Adventures in Building An Outdoor Pond

This weekend, my husband and I went to Home Depot with the intention of buying a few plants for the yard.  However, on a whim, my husband and I decided that we needed a little more water in our lives (as we live in a desert), and bought the necessary materials to construct a small pond in the backyard, complete with fountain and waterfall.

Here is a picture of the finished product at night and in the day. Please ignore the unfinished landscaping surrounding the pond, we are working on that.

So here is the process... y'all, this is so simple to do. This is a one day project!

You need:

                        Pre-made Pond Form
         This is the one we used. Available at Home Depot                                 Filter box and pump

 

We used Total pond filter box because it had the bio-balls which are basically a substrate for which bacteria grow. These helpful bacteria (nitrobacter and nitrosomonas) help to convert toxic ammonia (excreted by the fish themselves in their poo) to nitrites and then again to nitrates. Toxicity levels decrease with each conversion. Large debris are filtered via the filter pads.

You can purchase the filter box separate which I would strongly recommend if you are using Total Pond brand, this is because that pump that they include with the kit is not worth a darn.  I would instead get the filter box and either the Total Pond 330 GPH Pond Pump or the 560.  GPH = gallons per hour.  The box set comes with a 300, it filters fine, it just doesn't run the fountain like it is supposed to. Spend the money, get a better pump would be my recommendation. If you are using the box, make sure the pump will fit inside (which it should if you use Total Pond). If not the larger pumps with out the bio box will have UV filters. 

A fountain is easily attached to the pump and the box. The attachments look something like this:

Take my advice though, don't bother with this if you don't get a better pump.

To make a waterfall we bought this preformed waterfall to make things easier (and it did).  otherwise you can build up the ground and use the pond liner to establish your own.

We also bought a second pump (get a good one so that there is enough pressure to pump the water uphill to the top of the fall), and some tubing (most is going to be 3/8 of an inch which is what we used and we bought  a clear version in the plumbing section because it was significantly cheaper than the Total Pond tubing). You may need to get creative to get a perfect fit, but it worked for us.

                                                                    

     

We purchased cinder blocks to support the waterfall, after trial and error with just dirt to elevate it, this ended up being the easiest option.  We ended up using 4 cinder blocks and 1 small brick.  If you are placing your pond somwhere where the back will be visible you will want a retaining wall behind the entire thing. We bought 20 of the bricks shown below and made do with that. If you want a more polished look you will need more than 20 bricks (30-40), if you did what we did, rocks help to camouflage the whole thing. A drill and some wire or small rope string are also needed to secure the waterfall.

                                                                   

For further aesthetic effects, you will need a truck load of rocks. We were able to get these (see below) out in the middle of the desert where people dump their torn down rock walls, etc. So we got this for free. Otherwise rock companies,especially ones that build rock walls will have the right kind. A large variety of medium and large are needed.

Lastly, if you want lights you can get a small submergible light set. You will also need a good outdoor cord and some type of extender that will allow you to plug in about 3 devices.

                                                                     

                                                                          

1. Dig a hole to fit the form you purchased. This will take awhile as you are going to want it to sit firmly, not shift, and you will want it to be level. 

2. Place the form and ensure it is snug.

3. Decide placement for waterfall (if you will have one). Stack the Cinder blocks 2 and 2 with 1 small brick towards the back end between the two layers of cinder block. (If you are using the pre-formed fall). We found this gave it just the right amount of tilt to make an impression and a soothing noise.  (Ignore the water and already hooked up fountain... I got excited in the process and wanted to see it working - you want to secure the pre-form first!)

4.  Secure the waterfall to the cinder blocks with small gauge wire or rope. We drilled two holes on each side of the outer layer and ran wire through the cinderblocks. It may look flimsy, but it was very secure. 

5. Fill the pond with water (if you haven't already). Attach the tubing to your waterfall pump. Drill a hole in the side of the preform to fit the tubing so that the water will exit out the top.

6. Assemble the pump following the directions, the fountain will come out of the top of the box. And will look something like this when you are done and the fountain is plugged in. 

7. Build a wall behind the cinder blocks (if necessary) to hide the unsightliness of it all.  Our pond is in the middle of the yard, so this was very necessary.  In this photo we used 20 of the bricks that are shown in the supplies section.  They are much larger than normal bricks and they have a ledge on the bottom so that they are very stable and easy to stack without mortar or cement. Available at Home Depot.

8. Place in light system, attach everything to the connecter cord and bury the cords underground.

9. Begin outlining the edges of the pond with larger rocks leaving areas to plant layers of plants around the edges.  Reserve smaller rocks to line the water edges, they will have support once dirt and other rocks are in place.  

10. Add floating plants, water plants, floating logs (available at petsmart).

11. Do not add fish without allowing the pond to cycle for at least 1 week or more, or use a pond accelerator to jump start the bacteria cycles in your pond. Use test strips to ensure your ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and pH levels and de-chlorinate the water BEFORE adding fish.  When you do add fish, take my advice and get cheap feeder fish to test out before you go and spend lots of money on larger coy or goldfish.

That's it! I'll post information on different plants that help oxygenate the water and how to troubleshoot the pond. I've lost several tester fish, so I'm going to tackle water quality today!