DIY Pond?

[aidensmomma2000]

I really want a pond for our new house, but don't want to spend much. Im thinking it can't be too hard to do it myself vs. buying a kit. I know you can buy the liner, but I have no idea how much that would be. I'd like to do 50g+

Thanks for your input!

[PaleoFishGirl]

You can get the liner by the square foot at most garden centres, but they are quite pricy.  There must be alternative sources somewhere - when I built my mom's pond, we bought ~160 square feet of heavy duty rubber liner (5mm thick) from an oilfield supply company for $100... but that was in Alberta :S

[gvv]

Just don't use the pre-formed ponds! I made this mistake and I would not do it again.

[Mettle]

Are you wanting this to be in-ground?

[Seanc]

I made one, took about 2 days to dig the whole and put the lining in and everything. a couple things i sujest you do is don't make it to deep, make sure their are no wrincles or folds in the plastick. This can make it dificult to find/catch the fish in the winter. also make levels for the plants, and a waterfall  they nake it soooo nuch cooler

[aidensmomma2000]

Yup, in ground.

I dont know how much liner is.
I saw a 4x6 liner on ebay for 10$ USD, plus 20ish for shipping.
I dont know how many sqft to buy because i dont know how many gallons I'll get out of it!


Does walmart sell the preformed liners? I cant remember.

[Nerine]

I bought all my pond supplies from Rona...even my above ground pond supplies are from rona. It took 4 summers to perfect the outdoor pond haha went from being maybe 100 gallons to 4000 gallons it's a horrible addiction. Took only a day to dig with 4 of us working all day and then a day to line with sand and place everything.
there has to be a calculator that tells you how many sq ft to use

[PaleoFishGirl]

It took 4 summers to perfect the outdoor pond haha went from being maybe 100 gallons to 4000 gallons it's a horrible addiction.

Tell me about it - I built one a couple of summers ago that just wasn't big enough, so we had a friend bring over a little CAT with a backhoe and dig out a much larger, tiered pit in the back yard.  It's around the 4000 gallon mark I think... but who knows what will happen this summer  :wink:

Here's a liner size calculator, does some different shapes:
http://www.geocheminc.com/pondlinercalc.htm

[neon]

I bought a kit last summer at Make It Green garden centre, it came with the liner, pump, everything I needed.  Its about 90 gallons.  cost about $200.00

[gvv]

I made one, took about 2 days to dig the whole and put the lining in and everything...

You are lucky guys! I had so many huge rocks that it took me not one week to dig a hole for the pond, even it is only 180G and 24" deep.

Good luck!

[squeeker]

Nerine, do you have pics of your above-ground pond?

[Nerine]

haha paleofish...I know the feeling...I think this summer our inground is going to expand we want to wrap it around the house...sorta like a moat hahahaha who knows!!

squeeker - no I dont I should it's just your very basic wooden box hehe nothing fancy! box, liner, and loads of plants!

[groan]

I did some research on this before i decided to not do it. Aparently you can use roof liner as a liner...
45 mil EPDM roofing liners. Apparently they're usually about half of the "pond" liners and the exact same material (EPDM).

The only thing is to make sure it is not the treated kind.

[Mettle]

My only suggestion is not to build it too close to the foundation of the house... I don't have any big reasons for it. That's just my paranoia kicking it.

[groan]

Also keep in mind the depth,
If it can fill with more than 24 inches of water you now have a pool and need to get a permit and meet security prerequisits.

best to keep it under 2 feet deep.

[gvv]

Also keep in mind the depth,
If it can fill with more than 24 inches of water you now have a pool and need to get a permit and meet security prerequisits.

best to keep it under 2 feet deep.

But if less than 30", you cannot leave fish in pond for winter...

[Seanc]

yeah not a nice site. we couldent catch one fish one year, in soring, a wite dead fish flowted to the top, and just as luck might have it, mmy little sister was the one to find it first

[PaleoFishGirl]

haha paleofish...I know the feeling...I think this summer our inground is going to expand we want to wrap it around the house...sorta like a moat hahahaha who knows!!

That sounds tres cool! I have a friend who designs and builds ponds for a living (owns his own 'rare fish' store too)... he put one in right next to his house and it didn't even freeze over in the winter (deep enough and had residual warmth from the house).

[dannypd]

haha paleofish...I know the feeling...I think this summer our inground is going to expand we want to wrap it around the house...sorta like a moat hahahaha who knows!!

That sounds tres cool! I have a friend who designs and builds ponds for a living (owns his own 'rare fish' store too)... he put one in right next to his house and it didn't even freeze over in the winter (deep enough and had residual warmth from the house).

I wrapped piping around my heat pipes leaving my house and had that pumped into the tank.  I figured the heat was only going to be sent out of my chimney, so I "tapped" it and used it as a free heater.....very efficient I say!  Kept my pond completely thawed, and it was 13ft from my house.  the only issue was power outtages..