1,200 - 1,500 gallon ohio pond

[Elephino]

This pond has been in my backyard for decades, but it's been filled in with dirt for at least the last 20 years.

The dirt in the pond started getting really soupy during the spring, and the dog would run through it and make a mess, so my wife and I decided to dig it up.


I dug out a small section with a shovel to see how deep it was.

I thought I was hitting bottom at about a foot down, I dug in 2 more spots and hit bottom at a foot down. So thinking it was a foot deep I decided to do it by hand.

It was really wet this spring so I just dug out the top layer, about 8". I was going to let the bottom layer dry out and come back with a flat shovel and scrape the bottom clean.

When I did this I realized I wasn't hitting bottom, when they filled the pond with dirt, they dumped a crap ton of rocks in first.

So I rented a backhoe

$100 for 4 hours, didn't need any kind of experience or training, just a 1/2 ton truck to pull it with. It was pretty fun.

Many hours later I was to the bottom of the thing.

I'd clean it and get the dirt out, then it would rain and dirt would wash back in

I dug about a 6" trench around the pond to keep dirt from washing in when it rains and put all the rocks that were in the pond, around the pond.

I have a 900 gph pump in the bottom of a 10 gallon rubbermaid container full of non-treated sponges and plastic scouring pads. It seems to be working for now, I've had 100 goldfish in it for almost a day and they are all still alive.

I'm not sure what to do next, I've never kept fish before. I was thinking of getting some crawdads, putting rocks or maybe gravel in the bottom, probably some plants.

Comments, suggestions, questions all welcome.

Dave

 

[black_monster]

first off... WELCOME TO MFK!!!

i don't really know about outdoor ponds, but there are plenty of ppl on this forum that would love to help out. i think you should've put a lot less goldfish in at first so you could cycle the pond.

 

[groovitudedude]

Yeah, be sure to cycle it with inexpensive fish. Is it generally cold or hot where you live? It looks great!

 

[Dr Joe]

Great first post!!!

So who knew there was gold in your back yard .

Funny, you did up an eons old pond and no leaks and other ponds can't make it thru the winter .

The trench is a good idea with ponds at ground level especially.

Looks like you had some good help too!

Have you calculated the volume yet?

Keep us post on the progress.
Again, GREAT work

Dr Joe

.

 

[Muske]

Welcome....

Looks good so far. Crawdads or crawfish or crayfish as I know them, might not be a great idea if you love the goldfish. They will catch some eventually, but also make good scavengers. It's a catch 22 w/them. GL and post updates.

 

[Elephino]

thanks for the replies

I found this site researching garfish. The local petstore has a florida gar, he looks so sad cooped up in that little tank. But I'm not sure they could stand the cold winter. The gold fish are just to start the tank, make sure I can keep them alive and all.

The sides slant in, they are 11' across at the top, 5' at the bottom, that's an average of 8', and I keep about 28"s of water in it.......so........actually that's only 900 gallons?
I must have screwed up when I calculated for it when I thought it was a foot deep, 10 ft. across and got 700 gallons

I have a lot of landscaping to do, not sure what to do about that alter looking thing by the tree, it's got a concrete bottom....

I do want a predator fish in there, any ideas?

 

[Dr Joe]

No, unfortunately the gar won't make it thru the winter. You could put a small pond indoors to over-winter the fish .

"I have a lot of landscaping to do, not sure what to do about that alter looking thing by the tree, it's got a concrete bottom...."

If you don't have a goat you want to offer up to the pond gods, maybe you could make it a bog as part of the filter system. Get a bunch of local cattails for filtering.

When landscaping remember you don't want plants that shed their leaves alot. Dwarf conifers can be nice, nothing with a deep root system either since it will head straight for the pond.

" I do want a predator fish in there"

Not if you want to keep the gfish (or anything else ). Otherwise you could keep bream (just can't see them very well from above) and such in there (a little small for bass, but 1 it could be done if you keep it fed well and clean).

You've uncovered a nice lttle treasure there, it should give you alot of pleasure.

Do you have any problems with critters in your area (raccoons, large birds, bratty neighborhood kids etc.)?

Dr Joe

.

 

[Elephino]

I haven't seen any large birds, or even small birds come close to the pond since it's been full of water. We do have some coons, but I haven't seen theri tracks since it was full either. When the pond was half dug out I saw their tracks all the time.

Bream looks like a cool fish. I don't care much for the goldfish, it's just something for now.

I like the cat-tail idea in the alter section. That'd be something to work on eventually.

Am I going to need plants down the road with bream?

Should I put rocks or some kind of structure for the fish on the bottom?

Thanks for any help, I seem to have a lot of questions.

 

[groovitudedude]

I haven't seen any large birds, or even small birds come close to the pond since it's been full of water. We do have some coons, but I haven't seen theri tracks since it was full either. When the pond was half dug out I saw their tracks all the time.

Any coons at all could pose a major problem. They are experts at breaking into ponds, even covered ones.

 

[Muske]

Native preds will work, but being that they are predators, and ambush hunters, they will hide or blend into the surrounding most of the time. A friend of mine has a LMB that takes pellets and market shrimp when the goldies come to feed. He is really cool around feeding time, but then he just blends into the depths. A bullhead makes a cool pondmate, but again the like to hide.