Habitat - Outdoor :: how to build a pond

[turtle guy]

ive been wanting to build a pond in my backyard but dont know how. if you know how please tell and if you could the overall cost would be?

[rsour24]

ive built my fair share of ponds. and they can range from "cheap" to insane. i say "cheap" because it rly isnt cheap. the cheapest pond i built probably cost around 400$. when building a pond you have to think about what you want in it. pretty much everything is gonna need sunlight at some point throughout the day. if you are allowing anything to hibernate in it it will need to be at least 3 feet deep at the deepest point. you also have to think if u want a preformed pond or make one with a liner. u need to think about filtrartion, electricity for the pump, aesthetics. ill dumb down the instructions as much as i can

1. dig the pond
2. put in the preliner
3. put in the pond liner(do not use pvc, use EPDM liner)
4. fill with water
5. weigh down edges

[Marcus.85]

What rsour said. My personal opinions: I don't think building a pond is that difficult or expensive. You can get away with it with a small amount of money if you're lucky and resourceful. There's a guy on youtube who made a huge one all by itself in a day or two. Most of the materials you can steal/pick up in nature(rocks, plants, fish) or buy used (pump and filter).
If only I had a decent amount of free space in my garden/yard I'd start building one tomorrow.

[jozzep]

ive been wanting to build a pond in my backyard but dont know how. if you know how please tell and if you could the overall cost would be?

Just like anything, there is no set price. All depends on how you want it.
Google is your friend. Start doing some research, and crunch some numbers.

[RR38]

While I agree with what rsour said, its not that easy. If you want it to stay clean and healthy, you are going to need a skimmer, a filter for any pond, and a bottom drain for anything over 3 feet deep. Also you will need PVC pipe for the plumbing for the skimmer and filter. Easypro makes kits that while are expensive save alot of hassle. How big of a pond do you want? I am planning a 12'X10'X4' pond. Its going to cost me about 5,000 dollars. I am also gonna put in a skippy filter. They can filter alot of water, but are basically maintance free. That includes pond kit, bottom drain, plumbing, and the fencing to keep the turtles in. Here iss a link to the place I buy all of my pond stuff. http://www.pondandfountainworld.com/ and here is how to build a skippy filter http://www.skippysstuff.com/biofiltr.htm

[rsour24]

RR38- you are building more of a top of the line type pond. he doesnt need to go as extreme as you are. there is no need to a bottom drain if he can pump out the water. and as long as he gets a big enough pump filtration should be fine. although he will have to clean much more frequent

[RR38]

RR38- you are building more of a top of the line type pond. he doesnt need to go as extreme as you are. there is no need to a bottom drain if he can pump out the water. and as long as he gets a big enough pump filtration should be fine. although he will have to clean much more frequent

I dont want to start anything rsour, but I gave him advice on how to build a pond that would need minimal cleaning. If he wants a pond that is going to look pretty and isint going to be a huge headache, he should spend the money and do it right. If he wants something that will need cleaning monthly, and I mean a complete change, then he should go your way.

[Marcus.85]

I dont want to start anything rsour, but I gave him advice on how to build a pond that would need minimal cleaning. If he wants a pond that is going to look pretty and isint going to be a huge headache, he should spend the money and do it right. If he wants something that will need cleaning monthly, and I mean a complete change, then he should go your way.

I don't have any experience in ponds or pond-building, but why the monthly complete water change? Does it get that dirty?

[RR38]

I dont want to start anything rsour, but I gave him advice on how to build a pond that would need minimal cleaning. If he wants a pond that is going to look pretty and isint going to be a huge headache, he should spend the money and do it right. If he wants something that will need cleaning monthly, and I mean a complete change, then he should go your way.

I don't have any experience in ponds or pond-building, but why the monthly complete water change? Does it get that dirty?

Yes it can get that dirty. Think of it like this, ponds are basically huge versions of your aquarium you have your turtle (or turtles if your like me) in. If you dont provide enough filtration, what happens? The tank gets dirty. So you have to change the water and clean everything much more often than if you have the proper filtration in place. A skimmer and a filter of the right size will help keep ponds 3' deep and shallower clean. Anything over 3' deep needs a bottom drain to help keep the gunk that accumualtes on the bottom of the pond clean. The bottom drain sucks the nasty gunk into the skimmer, where you can easily clean it out. The skimmer will also help keep the leaves and other stuff off of the surface of the pond. As for filters, unless you want to spend thousands of dollars on a good pond filter, the best (and cheapest) route IMO is a skippy filter. The only drawback to skippy filters is you can only use them up to a certain size pond. Once you get aboue 9 or 10 thousand gallons (which is a huge pond) you need to look at other options for a filter. I linked a site on how to make a skippy in a earlier post in this topic.

[Marcus.85]

[Yes it can get that dirty. Think of it like this, ponds are basically huge versions of your aquarium you have your turtle (or turtles if your like me) in. If you dont provide enough filtration, what happens? The tank gets dirty. So you have to change the water and clean everything much more often than if you have the proper filtration in place. A skimmer and a filter of the right size will help keep ponds 3' deep and shallower clean. Anything over 3' deep needs a bottom drain to help keep the gunk that accumualtes on the bottom of the pond clean. The bottom drain sucks the nasty gunk into the skimmer, where you can easily clean it out. The skimmer will also help keep the leaves and other stuff off of the surface of the pond. As for filters, unless you want to spend thousands of dollars on a good pond filter, the best (and cheapest) route IMO is a skippy filter. The only drawback to skippy filters is you can only use them up to a certain size pond. Once you get aboue 9 or 10 thousand gallons (which is a huge pond) you need to look at other options for a filter. I linked a site on how to make a skippy in a earlier post in this topic.

Thanks. Plus, now that i think of it, a pond can easily be overtaken by algae, since it's hit by sunlight, which his their favorite.
Is it possible to have a pond without any filtration? I guess it would have to be huge, more like a small lake, in order to keep the water condition in balance.

[RR38]

[Yes it can get that dirty. Think of it like this, ponds are basically huge versions of your aquarium you have your turtle (or turtles if your like me) in. If you dont provide enough filtration, what happens? The tank gets dirty. So you have to change the water and clean everything much more often than if you have the proper filtration in place. A skimmer and a filter of the right size will help keep ponds 3' deep and shallower clean. Anything over 3' deep needs a bottom drain to help keep the gunk that accumualtes on the bottom of the pond clean. The bottom drain sucks the nasty gunk into the skimmer, where you can easily clean it out. The skimmer will also help keep the leaves and other stuff off of the surface of the pond. As for filters, unless you want to spend thousands of dollars on a good pond filter, the best (and cheapest) route IMO is a skippy filter. The only drawback to skippy filters is you can only use them up to a certain size pond. Once you get aboue 9 or 10 thousand gallons (which is a huge pond) you need to look at other options for a filter. I linked a site on how to make a skippy in a earlier post in this topic.

Thanks. Plus, now that i think of it, a pond can easily be overtaken by algae, since it's hit by sunlight, which his their favorite.
Is it possible to have a pond without any filtration? I guess it would have to be huge, more like a small lake, in order to keep the water condition in balance.

It would be possible if you went the "natural" pond route with no liner or anything. Then you would basically just have a normal pond. Although it might be hard to do unless you built a pretty good size pond. In nature there are critters that eat everything. We cant recreate nature very well in a lined pond.