work my indoor aquarium the same way. There is always a chance of a leak, but no chance of a pump emptying the thing on the floor. Inside, like outside, I don't use the expensive small store bought filters. Inside I use a large Rubbermaid tub to filter my tank.

The purpose of a bottom drain is to keep the bottom free of WTF?. In reality, WTF will still settle around the bottom as the drain will not have enough flow to prevent that. On the on the other hand, I have found WTF not to be much problem, even beneficial. What accumulates in a healthy system is just dirt like on the floor of Lake Hartwell. I use a pond skimmer net on a pole to lift out what I can find each Winter, takes maybe 15 minutes. Nature is your friend.

All I have to do is keep swinging the pick,
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and then shovel out what loosens up.
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After a hard day, me and my helper sit on my deck and contemplate what lies ahead. At the time we had not yet built the CatBird House. This is not a one man project. Of course with a good friend like Rosey, all things are possible.
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[AgentOrange]

Part 4

I painted my stand pipe black for camouflage. Originally I intended for the pond to have two drains. In later days I found a problem. The sucker floats, and in a big way. I cut back to one drain and filled the brace with sand to hold it down. I pump about 7000 gallon (actually less) an hour. One four inch drain pipe handles that easily.
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After the pond was dug and lined with 2inch boards, I used old carpet to line the floor and the walls. You can buy pond under liner, but old carpet is very tough and thick. I found all I needed in a carpet store dumpster. I put down two layers and more at the upper edges where there might be possible stress on the rubber liner. Old carpet is better and also free.

Rubber pond liner is very heavy. I used 45 mil EPDM 20 x 25. It is flexible, nothing like the liner you see at Home depot. It has a 75 year life expectancy. The weight is around 200# and it is bulky to move around. To save on shipping, I went to Georgia and got it in my truck. These days Amazon will bring it to your door --> for free. Experts tell you to get your neighbors in to help. They are right. It took all Rosey and I could do to get it in place. It took us a long time.:subdued:
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I got my stand pipe mounted. This proved to be troublesome. It was hard to find a 4inch bulk head. On my smaller ponds, I use a shower drain. This large bulk head had little flange to grab the liner, and even a tiny leak is too much. I used all kinds of goop and silicone. I caked it on The trick is to cut a hole smaller than the pipe and stretch the liner some. I also cut a 12 inch square of plywood and glued it to the back side of the liner for support.
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Then I filled it up. The weight of the water pulls every thing tight.
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[Douglas]

Lots of work there Bill! But I'm sure all the hard work was worth it.

[AgentOrange]

Part 5


Only 4 months after the shovel first hit ground, water was in the pond. It seemed like a lot longer at the time. We still had a ways to go. Of course other things had been occupying our time also. We had to take time out for beer and football. We did not want this to turn into work. Rosey refused to let this cut into her fishing time.
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I used 2X12 boards for the top. I screwed them into the 4X4 posts I had sunk every 18 inches. This made a firm walkway and would hold the top of the liner in place. The inside lip overhang would prevent my turtle from escaping.
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I also starting planting, using the blueprint to pick plants. On this side are Dwarft holly, gardenia and variegated privet. Later mondo grass will go near this side of he pond.
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At the rear I made a 3D trellis to grow Jasmine and Ivy on. Behind it I mounted a filter/tub. Water is pumped up from the ground tub to this tub and gravity takes over.

As things settled, I started on the 10X10 deck. The plan here was to build a comfy place to sit and watch the pond as the Sun set. My plan called for a 2 foot wide planter at the back. That is a lot of heavy dirt, so I put in a solid foundation.
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[AgentOrange]

I found a photo of the liner glued to the back for support:
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Also in the pond photo above you can see a long piece of white pvc along the right side. I secured that out of sight underneath the board. It will carry water from the rear tub to the front of the pond where a second length will carry it to release the flow at the bottom of the pond to aid in circulation. You have to add a one way valve here to prevent pond drain in a power outage or pump failure.

[AgentOrange]

Before part 6, lets talk a little about water quality and filtration. Most people give up on aquariums because they have no clue about what filters are for and how to keep the water healthy. How to do that is a ten year college class, but there are some simple things.

Keeping water critters healthy is science. It is the same science in a large lake or a 5 gallon bucket. In a smaller area problems are magnified. If I were to piss in Lake Hartwell critters would not notice. In a five gallon bucket, they would.

