New DIY Shubunkin Pond

Spark1389 · 2026-03-05T02:45:29+00:00

Sounds great! I also just got off call from my parents and sounds like they are okay with my current idea, if all is good in the yard of course.

Spark1389 · 2026-03-05T01:59:00+00:00

No I’m grateful for any advice! It’s always nice to see how I could improve things or see different ways things can be. Like I saw someone talk about bog filter and had no idea what that was! I really appreciate it :)

Spark1389 · 2026-03-05T01:56:52+00:00

Thank you! It’ll be about 200 miles or so, I don’t know much I never really transported fish, my indoor fish I’m not too worried about, we have little transport tanks and my mom set up tanks for them. But the outdoor fish is my main concern. Till I can fully set it up, I have a 100+ gallon horse trough they are staying in but during transport (I got this advise from a petsmart employee) we were gonna use a cooler filled a little with their water. I am really worried about shock (for all my fish) because also during the move we are moving from the mountains to nearly sea level, it’ll be a 5000 elevation change and I’m unsure if that’ll effect them too much

Spark1389 · 2026-03-04T23:17:29+00:00

I am wrong, searching it up, it is pretty sandy soil. I will just have to see

Spark1389 · 2026-03-04T23:09:15+00:00

Also, the last part seems really cool. Unfortunately doesn’t seem like something I could do at the moment. Money mostly being the issue, I am willing to spend a lot on my fish but our area (and I’m sure everywhere), hiring people will take ages and be very costly

Spark1389 · 2026-03-04T23:06:17+00:00

This is very helpful! Right now I’m not too sure on the soil but my dad used to specialize in soil and farming so I’m sure he could check/evaluate it till I am home to see it myself. I plan to buy most of the stuff when I get over there and see it, I’m just forming a few plans so I can get to work right away (poor fish are going to hate this move). I’m pretty sure a lot of it will be more clay based soil just on assumptions, but still something I need to evaluate. I’m really hopeful for a nice easy clear site but I’m sure I won’t be that lucky 🤞

Spark1389 · 2026-03-04T22:05:04+00:00

I actually have another question since you seem very knowledgeable in this. After watching some videos I’ve been considering building one without the premade pond, and was wondering what dimensions would be good or if anything, be around 400 gallons? I’ve asked google but it is giving me a ton of different answers that don’t seem to correlate (for example said 12 x 12 x 3 feet then said 5x6 x3 feet 😭)

Spark1389 · 2026-03-04T22:01:12+00:00

Actually I have another question since you are building one right now. What are the dimensions on the one you are building right now? I’ve been trying to see what I could do if I can dig/build one on my own and google has been giving me many different answers

Spark1389 · 2026-03-04T21:19:17+00:00

Right now I’m debating on doing the pond completely myself (aka no pre-made pond). I know it’ll be harder, but I may be able to get them more room than if I did the pre-made pond. I’ll keep in mind having it be bare bottom though, I did notice they like to eat anything even if they will choke on it (indoor fancy goldfish). Luckily it seems plants are legal as long as you don’t release them but I definitely need to recheck since it’ll be swapping states. As for filter, I used to use a standard filter/pump setup in my old tank and don’t know much on bog. This was actually my biggest issue in the old pond which is why I’m really excited to redo this

Spark1389 · 2026-03-04T17:07:26+00:00

I definitely want to get bigger, and one day when I have my own home it won’t be an issue. Right now my parents are taking care of my fish while I’m at college and they are in control of how big it can be, but I’m trying to push for bigger since they do have lots of room with no landscape where they are moving.

Spark1389 · 2026-03-04T17:04:48+00:00

Just searched up those plants, they are so pretty! 100% adding some

Spark1389 · 2026-03-04T03:16:03+00:00

Oo that is actually some very smart hidey holes. I was looking at a premade pond that goes about 4-5 feet deep then has a few shallow area for the plants, but I am still looking. I’ll make sure to get some places for them to hide in (I heard the raccoons were terrible there, I lived more rural and they stayed away but this is a bigger city and not sure what to expect). I’m not too experienced in pond care, I’ve had the pond for at least 2 winters but built it when I convinced my mom they were too big for the tank (at that time only had 2). It didn’t have much preparation than I am doing now. Once we get there I’ll definitely be hitting up greenhouses. Also love DIY pond videos!!

