Planning a pond, can you advise please

xxxdarlingxxx

I am hoping for some advice about a pond I would like to put into my garden please.

I am planning to put in a preformed pond liner about 1.5 m x 2 m sunk to level with surrounding lawn. I want to then cover the edge of the liner with stones, then have "ring" of border for plants, then edging stones to meet lawn.

I would like a fountain to put on when it's a nice day. I am not too fussed about fish, perhaps a couple of goldfish but no koi or anything fancy.

I have an integral garage about 12 ft from the pond edge to take a power supply from.

Any idea the rough cost to have a spark fit the required power supply ?

Does the electric supply go from the garage underground to the pond edge then the pump etc plugged in, or does the pump run to the garage and plug in there ?

Can you advise, will I need a filter and pump running all the time, what sort of electric costs is there likely to be ?

Does the pump come in for winter or can it stay out ?


Any hints most welcome, thanks

xdx

wallbash

Can only tell you what I have .

Power from garage to pond , where it then supplies pump/light /uv
My pumps have all had an integral lead, so would have dig up lawn/pump every time when replacing.

Mines a bit over 1200 gallons, The 5000L/ph pump costs £43 a year to run 24/7. And a UV light is £11 a year if you leave it on 24/7. Which i dont. Only use it when the weather warms. When its over 10°C i switch it on.

This was posted on a thread yesterday . The only thing I would add , if using a UV light , needs replacing every year at a cost of another £11

Does the pump come in for winter or can it stay out ?

I always removed pump , then became lazy , and left it in the water ...... still works.

Any hints

Grow water lilys , mine flowered last week , stunning

xxxdarlingxxx

Thank you, that's very helpful

xdx

forgotmyname

My pump runs 24/7 365. The UV light stops the water going green, I switch that off over the winter. But the bulbs need replacing yearly.

Wiring can go either way. Sockets in the garage or a feed out to the pond. Depends how much work you want to do and how easily you want to be able to remove it.

Most pumps come with very long cables. You dont mention how deep the pond will be. If its less than 3ft deep you dont want fish in there because it can freeze over the winter.

If your buying a filter, Watch the figures. When it says suitable for 10,000 gallons they mean an empty hole thats kept clean and shaded from the sunlight.

Add some plants and a few fish and some sunlight and that figure could plummet to a fraction of the big numbers they advertise.

Small pressurised filter that says 4500litres may need cleaning daily if you have fish. But cleaning daily will kill the bacteria required to help breakdown the waste.

cyclonebri1

Me and wallbash have radically differing views on this, if you want to check who is correct then leave this forum and seek out "pond life" forum.

Wallbash, we have done this before, have your say and let the OP decide.

In a pond of that size without koi or other demanding fish you will need no pump and no filtration, full stop.

But, take it halfway, for effect a pump is great, it aerates the water allowing fish to thrive, and adds visual impact.

In order of sequence,
build the pond you want, preformed isn't always the best option but go your own way, BUT GET IT LEVEL,

Plant it early one season, add the fish the next., but point of fact, certain common aquatic plants object the moving water from fountains etc.

For fish, golden orfe 1st of all, lemon goldfish next and a nice little mirror carp or a crucian if you can find one.

Great hobby, most get it wrong 1st time around, hence my advice.

forgotmyname

Even the dealers get it wrong.. I built my pond and bought fry because im not interested in spending £1000's because the red spot is the perfect size and shape.

Its the fun of watching them grow and recently hand feeding and touching without them dashing off to the other corner.

Seller sold me the fry and said in a new pond setup at least 80% will not survive. Said there was a risk of a total loss. Little cannibals it seems.

So i ordered 50. Thinking i will get 10 if im lucky. HAHA... 6 years? on and i still have 36.
Not huge and not show winners but nurtured by me and now a decent size for my pond.

I would have had more. But i made the mistake of getting a sterlet from the local pet shop.
Lost the sterlet and a couple of my fish at the same time.

I think he brought some nasties with him.

But as above if your doing a small planted pond a pump could get clogged up.

I have watercress growing on mine and i can pull a dustbin bag full out every 2 weeks in this weather.

But cress likes moving water.

So many options.

wellused

The only thing that I would say is that if you don't have fish in the pond you are likely to have a great deal of gnats and midges some of which will be biters. My pond is a preformed one but is in a raised bed and has a pump running into a waterfall all the time 24/7, the pump and filter system is the original one which must be 10 years old now although I have replaced the foam filters several times and replaced the seals etc on a couple of occasions. The water does freeze to a couple of inches thick some winters but usually stays clear where the water enters under the waterfall. The fish have no problems living in these conditions and can live without adding food for many months in the winter, in fact I have lost fish due to being too eager to feed them. I have a circuit breaker in the kitchen which simply plugs into the wall socket and is wired via an external box to armoured cable which runs down the fence line to a box which the pump and filter is wired into. The cable was quite expensive as I recall but as our son is an electrician he wired it up for free. I would hazard a guess that if we had to pay for installation now it would cost around £200.

cyclonebri1

forgotmyname wrote: »

So i ordered 50. Thinking i will get 10 if im lucky. HAHA... 6 years? on and i still have 36.
Not huge and not show winners but nurtured by me and now a decent size for my pond.

I would have had more. But i made the mistake of getting a sterlet from the local pet shop.
Lost the sterlet and a couple of my fish at the same time.

I think he brought some nasties with him.

So did you by Koi fry??

I made a mistake when I built my new pond a couple of years ago, got everything about the pond correct but decided soon afterwards that I wanted a traditional planted pond, and koi and most plants don't mix well, but all was great the 1st summer, everything including plants flourished.

But this year, the 8" diamond sturgeon I put in last year is 18" and scoffs every bit of greenery he can devour, even chunks out of water lily leaves, and bit by bit destroys them.

Always new I would have to re house him 1 day, they grow rapidly, just didn't know it would be so soon.:D

forgotmyname

Yeah i have about 30+ koi. Not japanese show winners but they are mine and not so large that i need a bigger pond or filters.

They wont sit still to let me count them. More training is required i think.

Think my UV bulb has gone. Its going green... oops.