So it is confirmed that my shubunkin (Buttons) is female. And today when we came downstairs her and sparx were at it like mad, there were eggs everywhere and a film on top of the water, which they ate (i hope they ate all of it! I don't have room for fry!)

its quite funny if not a bit concerning both of them have lost a few scales in the process cause they were really frantic.

Do you think any of the eggs will survive or is there any advice on how to make sure there isnt?

Thanks everyone, I just seem to keep getting more and more confused.

It seems the plan now is that we are going to concrete bottom of the pond hole and build up with cinder block around the side (with a portion above ground which will be back built and reinforced with normal bricks for asthetics) then skim the inside and make it suitable for a liner to go in there. The concrete adds more to the cost though.

2010 i used several online calculators, they calculated that the pond will actually be slightly over 1000 gallons (imperial) 1039 to be precise.

Iain wow thankyou I did not think about this. Well how do they build the corner of houses then? reinforcement? I'm not hell bent on it being a sharp corner. But I was always under the impression that rounded corners were difficult to do with bricks/ cinder blocks.

We have contacted different cheaper suppliers of bricks and stuff and it seems really expensive.. I worked out that I will need roughly

45 cinder blocks and 600 normal bricks, then theres the concrete and the mortar! Its going in excess of 500 pounds!!!?!?!? Am I missing something?

We did contact a landscaper and he just said it was physically impossible -.- which I know is BS because ive jsut watched loads of youtube videos of ponds similar to how I want them, granted most of them are either ALL below ground or ALL above ground but if it can be structurally sound ALL above ground then I cannot see why it would not work half in half out with the same building method.

My bf is saying that it is to do with a) the shape that I want the pond (he is refering to the hypotenuse curvey bit, not the corner, which just shows he probably doesn't know as much as he thinks after I have now read Ians post) and b) the fact that I want to pond to be 4 foot deep. HE IS SAYING that for a 4 foot deep pond to be structurally sound it needs to have much larger legnth and width dimentions and that the "surface pressure" is too great seeing as my legnth and width are only going to be 5 foot and 6 foot.

I'm like, what the hell? If you increase the volume of water, you increase the pressure, right? It doesnt matter whether I wanted a 4 foot deep pond that was 1X1 foot would it!? That would just be a WELL. lol. Wells don't bust their seems.

Thanks for your replies. Mygrumpy: I have decided to have it 4 foot deep instead then.. but neither me or my boyfriend have that much experience with masonry work. Is it true that the safer option would be to just concrete line the whole thing? This is what people seem to do for most very large ponds. He is very worried about the structural integrity if the concrete block perimeter is just going to be in a trench.

I am aware I would have to use a double layer of normal bricks above ground (or the inner layer concrete blocks and then a decorative outer layer of normal bricks) Any which way I want to do this, seeing as it is a fairly big pond and I want it with bricks showing, then its gona be expensive whatever we do. (I think, looking at B and Q prices anyway)

I'm sorry if I seem stupid but I really am a novice at any kind of building work so you will have to explain to me exactly what you mean.

2010: Yes I would like a bottom drain. the drainage and pumps and filtration seems to be the easy bit, it is just the structure that is proving difficult to plan. Although talking about pumps, I have decided i will need an external pump that turns out at least 1000 gph, and I need a biological pressurised filter, right???

I'm so frustrated and we have been arguing about this all day I want to tell you my plan for the pond and see what you think. My bf says it isn't physically possible.

First of all in the pond I will be (or aspire to be) keeping a few common goldfish and some blue orfe. I want the pond to be 4 and a half foot deep. Because this seems large ammount of water some people had advised me to reinforce it with bricks.

The width of the pond will be 5 foot. The legnth of the pond will be between 5 and 7 foot. these 2 sides form a rightangle corner, which is paralel to the corner of the garden, so the pond will be a sort of triangle shape, with the hypotenuse (spelling?) nearer the middle of the garden.

However I do not want a surface pond, if bricks are involved, I would like to have between 1 and 2 foot of bricks sticking out of the ground, so that the water level is above ground level by maybe 1 foot ish.

although i have seen countless pictures of brick ponds on the internet, i'm being told that I have no knowledge of physics and that it is impossible without some MASSIVE sort of metal structure to hold it all together.

Please tell a) if think this would be a suitable size to keep the fish i mentioned and b) your thoughts on the design.

I remember looking forward to logging into FK to check if he replied to my posts all the time because his replies were so interesting and informative! I haven't seem his username in a while... has anyone else?

edit: that's not to say others replies weren't brill too!

I used to love metal music and I still do but now I listen more to "industrial" music and I also like trance (but not the commercial type) and psytrance.

Examples of artists I like are; astral projection, Ephidrix, Noisuf- X, grendel, modulate.. :D

Do you think it could possibly be a gibel carp? I had a friend who moved into a house where there was a large pond and the fish had just been left to their own devices for years there were goldfish in there at first but gradually the offspring became blacker and blacker through natural selection... then maybe one of these black fish mated with a red fish and got partially red body??? I know it's a bit far fetched but hey.

Lol it looks a tiny bit like an axolotl baby with no legs!

Thanks violet :) and yes the filter is working 100% fine now (said smugly, because bf was like, "it can't be the height, you're buying rubbish stuff!" So pleasing to see the fish looking happy.

Oh ok I will post a new thread with the pictures of the "beast hound" I can't get the pictures to work though so that they show in the thread...

I know right? I got them on amazon, just type in LED strip waterproof, or LED fish tank/ aquarium light. They can be used for all sorts of things around the home or in cars etc. Only about 15 quid mine was, whereas you would pay 40 quid in IKEA for one half the length!