How would y'all do this?

[HoldenOn]

Hey all,
I like ponds. I want to make a pond. A cichlid pond.

How would you guys do this cost effectively and safely?

 

[WhistlingBadger]

Well, "cost effective" is a relative term, of course. We lined our 30'x50'x7' irrigation/fishing pond with 40 mil epdm and it works great, and is relatively inexpensive. If I had it to do over again I'd use 60 mil: The extra durability is worth the extra money. epdm is heavy to move around, but otherwise easy to work with. With a bunch of friends it's not too hard to get into the hole. I put in a fairly good-sized waterfall, but no filter and I never fed the fish. In a pond this size they can find plenty to eat. The bluegills and even the bass grew and spawned like crazy until they all winter-killed (combination of a freak late-fall algae bloom, low water level, and overpopulation) last year.

I have a fairly extensive pond journal on another forum, which I'm not allowed to link to on here, but if you're interested in how I did it, I'd be happy to pm it to you. In the meantime, here's a fun vid.

For our new place, I'm looking at a much smaller water feature with a preformed pond liner; you can get a 200-300 gallon one on amazon or at a home store for a hundred bucks or so. You'd need all the other stuff, of course, especially a pump to move water around.