My fake pond is done!

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Yooper

Ale's What Cures You!
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My pond is finally done- except for the landscaping and plants. It still looks a bit raw, but the plants will definitely help! I put this in my side yard, where our deck and chiminea are. We don't have any neighbors on this side, so it's private and it's our favorite place to be. We have a big, big yard on the other side along the road and our back yard has our garden. The house is actually log underneath the ugly siding- it's probably 100 years old.

The goldfish like the pond a lot, but they'll like it better when there are plants to help give them some cover!

Anyway, pictures:
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nice. I could definately sit there and while away a few hours and brews...

A log cabin? Does it have the logs on the inside?

Don't you love old houses. Mines about 125 years old with about 4 layers of different sidings. Clapboards, asbestos shingle, something yet to be identified, then foam insulation and vinyl siding on top!

Anyway, nice pond. I wish I had one (and some one else to maintain it :D )
 
It's ok for a house in town. The house was in farmland when it was built. The logs are buried under: ugly gold steel siding; then ugly shingle like siding, then logs. On the inside, it's logs; covered by plaster and lathe, covered by dry wall, covered by panelling, covered by textured painted walls. I know this because we put a sliding glass door in when we bought it. It took them two days to cut the hole! But it's very well insulated!!!!!!

I don't know how big the lot actually is- maybe 3-4 deep lots and no neighbors adjoining. There is a house behind our back yard, but they are FIBs and only here a couple of times a year. There are some houses down the street- I think we have 5 houses total on our street.



The pond is cool- I've already sat outside with a brew and watched the fish. Very zen-like for a hyper person like me.
 
Pretty sweet! Nice job. I want to do one off of my patio someday, but I want to wait until the kids are a little older.
 
Looks nice, L! Your hard work has payed off! With some time and plants that baby will be P.I.M.P.
I especially like the giant hookah beside the pond.
 
Hookah? Oh, you mean that chiminea thing? hehe. I imagine smoking out of a chiminea would f you up.

Looks great, Lorena, just a little bare, as you said, but that will be remedied in time. I'd love to have a working water feature in my back yard! I just finished installing our fence this past weekend. You wanna talk about some labor...that was madness. But it was worth it. Being able to let Xander out without a lead/leash is so nice.

How did you get power to the pump?
 
That's a nice addition to your destressing area. I wish I could make one down here. But I have too many birds around and they would definitely be well fed. Very nice Lorena, enjoy.
 
Nice job. I suspect the Great Blue Herons would love it if I built one and kept it stocked. Them & the raccoons.

Then there's the Canadian geese. Filthy things, but I hear they're good eating.
 
Evan! said:
How did you get power to the pump?

Funny you should mention that. I just needed an outlet outside. And I have an unused circuit in my breaker box. But when I started shopping for the underground and a drill bit to go through the basement concrete, my husband offered to call an electrician. Right now it's just an extension cord to the pump, but the electrician is going to put in a GFCI outlet. Then I could put some lights out too! My husband gets nervous when I start thinking about using power tools.
 
You were thinking about drilling through the basement and wiring up the pond yourself?

What happened to the Lorena who was too intimidated to build her own mash tun? ;)
 
Nice little mosquito factory you have there, Lorena!;)

I'm glad you're having the electrician put in a GFCI for that thing. Not only is it safer, it's code.


I love old houses, too. Mine is about 110-115 years old, too. It used to be a cheese factory (in Wisconsin- go figure).:)
 
Looks good. They are addicting I'll tell you. I just rebuilt mine for the third time in 4 years. It started out about the size of your but kept getting bigger and deeper. This past month, after fighting algea for the last time I finally broke down and bought a pressurized filter with a UV light. This should keep it crystal clear even in the heat of summer.

Are you planning on stocking it with fish (koi or goldfish)? Being that you are in MI I wonder about the depth of ice. I'll get up to 8 inches of ice on my pond in the coldest of winter but the fish remain fine. You can often see them swimming very slowly under the ice at times.

Enjoy your pond. It looks great.

