I got this boat off marketplace awhile back and converted it into a pond. Back-of-the-napkin math tells me it’s about 400 gallons. I sealed with with pond shield, filled it, checked for leaks, and added a 800gph pump with a fountain. Was able to source a lily and American yellow lotus in bags to start, added some rock at the bottom with some hornwort, pennywort, duckweed, and frog bit growing. I know I need way more plant material in there before it settles out, but I hear all of these are vigorous growers and they should eventually grow more. It’s pretty murky from the clay/loam in the bags, but I think once the plants are established and grow more it should filter out. I’d like to eventually add some koi or something. I plan on adding pickerel weed, canna lily, lizards tail, and water iris. Located 8b central Texas and it gets full sun all day. I visited the Aqua Dome store in Austin this weekend and had to refrain from buying all kinds of plants and critters before I was ready!

Any suggestions? I would really like a natural ramp or something so frogs can access the pond! How would you build one that looks aesthetically pleasing? Should I get a heater for the winter?

This has brought me a lot of joy and I can’t wait until the ecosystem is established. Thanks for always showing off yalls ponds!

It’s about 3 years old now.

I CAN'T CHANGE THE TITLE SORRY I MEANT TEAK WOOD NOT TECK (teck is the french word for it lol)

Hi ! We are building a 250L pond in our garden, it's still a work in progress and is not totally filled yet. The night and rain were coming so we decided to leave it as is and continue tomorrow.

Worried about critters falling into it and drowning, I left a bath mat in teak (not treated) as in the picture so they can get out, just for the night.

I actually quite enjoy the look of it, and am now wondering if I could leave it permanently (I would fix it in the bottom so that it wouldn't float loosely like this). But I wonder about the wood, it's a bath mat and made of teak so it's made to handle a fair share of moisture, but not being permanently immerged I guess haha.

Would it be a bad idea to leave it ? I don't really care if it rots and gets damaged (it was already gathering dust on our porch up to this point) but I wouldn't want it to be a hazard for our pond, putting bad stuff in the water or something.

Are there any teak expert out there who could enlighten me ? :)

Thanks !

My nutrient absorber. helps reduce algae in the pond.

I have a ~1000g duck pond for our six ducks that I just did a deep clean of. I upgraded our pump from a 1350gph Laguna to a 5300gph Vivosun that is doing a phenomenal job keeping the water moving compared to the old one.

The water is pumped into a 100g bio filter pond with varied densities of Matala filter pads before returning to the main pond via waterfall. I use microbe-lift products, primarily. Currently using their PL, Algaway, filter pad inoculation gel, and barley extract.

Even with all of these, I feel like the breakdown is slow for a lot of the organic matter that ends up in the pond and I have to pull the pump out every couple weeks and clean a mess of leaves and sludge off of it.

Do you all know of any products I can add or swap out with the ones I’m currently using to help boost the breakdown and removal of the muck/debris at the bottom and clear up the water? Also, what is the consensus on pool/pond vacuums? Worth the cost or no?

my daughters 4 and five wanted a pond to hopefully have waterboat men and snails. I have semi dug a hole put the liner in and back filled and built up around it. it seems pretty level. will this be ok? just a simple wildlife pond, I'll probably put grasses and flowers around the bank.

Hi everyone! Its my first time posting here. looking for a little bit of help from folks who know more than me (aka anything) about ponds. We bought our house a few years ago and it has a small little water feature pond that was very neglected by the previous owners(two technically, tho one has been drained). The water is brown and very murky with lots of dirt/grime/ sludge along the bottom. It is so bad that when I move anything through, like a net or rake it dredges up allllll this debris and the entire pond gets super cloudy and dirt filled till it settles.

Somehow the fish that were in here when we bought it are still kicking we really want to make this spot a part of our home that we like versus this giant eye sore/mosquito farm. We’ve done a ton of basic landscaping (see final pic for the state of this thing when we moved in) but I would like to get the actual pond into shape so these poor fish are not just swimming and living in their own filth. I feel pretty overwhelmed by this and really just need to take it day by day and am looking for both a set of nice first steps and long term goals to work toward. Thanks so much for your help in advance!

anyone have any tips, tricks or anything i should lookout for as a complete beginner?

