# Lets see your pond!



## Salmonid (Apr 14, 2004)

As a new pond owner, my pond i spretty basic, still getting grass growing and no dock yet but I will get some pics up soon but in the meantime, Id love to see what everyones ponds look like as I am sure many others would enjoy seeing them as well. Really, I am looking for good looking ideas to copy as far as dock construction, landscaping, trees etc. Be sure to tell us how deep, and how big.

Thanks guys!!
Salmonid


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## [email protected] (Dec 22, 2006)

How about some pictures of your's Salmonoid? It would be fun to watch it progress into the ultimate fishing hole

Here's a couple of mine. It's 1/2 acre, 11' deep. The banks are lined with 90 tons of #2 limestone over geotextile fabric. There are some flowering plum and crabapple trees planted at one end. I let a few cattails grow and have planted some blue pickerel weed, iris, and daylillies at the edges.


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## Salmonid (Apr 14, 2004)

I have a bunch of pics I need to get uploaded to the web for linking, been meaning to do that but been busy lately, will get them up tonight I hope. BTW, your pond is gorgeous!! Lots of time and money there and it shows!
Next year will start working on a few plants for the pond, all in due time....

More later!
Salmonid


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## Fishman (Apr 5, 2004)

Beauty of a pond pondfin! Awsome bloom ya already go going! Did you fertilize?


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## Mushijobah (May 4, 2004)

+1 on this topic! I'de love to see some of your ponds!


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## [email protected] (Dec 22, 2006)

Fishman said:


> Beauty of a pond pondfin! Awsome bloom ya already go going! Did you fertilize?


I don't fertilize. I get plenty of nutrients from runoff and feeding. It's pretty rare an Ohio pond needs fertilized unless it's a quarry or mostly well fed.


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## Salmonid (Apr 14, 2004)

Here are the pics as of this afternoon, 3/4 of an acre, 12 ft deep, all escavated , all clay bottom.

Here is one showing the entire pond










Here is one showing 2 of 5 sunken cedar trees, all structure shown by Orange stakes on shore.









Herre in the lower right, you can see the top of a sunken rock pile, water is the clearest I have seen it so far









This point is where the dock and gazebo will go, the blue trash can houses fish food, notice the depth marker on the right, the little cove is a gradual area that goes out about 25 feet before dropping off from 4-12 ft. ( Beach area) 









More as I get more things done, you can see there is a lot of weeds and some grass so far. Stocked 20 Lbs fatheads and 20 lbs Golden Shiners in Mid March. Last month stocked 19 4-5" Blue cats, last week stocked Bluegill, Hybrid Bluegill, Redear Sunfish, Black crappies ( all 2-4") and today got about 90, 4-6" Yellow Perch. Will get Hybrid Striped bass in the fall since they are not available now.

Salmonid


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## liquidsoap (Oct 22, 2005)

Cool ponds.
This thread makes me jealous!


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## Mushijobah (May 4, 2004)

Man, those are some nice shots. Keep em comin! Maybe some of the fish you have gotten out of them too?


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## lacdown (Apr 25, 2007)

Great pics, guys. Please pm me if it'd be ok for my pregnant wife and I to come over and fish for catfish!!! We practice C&R.


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## Fishman (Apr 5, 2004)

[email protected] said:


> I get plenty of nutrients from runoff and feeding. It's pretty rare an Ohio pond needs fertilized unless it's a quarry or mostly well fed.


I agree with that one hundred percent! Your pictures are deceptive or you have a hell of a bloom going. What's visibility at?

Great looking pond Mark! Keep me in the loop, enjoy watching it change.


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## [email protected] (Dec 22, 2006)

Looking good Salmonoid! I like the shape of it. You're water is the same color as mine was starting out. I can't wait to see your future projects come to life. 

I can see what you were saying about your topsoil getting washed away. Unfortunately I think it's going to make getting grass established that much more difficult. The grass is still a little weak where the same thing happened at my place on the 3:1 sloped bank.

Fishman, the aerator wasn't running in the bottom picture. Depending on the weather, visibility without aeration is usually between 16" and 19" when the plankton is concentrated in the upper part of the water column. When the aerator is mixing, or it's cloudy and windy, visibility goes to around 20"-24". After several inches heavy rain it may go to just a few inches for a day or so due to runoff. I like the natural green color. It's a sign of a healthy, productive pond.


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## Fishman (Apr 5, 2004)

Saw 2 excessivly bloomed ponds go down in flames these past two days. Bloomed up extremely early... we litterally saw it coming the day before. One had a bottom based aerator, the other a surface fountain. This is the time of year I expect to start seeing blooms coming on strong but seeing ones that green in Early May is pretty impressive.

I wouldn't say a strong plankton bloom is a sign of a healthy, productive pond. I would say it's the most essiental building block of a healthy, productive pond. Next to water and oxygen of course


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## fishintiger (Apr 26, 2004)

Both of those ponds look great. I wish I had one then I could atleast fish everyday.  One question though. What does it cost to dig out a pond between 1/2 and 3/4 of an acre and maybe 12-15 feet deep? You don't have to give exact amounts just ball park is fine. I've always wanted a pond of my own and was just kind of wondering if it was benefical to buy a house with a pond or to get a house with some land and make my own pond.

