68 replies to this topic

[STEVEGREEN]

hey guy's and girls ,

after a few too many Jacks cans last night i have made a decision to build a mini lake Tanganyika in my back yard.

i have always set aside an area for a pond but it will mainly be to have tangs in it in summer.

everything is open for discussion , and if youve seen my tanks , everything must be pre-planned , i want almost everything hidden , easy to clean and want to give some consideration to how i will catch fry out . im thinking mainly gobies and featherfins and sand sifters , so i will require a large footprint , but i am unsure of depth required.

if ponds are anything like cars , then ."theres no replacement for displacement" so the larger the colume the better.

i want to use a lot of lime stone and pool filter sand as a substrate . im planning on using bricks and morter to build the shape and height of the side walls but unsure of the planning for filtration etc etc.

anyone who has constructed a pond from scratch or whom have a pond , but see room for improvement please comment.

i am hoping to start with the shovel in about 3 weeks. so time to learn from all you knowledgable people out there

thanks in advance for any help/idea's on constructing my own LAKE TANGANYIKA

Cheers
Steve Green

[Cicolid]

Hi Steve,

I can't offer much in the way of info, but I suggest a depth of about 1m otherwise it will get too hot for them in summer.

Are you planning to install a shade-cloth cover ?

What I can offer you is a heaps of Limestone rocks, as many as you want for free, just bring a trailer.

Sorry, but I broke the handle on my shovel and can't see it getting repaired for a few months......

Good luck... you are a brave man.

Cheers
Col

[Den]

I recommend and use varying depths in my pond, averaging from 20cm to 70cm - although I would maybe go to 80-90cm max in some areas, that way you can provide habitat for different size and age fish, young fish especially like to use the shallows. If you make it too deep you will never see the fish, I would certainly recommend a vallis or lillie bed in one part of the pond as this helps with water quality and makes a great hiding area for holding females and babies. Incorporating a water fall also helps with aeration in summer but turn it off in winter to reduce heat loss from the water. Also if you have bore water hook it up for water changes.

Cheers
Den

[dazzabozza]

Hey Steve

Why not oversized limesand instead of silica/pool sand? At least you'll get some pH buffering. I'd be worried that sand sifters may stir up the pool sand too much. Are you going to have some decent water current throughout also?

Are you going to go above or underground. Above with a viewing window would be awesome!!


Daz

[STEVEGREEN]

Col - i'll definately take you up on the limestone offer thanks a million , some sort of shade for sure and prolly shade cloth for bird/cat protection too Col.

Den - i was planning on varying depth , this way i can drain it at summers end and have the deepest area with all the fish in it , easier to catch. gobies are from the surge habitat at a water fall will be a must have - vallis bed for sure also.

Dazza - there will plenty of limestone for sure mate , ive been breeding sandsifters for a while and they dont stir up pool filter sand they just build huge spawning holes in it , seeing 3 or 4 spawning pits within a couple of meter's will be insane minimum size will be a large dinner plate ( seesh im gunna need a lot of sand ) water flow im not sure of , i will have a surge habitat for gobies (shallow area well oxygenated by waterfall ) but yeah flow will be important , how will i achieve this? i dont wanna see any power cords or pumps in the pond when veiwing )

the pond will be below ground ( maybe i could keep digging and have a 6 foot under veiwing platform LOL.)

i have an area 2.5m by 5m that ill have for construction i dont nesseserilly wanna use all that space would like it too look fairly natural im planning on building a fairly high rock face around certain parts(will help with shade) to mimic the Tanganyika shore line and try and choose plants that replicate theirs in the surronding garden beds.


heres a mud map of my back yard , at the mo the grass paving and planter boxes are complete , not work has started on the deck and outdoor kitchen/entertainment are as yet , i fugure pond first then i can make the decking have a slight over lap


what shape do you reckon would look good , i plan to have the flitration on the fence line.

Cheers
Steve Green

Attached Files

•  Backyard_pond.bmp   750.05KB   68 downloads

[Sazabi]

You're a brave man Steve, would love to see the results and the work in progress

what shape do you reckon would look good , i plan to have the flitration on the fence line.

Since you are trying to replicate Lake Tanganyika, why not the same shape?

[STEVEGREEN]

lol , im not sure if yo know this Ed but its a pretty big lake with a pretty big shore line , and its long and skinny , so wont be making the most of the room i have , plus , i dont wanna be splitting that many bricks lol

Cheers
Steve Green

[Sazabi]

lol , im not sure if yo know this Ed but its a pretty big lake with a pretty big shore line , and its long and skinny , so wont be making the most of the room i have , plus , i dont wanna be splitting that many bricks lol

Cheers
Steve Green

I know which is why it will be awesome to have one 1 in WA and in your backyard lol

I will settle for half then you can choose which half north or south portion

[STEVEGREEN]

what do you think of this type of shape?


comments ?

