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pondhobby101

Do I need a liner?

pondhobby101
13 years ago

Ok, my husband and I are brain storming what we are wanting to do with our pond. We have not built but have mapped out the area and how big we want it. It will be getting full sun (is this good) no trees around it (good or bad) and the dimentions of our pond is like 15' by 20' by probly 3.5-4 ft deep depending on the water chart as we live in South East Texas. We are completely new to this obviously and need all the help we can get. Do we need a liner for something this big? We are looking to dig it by tractor. If we DO need a liner what is the best/easiest and preferably cheapest way to go? We are looking to put a waterfall as well as other decorations around the pond.

Comments (4)

  • horton
    13 years ago

    I would suggest to that you and your husband go to your library and borrow all the books about building a pond you can find. Or purchase a couple of books on the subject.
    If you Google the words "Building a pond", you will come across a plethora of worthwhile information.

    Take your time and study the information you find, then you can decide, what size of pond would suit your needs,what is involved in building and maintaining a pond, where it can/should be located etc? What kind of filtration and pump would be needed? Are you going to keep fish? What kind?
    Types of plants that grow in a pond is another subject you may want to address, before you go out and buy a liner.
    "Horton"

  • ponderpaul
    13 years ago

    If you can find folks in your area that have garden ponds, they would also be a great source of knowledge, what works, what don't. Spent several years in Lufkin, don't remember ever seeing garden pond while there.

  • nkm56
    13 years ago

    Google "water garden societies" for your city and attend some of the meetings. You will find a wealth of information from people who have been there and done that, and most likely they will be willing to allow you to come see their ponds and discuss their construction, filtration, etc. I wish I had done this before I built my pond. Would have saved me a lot of upgrades.

  • loriques
    13 years ago

    i have built my first pond this year. i researched it on the net, but i learned more through trial and error.

    i found liner on ebay cheaper than anywhere eles. it was brand new in the bag. liner is real good for ponds. i would sugest using it or cemement. if you use cememnt you will have to put a sealer on it to keep lyme for getting into your pond.

    also my pond is in the shade under a tree, i did this so that i would not have to fight alge blooms in the pond. full sun does make this happen. but you can use floating plants to help with the alge in the pond. they will provide lost of shade to the water and the fish will love them also, but koi will nibble on the roots.

    the water fall is a great idea, it really helps with areration. i have a water fall but i have alot of issues with water splashing out. i have found that making flat stones where the water will run over into a little pool make the water splashing more intense. so i make the flat rock more prodominate and less pools. this seems to help. i used water fall foam to seal the rocks and keep the water from leaking out. but one thing i'm still working on is making sure that water does not run off into the water fall from the top part of the water fall liner. i could not dig down in the ground for the water fall liner so it sits on top of the ground. but i'm fixing this with sand and making a sort of dam like area at the top.

    i also have found that it is real cheap and preaty to use rocks from the river. i found lots of flat rocks there that i used for the edgeing of my pond.

    are you going to put in shelves around your pond?? i did this and it works great for putting plants and rocks around the edge. the fish really like hiding under them. especailly my comments. i think they are more skiddish than the koi.

    also in your water fall you can use a water fall box and put matel mats in it. this will work for your bio filter and is the best economicly i can figure out so far. i got my pump and everything from ebay. i got a sup pump instead of a normal pump for the pond. it is designed to run 24/7 so i have not had an issue with over heating yet. but it has alot of power and works well for the water fall. i use a ball and valve to controll the water flow because it is too powerful for my pone. also. it was way cheaper on ebay than the other ones.

    a good place i found to buy stuff from is http://www.pondandgardenwholesalers.com/servlet/StoreFront they are great. you can call them and they will help with anything you need. they also have an ebay store where some of there stuff is cheaper than there online store.

    i hope this helps you .. horton is a great wealth of information. maybe he will drop in and give you some advice also.

    there is also a thread about wanting a red koi. cindy has posted some great links to help with the selection of koi. ck them out. it has helped me alot.

    good luck.. if i find some links for you will post them.. laura

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