summer pond

[twan911]

this summer i will be building a new pond to go in my large backyard. i have already measured the area for the pond and it will be 50 feet by 25 feet. im studying landscape and designing and construction right now so this is a nice project to prepare me for my job in a few years, but i need to know a few things about the pond first. first what kind of filter system will i need. second what type of plants should i put in the pond. last since the pond is so big there will be many creatures in the pond but i need to know what kinds besides turtles, minows, crayfish, and muscles to put into the pond. also which kinds of turtles and how many?

[bascomb]

I would suggest sliders, of course. Please keep in mind that all the other creatures that you mentioned will be food for the turtles. The size pond that you mentioned is a very large pond and you may have to have more than one to just keep the water moving. With that much water you are in danger of having dead zones that do not circulate. b

[birdman]

The biggest problem with a large pond is getting enough circulation to keep the water clean. You want to circulate the entire volume of water every hour. I would suggest more than one pump, perhaps a waterfall and a bog filter, plus an aerator to add oxygen to the water and prevent freeze out depending on where you live.

My pond is 36x75 and I didn't give it nearly enough water circulation which was a big mistake.