Pond Building in East Texas

[Tim Stuart]

Eddie, Be careful Meadowlark just retired, we are liable to spend his nest egg and he will have to go flip some burgers a Micky D's... LOL ... Serious though if you make them out of wood you could use a router with a 3/8 round over bit to take the top edges off the boards. It just kind of dress it up a bit.

 

[meadowlarkponds]

Eddie,

Yes railings on both sides. What great ideas you have, but in this case I think I'll just go with a simple inexpensive approach. I'm using 2x6's as posts and mounting a 2x4 flat on top of the posts for the railing. The posts are tied into the runners/stringers and the top walkway boards so they seem to be pretty sturdy. If a person fell into a rail, they might not keep them out of the water but for adding sturdy hand-hold this looks like it will work fine. It won't be a work of art, but should make the kids and others feel more comfortable when walking across it.

Regarding the grow out pond. It is actually a little cove that has a very small wet weather creek/draw running through it. This may not work, but my plan is to use poultry wire across the base of the cove. The wire is 1 inch and I'll probably overlap it if it seems necessary, but my main objective is to keep large LMB out of this area while small 4 to 5 inch fish grow to 8 to 9 inch fish behind the fence.

The vulnerable area will be where the little creek flows through. I'm trying to remove everything such as brush/vegetation that might cause a problem and plan to put in a blocking fence above the pond to catch any debris. I also plan to use 12.5 guage fence wire anchored to deep set in concrete wood posts to help hold the entire fence in place but if something big floats down during a huge rainstorm, this fence probably won't stand up in that area where the little creek channel is. This channel is small, about 2 or 3 feet wide and 2 feet deep. It is very gently sloping so doesn't become a raging torrent even in big storms....but debris is what concerns me.

For the fish gate, I'm building a walkway out to a box in which I will place the gate. The gate will be a framed 3 foot square covered with poultry wire and will fit into slots in the box so that it can easily be raised and lowered from the walkway.

The natural wave action, winds, and any rains will provide flushing for this little area, but I don't intend to have fish in it for much longer than a month or two at a time. I guess it is best described as an experiment, but I think it has a reasonable chance of working and if it doesn't, won't be a big loss.

Got my rebuilt injector pump back on the dozer today and hope that maybe by Friday it will be dry enough to get the dozer in there to scrape everything out clean. It's an adventure.

 

[meadowlarkponds]

...you could use a router with a 3/8 round over bit to take the top edges off the boards. It just kind of dress it up a bit.

Tim,

Is there such a thing as a battery powered router? Its a long ways from power, but that would give it a nice look and feel.

 

[Tim Stuart]

Tim,

Is there such a thing as a battery powered router? Its a long ways from power, but that would give it a nice look and feel.

Meadowlark you don't have a generator? I thought you had one for saw cuts..

 

[meadowlarkponds]

Tim,

No that's something on my wish list. I pre-cut most of the boards at the house and use a chain saw on the rest at the site. Gives it a "rough" look befitting the environment -

 

[Tim Stuart]

Meadowlark, I know from read some of your posting you are kind of a Mad Scientist? One of the postings that lead me to this conclusion is growing fish in your hot tub or bathtub so they survive the winter temps. I have been thinking about a lighting system for your new dock. I was thinking that you could use a 12v deep-cycle battery, 12v solar battery charger, 12V DC compact fluorescent bulb, light fixture of your choice, and a simple switch. A simple wooden box could be mounted on the side of the dock attached to the stringers to house and hide the battery. The lid on the box could be used as a place to mount the solar battery charger to keep the battery charged inside as long as it has an unobstructed view of the sun. Than you could mount the light fixture on a pole and run wire from the battery to the light with a switch in between. The height of the light would need to be experimented with so you gain maximum light output. I have gathered some links together to get your mind in motion. I think the light add to the dock would give it diverse functionality and plus a awesome look.

12 volt RV / Marine Battery
Deep Cycle Marine Batteries: BatteryMart.com

12 volt solar battery charger
BatteryMINDer 12 Volt 5 Watt Solar Battery Charger: BatteryMart.com

Light Bulb
12V DC 7 Watt Compact Fluorescent Bulb - Tube Style



I hope one of the experts here on TBN in the subject matter will chime in on this as I maybe wet behind the ears on this.

