Choosing a Size & Depth for your Pond
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Ponds come in all shapes and sizes, from small and simple to large and complex. The more water exists in a pond, the more stable the biology and water temperatures will be. Stable temperatures help regulate the ecosystem of the pond, keeping algae in check and fish and plants happy.
Even if you have limited space for a pond, increasing the depth of it can substantially increase its volume. Taking a pond from 24” deep to 36” deep will increase the volume of water by 50%. In Japan, due to limited space, often times koi ponds are quite small in length and width, yet because these restrictions are offset by good depth, the ponds can still provide the water volume needed for koi.
For an average ecosystem pond, we would recommend making the pond at least 24” deep, with a few shallower areas/shelves for plants. (See later section on shelves.) If you plan on having any fish in your pond (such as goldfish), 24” is definitely the minimum you should go, with many koi ponds commonly being 36” or 48” deep to account for the larger size of the fish. Deeper water also allows the fish to get away from predators if necessary, so it’s sometimes nice to have an area in the pond that is deeper than the rest. For example, you could have a shallow area at one end of the pond, then a second level that steps down to 24” deep, and a third level stepping down to 36”.
Please keep in mind that the more water volume you have, the larger the skimmer, pump and filter will have to be, which in turn will require more electricity to run. Generally speaking, it’s good to pump the entire contents of a pond every hour as a minimum. So a 1000-gallon pond will need a pumping system that runs around 1000 gph (gallons per hour). Increasing the water volume to 2000 gallons will increase the pumping requirements to 2000 gph.
Calculating Water Volume in a Pond
It can sometimes be tricky to calculate the number of gallons of water in a pond, especially if the pond has multiple levels and/or depths. To make things simple, we’ve created a wizard that will provide a good approximation of the amount of water in a pond. Visit the following link to see the Pond Volume Wizard:
Pond Volume Calculator
There are two versions: the basic version and the advanced version. The basic version asks for a length, a width and a depth. After you click “calculate,” it will approximate the number of gallons in a pond that size. The advanced version allows you to have multiple depths in the pond. So, for example, if 10% of a pond is 8” shelves, another 30% is 20” deep, and the remainder (60%) is 36” deep, you can quickly enter the numbers to calculate the approximate number of gallons in the pond.
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