My HUGE Native Garden Pond

What's that blue line dividing the two ponds? And how are you planning to dig that out? I dug my pond out with a shovel and a wheelbarrow, and I highly recommend not doing that. Rent a bulldozer or hire someone, it's worth your money.

The blue line is a screen full of filter floss, and as for digging, my dad owns a construction company, so I won't have a problem getting a back hoe or something like that.

Filter floss will shed filaments, and eventually will get torn, one way or another. I suggest you use something more rigid- eggcrate, plastic-coated fencing, or similar, supported with a PVC or wooden frame.. If you want the filtration possibilities of filter floss as well as a barrier, attach some open-cell foam or matala matting to the barrier.

Filter floss will shed filaments, and eventually will get torn, one way or another. I suggest you use something more rigid- eggcrate, plastic-coated fencing, or similar, supported with a PVC or wooden frame.. If you want the filtration possibilities of filter floss as well as a barrier, attach some open-cell foam or matala matting to the barrier.

Thanks for the suggestions! You've been going out of your way to answer my questions, thank you very much.

I don't think filter floss will stand up long term either. Pond filters get really dirty when they get dirty. Slime grows on and through them and it's a big mess.

The pond filter we have has bags of lava rock in it, that porous igneous rock sold in bulk at gardening centers. You can have multiple bags stacked up in a garbage can container with a low cost pump pouring water through it and just take the bags out, set them on the ground, and rinse them with the "Jet" function of the garden hose. It works great. The mounds of slime, leaves, sticks and detritus come right off.

Edit:
Oooh, I like this design. The water comes up from the bottom, which would make lifting the bags of lava rock out from the top even easier. http://www.instructa...-A-GARBAGE-CAN/

Edited by EricaWieser, 18 December 2010 - 12:47 AM.

I don't think filter floss will stand up long term either. Pond filters get really dirty when they get dirty. Slime grows on and through them and it's a big mess.

The pond filter we have has bags of lava rock in it, that porous igneous rock sold in bulk at gardening centers. You can have multiple bags stacked up in a garbage can container with a low cost pump pouring water through it and just take the bags out, set them on the ground, and rinse them with the "Jet" function of the garden hose. It works great. The mounds of slime, leaves, sticks and detritus come right off.

Edit:
Oooh, I like this design. The water comes up from the bottom, which would make lifting the bags of lava rock out from the top even easier. http://www.instructa...-A-GARBAGE-CAN/

Ok, thanks, sounds awesome, but don't lava rocks leach "stuff"?

Not that I know of. Certainly there are a wide variety of different minerals that might be sold as "lava rock," and I have heard that concern expressed before, but I don't think it's a real concern.

I have a 75 gallon tank that uses lava rock in a sump as its only filtration and it hasn't had any problems even in a completely closed system.

I also don't think filter floss is needed in that barrier. You have much more than enough filtration built in already, and you're just making more work for yourself and adding junk to the pond by trying to add more material in the center.

Not that I know of. Certainly there are a wide variety of different minerals that might be sold as "lava rock," and I have heard that concern expressed before, but I don't think it's a real concern.

I have a 75 gallon tank that uses lava rock in a sump as its only filtration and it hasn't had any problems even in a completely closed system.

I also don't think filter floss is needed in that barrier. You have much more than enough filtration built in already, and you're just making more work for yourself and adding junk to the pond by trying to add more material in the center.

Ok, thank you. So, for the lava rock, should I put it in the spillway?

That's probably best. If you're hoping to use it for filtration, you'll want it where the water will flow through it.

That's probably best. If you're hoping to use it for filtration, you'll want it where the water will flow through it.

Ok, thanks.

4. I plan on having many caves and I will also get a fake Heron (Whether they work or not, they still look nice!) so I feel that should be adequete, should I notice missing fish I will step up my safety precautions.

After losing some rather expensive goldfish to a heron, my dad made an egret 'decoy'. It looked pretty good and we didn't lose any more goldfish.

There will be rock formations and the like that will block of some of the water flow to make it like a slackwater area. Any ideas for mosquito control OTHER than Gambusia?

