Lets see those PONDS!!!

I've been working on my ponds with Troy, the Bamboo Craftsman, and they look great.

He bought a large featherstone and drilled through the middle to create a volcano.

has anyone any experience with Foggers or Misters??

Pictures please.

Robertiki,

Portland, OR

Mine's a rather simple deal made of 2 large concrete pipes

I put black slate on the top edge of one pond (edited pic added 3/31) and am in the process of putting volcanic rock on the sides of the taller red pond. I didn't want the pump to run continuously, but I wanted it on when I was nearby so I connected it to a motion detector.

I tried a floating 3 head ultrasonic mister and was disappointed with the fog output. A bigger 10 head would probably make more fog but they are expensive. The patio cooling misters make a great fog if they are attached to a high pressure pump (like 150 psi), that's what most of the amusement parks use for fog. I have a Halloween fogger I hide in the bushes for special occasions, that works real well.

Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep. - Scott Adams

[ Edited by: MadDogMike 2010-03-31 10:55 ]

pooh... no pond, just aquarium. maybe some day.

great pics!
I had a small mister I used in an indoor fountain that worked pretty well; it changed colors too.
I just bought some pond stuff and am hoping to put in a tropical pond area in the next weekend or so. Later, I plan to add fish, ducklings and maybe a frog or turtle!

I've got a 150 gal. pond in the backyard...just cleaned it last weekend and took out some plants. The water lilies are starting to grow...or at least until this horrid weather came along! I've got one goldfish and a bunch of mosquito fish. In about a month I'll get 2 more goldfish and keep them in another container until they appear to be disease free. My goldfish is about 6-7 inches, orange and white. I sure don't want to loose that one!

I was working on re-landscaping around the pond and moving the bead filter back and covering it with reed fenching, but the weather stalled everything. When spring returns and things start growing, I'll take pictures.

I've got to get some new pond netting too...birds got 3 of my goldfish before we netted. Racoons got the Koi my sister had in the pond before I moved in this house. So if you get fish, be sure you protect them.

I don't have a waterfall...just the small fountain bubbler in the center for oxygenization. I have a dry creekbed going from one end of the pond, with a bridge over it. Just got a new bridge from Big Lots that I will install when the weather clears. I'm in Sacramento, so whatever the Bay had, we will get a few days later. I'm in the very start of the foothills, so it gets pretty cold!

Looking forward to seeing more pond and water feature ideas!!!

:drink:
Tacky

I'm considering putting in a tiki pond myself..as the tiki bar construction (or the main part anyways) draws to a close I'm looking round the backyard and thinking 'MORE Bwana MORE'

I've waited and waited and now I'm SICK of waiting - I'm gonna dig thru the archive and post pix of people's ponds if they won't do it themselves!!! :D

This is McTiki's, posted 10/06

Here is pariartspaul's, posted 6/07

Howland's Jungalero Lagoon from 9/09

I'll post more as I find them

Now that's community service at it's finest. Thanks, MDM!
Wow, everyone. Very inspiring!

Here's one with a volcano by King Leo posted 7/07. Robertiki, this one has a 9-head mister in the top of the volcano

This one is more of a fountain than a pond - by bamboo stu, posted 10/7

The Backyard Jungles thread was a goldmine:
This is a swimming pool by fatuhiva (does that count as a pond?) Posted 08/07

And a pond (or maybe a moat) in the same yard

Is it possible that this is where Ty Webb (Chevy Chase) lived in the for movie "Caddyshack"?
Carl Spackler (played by a rather grundgy Bill Murray): "Uhm, this place got a pool?"
Ty Webb: "Pool and a pond... the, uh, pond would be good for you."