 

[meadowlarkponds]

The walkways/piers are finished now with handrails through out. To see the finished product see attached photo below. The second photo shows an end view of one of the piers....chainsaw construction.

The walkway out to the fish gate in the grow out pond is almost finished now. I hope to get my dozer in there tomorrow and really clean it out good before installing any fencing or the fish gate. Last attachment shows that walkway.

Tim,

I like your thoughts on lighting and will experiment some with your suggestions. I'm thinking it will take a pretty hefty solar panel to keep lighting going all night. If a mad scientist is one who isn't afraid to try new things, then I'm guilty. I have had an absolute blast building this out and hope you have enjoyed the photos.

 

[meadowlarkponds]

For now, this will be the grow out pond. Conditions have been dry enough to enable cleaning out the area shown with my small dozer and taking it to an average depth of 3 feet. The area is certainly sufficiently large enough for my needs. The large stump on the left is from a large tree along the original creek line. I still need to channel the water flow so that it comes in next to that stump but outside the eventual fence. I'll probably set the posts for the fence in the next few days but the wire won't be put in place until the main pond water line starts approaching the grow out pond. This is an exciting addition to Pipeline pond and will enable a lot of flexibility in stocking and growing small fish down the road.

 

[EddieWalker]

ML,

The dock looks good and solid !!!!!! I think that all the bracing is gonna really pay off for your fish, but hopefully you'll update us in a few years with your observations.

The growout pond is another one of your ideas that should be interesting to see how it works out. I'm wondering about water depth and maintaining it with 3 feet of depth. If you have a dry spell for a few months, is it reasonable to expect the water level to drop a foot or more? How hot will the water get if it's only three feet deep? Will the fish be able to live in the water if it's only 2ft deep with outside temps in the 80's or 90's?

I've been thinking about your gate for the growout pond and keep wondering if an exterior screen door would work? The ones I'm thinking of are the secrutuy type with square metal tubing for a frame and sheet with thousands of holes drilled in it for the screen. They go on like storm doors on homes, but in your case, I'm thinking it would be easy to sink two 4x4 posts and attach the screen door to those. If you had it five feet deep, you'd still have two feet above water level with a full pool.

Obviously I don't know if it will last, or how long. I might think about finding brass hinges for it, or something that wont rust on you when it's closed for months at a time. PVC with a T at the end would work as barrels for a hing and and aluminum rod down the middle for the pin should be very strong and never rust on you.

I have a feeling that the chicken wire will rust out on you in just a few years. I don't know this for fact, it's just my guess.

Thanks for the updates,
Eddie

 

[meadowlarkponds]

ML,

The growout pond is another one of your ideas that should be interesting to see how it works out. I'm wondering about water depth and maintaining it with 3 feet of depth. If you have a dry spell for a few months, is it reasonable to expect the water level to drop a foot or more? How hot will the water get if it's only three feet deep? Will the fish be able to live in the water if it's only 2ft deep with outside temps in the 80's or 90's?

Eddie

Eddie,

Good questions and the reasons I think this may work in this case is the intended use of the grow out pond. I expect to use it only in April and May of each year. I will have small Tilapia and Pacu in there and the hotter the water the better for them. In the spring, the water level can be expected to be almost always at full pool. If I were to use it in August, then I would be more concerned about depth and possibly aeration.

As time goes on, I'll probably experiment with other fish at other times and may indeed have some problems if used in the late summer months. However, right now I don't have much choice on the depth as its just too wet to move any more material out of there with my dozer.

The chicken wire is galvanized, but I just don't know how long it will last in water. I'm looking for ideas here. One thing I'll probably try is that hay wrapping that goes on the big round bales. I've got some that has lasted for years in the ground in my pastures. It seems to be impervious to rot. It is also very light weight and easy to handle.

I like the "screen door" gate idea...might be better than what I came up with which is a simple framed screen that I can raise or lower from the walkway...see attached. The first picture is with the gate open and the second closed. "Guard dog" Duke watches the open gate carefully to make sure nothing gets out.