Fathead/rosy red minnows? They can definitely live in a frozen pond and I'm sure they would eat mosquito larvae. You may have to replace them frequently if you don't feed your predators well. They are yummy.

Well, my dad owns a construction company, so I won't have a hard time getting a back hoe or something. Also, the pond won't freeze solid because it will be 6 feet deep and I will also have a de-icer running all winter.

How cold does it get up there? Here in MD, during February, it gets down into the 15* area (brr for us) and our pond freezes a good 1-2 feet.

After losing some rather expensive goldfish to a heron, my dad made an egret 'decoy'. It looked pretty good and we didn't lose any more goldfish.


Fathead/rosy red minnows? They can definitely live in a frozen pond and I'm sure they would eat mosquito larvae. You may have to replace them frequently if you don't feed your predators well. They are yummy.


How cold does it get up there? Here in MD, during February, it gets down into the 15* area (brr for us) and our pond freezes a good 1-2 feet.

The coldest it's been is -40* (including windchill) in my lifetime, but that's pretty rare.

The coldest it's been is -40* (including windchill) in my lifetime, but that's pretty rare.

Oh my goodness that's cold.

The grass pike and bass are gonna eat everything else, no way to keep the darters and madtome from finding a way thru ANY barrier between ponds, trust me...I build these for a living and have kept almost every native fish in north america in captivity...and grasspike will not eat anything but live food by the way,,,sometimes bass will eat prepered foods, but tnot usually. Hit me up if yopu have any questions and I'll tell you about my saltwater pond I just made!

That folyer floss is gonna cause an overflow/flood...its gonna act like a dam....just use "egg crate " from lowes/home depot....if you want a community of fish, dont put in large predators.

Here you go...

Here you go...

Thanks a lot! Very neat concept! Do you think this would still wok well with a very large bacwater section? Like 20 X 10 feet? Should it stretch away from the faster channel or would it be fine going along it?

Thanks a lot! Very neat concept! Do you think this would still wok well with a very large bacwater section? Like 20 X 10 feet? Should it stretch away from the faster channel or would it be fine going along it?

it can work the same in a rectangle shapre

it can work the same in a rectangle shapre

Okay, thanks again!

Hey, so I know that this thread is nearly 2 years old, but I've finally began work on it! The plans have changed a lot, and it now consist of one triangular pond that drops into a stream about 5 feet wide that runs for about 30 feet. Due to a gradual slope in our yard there will likely be 3 drops along the course of this stream. That makes for 4 pond. Now, I want to use these ponds for fish breeding, and want some suggestion for how to stock them best for this. Here's the fish I'd like to focus on:

Northern Longear Sunfish
Orangespotted Sunfish
Grass Pickerel
Various Darters

Thanks for your help!

Okay, I know it's been a while, but I finally have an update! The pond has been poured, and now we're going to fill it partially to hold it down through winter, drain it out, paint it with a sealer, then we can fill it up and we're ready to go! Now, here's some pictures!

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Here's a picture of the whole pond. I highlighted a few areas in paint to make it easier to see a few different things. First, the blue lines are little slits where we'll be able to insert dividers, splitting up the pond. The dividers will have spillways allowing water to flow over the top. The purple is a rough idea of the piping. The drain at the bottom has a coupling inside where I can attach a stand pipe. That will be the primary intake for the pump and filtration system. The higher pipe on the left wall that's closest to us will be a place we can attach a skimmer in the warmer months, but it will be sealed during the coller months so that we can keep the pumps running years round. Then, the two pipes on the back wall are the constant circulation outflow of the pumps. One of the will have a spraybar going across closer to the surface, the other will have a spraybar going across near the bottom. There's also a pint in there where we'll have a seperate pump on a timer that will send water to a waterfall that will be on that 45 degree wall.

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Here's a better view of the intakes.

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Here's a closer view of that 45 degree wall.

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Here's a better view of the slits where the dividers will go.

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This will give you a sense of scale. The thing in the middle is my dad's size 11 shoe.

Well, that's where we're at for this year! Can't wait to hear what you guys think!