A Request

[fishme]

Some of you folks that have ponds, could you post the details of how you did it and what you keep in it? I know JD and Reagan use the pond for SA/CA types. I'm interested in the details of how to set one up.

[jgentry]

It will depend on how big you want and how complex you want the water fall and filtration. Essentially all you need is electricity and a place to dig a hole.

You have 2 reall choices on how to go from there.

You can buy a premade liner with a simple box filter with a little preshaped waterfall or just make a little fountain in the middle. All you do is dig the hole to fit the liner. Get the liner seated in the hole well and hook up your pump and you are done. These little ponds are usually only a 100-300g at most.

You can also buy a piece of flexable liner and dig the pond however you want it. This is good for larger ponds and odd shapes. With larger ponds you will want to have someone come with a backhoe or rent a small trackhoe to dig the pond. You can make larger waterfalls and even little streams that return back to the pond. These take a lot more money and time planning. You generally have an overflow on one side that the water drains to. It will pretty much skim the top and the water goes to your filter and is pumped to you waterfall, stream, fountain, etc depending upon what you want.

My pond is a small premade liner with a small waterfall. My parents dug a much larger pond and I got the handme down that used to be there pond. I keep a couple medium sized lillies, arrohead, and a few other plants in it. I move most of my Uruguay fish to it early ever spring and bring them back in when the water starts dropping below 50 in the fall.

[fishme]

Thanks, JD. Is the waterfall necessary because it agitates the water or is it strictly for beauty? Also, if you dig the hole and get the pre-made liner, is there an optimum depth for the hole? If I even did something like this, it would strictly be to keep some cichlids in when the weather permitted, and I wouldn't want to spend a lot of money.

It's probably too late in the season to even fool with it now I'd think.