My mom wants a pond

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icefreeze57

Gambusia
MFK Member
Dec 7, 2011
248
0
16
New Jersey
Hey all,

So I was talking today about relocating my goldfish (in the future) to a pond, and today she saw our friends house which has a really nice koi pond out back. So she asked me (the fish guy in the family) if we can put one in the back yard. I'm home all summer for break so I have a lot of time.

Keep in mind any pond I go with will be cold water so koi and goldfish

So anyway, she was telling me about "pond kits" or something that I can buy at Lowes are a few hundred bucks (like around $200). If I go this route what else would I really need? And how hard are they to install?

I was also thinking about buying a small kiddie pool (some of them are like 500+ gallons, dont think I really need that, thats just a lot of water and more expensive equipment I need later). Digging a hole, putting it in there, then buying a filter. Not sure if I need a heater, it does snow here sometimes, I live in New Jersey. Not really sure what else I need for a coldwater tank/pond then the actual tank/pond and a filter, but let me know. (I assume I need some kind of lining and maybe a net over top so nothing gets at the fish.

IS there any other common methods of a DIY pond that I can try?

And if my mom wants a waterfall or something, how easy is it add something like that afterwards?

thanks all
-ice
 
The kits from the big box stores are really not optimal for koi, Koi get large and produce a lot of waste. You are looking at at least 250 gallons per koi unless you are really on top of your water quality. It is a good idea to use 3" or 4" bottom drains run to a settling chamber and then to your bio filter, that way you remove most of the solids befor your bio filter. So if you can stick with gold fish that would be best.

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I would dig a 2foot hole in the ground, in the shape you want it and line the outside in cinderblocks another foot high and get pondliner


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Listen to moneypit; he definitely knows what he's doing as is evidenced by his koi pond.

Even if you don't get koi, still install a bottom drain that has a settling tank before the biological filter; it gets really annoying when you have to clean the filter every few days when using a standard filter. A UV sterilizer is also a good idea for countering the algae if the pond will get a decent amount of sun.
 
Yes a bottom drain and settling chamber are very good advice. But before you go any further I would suggest getting in touch with a local koi club. They can show you local ponds and give you ideas about your own pond build,plus answer many of your questions.
 
thanks guys

I dont really understand what you mean by settling chamber at the bottom of the pond. I assume its some kind of section of the pond that would "catch" and contain "solids" before the water goes into the filter...

Can't I just dig the filter into a lower area and on top of it put some kind of metal sheet with slits that would "catch" things (and protect the filter). Not really sure how I would clean that though....

I'm a little confused lol.

Anyone have good diagrams of this?
 
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