The algae is under control now but only after a traumatic loss of two lovely fish babies. I shared this before but just for the sake of clarity - partner and I inherited this pond when we bought our new (to us) home in October of last year. The learning curve has been steep but we were getting a groove and doing our best.

Partner woke to a loud noise from the pond a few weeks ago, came out to find the pond nearly empty and two fish passed while the surviving two struggled. We snapped into gear and got them (by hand, it was 6am and we couldn’t find the net) into a tub of dechlorinated water. Partner saved their lives just barely, they were distressed but are doing very well weeks later.

Turns out the previous owner had installed the main pump on the base of the pond without elevation so when a pipe fitting failed all the water was pumped out. We lost two lovelies and it’s been so sad to process. We’ve repaired the pipes, elevated the pump, and gotten the pond up and going. We also setup all the gear we need if there is ever another emergency situation. Water is the clearest it’s been now, but we sure wish it could have been another way.

Now we have these two babes to love on, they’ve gotten more social with us and seem very content. We are unsure if we should add more fish or not. Curious if there are ideal minimums or if a couple more would make these fish even more happy? Any thoughts or input appreciated. We’re committed to giving these guys a great life and hoping we’re up the steepest part of the learning curve now. 🤞

Note - pond is 1500 gallons and these fish are about 4/5 years old and had been in a school of 4 for their whole lives.

Every day I come out check on this bulb, and today we've finally broke the surface. She'll be my first. #fingerscrossed 😭🪷🤞

This morning I noticed my pond pump was flipped over underwater like there had been a struggle (I know the signs from when my late blind and deaf pug would stumble in every so often previously). I went to right it and noticed most of one of my shubunken fish a foot or two away from the edge. Then I realized only one goldfish was in the pond, and what looks like all of my dojo loaches (thank God for the fast noodles). Eventually I found at least 3ish remains of the original 8 I had. Due to the spread and messiness I'm thinking more mammal than bird, but I can't be sure. Another thing I noticed is my lab puppy has been usually "sniffy" and wary of the backyard today, as if he smells a creature he's nervous about.

I guess I'm mostly posting to be sad and share with people who would get how sad I am over fish. I've watched these guys for almost 3 years now, starting out as 2 inch babies and growing into fat happy big boys (and girls, IDK) and now they are almost entirely gone. I don't want to decide anything now, but want are your opinions on what to do next? I feel bad for the remaining shubunken being all by himself even though there are loaches in with him. I'm open to getting more fish but I want to figure out some kind of predator deterrent, especially if whatever it was has learned this is a fun food source. I'm in western Washington if that's relevant.

What on earth is this?!

Context: am moving house s(SW UK) so transferred some pieces from my medium sized pond to whisky barrel half. Nothing exotic etc just some old wood marginals, oxygenators. Saved some newts and pond snails on the way.

Two weeks and this slime is blocking my pump. Doesn't smell hideous but definitely has a whiff to it.

Any ideas?

From my aquarium to my pond. It's so big!! How much would you think this would go for locally (grows fast).

Enjoying the morning before it gets hot outside.

The pond rebuild is getting a lot closer to being finished. But now all these big rounded rocks are in place I feel like the waterfall is kind of dwarfed and I’m not really a fan of the dark rocks but they are the only rocks I have on hand. Of course it might look more balanced when more rocks are stacked up at the sides. But I would welcome any advice or suggestions.

The ostrich fern will get planted on a little hill to the side of the falls with purple coral bells next to that. Then there’s a stepping stone leading to steps on the pond shelves. So the waterfall has limited space. I don’t think I really want it bigger but maybe I need chunkier rocks for the cascades? It can’t go too high or any wider. I just want it to look like it belongs there. Right now it’s a first draft, I set up before we got the new rocks.

so I’ve recently started expanding my pond and im wondering what fish I can put in there. Im not a hundred percent sure about the size and dimensions but I think it is 2 meters by 4. Also any recommendations for pumps and filters. it came with house and I decided to fix it up since there were two comet goldfish in there and its leaky.

This is our new pond at the allotment me and my girlfriend made, we saw there was a goldfish living in it before when it was about a buckets worth of mud, we’ve got plenty more duckweed we can put in there, just don’t want to impact his oxygen too much as he’s had barely any for the past 2 years (we’ve only known he was in the old one for the past couple months), how can we bring algae down so we can see our little guy? I’m thinking of making a parasol type thing to go over it for more shade. This is very new we made it last week so I don’t expect it to be crystal clear right away. We’ve got 0 electricity or water supply other than the solar pump and jugs we bring in. Out of camera we’ve also got a water lily and some hornwort in there. Will this be enough

Im just a dumb farmer that wants some big bright koi to look at on the daily

I plan to make a filtration station around the corner of my house and itll probably be 60 ft of plumbing from pond to filter

I also wanted to go big because bigger is better in maintaining nitrates and dialing in temps

That being said i currently have a singular 10.5k gph pump which i think will suffice for like 9000 gal(before rocks) pond

Im trying to figure out how to make a filtration system... Is it just 3 barrels low to high with filter media in each +/- uv? Or should i get like a 5000 gph pump?

Do i need a 2nd 10k pump?

