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  1. #1
    BPnet Veteran pretends2bnormal's Avatar
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    09-07-2017
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    DIY Backyard Pond

    My husband and I started a project this weekend to set up and build a modest backyard pond. We're new to ponds, but have 4 freshwater tanks (60g, 55g, 29g, and 20g long, housing a pair of axolotls) and 2 5-gallon betta tanks.

    As newbies, we wanted something that wouldn't be gigantic and take too much work to maintain if we decide it isn't something we want long term. I'd love to have koi, but that's going to stay a fantasy unless I buy a house with a big enough pond in place, lol. Therefore we decided on something in the 100 gallon range. Big enough for a lot of guppies or mollies, and to test out with a handful of comet goldfish for a few years at least.

    We decided we wanted to do above ground, to avoid all the digging, and try to avoid cementing things in place in case we decide to expand to something bigger or take it apart completely. The perfect solution? Large livestock water tanks!
    The Tractor Supply Co nearby had a 110 gallon one made of recycled rubber. It's very firm and sturdy, and a 24 hour test with pump held water perfectly. Excuse our jerry-rigging for the small waterfall in testing phase here. Dimensions are approx 20"h x 53"l x 36"w. 20" is supposed to he deep enough to winter a pond, and since I'm in north Texas, where it rarely gets cold enough to freeze 5 gallons, much less 100+, I suspect we'll be able to run the pump 98% of the year, if not 100%.



    Today we went to home depot and got some of the retaining wall bricks, weed guard sheet, and some sand for leveling. The garden space we are using is a poor decision of the people we bought from. It's a 100% shade area, so nothing we've tried would grow there, not even plants people report as great for tha situation.

    We took out the mulch and leveled the dirt/removed some grass, laid the weed guard sheets, and put in an edging thing. We plan to fill this space with gravel later and add a few potted plants out in the sunnier area.

    Here's the progress from today:


    We underestimated how many bricks we needed, so we'll have to grab more one night this week.

    Here's the view from the hammock we installed a little ways away. Included in picture is 1 husband (Ryan) and 1 good doggo (Remus).


    Plans are in place to put up a mini fence to block the A/C and the various cable boxes at a later date for aesthetic.

    Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

  2. The Following User Says Thank You to pretends2bnormal For This Useful Post:

    Prognathodon (05-07-2018)

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