At the request of our audience, today we will teach you how to build a fish pond quickly and easily, which you can implement in your garden.

I thought I would share how I built our pond in case you would like to replicate it yourself. I am not an expert in landscape design, so I may not be able to answer questions if it is not included here.

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I started reading a lot of things on the Internet and there is a lot of conflicting information and after a false start I have made a beautiful fish pond in the garden.

Tools you need to build a fish pond:

• Shovel
• Palette
• Garden hose
• Wooden plank
• Level
• Pond liner
• Sand/backing/newspaper
• Bricks
• Landscaping Rocks
• Fountain pump
• [Optional] Black vinyl adhesive tape
• [Optional] Cement and bucket

Note: Fish also need specific habitats that I have not covered in this tutorial, so it is recommended to build a fish pond in a safe place.

Step by step on how to build a fish pond:

#1: Dig the hole

• First dig a good hole. I took a look at the pond liners that were available first and knew I could get one that is 2.5x2m, which meant I wanted to keep my pond less than 1.5x1m and no more than 50cm deep.
• You can use a garden hose as a guide to estimate its approximate shape.
• You want to dig the sides down, but be careful not to break off parts of the wall, as we want them nice and solid for later.
• You may want to start a little smaller than your ideal size and make it larger as you go in case you accidentally collapse part of a wall.
• One point to note is that once you've put the rocks at the end, it will look smaller, so don't be afraid if it looks really big now.
• Remove the top crumbly soil to a width of 4-5 inches around the hole if this is a problem for you as it is for me. The top soil for us was only an inch thick, giving us a solid base for the bricks. Use a straight wooden board and a spirit level to make sure its sides are reasonably aligned across the pond. Use a trowel to shave a little further if some areas are higher than others.
• Create a deep part and a shallow part in your pond.
• The center of my hole is about 15cm deeper than the small area at the top. This will allow us to place a variety of plants as we wish.
• Some plants can only be placed in up to 20cm of water, some like much deeper.
• Think about the fish you will get when planning its size, so you need a much deeper and larger area than other fish.
• Check for rocks and roots that could puncture your siding.
• After scraping with the shovel and removing most of the rocks, I used my hands to feel all areas of the pond and removed more small rocks with the trowel.
• Next, place your underlayment in the hole. I used about an inch of sand on the bottom and ledge.
• You can also use wet newspapers, rugs, or special underlays that you can buy at garden centers.

#2: Place the liner in the hole

• Place your liner over the hole. Try not to drag the lining too much, but with a little draping and patience, you can achieve a clean look with your lining.
• I took off my shoes and spent some time gently pushing it into all the corners and doing some initial pleating.
• You may want to use some black vinyl masking tape to tape down some of the folds like I did to make them even less visible.
• Use bricks or stones to secure the liner neatly around the pond.

#3: Put some water

• This is the step that mostof the instructions jump right in, although after my first try I took the extra time on step 2.
• Begin filling the pond with water until it is half full (or 2 inches from the top of the liner).
• You can see here that I filled it halfway to the bottom of the bricks. As it fills, you can gently remove the liner in any areas where you need to allow more liner to reach the bottom or fix creases.
• When you're happy with the siding (take your time and do it right!) place your layer of bricks around the ledge.
• The purpose of the bricks is so you can have the water level above the siding so you don't realize it's there.
• There's nothing more distracting about a pond than seeing ugly creases in a black plastic pond liner...

#4: Secure the liner

• If you plan to have a pump or water fountain, you will want to think about its location and where the power cords and any other hoses will go at this point.
• We decided to have a simple water feature, so I placed the pump in the desired position and ran the cable to the side of the pond.
• I didn't run the cable back because you don't want to look at the cable when you're standing in front of the pond.
• The cable runs to the bottom of the photo below and then around the bricks until it comes out the back, where you can see the cable (click for a larger image), as this is the closest point to the house.
• Try the water feature! Better to make sure it works now than to have to separate half the pond to get it back!
• An optional step at this point is to fill any gaps between the bricks with quick-setting cement. I used this between each brick so that any accumulated dirt or sand would be less likely to run into the pond when it is full of water. It does not need to be waterproof as the pond liner takes care of this. Allow your cement to cure for 3-4 hours before continuing.
• Next, gently smooth the liner up behind the bricks and pack the dirt like a ramp, then fold the liner down and pack the dirt on top.
• You can see in the photo that the liner reaches the level of the bricks and then hides and slopes away from the pond.
• This should mean that I won't have a leak (including dirt) flowing into the pond, and any overflow will flow away from it.
• Please also note that we decided to have a "wetland" area for our pond.
• At the top of the photo is a semicircle of sand where the lining continues flat at the level of the bottom of the bricks beneath the sand, and then accumulates into a mound.
• The sand area will be constantly moist, allowing us to grow plants that like wet feet, but don't like being submerged.
• You can also do this, or skip this part for a simple pond.

#5: Position rocks

• Gently move your rocks to the sides and, when possible, allow them to completely overlap the bricks. This step allows for complete coverage of the pond liner and is the decorative part of the pond. It's helpful to have several rocks to choose from so you can play with their position until you're happy with how they look.
• Fill the pond to the bottom of the bricks.

Great job!! Time for you to take a break!

#6: Final touches

• Waiting 24 hours gives the cement a chance to cure and your bricks and rocks a chance to settle into place. Fill the wetland with more sand as the rocks will hold it in place.
• Now is the time to llFill the pond to 1-2 cm below the top of the bricks and add your plants.
• Wait at least 2 days before adding fish, or follow the recommendations of your local aquarium expert.
• This garden idea of building a fish pond can improve the appearance of your garden, making it more pleasant for guests.

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