An Introduction

[Collin]

Hi everyone,

My name is Collin and I've been keeping fish for about 9 years. I'm currently a business major and I split my free time between woodworking and fish keeping. I'm currently on an African cichlid kick and have really been enjoying them. Other than cichlids, I keep my betta, Todd, pictured above, as well as koi and a single goldfish who was a friend's that had it in a small tank. My next big project in fish keeping will be building a larger pond in my backyard to give my koi enough room to live out the rest of their long years.

Oh, and I also have really the photography aspect of fish keeping ever since I figured out how to work a DSLR.

[Fish Folk]

Cool! Ponds are really awesome. Wish we could dig up our backyard . . . 

[OceanTruth]

Welcome to the forum! That’s a beautiful picture of some beautiful koi.

[Collin]

10 minutes ago, Fish Folk said:

Cool! Ponds are really awesome. Wish we could dig up our backyard . . . 

Digging is the part I'm going to lament the most. Our soil here has so many big rocks. The design I'm thinking of is mostly going to be above ground so I don't think I'll have to dig very far. Thankfully it almost never freezes here so digging into the ground won't matter so much... however mother nature has already proven to be unpredictable this year so who knows.

[Fish Folk]

Just now, Collin said:

Digging is the part I'm going to lament the most. Our soil here has so many big rocks. The design I'm thinking of is mostly going to be above ground so I don't think I'll have to dig very far. Thankfully it almost never freezes here so digging into the ground won't matter so much... however mother nature has already proven to be unpredictable this year so who knows.

A guy i our fish club is a master at backyard pond digging. He measured out his ponds to lay down a layer of thick cushioning material beneath and on the sides before laying in his liner so that stones wouldn't cut through.

[Collin]

1 minute ago, Fish Folk said:

A guy i our fish club is a master at backyard pond digging. He measured out his ponds to lay down a layer of thick cushioning material beneath and on the sides before laying in his liner so that stones wouldn't cut through.

Oh wow! That's something I never even considered until now. I've mostly been concerned with filtration so far. Today I learned that pressurized filters, which look an awful lot like canister filters, don't have pumps, and you need to buy one separate. Unfortunately companies I'd normally associate with aquarium filters (Fluval, Marineland, etc.) don't make dedicated outdoor filters, or at least I haven't found them yet, so It's been interesting trying to navigate through all the different pond specific brands.

[Fish Folk]

Randy interviewed a pro pond guy about setting up a good pond eco system. You might enjoy listening to that . . . 

https://www.stitcher.com/show/aquarist-podcast/episode/ep-46-bruno-maegerle-on-the-importance-of-creating-an-ecosystem-for-a-thriving-pond-58302242