Pond suggestions?

[Conner]

Maybe set up a koi pond half way down that hill, with a bog filter set at the top of the hill? Then you can draw water from the big pond, run it to the bog for filtering/clarifying, then waterfall or stream down to the koi pond, then waterfall or stream back down to the big pond?

This would greatly increase the useful volume of water, while still allowing you to easily view the fish. You could also stock the big pond with some native fish if you wanted to, although you'd want to keep the population low so as not to overload the system with waste.

 

[5_fish_in_a_pond]

creating a lined koi pond from scratch is a better idea, it will help with water clarity. about connecting the natural pond to the koi pond- it could cause some problems. you can treat a lined pond with alge killing chemicals but you cant treat the natural one- so pumping in the pond water from the natural pond, even with the best bog filter in the world would be an uphill battle. also, if the natural pond is a low spot that gathers water, i would be afraid of runoff from either nearby farms or the neighbors' yard fertilizers. that combination of pesticides and fertilizers and possibly animal waste has the potential to kill even the heartiest of fish. if you want to clean the natural pond up a bit- go for it! but if you want a stable and healthy koi pond, keeping it self contained where you can manipulate almost all of the variables is a better idea. if you still want a waterfall- go for it! it would be a great addition to either the natural pond or the koi pond! good luck and have fun with your project!

 

[Muni]

Thanks for the input. I'm thinking of a koi pond with bog filter that are self sustained. But would use water from the pond for top offs and water changes. Seems a better option.

The nearest pesticide using farm is several miles from me. In fact he's my closest neighbor. Perks of living in the country.

 

[Muni]

What is commonly used to seal concrete for ponds? Is it bare concrete used or is there a waterproofing or sealing agent used?

 

[OldMarine]

Muni,

Thank you for sharing the pics of your pond. I have always dreamed of owning a piece of property with a natural year round pond on it or a stream running through it.

My imagination goes wild thinking about the possibilities.

Please keep us posted. I'm out here in Tacoma.

Happy ponding,

Rich

 

[CalgaryAC]

Wow, the things I could do with something like that. you are lucky

number one thing is to get air into it. if it is deep you can use some air diffusion stones, but if it is shallow 2' ish, you are best to use a fountain. but then there is the problem of wind. Where I live there is too much wind to responsibly use a fountain on small ponds.

easiest way to kill the cattails or thin them is to just cut them below the water line. they will die. up here in calgary we have a nursrey that speciallizes in natvie alberta plants, those are my favorites. 3 squar rush, arctic rush, soft stem bull rush. but you can dig them up in any ditch, people complain about introducing stuff to your pond if you do that, but chances are you will already have it, so I would not worry about it. Lillies would be really nice in there, but try to only buy local climatized ones. people up here always buy the commercial stuff from vanbloom down south, and they usually stuggle hard for a while if they survive at all.

you are a lucky person...

 

[Conner]

What is commonly used to seal concrete for ponds? Is it bare concrete used or is there a waterproofing or sealing agent used?

Didn't see this question, but easiest products to seal a concrete pond is probably Pond Armor, Pond Coat (Perma-Dri), or Blue Max. The concrete needs to be prepared with acid etching for Pond Armor though.

 

[coope12]

Looks kind of like mine when i was just starting, if you plan on getting rid of the catails thats a never ending battle the final fix against catails is water depth so dig to a depth of 3 plus feet or if you have cloudy water you could do a little less. Ideally most people want a habitat for animals so you should have some aquatic vegatation, for fry and forge fish and adventually you can introduce predator fish. Trust me if you don't think you'll want that, just do it. It's a contagious virus. I once said i'd just like a small pond. I started out with a stream fed 14x10 and ended up with a 150x50 and a max depth of 25+ft LOL.