1985

2007

......to the back garden of my little terraced house in sunny Cleethorpes on the east coast of England.
The picture above was taken in the summertime 2003.
At the time of writing this I have 7 Goldfish 2 Comets, 2 Shubunkins, 2 Orfe, 1 Tench, one Roach and a few baby fish swimming around in approximately 190 gallons of water. pond gallonage calculator.
It was back in 1985 I decided to build a pond. (pressure from my son actually)..... no regrets though.
When the pond was built I seemed to have a problem of when it rained quite a bit the pond overflowed, so, as you can see from the pics above I went around the edge with ordinary broken slab which I then painted with "step paint" (looked better after it had weathered a bit.) I also put in a new black butyl rubber liner. The original was an inexpensive one and was a bright blue ... not an appropriate colour.
The planted end parts of the pond was created by placing large (approx 12"x12") pieces of limestone slightly reducing in size till it broke the surface by a few inches, keeping the gaps between the rocks to a minimum. I then poured in lots of soil in the end sections after laying Hessian against the rocks to cover any gaps. Most of the soil that went back was the soil dug out in the fist place. The Hessian is there to stop the soil coming out of the gaps into the main part of the pond Then I planted it up. By the time the Hessian rots, the roots of the plants seal the gaps. It has worked well.

I did find out at a later date that using limestone was not a good idea as it would alter the ph of the water too much and be detrimental to the fish. Well .... all I can say is it has caused no problems so far. The odd fish I have lost, usually in the winter months but most of the fish which I bought in '85 are still with me. They seem to be very happy contented fish. I have not had any other problems like fungus, fishrot etc.
I have never used Dechlorinator but do tend to leave the water standing for a few days in a water butt prior to using.
The plants thrive, also the pond Lillie displays fantastic flowers each year without the need for fish pond plant food.
The pond has had one clean out in 20+ years... a quick stay in the bath for the fish using the old pond water then back in the pond asap. There is now approx 1.5" of sediment at the bottom of the pond which is good for the oxygenators to anchor into and the tench loves it.
There is always the temptation to add another fish or so... but, I like to keep to a minimum. Less fish = less waste= less water pollution= less stress and poorly fish.

The pond water is pumped through a conventional external boxed foam filter which has a uv light built into the lid. The water of the pond is normally crystal clear, but on occasion turns green, sometimes thick soup green for a week or so but then magically overnite turns clear again. Regarding the filter box....the kind I have anyway, you would have thought the makers would have put put some sort of device (plastic cage maybe) inside so you can just lift out the foams without tons of gunge falling back into the box......I just put that coz' here it is The Steve Thomas anti-gunge spilling device Quite a piece of technical engineering, don't you think.

>> Keep digging, make sure you have a decent depth. At least 24" I would say. I know it gets a bit boring forever digging and wondering how to get rid of all that soil, but you only have to do it once.

>> Consider burying a pipe to an outside tap,so you don't have to keep dragging the hose pipe out for topping up.you'll be doing it a lot if its heavily planted.

>> Do make sure you get an exact level, otherwise when completed you end up with liner showing one end of the pond and not the other. Here is a good way to get an exact pond level without using a spirit level.

>> You may not want fountain/pump but suggest you bury a power cable if a lot of your garden will be redesigned (using armored cable). In time you may change your mind. Not a pretty site seeing a cable running across the grass/concrete.If you later cut through concrete to lay a cable, you will probably always see the scar.

>> If you don't like the idea of potted plant in/around the pond. Think about doing what I did and Dam off one or both ends with rocks, line with Hessian and fill with soil.It looks good and you can plant things in as if you were planting in the garden. Think about using garden soil when planting (careful no chemicals etc have been added in the past)....a lot cheaper.

>> If you are having a fountain, see if you can get hold of a cheap camera tripod and attach it to the pump. That way you can adjust the height to exactly where you need it to be and adjust it so the fountain goes straight up and not on an angle.I remember all the mucking about I did, balancing the pump on bricks, putting stones under to try and get it level.

>> Fountains look nice, but no matter how much you clean the pre filter the jets soon block (usually straight away)...then it don't look so nice.Consider taking off the spray head,discarding the pre filter on the pump if it has one and have the outlet just below the surface of the water. It looks very effective. And of course if its a small pond it stops nearby Lilly pads getting a soaking, which they don't like. I call it the

>> Once established don't get too carried away with test kits.........feed 'em moderately and enjoy.

>> Pond plants are quite expensive, pinch cuttings from someone...dead easy to grow. Also try non pond plants....some of them grow very well in a pond. Hostas do very well in my pond, and I find Impatiens(bizzie lizzies)work.

>> For floating plants try "Azolla " (fairy moss)..it turns from green to a lovely shade of red. It can get out of hand but easy to deal with on a small pond, just net the excess out and sell/dump it. Can survive year on year but really needs over wintering.

>> If your water level goes down don't assume a leak, apart from evaporation, don't forget the more plants the quicker it will go down. On my pond in the summer, up to an inch per day.

>>If you have a water meter fitted to the household water supply, you can find out exactly how much water your new pond holds (useful for correct dosage of medication etc) then take a reading before you fill, then after but don't have a bath while you do it.

>> You're probably bored now, but before you go have a look at this not so boring page (honest) on algae how it works and how to cure green water.

>> Thanks for the visit. Please note I am not a pond expert. This page is just my experience of building / maintaining a fish pond....please feel free to Email or make a comment in the Shout box

.... G'bye from Steve in Cleethorpes