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My Backyard Pond/Waterfall Build


MMAX
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After a couple of problems which have since been fixed, I tried laying down my 2 piece stream liner. Problems once again, couldn't make them overlap over one of my falls so...

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Out to my supplier and picked up a 10 X 30 one piece which is probably the best way to go anyway. They'll take my two 10 X 15's in a straight across trade.

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A few more pics...

Where my 5 goldies will spen the next 7 months--hopefully

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My neighbor had a 3 tiered plastic waterfall that he was going to throw away. Had my pump running it, I may try to find a way to incorporate it into my set-up.

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Bog filled with a peat moss and black dirt and a bit of sand. Planted 6 wild cattails and a bunch of tiger lilies that the neighbor didn't want.

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Lower section of stream under construction. Picked up a plastic garbage container each of Montana rainbow and Athabasca river rock from Burnco along with field stone taken from a co-worker's rock pile on his farm.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 4 weeks later...

The plan before I began was to put trout in. Here's a short video shot this afternoon. Worked the last 2 days on the stream, probably not many more until the snow flies. Still lots of liner on the pond and the stream to be covered up.

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Looking good! If you want to hide your liner, you can cut off all but 6" of excess then roll it OVER (not under) toward the stream and cover it w. rock.

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:well: If you need any hints or tips on waterfall and stream building, feel free to give me a call. I have been building ponds, streams and waterfalls for about 12 years. Here is a pic of one of my old pond built about 8 years ago. It is built in the front yard. A friend of mine helped me and we did it in a weekend. 8ft x 11ft with about 5-6ft of stream split in two. The depth is about 2ft. The fish have never been removed from the pond except for a couple hours during a couple of major cleanings over the 8 years. YES, I do leave them in all winter also.

Have fun. BUT be very careful. It can be as addictive as aquariums!! :thumbs:

Henry :beer:

Nice, looking forward to build one next year.

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  • 4 months later...

So after a long winter it's time to open this thread again. The ice came off my pond today and started running my pump and small waterfall . Sad to report that me 5 goldfish didn't make it in the Rubbermaid in my garage. Good thing they were only feeders. More updates to follow as I continue with my build.

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Had my first major incident of the season last night. Left my waterfall running as I have several times before (just have a 1/2" hose from my pump into the waterfall held in place with a rock) and went to bed. Woke up to an empty pond and my pump running...dry. Threw the pump into the bottom sump which still had water and it worked thankfully. Maybe it was a good thing because last fall I had a bunch of leaves fall into the pond. Drained the rest of the water out and cleaned the whole pond. Filled up and found out it holds a little less than I thought. +/- 1500 gallons which means I only need the 70 gallon Skippy filter. I'm going to go order a Rubbermaid stock tank tomorrow.

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CO-OP Agro Center in Innisfail had a 70gal tank in stock.

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Thought I had enough PVC fittings left after plumbing my saltwater tank but I didn't. Got the egg crate cut for the inside.

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Talked to the guys from Skippy's in Michigan today. I wanted to order 3 bags of media, bacteria and enzymes. They told me the shipping alone to Canada would cost me $70 since they only use U.S. Mail. They're supposed to call me back tomorrow to give me an exact quote so I'll see if I can get it out of them exactly what they use for the media, person to person.

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After talking again with the guys from Skippy's (Beautiful Ponds & Gardens), I ended up ordering just the bacteria and enzymes. They told me to try and save some shipping costs by buying the media locally. It's just polyester floor scrubbing pads. Found a place in Red Deer that sells janitorial supplies and they stock 3M 5/CS blue pads. Going to pick some up next week along with some PVC fittings from Emco and get the filter running ASAP.

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  • 3 weeks later...

After a bit of an absence, finally got my Skippy filter built..

Decided to go with two 2" shower drains instead or the big 4" closet flange

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Cut six 8" pieces of PVC for supports. The egg crate is pretty flimsy and would break if you set plant pots on it

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The finished product

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I had to get this thing started filtering and since my stream isn't finished yet I set it up on the main pond. When the stream's done I'll drain it and haul it up the hill.

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If you can get longer hose, place your pump at teh far end of the pond - it will give you better circulation in the pond.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Stocked 6 comet goldfish in my top pond. Water was a frigid 35F when I put them in. Had a spare heater laying around so I threw it in. Everyone survived the first night and were happy today. First trip of the year to Bearberry and stocked up on a few plants. Picked up 10 bunches of oxygenators (pondweed, hornwort, bladderwort), 8 marginals and 1 water lily.

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Bog plants starting to grow well. Cattails really taking off.

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Couple of main pons shots and some of the marginals I picked up. Hopefully the oxygenators will help to clear the water up soon.

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Gloriosa (red flower) water lily.

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Think I need quite a few more plants, I'm going to hit up a few local ditches and dig some native pond grasses. Should help to cut down costs a bit. Now to finish off the waterfall and stream.

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