Bongofury has a nice looking pond in the same thread, posted 08/07


Looks like Bongofury has a second water feature too, posted 2/09 in his How to Build a Lava-Clamshell Fountain in One Day

Again, from the same Backyard Jungle thread posted 09/07 by Jungle Trader

From the same thread, a pond by JohhnyP posted 09/07

Also from Backyard Jungles, this pond by ahvyna posted 7/08

One last pic from the Backyard Jungle thread is a pool posted 12/08 by SizzlePixels

Here's a pool by Monkeyman posted 3/10

Queen Kamehameha's pond & waterfalls. Posted 5/09

Outdoor fountain with misters by Atomic Tiki Punk posted 3/10

A couple of waterless fountains by Tiki David Posted 6/08

Another waterless Witco fountain by Sneakyjack posted 8/06

A waterless UA fountain by Swanky posted 12/06

Speaking of waterless fountains, here's one posted 04/10 by Tipsy McSwagger

[ Edited by: MadDogMike 2010-04-18 21:23 ]

Now how about some commercial ponds:

This one has been attributed to the Hanalei (now the Crown Plaza and site of Oasis) in San Diego. Sounds like it may have been lost in the remodel, I'm sure someone will give us the scoop.

This is the only picture I found of the fountain at Don the Beachcomber's. I'm sure there's better pictures and I think there's more than one fountain.

Now here's a pond from Don the Beachcomber's in Kona, HI

C'MON PEOPLE - Help me out with pic from the restaurant fountains!

[ Edited by: MadDogMike 2010-04-14 08:32 ]

MadDog, you have been a very busy man on this thread, sorry I have not stopped by until now
when do you have time for work & family?
keep up the nice job though.

ATP, family comes first but work and TC can happen at the same time :D

Here's the way cool "Beach Bum Shipwreck Falls" from Matt Reese's Lava Flow Inn

Okay, Mike, here's a pic of mine.
You can see the tiki in the shadows keeping watch.

Thank you Bill. Looks very refreshing - I need to steal some of your water hyacinth one of these days if I ever make it up to your place :)

great thread for inspiration! neat detective work Maddog - we're all thankful.

I started this about 3 years ago and finally its taking shape....
I hope to get it mostly done this summer...
Hope you like!! :)

Very nice MeHeadHunter! Cool looking yellow fish, never seen those before.

Thanks MadDog...
I'll try and get some better pics of them tomorrow.
I had 7 nice koi at the beginning of spring 2008....
They spawned at that time, and now I have 30 total.
They produced some really nice babies...I was thrilled!! :)

SWEET!

Here a pic and description for KewLava's pond, "Menehune Falls".

I also re-worked the little pond and waterfall. I put blue rope lights in the bottom, and built a little meeting hut around the waterfall, which I moved to the back of the pond. The seashell has an amber light behind it.

Thanks MadDog for transferring my post over to this thread!
Now that I REALLY LOOK at this picture, I think I'm gonna carve that palm log into a Tiki Bobs' style tiki, and move it near the water, on the right side.

Aloha!
Here's an update on the backyard pond we built three years ago:

The plants are growing in nicely. You can see construction pix and building information on this thread:
http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=24161&forum=18&hilite=backyard pond
Mahalo and have fun with those backyard projects!

Oh, the aluminum patio furniture is new from Walmart. We used to have a redwood picnic style table and benches, but I wanted something more comfortable. These chairs have round bases so they sit better on the uneven flagstone. And they rock and turn! Such luxury, so much better than the old wood benches. And the table top middle comes out and there's a firepit with a mesh cover you can put there... also a plastic insert if you want to put drinks on ice. Nice! Good old Wallyworld.

[ Edited by: pariartspaul 2010-07-02 06:48 ]

Here's some better shots of the pond as requested...
First, here is the overall view. I've got the two waterfalls, both fed by an industrial waterfall pump and filtered by an above ground pool cartridge type filter. And the water is chlorinated.

Next, here's a detail of one of the planters. The fake lava surround is made of cheap mortar mix scooped onto mesh lath that's been shaped around rocks and junk pieces of concrete. Then when we sculpted it we stuck seashells in here and there. Hint for your mortar mix.. I use a coffee can full of half lime and half mortar clay per bag of mortar. It makes the mortar stick better and is easier to sculpt. And it dries really hard and durable. No cracks anywhere so far! The paint is low cost black housepaint.. one coat is all it needs. It soaks in and kind of dyes the mortar mix. It lasts for years... haven't had to repaint any of it. I could have been a little neater with the paint on this section, but what the heck. Some of the north-side sections have some nice moss growing on them and look really great.

