First outdoor pond started...

[Conner]

Looking good! I look forward to seeing this all put together.

I'm getting excited too. The other liner, pump, and skimmer should be showing up tomorrow or Friday. I still have a little digging to do, but it shouldn't take more than an hour or two to get everything dug out. Once that's done, my friend that helped dig before will help me get the pond liners stretched out and in place, and then I'll work on positioning the skimmer. Then its on to plumbing.

Deck looks great, its all coming together nicely.

Sunfish are a great choice and will learn to eat out of your hand if caught small enough.

Yah, the sunfish eat just about anything I toss in their tank, which is nice, even flake food! I'm hoping to pick up a bunch more once the pond is ready for them.

 

[Conner]

The pond liner and pump showed up today . I never realized just how heavy pond liners are... this thing weighs a ton! And the pond pump is ginormous! I expected something about half the size of what it actually is... Hopefully it will still fit in the sump, though it should.

I'm expecting the pump to show up tomorrow, so if everything goes well, the pond and bog should be lined, and possibly the plumbing done this weekend! I may even get a test fill done, although only if i finish really early.

 

[Conner]

Finished digging the pond, got the liner in, and got the skimmer installed! The pond is now half-full, waiting on the silicone around the skimmer opening to cure. I'll probably give it a full 72 hours to cure before filling the pond any further. Also I still need to dig out the bog and put the liner in it. I did buy all the plumbing I'll need, so as soon as the bog is ready, I can hook up the plumbing.

I went with 1.5 inch hose and pvc pipes. My pump is 3500gph. Is this a good size? My only options were 1" and 1.5". I'm using 1" with my 1200gph pump inside, so I figured I'd better go larger so as not to restrict the flow.

The liner is MUCH bigger than I thought it would be, I probably could have made the pond several feet larger in every direction and still have had extra liner... oh well . I guess I can always expand later if I want to, right?

I'm going to wait until the pond is completely full and running before I take measurements to figure out the actual number of gallons.

I also have to figure out how I'm going to landscape around the pond. I'm gonna have turtles, so I think I need some kind of wall or fence to keep them from wandering off. I may use landscape wall stones to build a low (12-16") wall around the entire pond, and then do either mulch or small pea gravel, with lots of nice little plants planted throughout.

Anywho, here's some pics:

 

[Alexxxxsv14]

looks good

 

[Muske]

Is it sloped or did you put in shelves?

Shelves make for nice steps when getting out of the pond.

Extra liner, like the strip along edge away from the deck, make for nice streams down the road....

 

[ScoobyRacing03]

Looks great, I'll have to come see it in person when you get it all finished

 

[Conner]

Is it sloped or did you put in shelves?

Shelves make for nice steps when getting out of the pond.

Extra liner, like the strip along edge away from the deck, make for nice streams down the road....

The end of the pond opposite the skimmer has a ramp leading up from the bottom right up to the top. I need to dig it out a little better, but that will be the best way out. The bottom is all going to be 3' deep, except for about 30 sq ft right in front of the skimmer, which is dug down another foot or so. This will be a nice deep spot that will be shady most of the day, and stay nice and cool.

I'm thinking about NOT cutting the liner, just in case I decide to expand the pond in the future, or maybe take it with me if/when I move and make a bigger pond at the new place...

Looks great, I'll have to come see it in person when you get it all finished

Definitely! I'm hoping to have it running next weekend, with fish in it after another week or two. I have to wait to put the turtle in until I get some landscaping done around the edges to keep her from wandering off.

 

[The1and only]

looking at how much liner you have left I would dig it bigger out towards the tree. It can't hurt anything to have the largest water volume as possible.

 

[ceeej31]

this pond is going to look fantastic when done, i really like the deck too

 

[Conner]

looking at how much liner you have left I would dig it bigger out towards the tree. It can't hurt anything to have the largest water volume as possible.

The problem with digging towards the tree is the number of roots we run into. I also don't want to get too close, as cutting that many roots on one side could destabilize the tree some.

The roots we had to go through was the one thing that really slowed this pond down. It was literally a spiderweb of roots at about 12" depth. Everything from little 1/4" roots the shovels went through with no problem, up to 4-5" thick roots that took an axe several hits to get through.

If I expand the pond at all, it will be along the face of the deck, away from the skimmer. That's where most of the extra liner is, and also further away from the biggest concentration of roots. I am actually contemplating that right now, whether I want to expand that way somewhat.

Another thing, I want to add some substrate to at least part of the bottom of the pond. What do you guys suggest? Sand, small (3/8-1/2") pea gravel, or larger (1-2") pea gravel?