Cheers
Steve green

[Ronny]

This looks like it's going to be an awesome pond!!!

Can't offer any advice but if you need alot of limesand, ask Kev at Aquarium1, he's throwing the stuff away lol.
It's the stuff from the old marine set ups he had.
I have about 50+kg left, it's not much but if you want it it's yours

[STEVEGREEN]

cheers Ronny , thanks for the offer will let you know

maybe one of the mods can move the post to PONDs section where i can get more technical , hints and tip , materials type input

Cheers
Steve Green

[Kimbo]

Looks like it will be an awesome pond Steve, I like the look of that layout.

[mtchye]

For heating you could try solar pool heating. You can get the solar pool tubing and temperature controllers that divert the pump to the roof only when the black tubing on the roof is hotter than the pond temp and only up to your preset pond temp.

I believe Terry uses a similar system to good effect on his pond.

[Thalium]

Steve as for the shape I would make it the biggest rectangle you can fit in there so you are using as much possible space you can get without wasting any for future (this will also be easier to dig out and to place the liner in). then to scult it to the different shape i would personally build up piles of lime stone to get all the dips and dentes that you want this will also provide a nice haven for fry when they breed in there aswell as good hidding for juvies. the benefir of this is you wont be wasting any space and you can change the design when ever you like

Thats my 2 cents

[madden]

Hi

that sounds like a great idea. definitly something id give ago when i can aford to buy a house. plan looks great. and the bonus is tha the hole doesnt need to be that deep due to all the dirt that you will be removing.

rick

[STEVEGREEN]

thalium , so your saying basically construct a small swimming pool and just add piles of limestone for shape???

so seal the concrete and throw in the lime stone? then build the waterfall and cap the edges?

im unsure of the step process to make it look natural from above??


please explain

Cheers
Steve Green

[Sambo]

Sounds like a cool idea ballsy one too. if your Cichlids dont work out you could always fill it full of koi lol! I know you said you werent gonna use the hole area but a hole (2.5 by 5 by 1m deep) thats 12.5 cubes of digging bro hope you gotta a good back. You could get a dingo from bunnings for $150 a day there jerky as sH%t but move some serious dirt once you get the hang of it. If you where thinking of bricking, lining and cement rendering your pond. make sure its done spot on cause a pond that size full of water is heavy the hole will need to be compact rated which may involve removing sand then replacing with sifted clay based sand. This is to prevent movement and your pond cracking. Even small cracks can be disasterous, you may think it's evaporation but that small crack is washing away the sand creating voids crackin your pond even further beyond repair. Bricks, PVC liner, chicken mesh for re-enforcement, render and sealer will cost you a pretty penny......As aposed to a poly pond which do come in some serious big sizes. When you add up the cost the poly ponds out do a structural built ponds by thousands. Most poly ponds have warrantys as well its really tuff stuff plus its flexible as. You can get different colours as well black white/grey brown even pebble text. A rectangle pond is definatly the most structuraly sound design for a man made pond as aposed to a kidney, oval ect.

But wheres the fun in THAT!!! just imagine building the pond exactly the way you want it. Do your research take your time and you'll enjoy building it as much as admiring it when its done.

Sambo

[Thalium]

thalium , so your saying basically construct a small swimming pool and just add piles of limestone for shape???

so seal the concrete and throw in the lime stone? then build the waterfall and cap the edges?

im unsure of the step process to make it look natural from above??


please explain

Cheers
Steve Green

Steve,

Basically thats the idea if you are laying out the cash for it to be concreted that is what I would do make a small pool and use the lime stone to get the effect i want.


I would seal it and cap all the edges prioir to adding limestone and the waterfall.
Remember there are no rules to doing this but personally i would have someparts of the limestone built up so high that it actually comes up and over the lip of the pond and this would be the exact way i would build the waterfall.

If you want you can pm me and I will send you my number and explain it better as sometime its hard to get it right with typing

[Rainbow]

One point that doesn't seem to have been mentioned is checking your ground water table.
If you want to sink the pond below ground level and want it reasonably deep (75cm) to give protection from birds etc , you will need to make sure that your ground water table doesn't put too much pressure on the pond, particularly if you use liner.
When I was doing the research for my pond, I saw all kinds of ponds "popped" out of the ground by pressure from the ground water.
The same thing apparently happens to swimming pools.

I originally wanted a below ground pond but had to make compromises due to our winter ground water level, even though we live on deep sand,
but I love my pond now, so I'm not complaining

[anchar]

Nice project Steve. If you need bulk white silicon sand, don't forget where I work

Andrea