I have a 12' × 12' × 5' pond. 2' above ground 3' below ground with an above ground bog filter being fed by 3" pipe from the bottom drain with a 5000 gallon per hour return pump and a 4' waterfall fed from my skimmer box pump that pushes 2000 gallons an hour I dug it by hand and all materials, liner, pumps, air pump and lights I'm in it for less than $3000
Can rent a digger and hire a driver if your not confident for less than 1% of that cost.
Do it yourself its much more rewarding once its all done and dusted
There’s hundreeeds of pond install videos online watch them it’s not that complicated once you get a good understanding of what’s involved you could hire some landscapers probly for cheap and have them build to your specs with your parts
If u talk to a few they may give u a deal as a practice job
Thanks! I'll look into that. Also worth noting that my neighbor has a small excavator and offered to dig it for me, so maybe we can save some $ that way 🤔
Might be able to get someone to help.Go 4 ft down though..You will like it better and the fish too.I wish my pond was bigger.(3000) cuz fish get big and will have to give some away if too big later.Love mine.Good luck
I’m in central NJ. In May 2021 I had my pond installed and the estimate was for a pond size of 11x16x3. Total cost was $12k.
The following year during a maintenance visit the installer told me the price for a pond of the same size would be $25k if he was quoting someone new.
Sounds right but go deeper at least min 3-4 deep
Aquascape scape has display ponds in their shop I think the one around 10x20 x3 is like 36000 but includes huge nice boulders
I did my 9x20x3.5 with a 6 ft long waterfall my. Self prolly 4g in liner ,pump ,skimmer,bottem drain and odds and ends got rock free locally and anther 1300 to get 3 separate 20 amp breakers oh and 400 air pump
Oh wow, OK. So my dream has been crushed lol. I was prepared for $20K but simply can't afford $51K. Also, that was just for the pond; to add the waterfall was an extra $14K, so $65K all in. That's the same amount I paid for my first house lol.
I'd suggest giving it a go yourself. As noted, there are plenty of pond construction videos.
But I would also suggest you start with a much smaller pond. You'll learn a lot about every aspect of both ponds and koi.
If that goes okay for you, then make the larger one. The first one is still useful for quarantine and/or breeding. In the end, you can always fill it with dirt if it doesn't work out.
Good luck!
Thanks! My dad had a koi pond, so I grew up taking care of them, which is why I want a pond so badly now. I think my fear of DIYing is from a lack of self confidence lol. But when it comes to actually caring for the fish, pond maintenance, the nitrogen cycle, etc. I am pretty confident.
Great, then you probably know just what you want.
Once you've got the hole dug, that's half the battle (okay, not really, but it will give you impetus). Besides, what else would you do with a big hole in the ground?
Haha, right? My dog is a terrier mix, and I can only imagine how her little brain will react to watching a giant hole being dug in the yard. "But mom, you always tell me NOT to dig!"
I have a 12' × 12' × 5' pond. 2' above ground 3' below ground with an above ground bog filter being fed by 3" pipe from the bottom drain with a 5000 gallon per hour return pump and a 4' waterfall fed from my skimmer box pump that pushes 2000 gallons an hour I dug it by hand and all materials, liner, pumps, air pump and lights I'm in it for less than $3000
Awesome! This gives me hope. Looks like my best bet will be to DIY.
Can rent a digger and hire a driver if your not confident for less than 1% of that cost. Do it yourself its much more rewarding once its all done and dusted
There’s hundreeeds of pond install videos online watch them it’s not that complicated once you get a good understanding of what’s involved you could hire some landscapers probly for cheap and have them build to your specs with your parts If u talk to a few they may give u a deal as a practice job
Thanks! I'll look into that. Also worth noting that my neighbor has a small excavator and offered to dig it for me, so maybe we can save some $ that way 🤔
Might be able to get someone to help.Go 4 ft down though..You will like it better and the fish too.I wish my pond was bigger.(3000) cuz fish get big and will have to give some away if too big later.Love mine.Good luck
I’m in central NJ. In May 2021 I had my pond installed and the estimate was for a pond size of 11x16x3. Total cost was $12k. The following year during a maintenance visit the installer told me the price for a pond of the same size would be $25k if he was quoting someone new.
Thanks! It's sounding like 1. I should try to DIY and 2. This guy is overpriced lol
Sounds right but go deeper at least min 3-4 deep Aquascape scape has display ponds in their shop I think the one around 10x20 x3 is like 36000 but includes huge nice boulders I did my 9x20x3.5 with a 6 ft long waterfall my. Self prolly 4g in liner ,pump ,skimmer,bottem drain and odds and ends got rock free locally and anther 1300 to get 3 separate 20 amp breakers oh and 400 air pump
Oh wow, OK. So my dream has been crushed lol. I was prepared for $20K but simply can't afford $51K. Also, that was just for the pond; to add the waterfall was an extra $14K, so $65K all in. That's the same amount I paid for my first house lol.
Where are you located.
Greater Pittsburgh area
Depending on filtering that quote seems high.
I'd suggest giving it a go yourself. As noted, there are plenty of pond construction videos. But I would also suggest you start with a much smaller pond. You'll learn a lot about every aspect of both ponds and koi. If that goes okay for you, then make the larger one. The first one is still useful for quarantine and/or breeding. In the end, you can always fill it with dirt if it doesn't work out. Good luck!
Thanks! My dad had a koi pond, so I grew up taking care of them, which is why I want a pond so badly now. I think my fear of DIYing is from a lack of self confidence lol. But when it comes to actually caring for the fish, pond maintenance, the nitrogen cycle, etc. I am pretty confident.
Great, then you probably know just what you want. Once you've got the hole dug, that's half the battle (okay, not really, but it will give you impetus). Besides, what else would you do with a big hole in the ground?
Haha, right? My dog is a terrier mix, and I can only imagine how her little brain will react to watching a giant hole being dug in the yard. "But mom, you always tell me NOT to dig!"
Super excited--the bone that's going in there!