Critters crap in the water. Food and vegetation decay. This can cause a build up of toxic water. Nature has a system to deal with that, but in a confined area, benefits from a little help. Here is Nature's system in a picture:
- fish craps
- ammonia builds up
- bacteria eats it making nitrites
- bacteria eats that making nitrates
- plants eat that
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Another way to remove crap is to dilute the water by taking part away and replacing it with clean water. For example, remove 25% of the water from you fish tank and replace with clean water. You have just reduced toxins by 25%. Do that often and you maintain a health balance.

One problem in a home aquarium is evaporation. People just top off. The bad crap (like fish pissing in the water) does not evaporate, so "topping off" causes concentration of things like nitrites and ammonia. It also throws off the ph. People tend to think filters are for what they see. Actually they are best for things you can't see. Clear water is desirable but not a sign of a healthy system. The best filter for a home aquarium is partial water changes. That is also true for Lake Hartwell and my outdoor pond. People worry too much about algae which actually is a good thing n many cases. The floating algae is not desirable, but the algae attaching itself to the sides is no problem.

Outdoors you get some help from rainwater, especially if there is an over flow. My standpipe system overflows water to my yard and helps dilute the pond as it over flows. I also have a small pump I drop in that hooks to a hose to water my plants. The plants get water with built in fertilizer and the pond gets the fresh water.

The water dropping down the stand pipe and then cascading to the tub adds all the oxygen needed. Water is also pumped to the top tub, flows through media and cascades into the pond also helping to keep oxygen levels high. Nothing aerates like a waterfall and I have 3. Only two are visible. I use the same system in my aquarium, no air pumps needed. The water pumping in at the bottom on the front helps assure no dead spots.

In the ground tub are 2 pumps. The bigger one pumps water from the tub to the front floor of the pond. The water being pushed out on the floor keeps dead spots from forming. Good circulation is needed in any size water feature. The pump is located inside an inner tub that is filled with bio balls to aid in filtration. You can't see anything happening, but this is the heart of the system. If you put a pipe at the bottom of your pond, make sure to use a reverse flow valve or the pond will empty if power goes out or the pump fails. I use PVC pipe from Lowes and flow adapters are sold in that section for a few dollars.

Also in the tub is a pump that sends water through a UV light and into a tub the size of the ground one. That tub is mounted up behind the pond. It is filled with bio balls, lots of them. The water flows over them, through the Spring House and falls into the pond. I turn this one off when the pond temp goes below 50 degrees. At that point, the turtles are hibernating and the fish eat little. The bacteria in a filter are of little help below 55 degrees. The big pump runs all year. I have a small third pump on a remote so I can push a button here on the deck to entertain visitors with a waterfall. I like a waterfall, but to be honest, a quiet pond is nice also.
I also grow plants. Water plants grow like crazy and feed on critter crap. Ivy in the rear has even send down runners to support itself -> excellent. Plants are a great filter addition.

Maintenance is hard but seldom. Once a year in late Fall I wash the bio balls which will clog. I use the hose and a wheel barrow. Good rich dirt accumulates in the tubs. This is some excellent crap, you can't buy stuff like this for your plants. It has no smell and is super rich.
The job of the filter is not to clean the water, but to provide surface area for bacteria to live. As the water flows through the media, the bacteria chow down. Bacteria like oxygen rich water and temps above 55.

Mostly the rain keeps the pond full. I add back when needed and when I remove water for my plants. It is great to be able to pump a few hundred gallons when needed. A strainer was needed on the stand pipe to keep the fish from sliding through to the tub. I just use the standard one from Home Depot for roof tops sold in the PVC section.

Right now I have too many critters. I have gold fish brought here when I moved in 2001. They have thrived. They are big, fat and the numbers stay around 40. I bought 6 tiny KOI just a few years back. Now they are huge, several pounds, not a few pounds. I have a few turtles. All together that is a lot of crap being given off. I need to thin out, but I hate to cast off one of my friends. Nobody ever dies.

[TNRabbit R.I.P.]

This is gold!

Thanks for posting it. I plan to have a large pond one day and this will help me immensely.

