Me and my friend were gonna build a pond...?

Question

me and my friend were gonna build a pond in his backyard.this question is related to my other one about breeding shiners.. we want to build like a 3 foot by 3 foot pond. about 3 feet deep. is that big enough to keep fish in and try to breed them? if not then we will make it bigger.. i was thinking about digging the hole and then putting a rubber tarp in it to hold the water so it deosnt seep through. then we were gonna fill it with water then fish. i asked my neighbor who is a big fisherman and he said we wouldnt need a filter for a pond that small. is this a good idea?

Answer 1

My friend raises Koi. I know it has to be deep for them. The information below is from the first website.

1) How large should I make my pond?  One of the most common mistakes people make with their first pond is that they build it too small. For koi fish, the smallest pond we recommend building is 1500 gallons, which would be approximately 7 feet wide by 8 feet long and 4 feet deep. That may sound huge to many beginners, but most people who already have a koi pond, will agree that if you build a pond much smaller than that, you will not be happy with it. The problem is that koi fish are extremely addictive and it is hard to be content with just a few. Also, keep in mind that you may start out with several 6 inch long koi, but within 3 or 4 years they could grow to 24 inches or more. With few exceptions, most people, after a while, wish they had made their first pond bigger. On the other hand, you can also make your pond too big. Bigger is not always better. The largest pond we recommend building is 15,000 gallons, which would be approximately 17 feet wide by 21 feet long and 6 feet deep. If you build a pond much larger than that you run into several problems. In a very large pond it can become almost impossible to catch the fish if you need to. It can also be very expensive to medicate the pond if that becomes necessary. Additionally, all the water in the pond will need to be filtered at least once every three hours. Running pumps large enough to accomplish this can cost several hundreds of dollars per month. Finally, if you build the pond too large you may not enjoy the koi as much, because in a very large pond the koi are not always visible.

Answer 2

Hi,

If you are going through all that trouble to build a pond, might as well make it a nice and big one! Why not increase the size?

Your plan sounds good, however I do not agree with the fisherman. Since the pond outside will be facing sun, without a filter- the water will become green and grass will start growing inside of it. Using a filter will help keep the water clean and avoid the growing of grass - I have 2 ponds myself both big and small, and both need filters.

Here are some sites to help you!

Good luck!

http://www.pondrushes.net/

http://www.monsterguide.net/how-to-build...

http://www.hgtv.com/landscaping/how-to-b...

Answer 3

The bigger the pond the more oxygen you'll have.  

Answer 4

I would think for breeding purposes you would need a larger pond.  I don't know where you live, but, here where it snows during the winter, your pond has to be over 2.5' deep so that the fish can survive the winter.  I would highly recommend a filter.

Answer 5

Depends on where you live the temperature, and wild animals or d**n CATS. You need to put a lining on it filter and airation, if the fish is larger than 7 inches or grows like crazy you need a huge one. This is not the mating season spring and early summer are.