How to Make a Fish Pond Cheap

Fish ponds can hold a variety of fish.

Backyard fish ponds are a nice feature to add to your yard. Fish ponds can hold all types of species of fish, ranging from trout and bass to goldfish or even catfish. Pond kits with pre-molded drop-in ponds can be quite costly if you purchase one at your local hardware store, but you can build your own fish pond with some simple pond supplies and basic hand-tools. Building your own fish pond can be accomplished in a couple of hours for a fraction of the cost of a pre-molded pond kit.

Things You'll Need

• Shovel
• Pond liner
• Pond pump
• Rocks
• Tape measure
• Scissors

Instructions

1. Sketch the shape of your pond with your shovel. Use your tape measure to measure both the longest and the widest parts of the pond. Multiply the width times the length to get the rough square footage of your pond.

2. Go to your local hardware store. When you purchase your pond liner, double the pond's square footage number from Step 1 in order to have plenty of liner around the edges and covering the bottom of the pond. Purchase a simple, inexpensive pond pump.

3. Dig out your pond to a depth of around 3 feet. You can also taper the depth of your pond by making a deep end of 3 feet and sloping up to a depth of approximately 1 foot at the shallow end.

4. Cover your pond with your pond liner. Gently walk on the liner in the bottom of the fish pond. Step it down lightly so it sits snugly on the ground. Use your scissors to cut around the edges, leaving an extra foot of length on all sides.

5. Use the dirt dug from the pond to cover all the edges of the pond liner. Step it down lightly with your shoes to make sure it's secured to the ground. Place rocks around the edges of the pond.

6. Take your pump and place it in the deep end of the pond, or the center if your fish pond is the same depth everywhere. Take the power cord and thread it through the rocks lining the pond's edge. Use your garden hose to fill the pond up until the water is about 3 inches under the pond edge. Plug in your pump and bury the power cord.

References

• The Water Garden: How to Build a Water Garden or Fish Pond
• ABC Ponds: Set Up Your Own Goldfish Ponds