thinking about building a big pond need help!

[sniggir]

well not to big, it would be a diamond shape 4 sides with I guess it would be like 5.5 foot front and the deepest point I would like it to be 5 feet deep and then tapper up to 2 feet at the shallow.. I would like it to be a house for my fronts in the summer.. I saw a form on a guy that did this but he lived in the states.. and his was gigantic to up most of his back yard and was 12 feet at the deepest point.. anyway any suggestiond would be great I don't want one of the prefab rubbermaid that you cand buy I woul like to try another route so as I said any suggestion fire away

[groan]

aside from getting the permit to build this, i would be concerned with temperature fluctuations. it's easier to control in a home and Koi and goldfish dont mind it so much but for Fronts, it could be a bit more difficult. what were you thinking fo doing?

when planning, go to home depot and buy the plastic liner used in roofing. it is the same thing as pond liner but does not have the name 'pond' associated with it. much cheaper as well.

I'll try to find the exact name of it. you dont want to get the one that is treated or is tar based, of course. --edit-- it was 45 or 60 mil EPDM roof liner. again make sure you are NOT buying the treated stuff! otherwise stick with actual pond liner. Super pet used to carry it as so does Home Depot.

i think it comes in narrower strips so you might need to seal them together, swhich i understand is not that difficult. I had planned out a pond for my yard a couple years ago and scrapped the idea when i decided not to do it due to a toddler running around.

[babblefish1960]

Having done a very large pond not that long ago, I would say that it is a fun venture, especially if you enjoy the work and getting dirty.

What I would suggest would be to give the Pond Clinic a call, as they came to our club with a presentation, and just to add a cinch to an interesting idea, the Pond Clinic is offering a discount to OVAS club members in various aspects of pond equipment, additionally, they have volunteer workshops that could help you decide how exactly you would want to make one for yourself.

[sniggir]

Thanx guys I will check that out for sure.. and I will check with hone depot. The area where the pond will be going is in a shaded area, so I am hoping to be able to control the temp a little more. but we shall see


Thank-you again

[normc]

Be aware if the pond is in Ottawa and maybe even rural area if it is deeper than 2 feet you have to fence it the same as a pool.

[sniggir]

wow realy.... I guess I can sue my work lol they have like a small lake and it is attached to the pool... it does mak sense tho I wouldn't want my daughters falling into the pool, thar is for sure

[rocketboy]

for the pass few years we've been having problems with a blue heron coming and eating our fish . everyone one in our area had the same problem.we tried hanging those inflatable balls that are suppose to scare off birds, didn't work the blue heron seemed to have fun pecking at it, fishing wire all across the surface of the pond, that didn't work either. now we have rope all along the perimeter and that seems to have done the trick,they will not go in unless they have enough room for and easy take off. just something to consider, i wouldn't want your fish to turn into a snack

[jdx]

I had kept tropical cichlids in my outdoor pond in summer for a few years. Cichlids can feel comfortable there for no more than 2 months, so don't expect too much from it. They won't grow much and the gain in color fades away in a few days after moved indoors. I no longer do it..

[sniggir]

K so I guess Cichlids are out... mmm any suggestions besides gold fish and koi...wel I don't mind koi but I would like to do something different so what other option do I have very open to suggestions...as I am new to this completely

[babblefish1960]

Most central American live-bearers, fairly common to see swordtails in a pond up here.

[sniggir]

cool so like guppies .. what about oscars..and things like that?

[babblefish1960]

Oscar, astronautus ocellatus, a cichlid, same problem as any other cichlid in this climate. Guppy, a live bearer from Mexico, yup, used for decades to keep mosquitos down in sawmill and papermill ponds.

[sniggir]

cool i can go with guppies and then at the end of the year.....food for my fronts 

[homestar726]

Hey Sniggir,

My coz "Rocketboy" has 2 very nice pond with a little bridge etc, etc. Send him a pm, he has a wealth of knowledge.

[sniggir]

cool I will...hey how does that rock look in the tanks?

[jdx]

If I had to keep cichlids in a pond in Ottawa again, it would have been Texas Cichlid, as it is one of the most cold hardy cichlids, can tolerate temperature below 20C. This is the only cichlid that I kept outdoors that bred in the pond.

Besides commom gold fish and Koi, I have kept very cold hardy White cloud mounain minnows with great success. They bred like crazy, I started with a dozen of them in May. Between June and July, I also kept a 18" Arowana in the pond. At the end of september, when I cleaned pond, I got close to a hundred of them survived from the Aro.

[homestar726]

They look great in the 20g, and the 29g, just waiting to find a 90g for myself, and the rest of those rocks are going in the 90g

[aroc]

I would go with convict cichlids, they are so aggressive they would probly kill the blue heron

[sniggir]

nice.... poor harnon, are convicts that aggressive? sounds like fun.....hehehe

[rocketboy]

I don't know , have you seen those things up close, there HUGE !!!!lol and scary looking too.

but yea feel free to pm me, ill try to help you out as best as i can.if i can figure out how to scan pics of our ponds  ill post them to give you an idea, as there are sooo many different styles you can do. or you can pop by and take a look.  do you know if your area is very rocky? if so that might change your plan a little, as it did for us it was just way to hard to go under 2.5 feet and make it any bigger.(unless you have a jack hammer )


Adam