Digging a small in ground pond (obviously) anyone put one in before that wants to spare some knowledge? Plan so far is dig out form, layer with pea gravel then sand and place a liner on top, probably with a perimeter of cinder block to hold liner.
Try this site, they have lots of various aspects of ponds: filters, liner, fish (gets mosquitoes), plants, etc.
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Never would have thought to look there, thanks.
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If you are going to place large stones in the pond to cover the liner buy the thick cloth material that protects the liner. I just bought a house with a koi pond and it’s losing 2” of water in a day. They did not do this and I suspect a rock punctured the liner. Now I just need to find where!
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Hi Nate,
I have a 12k gallon KOI pond and did a lot of studying on the subject. One thing I can tell you is rocks under the EPDM liner or on the liner in the pond is a no-no. Go to this site and study the proper construction methods before you dig. It will save you a lot of misery and probably dead Koi. This is a professional Koi site: http://www.koiphen.com/forums/ and has lots to tell about pond building. I don’t know how big you plan to build, but there are a lot of things to consider. Small is a relative term. Too small and too shallow, you are just going to feed expensive fish to the local wildlife. If it is going to be small and shallow, save money and put Goldfish in it. Good luck.
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Yeah we’d read about putting carpet a couple different sources I guess that’s the poor man version
Hey thanks, I’ll check it out, greatly appreciate the resource
these are lessons that my dad learned while digging his pond
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if there a large number of trees in the area, dig the form about 6 inches or so bigger than you need to, to lessen the possiblility or roots growing through the liner
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plan out where any plumbing you are going to place is going to go BEFORE you start digging
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if your are going to use large rocks in the pond, dig the sides in tiers, similar to rice farming in asia, then place a thin layer of gravel before placing the larger stones. the stone will hid the shape of the tiers, and it’s easier to place the rocks on level surfaces, then to try to make a stable slope
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also remember while transporting the stones that a) you will always need more than you think, and b) the stones are all heavier than you think, especially the gravel
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You can use an old garden or soaker hose to lay out the outlines of an irregularly shaped pond to help with visualization. Spray spraypaint over the hose to mark the outline, then start digging.
In Texas, deeper is better, especially for fish. Shade/cover is also good (overhead trees, lily pads, rocks placed to create underwater ledges/grottoes, etc.)
An old piece of linoleum or laminate countertop can help slip and slide heavier stones across the liner and into position without making holes.
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Check local codes for fencing requirements. It might be considered the same as a swimming pool.
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Thanks everyone for all the info, it is really appreciated!
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I meant to ask, by no rocks are you saying the pea gravel under sand is a bad idea? Also would love to see some pictures of your pond, sounds like you put a lot of work into it
Also if you pet or other pets can get to it they may use it to cool off on a hot day
I had a small one in my front yard and all the stray dogs used it for the purpose
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I have a small (200ish gallon) goldfish pond on my patio I put in a few years ago.
I would definitely buy an underlay to put between your sand and liner. There are roots around and under my pond, and I have had 0 issues with leaks using the underlay. As a poorman’s solution, news paper will keep small roots and stuff from becoming a problem. 10 layers or so does a decent job.
If you have any questions as you get into it, please let me know. Its a learning process and addictive. I am planning on expanding my pond to about 500 gallons in another year or so.
You shouldn’t have any rocks touching the liner below your water level. under it or over it. Just a thick layer of sand below it. Trust me, you don’t want to be looking for leaks after you finish. Rocks in the pond also make it very difficult to clean. If you need hiding places for the fish, use PVC pipes, etc. Don’t worry about color, anything you put in the pond will quickly become green, algae green, (-; which the fish love to eat.
With that said, above the water level rocks make nice decoration and can be used to cover up the edges of the liner.
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Not really an update on progress more of a follow up question. Roots running through the dig area, I keep getting split information like on here, some people had no problem with them others say dig out more space. Also reading through that koiphen forum I don’t think I found any mention of them, granted it’s not optimized for use on mobile browser so I need to check on an actual computer. Any general consensus here? Only thing we really could think of was getting limb tar to put on them
what kind of roots are they? big thick tree roots? or small shrub roots? because you’ll want to watch out for the tree roots, they tend to wreck things like concrete, wood, pond liners, etc.
I’ve been wanting to make a pond as well but above it and around it I want a garden … why not have both?
Aquaponics can be done pretty easily if that is something you are interested in as well.
Weird rubber ones that spark when I try to cut them. Joking, joking. I’m pretty sure they are shrubs, there’s maybe one tree root but it’s on the outside edge and curving away from the pond area.