Next, here's 54 year old (naked) me to show the scale of the pond. It's just big enough for our normal sized yard. I'm sitting on one of the seats inside. This is where I am most summer days! It gets over a hundred here during the summer.

And there you have it!

Hotness!

Paul, great update. Thanks for the little white box! :lol: :D :lol:

I love that idea , Paul, of a pond doubling as a wading pool. I would love to have something like that during the hottest part of the year here. it may be New England, but it does get into the triple digets on occation with high humudity.

Aloha Bau, I say go for it. Our backyard is a mess in the winter, cold with bare trees and leaves everywhere. Normally I'll drain the pond and keep it empty most of the winter to make things easy. Sometimes I'll fill it if we have a stretch of nice weather and we want to be outside. It makes a nice decorative feature even if it's too cold to jump in. Although I have a crazy friend that went into it last January freeezing cold! Anyway, it's small enough that I can drain it with the pump in a few hours if I want to.

Anyone else having this problem, I have a family of 6 Raccoon's that think my Tiki Lounge
is their's,so far everynight they take a swim in my fountain, dig up my plants, toss around the lava rocks
that circle my fountain & leave a nice sized mess for me to clean up.

I chase them off everynight,but they are not scared of me at all, the younger one's even came up to me & sniffed my shoes
when I had my back turned to some of them.

Now I like animal's and have no intention of hurting them, but I swear these beasties are laughing at me!

Coons can be vicious. One tore up my brothers stream and pond and ate all his koi. He lives in the middle of Modesto, not in the country. Yes, they are a big problem for pond enthusiasts. I have heard they can drown a dog by holding it's head underwater. Not a myth. I don't think I would want to tangle with one and I'm Tarzan. heh. Good luck.

Did I mention that I live near the Beach in Orange County, spent all day cleaning the fountain,repotting plants etc.
In the past I have seen Raccoon's try to take Cats & Possums in my yard.

It has been mentioned to me to try Wolf Urine to scare them away...

Awesome!

Nothin like playing in a tiki pond!

On 2010-08-07 17:54, Jungle Trader wrote:
Coons can be vicious. One tore up my brothers stream and pond and ate all his koi. He lives in the middle of Modesto, not in the country. Yes, they are a big problem for pond enthusiasts. I have heard they can drown a dog by holding it's head underwater. Not a myth. I don't think I would want to tangle with one and I'm Tarzan. heh. Good luck.

My dog (a rot/lab mix) got attacked by two youngsters a couple weeks ago - she was sniffing out one of them when the other ran across the creek and jumped her! Rode her like a lion on a zebra - pulled out a patch of hair and bit her on the back! I like the little rascals too - but they are not to be messed with. You might try getting a humane trap (or six!) and relocate them.

I had a blow-up pool for my daughter many years ago. I went out one morning and all three rings of the pool had been deflated. I got a new one and one night I woke up and heard this splashing and then I heard a POP and Hissssssssss! I looked out the window and the raccoons were washing the neighbors' vegetables in the pool and then having fun popping the rings! The little shits!

Cammo taught me this trick, I tried to get him to post a pic of his but no luck. It is an upside down glass vase with the opening just below the water level. Suction keeps the water in and the fish are able to swim up inside and out whenever they please, kinda like a reverse submarine for fishes :lol: Cam says his fish spend a lot of time in there in the winter because the water is warmer in the vase (the sunlight heats the water, warm water rises and stays there) Cammo stacked rocks or bricks on the bottom and set his vase on them. My pond is too deep for that so I made a PVC pipe frame that the vase sets on, but I need to paint it black so it's not so obvious. I will replace the above picture when I get it painted.

EDIT - new photo, the PVC pipe is still visable but it looks better painted black

Hey look, mister. We serve hard drinks in here for men who want to get drunk fast, and we don't need any characters around to give the joint "atmosphere". Is that clear?