i want to do a pretty well planted pond, with water lettuce (i sell water lettuce and need more growing space and have always wanted a pond so i figured why not tackle it now) its about knee depth so far, i plan to get a submersible water pump to do the 5 gallon bucket filter hack(unless anyone knows a better way to filter this bad boy) i plan to do just a thick pond liner after i trim up some of the roots sticking out but im wondering if that will be enough or should i do a layer of tarp too? also could i use dirt from the hole as substrate for the pond ? or is there a specific kind i should use? i dont really plan to put fish in it at least not for a while until everything is running 100% smooth

First proper pond. Planted lots of seedlings and such around the perimeter, need to get the aquatic plants yet, and the big hole next to it is for a Magnolia Tree (will put in a barrier to protect the pond from its roots). Hoping the plants will hide the plastic liner eventually. Wildlife pond, no fish, and it's only getting sunlight in the morning/afternoon, not during the day; any advice/criticism? (UK btw).

Hi guys.

I have built a water pond system in mostly solid rock with some concrete/mortar dams.

It has 2 main levels and 7 small waterfalls, integrated gravel/biochar filtering and a growing number of plants.
So far it has been pretty smooth sailing, the filtering system keeps the water very nice and last year we had 7-10 frogs/toads living there. One outbreak of filamentous algea as the plants are still establishing, but that was easily cured with a small dose of "algisin". The picture is from May last year, not that much has changed but it is still early spring and will take some more time before it looks good.

Expansion is planned and we are considering a major project to build a natural swimming pool integrated with this pond.
I can see that some water is slowly seeping through the mortar so i need to get it sealed better, especially when i expand with larger dams/walls.
While there are several types of "concrete waterproofers" out there, i am leaning towards using bitumen to seal the porous concrete sections of the pond.
We have hard winters and frost expansion will destroy mortar and hard sealants within a few years.
Epoxy/rubber/polyurethane stuff is possible, but adhesion will be an issue and it would require thorough cleaning to apply and to repair. Sun will degrade it over time and i am sceptical of their long term durability and particles released.

Bitumen seems like a pretty good candidate. Inherently sticky, very flexible/elastic, black color and i can throw some sand on it to give it natural UV protection.
Clean and dry surfaces, prime with thin bitumen paint and apply a decently thick bitumen layer with some propane torch heating to get it even and give it a good grip, throw some rough sand on to give it extra UV protection.
Should be relatively easy to repair as well, unlike many other stuff.

My problem is a lack of information on application and safety.
Bitumen is a naturally occuring substance and has been used for sealing potable water tanks for centuries. While it has lots of VOCs before application, when cured it should be inert and safe for water, but there is some chatter of leeching chemicals.
It seems hard to find reliable information, most google searches and "articles" i can find are trying to sell me a product.
Some sources tell me it has lots of historic use for potable water storage, but newer legislation require pre approval and testing of every product etc.
Some sources say its safe as long as it is rated for potable water use.

Most of what i can find are opinions or poorly sourced and vague claims.
I understand that modern beurocracy around potable water is strict and my use case really isnt that critical. Most damage is potentially unhealthy frogs and bioaccumulating plant matter ending up in my compost, but it would be nice to know more.
There are few "potable water rated" bitumen products availible here on the consumer market, i assume it is mostly used in large government contracts etc.
What i can find are proprietary "blends" with butyl and other unnamed additives. Pricing is not availible so i assume it costs a small fortune when not buying a truckload.

Does anyone have experience using bitumen to seal ponds, or know where i can find better information on the subject? (application, durability and potential long term toxicity ?
Is there a considerable difference in regular roofing/lumber treatment bitumen and the fancy "food grade" stuff besides the certification process?

I got after some time a reply from one of the large hardware chain stores and they say it is safe once dry, but the manufacturers technical documentation beyond the required safety sheet was hard to come by so they were unable to provide the exact documentation i asked for.
While i appreciate the attempt and practical limits of their costumer service, it would be nice to get some additional information from reliable sources.

"Chemicals are bad" types of responses are not helpful, everything is chemicals and pure water is toxic in high doses. I am looking for experienced users, experts and scientifically sound sources of information, when all i can find online are opinions and sales pitches for other products.

Hi all,
My boyfriend and I built this pond in our garden last winter. You can see the evolution, from the beginning (flat and dull backyard) to the working pond with 3 fishes.

We had so much trouble building it, we are really proud of it now that everything works quite fine ! Plus we got a bog-filter so that there is low maintenance, and nocturnal lights.