Im also planning to have an independent bog filter with maybe a 5k gph pump that turns into a wide cascade waterfall

Atm im placing 500 sqft of geo textile material to reduce puncture potential, the cinderblocks are a concern and am working to address their edges

Any other advice i should take for my pond?

About 10 ft at its widest, 4 feet at its deepest. Pump runs through a UV filter but with trees above and a lot of sunlight algae growth happens faster than I'd like. Are there any low maintenance fish I can use to keep this thing clean?

Edit: Southern Ontario Canada

What fertilizer is everyone using (north east USA)? I went down the rabbit hole reading reviews and there’s too many bad reviews on everything

Approximately 1000 gallon pond with a few koi and goldfish-

So im making a small diy toad pond but the water always soaks up in a few minutes, i even tested if my dirt has clay and its fulled with it! I tried stomping on it, fail. Tried putting liner, fail. Any tips?

Just created this little watering hole and though it’s not done yet, a new friend showed up yesterday who thinks it’s just great.

I have this garden bed in the back corner of my yard and my husband and I have been talking about possibly adding a small pond. Does anyone have any build ideas?

How much does it actually cost to start a small pond?

TIA

One of these is my problem child that I've had to rebuild multiple times bcs of structure failures, two are about half a year old, and one is the other problem child that has a slow leak but I'm too attached to it and there's way too much wildlife in it to drain it and redo it, so I just refill it with the hose once a day.

The problem children were dug about 5 years ago. But one of them has survived longer than the other which is now going on about a year without any major repairs...

Proud of my children, they look so nice now that all the greenery is growing in.

​

Hi everyone,

I'm completely new to pond building and could really use some guidance before I get in over my head.

We recently demolished an old farmhouse, and what's left is the old cellar. Right now we're using it as a brush burning pit while we clean up the property, but the long-term plan is to turn it into a pond and landscape the entire area.

I know the first step is removing the old limestone foundation walls and any remaining debris, but after that I'm not sure where to go.

A few questions I have:

Should I excavate and reshape everything from scratch, or can I work with the existing hole?

What type and thickness of liner would you recommend for a project like this (EPDM, RPE, something else)?

What's the best underlayment to protect the liner from rocks and roots?

Do I need a pump, skimmer, bottom drain, or aeration system if I want clear, healthy water?

If I decide to keep fish someday (koi or goldfish), how would that change the design?

Are there common mistakes beginners make that I should avoid?

Is there anything about building over an old cellar that I should be especially aware of?

The idea is to build a natural-looking pond with aquatic plants, a retaining wall along the edge where the lawn begins, a walking path around part of it, and eventually a gazebo overlooking the water.

I'd appreciate any advice on materials, construction order, equipment, or things you wish you'd known before building your first pond.

Thanks in advance! I'm excited about the project but definitely learning as I go. Any recommendations or critiques are welcome.

Hello!

We have just purchased this home with a pond and are completely lost on where to start maintaining it. Is there any essential reading or pointers on where to start with an existing pond?

As the title reads I've inherited a pond, and I'm looking to clear it up for a house warming this weekend. There's no wildlife now nor will there be in the future so any weapons grade cleaning agent will work. My first thought was to drain, refill it, then shock it(like a swimming pool). I just ordered a skimmer, since I'm assuming there's leaves and other gunk at the bottom in need of removal.

Do I even need to drain it? Can I just skim the junk out and dump some chemical in there?

Will either of thos work? If not, what would you all recommend I do.

Would this spot be okay for an outdoor pond? First it will be an above ground stock tank pond but the hope is eventually an in-ground pond when the kiddos are all bigger.

picture is taken at 11am

Does anyone know what this is? It looks dead, I am thinking algae, but why has it all died all of a sudden?

I have a creek fed pond that I am slowly restoring. The creek that feeds it has been diverted through some pipe that has been buried. I am looking to replace it and elevate it since it is coming from a higher slope point and then having it waterfall or waterwheel into the pond. Is there a way to strap 4 inch pvc dws pipe to a tree that doesn't harm the tree. I'm thinking something along the lines of this, but it probably doesn't need to be as robust and heavy duty. https://www.treehousesupplies.com/collections/tab/products/tab-powder-coated

Thanks for the help.

Sorry this is so long but i'm confused and need advice,

I've been trying my hand at a fully self sustaining micro pond outside (120 gallon in ground, no water changes pumps filters co2 etc totally hands off) and it's been working wonderfully, this is exactly why i was so confused when i came back from being out of town to an absolute explosion of hair algae.

I had it on the liner and i didn't see it as an issue because the shrimp would hide in it + eat it and my fish knew to hunt in it as well as nibbling at it themselves, but i returned to the algae absolutely coating my plants which has never happened to this degree before. My pond is not overstocked (1 shebunkin, a school of mosquito fish, about 60 neo shrimp, and an assortment of snails), is mildly planted on the bottom with probably a 70% carpet of plants on top, and very dark black water.

When i saw the algae bloom i immediately did a water test because i was concerned and all of my parameters came back perfect so i really don't know where this came from or how to remedy it without requiring heavy maintenance/intervention

ANY advice is very welcome thanks so much for reading