Help with new pond

[Rowski]

My neighbor had a new pond put in by an excavator. The pond measures about 15'x12' and 6' deep. It's depth is conical, no shallow ends. It only gets feed by natural run off, no springs. My neighbor wants me to help her build and landscape a shallow pond next to it (less than 10' away) filled with softball sized field stone. The water will get pumped from the large pond into the smaller pond and run back to the larger pond. She claims the smaller pond with the stone will act like a natural filter and keep the larger pond clean and clear. The larger pond does not have a liner and she wants a liner for the smaller one. She does want to keep some fish in the larger pond. She doesn't what to shade half her pond with aqua plants either. I personnally think this wouldn't work well due to the fact that the larger pond can become very low during extened dry times. I could let her go her way, just do as she asks and let her deal with it when it doesn't work. But I am not that type of person. She is willing to spend some money but with in reasons. I will be getting compensated for my time.

Is there any ideas as to what can be done with this pond? If there is a simialr thread or links to this situation please let me know. I need a "game plan" by this week end.

Picture attached. Water runoff comes from the center of the left side of the picture. New smaller pond will be in the center of picture where the shadow meets the sunlight (in front off the larger trees). I do have more photos from different angles if needed.

Thanks for your help.

 

[dummy]

If I'm reading your post right, the new pond is going on top of the slope? If so, wouldn't that make for a nice waterfall which would eliminate the need to pump it one way. The gravel should work as a filter, but she really will need some plants to make a better filter system. The smaller pond could be made into a bog to create a pretty good natural bio filter. Can she pump water in from somewhere else, if really needed? Here's a picture of a pond I'm working on now. The attached link (I hope) is pretty good too. <A target="_blank" HREF=http://watergardening.infopop.net/>http://watergardening.infopop.net/</A>

 

[dummy]

Ok now for the picture that I forgot. The file is too big, so <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.geocities.com/cmt16121/>http://www.geocities.com/cmt16121/</A>

 

[Rowski]

It's not going on the top of the slope but more in front of it. It will be "uphill" from the larger one with a maximum elevation difference of 5ft. The problem lies in that the water source is only run off, there is no springs feeding it. The do have a spring for the house but it ran out last summer. They seem to have enough water this year but do not want to use it for the pond. BTW the home is a weekend home. She doesn't want to have a waterfall because she feels she will loose more water due to evaporation, whether this is true or not I'm not sure.

I'm thinking out loud...
She is pretty set on having two ponds (a smaller and a larger one) with a pump. My thought was having a pump pumping water from the larger pond to the smaller pond. Some how the water needs to get back to the large pond. I was thinking a small "brook" with water falling directly into the larger pond. Or maybe a stand pipe or overflow pipe in the smaller pond allowing the water to fall into the larger pond. The filtering is still an issue. I have talked to a few "locals" here and they claim its pretty hard to keep the perfect balance with the inconsistant weather we have here (zone 3). So it seems like the gravel and the bog filter would be a reasonable compromise.

How large does the bog have to be and what is involved? I will calculate the volume of water of the larger pond tonight, the original demssions mentioned are rough. Also can the bog filter and gravel filter be in the same area? Because the smaller pond size will set by what it needs to accomplish.

That is a really nice looking pond!
Thanks for the information, help and link.

Anybody got any other ideas??

 

[dummy]

Yes, from what I've seen and been told the gravel and plant bed can be in the same area and should comprise about 50% of the volume. An overflow pipe should work fine for that also. Evaporation is a big issue, I was thinking purely of aesthetic value. Another place someone told me about today,<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.pondforum.com/>http://www.pondforum.com/</A>. Look for the HOW-TO dropdown menu. Best of luck. Need more pictures when your done.

 

[micromike]

Here is another link to a watergardening/pondbuilding site. It's good with many professionals discussing pond building issues. Good Luck

http://www.lawnsite.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=22

 

[Golfgar4]

Here's the link in a little easier use format - <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.lawnsite.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=22>Lawnsite</A>

 

[rmorgan]

Rowski--

Seems like a few different problems. As to evaporation during dry spells, that'll happen either way. We do notice a significant difference with the fairly large (8000 GPH) waterfall we put in last Sept., but it is still incremental; and, of course, the waterfall partially aerates a large pond and would probably be close to enough aeration for the one your neighbor has, especially if she's going to put in some oxygenators, eg parrotfeather, around the margins. (Any aeration will speed evaporation, but of course aeration is critical to fish life and avoiding a true stench in a year or so.) Evaporation is important to consider in a runoff-only pond, but not a massive factor; we've lost about 10" of water this summer, and we've had no more than 1/2" of rain since June 1 /w3tcompact/icons/sad.gif/w3tcompact/icons/mad.gif/w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif. If she doesn't have plants and doesn't have much aeration, she'll have to worry more about algae than about evaporation. I thought about this through the day and continue to think a waterfall would be the way to go, both aesthetically and otherwise. The volume of the large pond is not small, but still not so large that something like a Superfalls filter (a waterfall combined with a filtration system) wouldn't be worth looking into and not too expensive. However, if she's sure she wants the upper pond to work as a passive filtration system, then it should be planted with aquatic plants that have a lot of root mass--the rocks will help, but as soon as they are slimed up, their utility will decline precipitously (I think). Since the water has to get from the upper to the lower anyway, and since waterfalls are so aesthetically great and provide so many landscaping options, what about considering a lined waterfall for when she's there and there is plenty of water, and a less-splashy piped return to the lower basin when levels are threatened?

 

[dummy]

Could we see a picture of your waterfall? Not real happy with the one I put in. Looking for better ideas. Thanks

 

[rmorgan]

Dummy--

Pleased, I'm sure. I'll post a couple; pretty low-rez for sake of the server, but they'll give you an idea. Unfortunately, nothing's looking too good right now since we're mid-drought. The first is looking up the waterfall from mid-pond.