Author Topic: I've learned how much work it takes to set up a fish pond...  (Read 920 times)

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Offline Sir GuitarCozmo

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I've learned how much work it takes to set up a fish pond...
« on: August 26, 2016, 12:58:32 PM »
So we moved to our current house in 2011. One of the many awesome things about the property (or so we thought at the time) was the fact that there was a nice sized fish pond in the middle of the circular driveway behind the house. LOTS of goldfish and a couple of channel cats. Had to learn about basic winter maintenance and such, but otherwise as long as they were fed, they took care of themselves.

We hooked up with some local guys who know EVERYTHING there is to know about ponds, fish, the physics of water flow, etc. They did some cleanings to get a lot of the YEARS of muck out and have been very knowledgeable and helpful. A couple years ago, I started to notice that there was clearly a leak somewhere. Over a long time, the hill where the biofalls sat had noticeably shrunken due to erosion from a leak. By early this year, we'd lose several inches of water in 2-3 days, enough that the pump would suck air and we'd have to add more water.

So I purchased a new liner and felt overlay and set about the seemingly insurmountable task of tearing the ENTIRE pond apart so a new liner could be installed. Mrs. C's brother came over said "Let's do this" and within a day, we had moved fish to a holding pool, removed all the water, removed ALL of the plants (and it was a JUNGLE in there, so much so that the entire perimeter of the pond had vegetation that grew several feet above the water and fell over on itself), placed as many plants as possible in holding pools, and removed every BIT of rock. Big flat slabs of rock, bucket after bucket of river stone with sludgy gravel mixed in. Making it harder is that most of the plants were NOT in planters. The roots had grown through a lot of the rocks in the pond, making it MORE difficult to get out.

Finally, it was all clear of everything and I got my pond guys to come install the liner and felt. Installed it over top of the old liner. Great. Then the reconstruction. This is what the pond looked like after the liner and felt install:





For reference, that's about a 15' x 20' piece of liner. The pond, when all put back together right, has about a 1,500 gallon capacity.

So all three of her brothers came over one Saturday and started helping move ALL of the rock back into the pond. We're talking well over a ton of rock was moved by hand. The finished result before refilling it:





The next day, we put plants in pots, situated them around the pond, and refilled it:





The amount of work and (literal) blood, sweat, and tears that have gone into this are beyond anything I would ever want to try to do again. This was ridiculously difficult, but the end result looks great. I can't even begin to explain how much I have learned from my pond guys about pond maintenance, fish care, etc. As the reflection in the last picture shows, there's a big pergola overhead. I have a 14' x 14' shade sail coming to lay across the top and anchor down 1) to help provide shade from the sun to cut down on algae and 2) to make it slightly harder for the resident egrets and blue herons in the area to see them.

Our other option was to give the fish away and fill it in. I'm glad we didn't.

Offline bosk1

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Re: I've learned how much work it takes to set up a fish pond...
« Reply #1 on: August 26, 2016, 01:03:35 PM »
That's really cool.  I would love to build something like that, but there is not way I'm ever going to build something like that.  :lol
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Re: I've learned how much work it takes to set up a fish pond...
« Reply #2 on: August 26, 2016, 01:05:21 PM »
No fish would give me that much pleasure to go through that.  Kudos to you Coz.  I wouldn't have the patience to do what you did.
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Offline Sir GuitarCozmo

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Re: I've learned how much work it takes to set up a fish pond...
« Reply #3 on: August 26, 2016, 01:11:30 PM »
The satisfaction I feel at having conquered this thing is amazing.  It has been brutal.  Especially trying to get around on the liner before it was filled.  I slipped and fell on the old liner and cut my elbow open.  Got a nice mix of mud, algae, and fish muck in it.  Tasty.  Then slipped again on the new liner and bonked my head.  The days we moved all the rock and shit out and when we moved it all back in, were two of the most exhausting days of my life, I believe.

The old owners found a random guy to dig all this out and build it for them.  When we got into the work of tearing out all out to replace the liner, I kept relaying things to my pond guys, regarding how rocks and other things were laid out and how the pond had been set up and they made it quite clear that whoever had done this initially clearly didn't do this professionally, as they'd done a number of things that were just outright bad ideas.  To say this has been on hell of a frustrating undertaking would be a huge understatement.

My pond guys (two of them) have their own company and do big, big jobs and are about the only guys in the area that do this kind of work, and have been really awesome to work with and willing to chat whenever, to offer advice.

Offline cramx3

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Re: I've learned how much work it takes to set up a fish pond...
« Reply #4 on: August 26, 2016, 02:19:00 PM »
That is AWESOME

I love fish tanks and had a pond in front of my house as a kid.  Never really thought about the work it takes/took to build a pond, but certainly looks like a lot.  It looks like it came out awesome.  I would be throwing koi fish in that bad boy and let them grow.  Good work Coz very cool  :metal

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Re: I've learned how much work it takes to set up a fish pond...
« Reply #5 on: August 26, 2016, 03:28:11 PM »
Coz, are you going to leave the fish in the pond for the winter?

The Lovely Mrs TAC built a small one in our back yard a few years ago. For a few years we brought the fish in for the winter. A few times, they actually survived being frozen and unfrozen.

My only advice...don't spend a fortune on the fish. Between the elements and wild animals, ours never lasted very long.
would have thought the same thing but seeing the OP was TAC i immediately thought Maiden or DT related
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Offline Dublagent66

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Re: I've learned how much work it takes to set up a fish pond...
« Reply #6 on: August 26, 2016, 04:24:56 PM »
Coz, you rock as usual.  :2metal:
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Offline Sir GuitarCozmo

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Re: I've learned how much work it takes to set up a fish pond...
« Reply #7 on: August 26, 2016, 07:54:11 PM »
Thanks guys!

Coz, are you going to leave the fish in the pond for the winter?

Yep.  We have a surface heater that keeps a hole in the ice as well as two aerators that will run throughout the winter to keep water moving, since we won't be running the waterfall.  The surface may freeze over, but as long as there are holes for gas to escape, they'll survive just fine.  Also, we have a black net that we keep fairly low over the pond to keep critters out.  It's worked well so far.

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Re: I've learned how much work it takes to set up a fish pond...
« Reply #8 on: August 26, 2016, 07:55:22 PM »
Awesome! Who's idea was this?
would have thought the same thing but seeing the OP was TAC i immediately thought Maiden or DT related
Winger Theater Forums........or WTF.  ;D
TAC got a higher score than me in the electronic round? Honestly, can I just drop out now? :lol

Offline Sir GuitarCozmo

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Re: I've learned how much work it takes to set up a fish pond...
« Reply #9 on: August 26, 2016, 07:56:38 PM »
Well, as noted, the fish pond was already there when we moved in.  My nightmare has been the fact that it has been leaking SOMEWHERE for quite some time now, so we decided to take it apart, FIX it for good, and reconstruct it the right way.

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Re: I've learned how much work it takes to set up a fish pond...
« Reply #10 on: August 26, 2016, 08:02:49 PM »
Yeah, it looks great, man.
would have thought the same thing but seeing the OP was TAC i immediately thought Maiden or DT related
Winger Theater Forums........or WTF.  ;D
TAC got a higher score than me in the electronic round? Honestly, can I just drop out now? :lol

Offline gmillerdrake

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Re: I've learned how much work it takes to set up a fish pond...
« Reply #11 on: August 26, 2016, 09:19:39 PM »
Really cool. Well done also, it looks great.
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