[elgrau]

Who's the ugly old man you hired to do all the labor? :smiley_simmons:

[AgentOrange]

Part 6

I needed a waterfall. In my youth, Spring Houses were built over places where a natural spring surfaced, (it was County law to cover it before it could be labeled potable). I built a Spring House out of Cedar. I put a windmill on it to pump water. Of course none of that is real. At the back you can see a filter/tub behind the Jasmine screen (no Jasmine yet). Eventually I replaced the smaller tub with the same size as the one in the ground. Gravity takes the water from the tub through the Spring House.
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Jumping forward a bit, you can see it turned out OK.
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K wanted to do her part, here she is mounting a Heron:
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I have real Herons, Egrets, Terns, Grebes, even Comorants etc in the cove a hundred foot away. Herons are solitary birds. The theory is they won't come where another is except during mating so a decoy work opposite for them. All I can say is that I have never had/seen a Heron at this pond. I was no where near water in Matthews and they raided my pond a few times, so go figure!

[AgentOrange]

Part 7

We got the deck boarded up by mid Jan. All my flower boxes will need to filled with rich soil, but Rosey is quite pleased with it so far.
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I added some chairs, some plants and all that needs work s the path. I covered it in flat rock I found nearby and sprinkled on white marble chips, it came out good. Of course by 2013 the path sprouts moss and green things.
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The grass in the front bed spread and filled in completely. That is a dwarf mondo grass. It is kinda expensive, but requires no maintenance.

I needed an island for the turtles. I used 3 inch PVC pipe to form a stand as that is strong and cheap. The frame sits inside a shallow tub sold at Lowes to mix concrete in. That protects the liner. I piled flat rocks on top I gathered from the Lake. It is quite heavy and now is covered in Moss. Beneath the water level, it is an open frame to aid in circulation.
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Flash forward to the present and here it is being enjoyed by Turtles and a frog.
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Over all, I think it came out OK. It might not be what you want in your yard as every pond and every pond owner is different. Being able to pay my labor force with dog biscuits made this affordable. I have no idea what it would cost to hire it all done.

[SteveK]

Part 3

The pumps will be in this, not in the pond. Pumps will work the tub and gravity will work the pond.
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Do you have a picture of the rubbermaid tub with the Pump and the Bio Balls installed?
Steve

[AgentOrange]

Part now

Here is the pond nearly 8 years later. It may fail tomorrow, but has functioned well to date. All critters are happy and thriving. The extra islands are floating things I change plants in and out of. One of my hobbies has become finding which normal plants will live with wet feet.
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The big turtle in front sits on a box concealing night lights. I have changed lighting many times. These days with LED, power is nil. The pond is special at night, and I never know who will show up for a drink. In the rear corner is a bug zapper. That comes on each night, zaps the bugs and they fall into the pond. The fish, frogs and turtles gather near it each night. That thing almost pays for itself in free protein for my critters. It is certainly entertaining.

The chairs have been replaced in favor of that big rocker. The big flower box has a Japanese Maple in the two corners and a Camilla in the middle corner that flowers near Christmas. Now in Summer it sports Hostas due to the shade and in Spring is full of Daffodils. Every plant conceived in the original diagram is in place and doing well except the Kerria. I did not like it there and replaced it with a native Nadina I found in the woods. I don't know nearly as much about digging a hole as I do about plants.

Unlike years back after grading bare to build the house, my place now looks over grown to most. Rabbit called it a Jungle:triumphant::triumphant:. I grow different grasses, but no lawn as I have no lawn mower. (I am lazy and too busy to cut grass)

I used to spend half my time trying to grow things and half cutting them back. Now it is 90% cutting them back. ( I did put in 7 new plants around the place today as I am a fool for any new plant.

My place entertains me to no end and this pond is constantly changing entertainment. It is completely different in each season and in each year. I sit outside a lot (like now) so it is not money wasted in my case. Right now my audio system is too loud and birds are in my trees. Life is good in South Carolina if you have a Beagle to do the thinking for you.

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[TNRabbit R.I.P.]

GREAT thread, Bill!

Maybe one day (when I'm 80-something) I'll be able to retire & relax with a place on the water & spend too much time "piddling" with gardens, ponds, etc.

My older brother just retired & he says his goal is to become a PROFESSIONAL "piddler"....

[jjptkd]

Yes, great thread! What a cool project and nice place to hand out. Looks like a lot of work but a labor of love, someday...

[sundance]

Great post AO.....I just recently got, somewhat, into ponds and they are a great source of entertainment.
I once was a member of BNI, (business related) and one of the members was a landscape 'expert'. I got him to give me an estimate for a 'disappearing fountain'.
His quote was about $2,300.00. I did refrain from laughing.:congratulatory:
I, finally, got around to making my own. Cost? About $125.00.