Private Body of water-Stocking Question

[iJay]

I know this has been discussed previously but from what I have read, only to the legal capacity.

In the next couple of months we are going to be aquiriing a LARGE peice of land + house in rural Ontario.

There is a "Natural" river that runs through the property which is cool, after looking at a map I am sure it will hold fish in spring and fall.

My question comes in as, its been a life long dream of mine to dig out the land, fill a pond with water and create a self sustained pond. I am not talking about those small little plastic ponds I am talking about at least 500 yards across. other than digging this out and filling with water, I am not 100% sure what would get this pond started. I know I need a source of food for the future fish stock, oxygen levels and what not. Like starting a small home aquairum

How is all of this achieved? I already have 2 large pumps for this, and an escavator. My plan is to have a small fountain in the center to keep the water moving as well a small water fall for esthetics as well to add oxygen in the water.

I would like to keep bass, or something simlar in the man made pond for easy fishing. I am well aware of the legal process involved. Wanted to know if someone else has successfully achieved setting up a self sustained eco-system.

 

[W_boughner]

Once you dig the pond you will want to let it sit for a year to establish I healthy insect population them add bait fish and allow them to populate and a year or two later add your game fish or if you want to feed them you can get your game fish right away but they become dependent on pellet food and won't feed on anything else

 

[iJay]

What plants need to be added, what oxygen saturation?

 

[W_boughner]

What size of pumps do you have (gallon per hr)

 

[iJay]

Pump I dont have in front of me but IIRC 1500g/hr

 

[iJay]

The second pump is somethign retarded like 4000-4200 g/hr. It was used to raise water up 15' on the last application

 

[usernamehere]

for plants, use anacharis and hornwort for oxygen. Extremely fast growers, low light requirement, floating plants (no need to root), and will take over your pond.

 

[W_boughner]

I would use the big one for a 8'wide waterfall that falls directly in to the water !! That will be plenty of aeration and use the small one for a fountain the agitate the surface

 

[W_boughner]

for plants, use anacharis and hornwort for oxygen. Extremely fast growers, low light requirement, floating plants (no need to root), and will take over your pond.

How is he supposed to enjoy his pond if the surface is over grown with weeds?? I would just get wild plants like Lilly pads and these I don't know the name but this is a pic I found

 

[IR4Jflyfishing]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZDDnp7vKdw

I found this for you.. seems to be a 25 part series on building a "very large fishing and swimming pond"

 

[usernamehere]

How is he supposed to enjoy his pond if the surface is over grown with weeds?? I would just get wild plants like Lilly pads and these I don't know the name but this is a pic I found

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1380897832.864817.jpg

Thats hornwort in that pic.

 

[iJay]

Thanks guys,

I have found some classes that are actually offered by fish farms. I am going to sign up for some over the winter. 100% agree with you about lilly pads, they are super easy to remove once they "take over" as apose to plants that are rooted that need to be dug up. One of the major things that we have come to the agreement on is that we won't be allowing people to swim in the pond. For health reasons, but also to ensure the fish can flourish. The house we anticipate in aquring actaully comes with a pool in the backyard too, so no reason to swim in a dark water pond.

After a year of "perculating" the pond will be ready? seems a bit too soon no?
Does depths affect how long this will take?

I really like the idea of the fountain in the centre to agitate, and a waterfall. 8 foot wide tho? thats a bit much. I was thinking somehting that fell over mutliple slabs of natural stone. yadda yadda yadda

 

[iJay]

Also- I read something very interesting. Feeding the pumps from mulitple locations will turn over the pond quicker. Meaning instead of pulling water from just below the pumps, use different depths and locations on the body of water.

I am thinking some sunken logs and ish, maybe push a tree over into the pond after dug out.

 

[FishingNoob]

This sounds like a very very cool project indeed. I would love to see photos once it has been set up. You might want to contact a marine biologist for help.

 

[W_boughner]

A year should be enough insect life to support bait fish

 

[fishing89]

As a huge fish enthusiast and former (it got too expensive) aquarium owner...I would love to see the progress pics of this!

Its going to be a lot of work, as even my 20gallon natural plants and fresh water tank proved to be a HUGE task once the plants took off!

Good luck and have fun, keep us updated....im excited for you! lol

 

[fishfight]

how does one prevent mosquitoes larvae from growing in them before any fish exist?

How to ensure survival rate of fish when the water freezes during winter months? I was told that at 25 feet deep pond, the survival rate is higher whne the pond freezes over.

 

[W_boughner]

At 10' the fish will survive you need to remember that any fish warm water fish go lethargic I. The winter month and feed very little and you won't stop the Mosquitos in fact you want them to colonize to feed your bait fish before you add your predator fish

 

[iJay]

I will definatly be putting up pics, I am super excited but alas the waiting game has started. I was thinking 10' at the deepest point, it is alot of land to dig and alot of earth to have to place somewhere else. My family does enjoy tobagganing, when the pond idea came up, I positioned it hand in hand with having a large hill on the land for my son to play on.

Its crazy to think this is going to take me probally about 2 months to dig out, then fill and sit for a year. So even more waiting but I am sure it will be worth it in the end.

 

[W_boughner]

How do you plan to dig it out ??? I would rent a back hoe and do it in a day !!! Because once you hit the water table it's going to start to flood