Need advice on a garden pond

RDY4WAR

RDY4WAR

Joined
Aug 25, 2018
Messages
3,796
Location
South Carolina
We have a big relaxation area in our front yard full of gardenias. There's an open area in the middle of it measuring about 10ft x 12ft. My wife and I would like to build a small pond there with a waterfall and a bench beside it. I figure the pond itself would measure about 8ft x 6ft. My wife and 10 year old would like to keep some small fish in there (like guppies) which could also keep down mosquitos and algae.

Here's my issue. The front lawn has an irrigation system with 7 zones of coverage. None of the sprinkler heads are in the garden area, but I have no idea where the pipes run for the system. The previous owner passed away and took his knowledge of the system with him. I don't want to risk busting a PCV pipe if one happens to run right under this area so what would be the best way to go about finding out where those pipes run? I imagine the pipes wouldn't be more than 6-8" below the surface, right? If so, could I just gradually (gently) scrape the surface down to about 8" depth and if I don't hit anything, probably safe to continue on down to 2ft?

Thanks in advance for any advice on this. Also, any general advice on garden ponds is appreciated.
 
I would dig around a sprinkler head and see how far down they went. I am thinking 8" to 10".

Not sure guppies will last through the winter in pond but goldfish should.
 
RDY4WAR said:
We have a big relaxation area in our front yard full of gardenias. There's an open area in the middle of it measuring about 10ft x 12ft. My wife and I would like to build a small pond there with a waterfall and a bench beside it. I figure the pond itself would measure about 8ft x 6ft. My wife and 10 year old would like to keep some small fish in there (like guppies) which could also keep down mosquitos and algae.

Here's my issue. The front lawn has an irrigation system with 7 zones of coverage. None of the sprinkler heads are in the garden area, but I have no idea where the pipes run for the system. The previous owner passed away and took his knowledge of the system with him. I don't want to risk busting a PCV pipe if one happens to run right under this area so what would be the best way to go about finding out where those pipes run? I imagine the pipes wouldn't be more than 6-8" below the surface, right? If so, could I just gradually (gently) scrape the surface down to about 8" depth and if I don't hit anything, probably safe to continue on down to 2ft?

Thanks in advance for any advice on this. Also, any general advice on garden ponds is appreciated.
Click to expand...
6- 8 inches is cool. I suggest calling blue stake for the larger excavation. There may be underground utilities and hitting them could cost big time. Blue stake in most areas is free.
 
Yep, once utilities are confirmed not an issue just go for it. Worst case, hit a line and easily repair the PVC with a joint and some compound. If you're not digging square between 2 heads I would doubt you will hit one.
 
Just dig it up and fix the PVC pipes if they are broken. They're super easy to fix and reroute.

Also, fish might not be sufficient to keep the pond clean. You can really only make that happen with a good filtration system that pulls water down through several layers of cloth and gravel, and/or add chlorine tablets to the water to keep it nuked clean.

Source: I have to service ponds on rich peoples' properties and see all sorts of stuff go wrong with them. They are difficult to keep as that pristine pond you have envisioned in your head and really only the ones with a strong filtration system and chlorine hold up at all after a couple of years. Most people just accept they will have a mosquito factory with pond scum and leave it at that with some fish in there. As long as you don't have any birds eating the fish, they can thrive in small ponds assuming it isn't nuked with chlorine tablets. LOL
 
I forgot that my daughter's softball coach is a contractor. I got in touch with him just now, and he's going to get some guys out to find and mark the water lines and electrical lines.


Donald said:
I would dig around a sprinkler head and see how far down they went. I am thinking 8" to 10".

Not sure guppies will last through the winter in pond but goldfish should.
Click to expand...


If we did something like guppies, we'd likely bring them to an indoor tank during the cold months. It doesn't get too cold here in South Carolina though. My concern with goldfish is it may not be big enough for them being <1,000 gallons max.
 
I’d definitely get the utilities located first to CYA even though they probably won’t find the sprinkler pipes. Worst case as mentioned above, you have to repair a sprinkler pipe which is no big deal.
 
MrPlow said:
Just dig it up and fix the PVC pipes if they are broken. They're super easy to fix and reroute.

Also, fish might not be sufficient to keep the pond clean. You can really only make that happen with a good filtration system that pulls water down through several layers of cloth and gravel, and/or add chlorine tablets to the water to keep it nuked clean.

Source: I have to service ponds on rich peoples' properties and see all sorts of stuff go wrong with them. They are difficult to keep as that pristine pond you have envisioned in your head and really only the ones with a strong filtration system and chlorine hold up at all after a couple of years. Most people just accept they will have a mosquito factory with pond scum and leave it at that with some fish in there. As long as you don't have any birds eating the fish, they can thrive in small ponds assuming it isn't nuked with chlorine tablets. LOL
Click to expand...

This is my concern as well. Mosquitos are already bad because we live across the road from a 5.5 acre pond on the country club. I did plan on a filtration system with something like this....

 
RDY4WAR said:
This is my concern as well. Mosquitos are already bad because we live across the road from a 5.5 acre pond on the country club. I did plan on a filtration system with something like this....

Click to expand...
Hi, we are on a small pond that connect to a lake via a canal. The pond has a milfoil issue that we have to manage. We deal w/ this company and they also have a lot of products for small ponds. Good folk, great products.

Wish we could have one up here.

Aquacide
 
RDY4WAR said:
I forgot that my daughter's softball coach is a contractor. I got in touch with him just now, and he's going to get some guys out to find and mark the water lines and electrical lines.





If we did something like guppies, we'd likely bring them to an indoor tank during the cold months. It doesn't get too cold here in South Carolina though. My concern with goldfish is it may not be big enough for them being
Click to expand...
Have a 450 gal fish pond with 18 gold fish and who knows how many guppies. No issues.

Guppies are put in ponds the control insects. However, not decorative. Hard to see.
 
Here's what I'm working with here. We dug up all of the old mulch (and weeds) out of here over the weekend. We'll be putting black mulch in around the bushes. My original plan was to put the pond in the bigger open area furthest from the house with the waterfall on the side closest to the house. My wife, however, wants to take out the 2 middle bushes and make the pond much bigger with the waterfall on the end closest to the road. We'll be doing the work ourselves so there's no additional cost outside of material.

160277726_4509829305710645_3756826342444218497_n.jpg


160577334_274087837508151_484435459334711531_n.jpg
 
Knerml12 said:
Have a 450 gal fish pond with 18 gold fish and who knows how many guppies. No issues.

Guppies are put in ponds the control insects. However, not decorative. Hard to see.
Click to expand...

Good to know. This may be a more achievable endeavor after all.

One other concern I have is the placement of this pond will be getting direct sunlight for up to 10 hours a day. There's no shade aside from the bushes. I plan to put water lillies and build rock formations for the fish to get shade, but worry about evaporation.
 
RDY4WAR said:
Good to know. This may be a more achievable endeavor after all.

One other concern I have is the placement of this pond will be getting direct sunlight for up to 10 hours a day. There's no shade aside from the bushes. I plan to put water lillies and build rock formations for the fish to get shade, but worry about evaporation.
Click to expand...
When I did one years ago … built a wooden bridge over it and that made good shade.
Our dog loved to sun on that bridge too …
 
My son’s father in law used to have a pond with fish. The ducks found it, they thought it was great. Bottom line is the ducks ate the fish.
 
kwijibo said:
My son’s father in law used to have a pond with fish. The ducks found it, they thought it was great. Bottom line is the ducks ate the fish.
Click to expand...
I've seen large blue heron swoop in on small ponds to eat the fish.
 
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