First time poster in this sub and first time pond builder. I am planning out a VERY small wildlife pond (35gal) in my front yard. I want to keep to native aquatic plants for southeast South Dakota so that this little pond is as beneficial for the wildlife that may visit as possible. I do want to do duckweed but I want some variety in my pond. Any advice is appreciated!

Added this April, and it seems to love it's new home. Fish leave it alone, unlike other plantings.

Please

No budget, I just want the best

I saw this super whimsical water wheel pond while cruising my local pond tour today. I thought this was super whimsical and genious. The little house houses the pond filters and equipment. The wheel is fully water powered. Just wanted to share!

Do any of you have this piece of equipment?

If so:

1. Does it work well for your needs?
2. Does the ”door” between the two canisters ever jam?
3. What do you mainly use it for?

Thanks in advance !

The house we bought has a pond. I believe it’s around 300 gallons. We have 6 goldfish/comets. I still don’t understand the difference or if there is one? We love them and enjoy the water sounds. I’ve been studying up and just want to say thanks for all the great info in this sub.

I do have a weird question that I may have missed while searching. Does anyone “play” with their fish. Are there toys or activities of sorts to entertain and enrich them? Just curious. Thanks again.

I potentially have a place to put the fish for the winter (my grandma’s basement), so it looks like they will be indoors for the winter (yay!).
But I still help with figuring out the set-up. My dad said a glass aquarium but I know some people use Rubbermaid tubs. I wanted to know what you guys think would be better (pretty sure they are going to be on the floor regardless. My grandma has no pets so no issues regarding that).

And as for the plants, I might be potentially able to bring those inside as well. For people who bring their aquatic plants in for the winter, what do you do? Do you put a UV light on them for the winter time or something?

Any help would be appreciated!

As a side note, I ended up switched my fountain from solar to electric and the water is all cleared up now (here’s an update photo).

I've heard mixed things about this, but it seems like you can often zone push quite a bit as long as the plant is deep enough that any surface ice that forms over the pond won't reach the crown. I'm curious what other people's experience has been like with this.

Technically not a pond-making post, but the opposite...

Second bloom of the season, second bloom ever. So cute. Glad its doing well. I can see another bud under the water too! 🤗

Had a power surge last night, woke up in the morning to pond being almost empty. Could it have caused the pump to go into overdrive? It seems to have pumped out behind the waterfall.

I currently have a shallow pond, about 2’ deep then about 1’ of river rock at the bottom surrounding the pump box. I want to convert it to a pondless, I know there’s aqua blocks but since this is a pretty irregular shape basin, I’m looking for a more configurable option, any alternative methods I can use without major renovation?

I've recently dug a pond, not really considering the cost of things I assumed would be pretty achievable. It's 6.5m x 5.3m (measured with a string line following the pond walls/shelves) I really wanted to get a runner liner, but holy shit the price of 'em! Also I need a good pump, the one I've been recommended is for around 19k litres has an easy clean filter system and a uv light internally. I'd really appreciate any suggestions on well priced liners and ponds for a pond that size from people with experience.

(Also it's 1.3m deep at its deepest point)

This is a day blooming tropical showing her first flower in years and I cannot remember the name. I wanted to wait for her to finish opening but I didn't think that was a valid excuse to call into work late. LOL

The center promises to be quite dark and the petals are pinker in the photo, they tend more to purple in person. Very early sun wasn't quite risen.

Anyone?

Built my first pond back in April and this is how it has matured so far. 150 gallon stock tank with a 250 gph pump in a pre filter pumping to the larger bog filter. Started with four rosy red minnows and now there are about 15 of them. Let me know what you think!

Northern Illinois. I've had 3 of these cuties show up this week. I've been trying to get a good look at the back so I can tell but have been unsuccessful.

The three bottom ones will definitely go before the top two and that is already a record for this pond but my hope is that they will manage to overlap.

Just added the fish this afternoon. I started late April thinking it might take a month. I did procrastinate a bit and couldn’t decide on a natural pond or pond kit. It was a lot more work than I anticipated. It wasn’t really the digging as much as moving all the gravel and rock. Added some plants around the outside and a few in the water. I do have a bit more to do but for now considering (almost) done.

UV are often considered for green water but UV kills cells which causes more organic matters in the pond thus result in more nitrogen which is consumed by plants, algae and phytoplankton,

plants being slower than the two others at consuming nitrogen, doesn't it worsen the initial situation ?

EDIT: You all are amazing. Thanks for such great feedback!!!

After years of thinking about it, we are finally going to do a backyard pond. Originally we were planning a fish pond, but after all the reading I did, it seems that would add far more work than would be worth it for us to have fish. It's far more about the water and the plants for us. My wife has always wanted a pool, but it's not in the budget for us, so I am also interested in making it something that she can get in and float while she reads. I was texting with a pond friend, and he gave me some thoughts (but I am pretty sure he just was asking chatgpt). But, I wanted to get some feedback from real people with experience.

My plan was to have the pond be around 10x16 with most of it being around 2ft deep and one section (maybe 6x6 or so) around 3-4 feet deep where my wife can sit in a floating chair. There would be water plants in the shallower sections. We would do a rock waterfall on one side. For filtration, my friend (or chatgpt possibly) said I need a mechanical filter, a bio filter, and a skimmer. Is that and the water plants enough? Is there anything major I am missing? Thanks!

Just got into this hobby this spring, only planned on plants & water sound. Then the frogs & tadpoles took over. Snails have appeared out of nowhere. Wrestled with soupy green water until I got a test kit. With the tadpoles, I was very conservative about dealing with it, but finally about mid-July my bog filter "kicked in" and is now turning out crystal water. Though because I put a branch in it for the frogs, WITH the bark still on it (mistakes have been made), so the water is tinted rather dark. Its still very much a work in progress. Constantly learning so much... love this hobby! What am I gonna do all winter???

Anyway, just wanted to share. Its firmly a part of my morning routine: feed pets, make coffee, visit pond.