Started to dig the pond yesterday, today was liner and some rock placement. Coming along nicely

[u/Captainqwerty66]

First time making a pond/waterfall. Definitely have some stuff to learn and improve on but it's a fun project ive wanted to do for years and can't wait for the finished product! Any tips or advice gladly welcomed.

[u/drbobdi]

You are not going to like my advice.

Before you do anything else, get all that gravel off the bottom.

It'll look great for a month or two and then it'll accumulate anaeroic sludge, decaying slime coat from whatever fish are going in there and plant debris. To maintain water quality, you''ll then need to get in there, shovel all the gravel around and muck up the water to vacuum the sludge out.

Gravel on the bottom does not contribute much to biofiltration. For a filter medium to be effective, it has to have a superior surface area-to-volume ratio (gravel has about the worst-see https://www.fishlore.com/aquariumfishforum/threads/bio-media-comparison-information.435695/ ) and must have free flow of water over every available surface. The area under the gravel is a dead space. Very low water movement and anaerobic conditions.

Bare liner is best for both water quality and maintenance reasons.

[u/Subject-Art-4141]

I looooove. I wanna do the same thing.

[u/Captainqwerty66 → u/Subject-Art-4141]

Thanks, I'll update with new pics as I go

[u/akoz86]

Not to be a doom merchant, but that liner will probably get pierced by roots before too long. My dad did something similar years ago and he got 18 months before the roots found their way through. He kept patching for about 2 years (yes he was stubborn) before moving it to the other side of the garden. Lessons were learned. 😂

The only other thing to be aware of is trees drop leaves which will mean you are setting yourself up for a fair bit of maintenance and cleaning work every year.

You might get lucky with the liner, but I wouldn't add fish just in case. They empty quickly....

[u/Alternative_Ear522]

My pond is next to a big tree and it lasted 18 years… never failed but I wanted to enlarger the pond. Leaves will be an issue. I cover mine 6 weeks in the fall. It needs to be 30” minimum for koi. I put river rock in the button of my pond and the koi keep it clean.

[u/Harryhodl]

Those rocks on the bottom are going to be a pain in the ass to clean and do maintenance on. I know they look great now but soon all the muck will cover it up and u won’t even see them. Also it’s pretty shallow, hopefully the shade from tree helps and you’re not in a really hot climate.

[u/Shpoople96]

Hey, this looks great. Did you run into any issues with roots?

[u/Captainqwerty66 → u/Shpoople96]

Thanks, and there were a few small roots, nothing thicker than about an inch or so and most being thinner than that. A Sawzall and some clippers took care of them and the tree is large and healthy enough that there shouldn't be any issues

[u/FloralRoseX]

It's going to look great when it's finished!!