I am thinking about building a water garden

[Quixote1818]

Anyone have any advise or know of any good websites to buy pumps and equipment from? How can I do one cheep with a minimum amount equipment? I am willing to buy a good pump though.

What are some good water plants? Fish? Frogs? Animals in general?

The stream will run about 15 or 20 feet then a waterfall will splash into a 6X8 foot pond.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

1. Lots of info at this site...

http://www.lilypons.com/

I don't know how cheap they are, but I do know it's an established reputable company.

Your plan sonds great! Good luck!

[Technowitch]

2. Sure -- we put in an Aquascape pond & falls system 18 months ago

We went with one of their larger systems, and had it professionally installed. However, they bill their stuff as something you can do yourself -- and if I'd had the time, I probably could've managed it.

http://www.aquascapedesigns.com/

It's a gorgeous pond system, and has no visible pumps or external filter units. Ours recirculates to a falls unit that runs along a stream, and into the pond (irregular, but basically 8'x15').

cheers,
-Technowitch

[Straight Shooter]

3. If you have frogs in your area, not to worry, they will find you.

Someone in the neighborhood built a fairly small pond in her back yard, which happily is parallel to mine. Last year, there were just a couple peepers, but this year -- yippee skippee!! -- lots of froggies. Everybody is thrilled to hear the frogs at night. It's a great sound.

[Quixote1818]

6. I live in Albuquerque. We only have spadefoot toads

which come out after a heavy rain.

[Heidi]

4. Go for it!

We have two water gardens and a separate koi pond. You'll be glad you did this for yourself . . . the sound of the water is soothing. My husband built ours himself. When he wakes up, I'll ask him if he can recommend any links.


(That's the koi pond on the right. About 15 x 8 feet, and 6 feet deep.)

[The_Casual_Observer]

5. Fish? Frogs?

I know nothing about this, but it really does sound like a lot of fun.
:7

[Technowitch]

7. The fish you'll have to add yourself

Us, we have racoons around here and also didn't want to have to deal with the relatively finicky nature of Koi -- so we just got a bunch of goldfish and tossed 'em in. They breed fast enough to stay ahead of the predators (we also had the pond built with lots of hiding places).

But as for frogs, in the words of Mr. Costner's ghost, "If you build it, they will come." We've several out back, chirping away even as I speak.

Note, you will also need plants. Gotta build a complete ecosystem.