Home Improvement Store Kits -vs- Water Garden Specialist Kits

I am very very tempted to put a pond in my backyard for a variety of
reasons. As I have been looking around for kits for this project, I
have pretty much established that I want to go with a flexible liner
rather than a hard shell type pond. However, here is my concern:

You can go to Home Depot or a similar store and get a kit for a pretty
large pond for around $150, maybe $200 or a bit more, supposedly for
the whole deal to keep it clean and so on. Then, you look at
businesses and websites that specialize in this sort of thing, and
kits with pretty much the same stuff in it for a smaller sized pond
are many hundreds of dollars more. I remember years ago having an
above ground swimming pool that came with a pump that was a real
joke...it did not have close to a chance of keeping the pool
clean...will I run into the same problems if I go and buy that Home
Depot kit (Beckett or Little Giant brands)? Do these much cheaper
kits work okay? Or is it necessary to spend that sort of huge money
from a specialist to get something that actually works?

Any suggestions, sources, experiene with this sort of thing would be
greatly appreciated. Thank you!

I've always been suspicious of kit filters.
They are usually too small and hard to clean, like daily!!! You don't want to
do that.
Most of us make our own filters which we think do a much better job. We clean
our filter once a year.

Pumps - smart way to look at them is their energy usage. Can you engineering
types post your favorite energy efficent pumps? And you want a pump strong
enough to do the job required of it.

Many kits throw in chemicals and treatments and additives you don't need in
order to keep you buying them.

All you need is something to remove chlorine and/or chloramines from your water
depending on what your water source is treated with.

Here are some good pages to read.

http://www.pondrushes.net/
and
http://www.geocities.com/bickal2000/pond.htm
and
http://www.fishpondinfo.com

They are big sites but full of excellent information.

We'll be happy to help you along the way and answer questions. It would help to
know the general area of the country you live in, your gardening zone,
something about your backyard
(big trees, shade, full sun, etc) and any predators you happen to know lurking
nearby...


k30a

Ahhh, Catch-22: The stuff you get at the home improvement stores is cheaper
to purchase, but more expensive to run (power wise). They're usually
undersized for the job, too. But the most important thing: are you planning
a watergarden or a fish pond? The requirements are a little different, and
so is the equipment list. Where does your interest lie? In a shallow pond
with beautiful lilies, lotus and similar water plants with a fish or two
gliding by, or do you want a koi pond?

Lee

"Tim" wrote in message
m...
I am very very tempted to put a pond in my backyard for a variety of
reasons. As I have been looking around for kits for this project, I
have pretty much established that I want to go with a flexible liner
rather than a hard shell type pond. However, here is my concern:

You can go to Home Depot or a similar store and get a kit for a pretty
large pond for around $150, maybe $200 or a bit more, supposedly for
the whole deal to keep it clean and so on. Then, you look at
businesses and websites that specialize in this sort of thing, and
kits with pretty much the same stuff in it for a smaller sized pond
are many hundreds of dollars more. I remember years ago having an
above ground swimming pool that came with a pump that was a real
joke...it did not have close to a chance of keeping the pool
clean...will I run into the same problems if I go and buy that Home
Depot kit (Beckett or Little Giant brands)? Do these much cheaper
kits work okay? Or is it necessary to spend that sort of huge money
from a specialist to get something that actually works?

Any suggestions, sources, experiene with this sort of thing would be
greatly appreciated. Thank you!

In , on 08/01/03
at 12:42 PM, (Tim) said:

I am very very tempted to put a pond in my backyard for a variety of
reasons. As I have been looking around for kits for this project, I have
pretty much established that I want to go with a flexible liner rather
than a hard shell type pond. However, here is my concern:

You can go to Home Depot or a similar store and get a kit for a pretty
large pond for around $150, maybe $200 or a bit more, supposedly for the
whole deal to keep it clean and so on. Then, you look at businesses and

I bought my 130 galllon preformed pond (should have gotten the 200), pump,
and filter from Home Depot (I got the air stone and pump for that from my
local aquarium store.) Except for the size, I've been very happy with it.
My Little Giant pump started giving up the ghost after six years, so I
bought a Beckett, also from Home Depot.


Alan

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On 1 Aug 2003 12:42:52 -0700, (Tim) wrote:

You can go to Home Depot or a similar store and get a kit for a pretty
large pond for around $150, maybe $200 or a bit more, supposedly for
the whole deal to keep it clean and so on. Then, you look at
businesses and websites that specialize in this sort of thing, and
kits with pretty much the same stuff in it for a smaller sized pond
are many hundreds of dollars more.

I don't regret starting with a kit because I wasn't familiar with
liner's, pumps and bottom drains at the time. The kit was adequate
for goldfish and it was a couple years before I decided I wanted long
fin koi.

If you decide to avoid the kit, you might like to call the local Koi
Society and talk with some of the members before you begin investing.
If you aren't familiar with a koi club in your area start he
http://www.akca.org/ Click "103 individual clubs" and pick your
area.

Regards,

Hal