Thanks guys.


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## Salmonid (Apr 14, 2004)

With rising feul costs, I d suggest getting a place with an established pond, that will keep your headaches down since you already know the pond holds water, is already stocked etc. It would be way chepaer to add 15-20K ( realistic estimate) to your house shopping fund and get a place with a nice pond already there. As far as return on investment? its like a swimming pool, you can only get a little bit more out of it then normal since most folks see it as a bonus to an existing property.

Building one really depends on the site and you would have to purchase before you could dig test holes to see if the pond would actually hold water
another thing is that most folks have no idea how much space that much dirt/clay takes up, I was truly amazed by all the clay, and luckily we used it to level off a horse riding arena, raised the whole area 3-5 feet.


I could give you more details if you need them, PM me 

Salmonid


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## [email protected] (Dec 22, 2006)

I'd agree with Salmonoid. $15-20K seems about right for a 1/2 -3/4 acre pond if you have a good site. It's usually cheaper to build a dam on the side of a hill or in a valley then it is to excavate 100% of the pond. 

Sure beats mowing the same space though


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## Fishman (Apr 5, 2004)

What I really don't understand, is why does it cost so much money to build ponds? Buddy just had a 2 acre pond built, was suppose to be 3 acres but dirt to build the dam became an issue and they had to shorten the pond up significantly. Took the guys that dug it 8 days, were hitting the PBR by 11AM, and made an easy 30 grand. Am I missing something here?


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## Big Joshy (Apr 26, 2004)

my guess is that having a pond is a luxury. Everying that is a luxury is overpriced. Because there just isnt much competition to drive down the prices to reasonable levels.


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## Salmonid (Apr 14, 2004)

Between fuel costs, time and effort and hiring qualified operators, then there is the part about owning 100K in equipment ( or more) liability insurance is steep and then there is the skilled labor so in all, the expensive part is moving the dirt, if you just strip topsoil, then push and compact clay on a slope, the prices are cheap, when someone has to load it, 1 scoop at a time and then drive it, dump it, then repeat at the end to spread it back out, that is where the costs goes up considerably, plus you just doubled the manpower needed, the equipment needed and time needed to do the job. 
I was told if I had to get a quote to do what a heavy equipment school did for just the price of fuel at my place, it would have taken 6 guys, 8 pieces of serious machinery, 10 days and about 32-34K for the price. ( The trade off for me was it took over 2 years for the project to get done) and before anyone else asks, this was a 1 time deal. 

There really is way more to digging a hole then at first seems... 

Salmonid


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## [email protected] (Dec 22, 2006)

Back when I built my 1/2 acre pond, rental on a Cat 315 Excavator was $395/day or $1382/wk per week and two John Deere 450 Dozers were $275/day or $962/wk each plus delivery of $90. It took about six 12 hour days for 1 excavator and 2 dozers to excavate the hole, core trench and move most of the dirt about 100'. Rental companies call 40 hours a week so let's just make it two weeks on the equipment and with delivery and tax adds up to around $7K just for the equipment. On average, let's say they use 7 gallons of fuel per hour or roughly 1300 gallons or $5200 for off-road diesel. Add in a low operator cost of $50/hr times three men for six days and you're looking at another $11K labor and a grand total around $23,200 very conservatively. Fortunately for me, I have a brother in the rental buisness, I had good help from friends and family who know how to run equipementand and only had to pay 1 operator (for his knowledge and experience, and he charged less than $50/hr), plus meals. Add in the cost of materials for your overflow structure, seed, straw and what other features you want.

Since I was building a house, I used the excavated soil for backfill around the house thus reducing excavating costs for the basement. I also used the pond for my geothermal loop which was 1/3 the cost of having one buried in the ground so all things considered I got off pretty cheap


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## [email protected] (Dec 22, 2006)

A 1/2 acre excavated pond is a LOT of dirt


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## fishintiger (Apr 26, 2004)

Thanks for all that info guys and sorry for hijacking the thread. I would have never thought it would be that much. So anyone know of anyone selling a house with a pond??


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## Fishman (Apr 5, 2004)

Don't see it as a hijack at all. Thanks for putting it into perspective Pondfin. Makes perfectly good sense.


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## Lundy (Apr 5, 2004)

fishintiger said:


> So anyone know of anyone selling a house with a pond??



If I get real tired of fighting the duckweed I might


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## fishintiger (Apr 26, 2004)

Lundy said:


> If I get real tired of fighting the duckweed I might


Well keep me in mind if it ever becomes too much of a problem.


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## [email protected] (Dec 22, 2006)

When I was researching info about building the pond, I found that a swimming pool or hottub can actually lower the value of your property while a pond raises it. I'm sure that it all depends on what kind of shape the pool or pond is in though and ultimately if it's something the buyer wants.

Here's an article making a case for a pond over a pool. http://www.motherearthnews.com/Do-It-Yourself/1998-06-01/Build-A-Pond.aspx


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## [email protected] (Dec 22, 2006)




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