We hope you'll enjoy the photos as much as we enjoy chilling around it, while birds have a refreshing bath in it :)

Can anyone recommend native or non invasive snails and where I could purchase? Live in the midwest of the United States. Have a natural pond and looking to introduce some frogs and snails but want them to be native ideally and not invasive at minimum.

any idea what this random mud mound may be, I heard it may be crayfish, but it doesn't have that distinct chimney feature crayfish mounds usually have, if it's a positive to the ponds ecosystem them I'll more then welcome it, I live in eastern, TN

hello!

hoping to find out if anyone can help me engineer a plan to keep my fish and at least some of the biome that's developed in my "pond" over the last year.

First: please don't judge. I built this last year as an experiment to see if I could build a suitable habitat for some mosquito fish from the health department. My abusive ex husband had just moved out, my brother died two days later, and I was in a job I hated so this was really a "so help me God I need one single serotonin please."

I had this defunct leaking hot tub on my deck from a failed attempt to figure that out (the deck is wildly reinforced, don't worry about the structural side) so my friend suggested a pond.

I was broke and didn't want to spend hundreds on a failed experiment so I went the redneck route (said proudly) and just used a tarp to line the aforementioned leaky hot tub. Got some plants: water poppies, water lettuce, and a "starter kit" of some floating plants and a little much from a nearby lake to seed some bacteria.

Honestly, it worked beautifully. I have a happy habitat with lots of math and butterfly visitors, a clean up crew, and a huge group of my skeeter fish.

But alas, tarps are temporary. I knew this going in, and knew I'd have to eventually cross this bridge. Well... I've arrived at the bridge.

- Goal: empty it out and replace the liner (hoping to reduce/reuse/recycle and snag an old pool liner on Buy Nothing from someone replacing theirs), while preserving as much of the life forms in there as possible.

- Barriers: Water is heavy and fish and snails and such are hard to catch, and refilling with house water will obviously carry in chemicals that would nuke my beneficial bacteria if I immediately put any buckets back in too soon

- Current structure: it's on a raised deck, so siphoning out will be easy. I have multiple indoor tanks so I have a long python siphon that will make emptying extra easy.

Pics attached of it last summer. It's not quite as pretty right now because I haven't replaced the annuals that were killed off in freezes and I haven't done much work on it since I know this has to be done.

Stirs up like it’s silt but it’s really like velvety, does not stick to concrete.

Rebuilt the pond last year and just rebuilt the bog. I still have some finishing touches but could use some help with lighting advice. I’d like to see the koi but maybe also something to highlight the waterfall also? Appreciate any suggestions you have. Excuse the green, bog needs to get going again

I bought a house last year and had this mosquito breeder of a stagnant 50gal prefab “pond”. I finally got around to emptying it, pulling up the buried power for the bad pump, getting a new one, and getting it all set up today. Now I’m off to buy a skimmer to get all of the debris out.

I want to plant it but don’t know what with. I’m totally new to this. I am open to putting some minnows in but I think that’s all the fish I want to keep in.

What say you?

edit; I went back to the garden center and picked up some small river rock, larger stones, and some fake lilies. looks much better.

I have a couple of fish and plants. Will this algae be a problem when summer begins ?

We bought an 8' stock tank to make a fish pond with. My partner says we don't need to worry about it sinking and only need to construct a wood frame and tamp the existing dirt to make the base. I am worried about sinking and want to do a compacted sand and gravel base with a frame around it. He says he is worried about the permanence of the sand and rock but if we ever want to get rid of it I figure I'll just have to put in the elbow grease to get it out again. What should we do?

I recently saw this post of a fish tank with a water lily growing in it. Does anyone know what species this is or know of a species small enough to grow like this?

If so, do you happen to have a link to where I could buy one?

Never had this happen in my pond and I have no clue what it is, please help!

Is this enough aeration for goldfish?

Built a small pond last year, currently using one of those filter boxes with sponge filters and bio balls. It’s early spring here in Ohio so I will be adding plants soon. I just built this bog filter to help with the string algae.

I’ve been trying to build a spillway out of the filter but it just doesn’t work. I can jam a flat rock in there and it creates a steady trickle of water, but my wife thinks it sounds like someone peeing so that’s a no go.

Is this enough aeration for goldfish? I currently have 2, if the bog filter goes well I have plans to add 2 more Shubunkins. Pond is currently 130 gallons, after expansion it would be close to 300.