[ Edited by: MadDogMike 2011-07-27 18:36 ]

Thanks MD for the kick in the pants.

Update:

13 feeder fish inhabit this 15 x 3 x 3 pond

Some really nice ponds in here!

McTiki

Here's our pond.
It's small at only 900 gallons.
About 8'by'11/ 4' deep.
Wish it was much bigger.
A pond in your yard brings in so much life.
Birds, buterflies, fish, frogs,ECT...
It's one of the best things you can do to your yard!

Everyone is taking bets on when someone finally falls in.

Beautiful water garders, both of them. Skip, I love that you have intentionally planted flowers that draw butterflies. What are the wire frimes near the ducks for? Zen, a heavy hemp rope gracefully strung betweent the posts would keep anyone from falling in and would still blend in with the surroundings.

On 2010-08-07 19:12, Atomic Tiki Punk wrote:
Did I mention that I live near the Beach in Orange County, spent all day cleaning the fountain,repotting plants etc.
In the past I have seen Raccoon's try to take Cats & Possums in my yard.

It has been mentioned to me to try Wolf Urine to scare them away...

How do you get the "Wolf" to pee on command?

Where is the best place in SoCal to find performed pond liners and pond kits with lights, pump, and filter?

Looking for performed pond liners like these:
http://www.lowes.com/cd_Plan+and+Build+a+Water+Garden_784739003_#Pond%20Liners

I found one pond liner at Home Depot that was the wrong shape. They didn't have any kits or professional lights.

I'd like a kit so that everything works together.

This is the original pond. The pond liner is broken and leaks.
I'd like to keep the current water fall and get a new light exactly like the old one.

Where do they sell pond kits like this in the Orange County area?

[ Edited by: TikiSan 2011-10-16 11:34 ]

Thanks Mike,
The wire cages are what we use to stake our tomatos in
the summer.
But in the winter they are used to keep the blue herons
from eating my fish.
In the summer the fish have the plants to keep them safe,
but in winter it's open season.

I try to plant stuff that will bring in more wildlife.
Apple trees for the deer, flowers for the butterflies, in
the summer we get all kinds of flittrin and flyin stuff
it's great!

I'm an official pondie now!

Last weekend we put this small pond/bubbling rock combo in the backyard next to the Kailua Coconut:

It is small - about 3'x2'. I made a little box out of HardiePanel board, buried it in the ground, and then lined it with pond liner. THe rock is from Big Rock Co here on Oahau - they do some fantastic stuff with concrete. Always fun to poke around their shop http://www.bigrockhawaii.com

Here is a shot that shows how small it is next to our micro house (The Kailua Coconut)

And lastly, or OCD dog Marzipan can't keep her eyes off the moving water :)

This was a test project for us. Phase 2 is a BIG backyard pond (well, big for us - thinking 6' square). I'm going to make some large ceramic stone tiki fountains to put in it. Can't wait!

Mahalo for all the info in this thread - TC is da best!
Henrik "VanTiki"

Nice looking pond Henrik, can't wait to see Phase II

I have a new pond in my front yard, 120 x 80 feet, about 8 inches deep

I went to floodwater my front yard last night and forgot to turn the pump off. This is what it looked like when I woke up this morning :lol: I had to pump it from the lawn back into the canal to get rid of it :D

Here's a nice pic of the Pirate Ship Tree House during the lawn flooding ordeal

Not really, that's a PhotoShop job :D

When you come across a big kettle of crazy, sometimes it's best not to stir it
Pirate Ship Tree House

[ Edited by: MadDogMike 2012-11-07 11:14 ]

Time to bump this old and dying thread.
I made a removable filter for my water feature from and old above ground pool filter. I figure I can hook it up every week or two for a couple hours and keep my little ponds sparkling

Filter before and after

Have you tried making a simple biofilter?

...Ah, I see, you just put it in occasionally for a quick occasional hoovering...

[ Edited by: bkrownd 2015-11-13 11:26 ]

Koi pond

Water gardening

[ Edited by: bkrownd 2015-11-13 11:24 ]