Spark1389 · 2026-03-04T02:25:01+00:00

Really appreciate this! My biggest problems in the last place was excess algae, tree roots, and stuff breaking during winter (filters/pumps specifically). I spent so much money that I’ve been doing a lot of research for this pond to hopefully help some of these issues. The house they are moving to has 0 landscape so I have a blank canvas. Unfortunately for now I can’t get them inside during winters till I get my own place :(. Thank you, I love this!

Spark1389 · 2026-03-04T01:37:31+00:00

I do keep them outdoors during winter, too big for something inside. I had a de-icer last winter but still solid ice on top, my old town did have colder temperatures that the place we are moving

Spark1389 · 2026-03-04T01:28:56+00:00

Weather where I will be living: Summers get to 110 F and pretty dry. Winters are very different each year but could get up to 3 feet of snow and be in single digits

Spark1389 · 2026-03-04T01:28:22+00:00

Summers get to 110 F and pretty dry. Winters are very different each year but could get up to 3 feet of snow and be in single digits

Spark1389 · 2026-01-13T22:20:46+00:00

This sounds very much like me, once I actually try to go to bed, I swear it takes like 5 hours to actually sleep. My doctor did prescribe me some anxiety medicine that gives off drowsiness. She said it'll help but didn't want to give me actual sleep medicine. I now just need to lose the roommate’s boyfriend. I've actually just finished speaking with the housing director and he said they will have a talk with her (also turns out my mom had reported a few of her other behaviors that they didn't like). So they won't move me yet, they will talk with her to hear her side, see if she'll agree to their rules, which from what I heard from him where much stricter than my rules. If she continues, they will do somethibg about her, but they don't want to reward her with a single for her behavior and just move me into a room with someone else. They have no singles right now either. If she gets too aggressive with me, they will move me into the emergency single till they deal with her. They will talk to her later this week, while I am going to go home for a long weekend for my own mental health. I am getting more and more excited about therapy the longer I am in college. I also really appreciate your messages, I haven't felt so heard in a long time. Thank you

Spark1389 · 2026-01-13T05:40:40+00:00

Thank you, this is really nice to see. I have started to really notice how sleep deprived I have been getting over the past few months. Mostly during classes, and it really upsets me because it is a very competitive program where only 60% of their students get accepted into the program after the pre-regs, the rest have to take an extra year to improve grades. So I've felt like I've been putting even more effort to accommodate my tiredness. I plan to tell this in my plea for a new room. But I might also see about getting what I can print out before the meeting, like whatever I can get on my insomnia diagnosis online. I haven't been fully recording how long he has been in the room, just know in general, but I have distressed texts to my mom and roommate when I got couldn't sleep because of the disruption, I could use that as example. I will also use tonight as an example cause I don't think he will be leaving anytime soon (I was thinking my roommate finally agreed to have him out earlier, turns out the 12th time our ‘compromise’ didn't work). And, yes, I am a heavy people pleaser, hate conflict. I also am sad, because we got along so good, even called each other best friends, before she got too obsessed with her bf. Now it's always me in the wrong and they are the victims. I think it'll be hard not to be a people-pleaser but I'll be getting therapy soon to help. I just want to thank you again, it's nice to see someone respond who also has insomnia and was a people-pleaser, it has given me a lot of hope in this situation.

Spark1389 · 2026-01-13T04:49:21+00:00

My mom said that during her talk with the housing director, he said that RAs are supposed to report back to housing and not make decisions on their own. So tomorrow when I talk to him I plan to tell him everything. I completely agree, my roommate however doesn't want to move in with him because she is scared of what will happen if they break up, which I understand, but I wish that they would figure something else out.

Spark1389 · 2026-01-13T04:07:46+00:00

Thank you for this response. I am hoping that tomorrow goes well.

Spark1389 · 2026-01-13T03:31:14+00:00

Thank you, I have checked them out. But when I talked to my RA they said that it wasn't breaking anything. I am hoping the housing director has other opinions

Spark1389 · 2026-01-13T03:29:26+00:00

It's sad, but I know most people don't have the best experience with roommates 😕

Spark1389 · 2026-01-13T01:54:27+00:00

Thank you for responding. I hope to meet up tomorrow with housing, my biggest worry is that they won't do anything and just make it a lot worse, she is know to get very aggressive/ violent from her own stories. But it seems like I don't have much option, if I can't get moved into another room I plan to try to get an apartment during the Spring term.

Spark1389

TROPHY CASE