Eric
 
You guys have done a great job on your yard. It looks very inviting and comfortable. I can imagine sitting back there enjoying some of your home brew. :D
You wouldn't have to twist my arm.
Here's to your back yard!:mug:
 
RichBrewer said:
You guys have done a great job on your yard. It looks very inviting and comfortable. I can imagine sitting back there enjoying some of your home brew. :D
You wouldn't have to twist my arm.
Here's to your back yard!:mug:

Rich will be over shortly, just let him know when your husband's going out of town ;)
 
the_bird said:
Rich will be over shortly, just let him know when your husband's going out of town ;)
Ahem!
Lorena is definitely a hot, beautiful, intelligent, interesting, and friendly, lady. Having said that, we are both happily married and I would never even suggest anything inappropriate.


I owe you one bird. ;)
 
What did you use for the inspiration of the shape of that pond? Did you have some fond memories (mammaries?) of the impressions left in the sand on your vacation? ...after sunbathing on your front?...

;)

Nice looking ponds, er, pond.
 
Chairman Cheyco said:
What did you use for the inspiration of the shape of that pond? Did you have some fond memories (mammaries?) of the impressions left in the sand on your vacation? ...after sunbathing on your front?...

;)

Nice looking ponds, er, pond.

Hehe, I'm not the only one who thought the ponds looked like a pair of, uh... "Yoopers" ;)
 
Actually, you perverts, it's a figure 8 design. The fish can go back and forth between ponds, if they want.

The frost line is about 8 feet here, so the fish have to come inside in the winter in an aquarium. One pond is 3.5 feet deep, one a bit less. I told my son if he dug it 30 feet deep I'd put lake trout in, but he just rolled his eyes. He worked a grand total of 45 minutes on the digging.

I bought 100 very small cheap goldfish, hoping that 10 make it until fall. On the ride home about a dozen died and the next day about 10. Since then, only 2 have died (although I think a racoon got some, too). I see a fish fry coming up in October.......

This weekend we're going to get a few plants and maybe some tadpoles. The electrician is coming today to put in the outlet. I had a beer out on the deck last night, and my coffee out there this morning. The pond is off the dining room, so we can hear the waterfall while we have dinner. I love it!

olllllllo- Love the couch!
 
Nice job on the pond. I can't imagine life without one!!

Some tips from over the years...black milk creates with rocks on top make great 'Blue Heron Shelters' (or your favorite local fish predator)

See if you can get a Lotus. They are the **** around August, blooms beautifully, it will go great with the patio, etc.

other pond plants will help with the waters ecosystem to help your fish, and vice versa...and it's just more stuff going on. Frogs will show up, birds indirectly leave frog eggs, and the skeeters won't be that bad, that's what frogs take care of
 
That looks great Lorenea! I have a spot ready to build a waterfall in my back yard. An upper pond overflowing to a lower pond. I just need to buy the liner, pump and filter. Any suggestions on cheap liner? Also How many GPH is your pump? I cant wait to finish mine!

5918-waterfall2.jpg


5918-waterfall1.jpg
 
My pump is 1250 gph. Enough for the small ponds and a waterfall. I got some plants today- a couple of water lillies and some sedge. We found that while we were out fishing.

I LOVE the milk crate idea. I might have to go wading tomorrow to put one in. I have a large dark grey plastic milk crate, and I know the fish will love it. I should have read this before I crawled in to put the pots of lillies in!
 
How far north exactly are you?

I suppose 3.5 feet is pretty shallow but goldfish can be pretty resilient if the conditions are right. They sort of burrow in the bottom of the pond in winter. My Taiquiquan instructor had a pond with goldfish (Northern VT.) and they survived. Actually I believe someone mentioned blue heron feasting? They actually kept the population of his pond under control! His was maybe 5' deep i believe.
 
Not too far north, really- about 150 miles north of Green Bay, WI. But even the ice on major lakes freezes several feet deep. No way my little pond wouldn't freeze. The frost line is usually about 8 feet deep. No heron yet, I think because the pond is so close to the house.

Still, I'll take the survivors and stick them in an aquarium in the winter in the basement.
 
Nice pond! It's a great thing to have some space to relax in. I love that feeling of accomplishment once I finish some major back yard project...enjoy! :)
 
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