my project

**chris hop** · 09-21-2009, 10:30 PM

hello i live in new england and i wanted to have a fish pond out side but sine i couldent put warm water fish in there because of the winters here i wanted to put some fish that livearound here in it and i wanted to have a full eco system but i have a buget and i dont have all the time in the world so i was thinking of making a small ditch around the area i wated to have the pond in put in a mould and fill it with cement making it about 3-4 feet high getting some rubber and lining the whool thing with ruber to keep water in i was thinking about putting in some bass, sunfish, minnows, cray fish, mabe some pike/pickril freshwater seaweed and lilly pads and for watater changed drill a hole in the top part of the cement all the way through and putting some cloth over it i am trying to make a full eco system or close to it so if there are any problems/sudgestions that would be great how big would it have to be? and also how mutch would this cost i would be able to do evrything my self exept for the cement mabe. thanks

**smaug** · 09-21-2009, 11:37 PM

Ill hit ya with the raw truth real quick

Have this balloon to hold and set down while I give you the straight poop

For a pond to be big enough to turn into an eco sysytem unto its own,you are looking at something at least a half acre in size.My pond is 2500 gal,fully planted with huge amounts of bio filtration and it is not self sufficient.I suggest your first step is buying one of the fine books available on the subject.I recomend and learned from
complete guide to water gardens ponds and fountains by kathleen fisherWhat is your current fish/water keeping experiance level?

**chris hop** · 09-22-2009, 12:53 AM

fish keeping only a summers worth of studying but my family fishes a ton so i know about local fish ;)

**chris hop** · 09-22-2009, 12:55 AM

im not talking about compltle on its own i just dont want to have to find enough food to feed a on of fish ;) the water quality and stuff i can take care of will it work?

**chris hop** · 09-22-2009, 11:21 PM

i was also thinking about just buying a pool on craigs list any broblens with that?

**smaug** · 09-22-2009, 11:33 PM

They will need to be fed.As I mentioned earlier,unless the pond is large it will not be self sufficient.A pool would not be large enough either.To achive self sufficient your pond would have to have all the mechanisms in place a natural body of water would have.
There would have to be enough room and cover for small fish to not be eaten all at once.There would have to be room for insects to breed and provide food for the smaller fish,this normally means a dirt bottom.

**chris hop** · 09-23-2009, 09:58 PM

ok so no eco system :( sience is fun lol so what could i put in there that i can feed without having to go scubadiving for it?

**chris hop** · 09-23-2009, 09:59 PM

and by scubadiving i mean trying wiked hard to get it like buying it from some place in china and wating 3 weeks for the fish to have a meal?

**smaug** · 09-23-2009, 11:00 PM

why not just go with something easy at first.150gal hard lined in ground pond with comets or goldys?

**chris hop** · 09-23-2009, 11:39 PM

is there any where i could find out how to make something like that?and howlong would it tank and cost/ how could i make it look probaly dum questions