BEGINNER AT A POND

[roxie]

I am wanting to build an above ground pond by my front door..the dimensions are 5 X 7 and 24" deep..I do have leaf debis that will fall into this area. The gallons I have figured is 437....What would be a good filter system. It doesn't matter if it's inside or out. and also I do want a small waterfall....what size pump for all of this
Thanks for some info.

 

[George&Ade]

Hi Roxie.
Im no expert with ponds (only got mine going about 3 weeks ago) but if i tell you what im using,maybe that may be of some help to you.
My pond (pictured below)is about 10 ft. long by about 7ft.wide and 32 inches deep (approx 900 gallons i think)
I have a pump called an "Atom 3000" placed on a block of concrete about 4 inches off the bottom of the pond.
This powers the water feature (they supply 3 different ones with the pump).
From this pump,i have a length of tubing which runs to the filter (called a Bermuda 7500)this is a pressurised type of filter which enables me to place the filter about 1 metre lower than the waterfall.
From this filter,i have a length of tubing running up to the top of the waterfall where the water then trickles back into the pond.
( I understand there are 2 types of filters you can buy....a pressurised one like mine.......and a normal filter which i believe you have to have above or in line with the top of the waterfall)
I personally prefer the pressurised type as you get a better water pressure going up to the waterfall.
I hope this helps you,and i apologise if any of the information i have given is wrong (ive only just really started myself)
Maybe some of the more experienced members would like to comment on the above.
Best of luck Roxie

 

[roxie]

Hi, thank you for responding, I have went and priced the wood, which by the way I want to use cedar, the liner and everything....but when it came to the filter and pump I had gone to some stores today and I spoke to people who knew just as much as I did!!!! I even gave them dimensions and gallons!!!! I was thinking of a filter that would be in the pond..thank you for your in-put..really appreciated..your pond is great looking too!!

 

[George&Ade]

Hi Roxie.
If you didnt have much luck at the pet stores,then hopefully someone on here may be able to help.
It just goes to show how much i know about ponds......i didnt realise you could get an underwater filter
Best of luck anyway

 

[bribones]

you can get a filter/pump combined but they tend to be small, an external bio filter combined with a uv fed from a pump would work well as your gonna have a lot of leaves etc an underwater pump/filter will clog rapidly and need cleaning every few days,netting would solve some of this but in heavy rain you still get a lot of junk washed into the pond from trees causing algae problems go with what you can afford but if plan on keeping fish in there go for something with decent flow rating

 

[roxie]

The spot is fairly shaded all day, so do I still need the UV. Also is 24" deep enough for the fish in the winter, I do plan on getting a heater.

 

[bribones]

shaded or not the leaf derbis is going to rot which will lead to an algea build up, 24" would require some sort of heat in winter,id recommend some kind of netting in the autumn to keep as many leaves out of the pond as possible

 

[ryan]

How cold does it get in your part of the world during Winter? I would assume it would need heating, however, if it reaches the same temperatures as the UK during winter than normal Goldfish, Ghost Koi, Orfe, Rudd and so on will be able to survive. However, some of the more delicate fish like hand selected Japanese Koi, Bitterlings and so on may not fair to well.