General Pond Design Considerations
Ponds should be part of a mosaic landscape, with roughly 15% of the area devoted to them, 15% to marshes, the bulk (up 60%) going to forests and the remainder to prairies, crops, and pasture. Ponds will help these other systems with nutrient flow and soil production, and these other systems will help ponds by providing food and stability.
The edge effect of ponds is crucial to these systemic interactions, and the shape of ponds can greatly change the amount of edge. Circular ponds have the least edge but are easiest to seal, rectangular have more edge and are easier to shade, but long and narrow curvy ponds produce the most edge. Additionally, climate will affect the ideal orientation of ponds, such that, in cold climates, they should have trees blocking the polar winds and be open to the sun, whereas hotter climates would likely require shade and exposure to wind for oxygenation.
Features are important for getting more out of ponds. Edges can be used to create swamps. Jetties can be bordered with fish cages. Islands can provide safe habitat for waterfowl and more edge effect. Spillways in and out of the system are opportunities for harvesting sediment, separating fish, and cleaning water. Houses can be built on peninsulas for protection from fires. Windbreaks can funnel winds. Shelters--logs, piles of gravel, plastic pipes at the bottoms of ponds can provide safe havens and breeding grounds for fish. Rafts can be used to grow vegetables, provide shade, capture solar energy, house animals, and so on. Screens and fences can separate species and give us more control with all the benefits of the larger pond system. Cages are great for protecting young stock as they grow, as well as harvesting them later.
In natural swimming pools, water is cleaned by living things. They can be constructed of many things: concrete, wood, stone, plastic, or even fiberglass, and this construction is very similar to that of chemically treated pool. The bottom of a pool is then covered with a layer of gravel, and in a natural system, the, water is pumped from the bottom into an aquatic plant system, which cleans the water before it cascades, aerating it, back into the pool.
The pumps, which don’t require much energy, can be run on solar power, making it very low impact. Natural ponds can also include some fish and crayfish, which can help with cleaning the water. Unlike chemical pools, the abundance of life in a natural pool signifies the water is clean.
The edge effect of ponds is crucial to these systemic interactions, and the shape of ponds can greatly change the amount of edge. Circular ponds have the least edge but are easiest to seal, rectangular have more edge and are easier to shade, but long and narrow curvy ponds produce the most edge. Additionally, climate will affect the ideal orientation of ponds, such that, in cold climates, they should have trees blocking the polar winds and be open to the sun, whereas hotter climates would likely require shade and exposure to wind for oxygenation.
Features are important for getting more out of ponds. Edges can be used to create swamps. Jetties can be bordered with fish cages. Islands can provide safe habitat for waterfowl and more edge effect. Spillways in and out of the system are opportunities for harvesting sediment, separating fish, and cleaning water. Houses can be built on peninsulas for protection from fires. Windbreaks can funnel winds. Shelters--logs, piles of gravel, plastic pipes at the bottoms of ponds can provide safe havens and breeding grounds for fish. Rafts can be used to grow vegetables, provide shade, capture solar energy, house animals, and so on. Screens and fences can separate species and give us more control with all the benefits of the larger pond system. Cages are great for protecting young stock as they grow, as well as harvesting them later.
In natural swimming pools, water is cleaned by living things. They can be constructed of many things: concrete, wood, stone, plastic, or even fiberglass, and this construction is very similar to that of chemically treated pool. The bottom of a pool is then covered with a layer of gravel, and in a natural system, the, water is pumped from the bottom into an aquatic plant system, which cleans the water before it cascades, aerating it, back into the pool.
The pumps, which don’t require much energy, can be run on solar power, making it very low impact. Natural ponds can also include some fish and crayfish, which can help with cleaning the water. Unlike chemical pools, the abundance of life in a natural pool signifies the water is clean.
Ponds For Aquaponics Systems
The type of pond I would recommend for an aquaponics system - is an natural outdoors pond set in a naturalistic backyard setting - which offers a tranquil space and opportunity to interact with nature. Along these lines I have selected some videos below that explore the construction of these habitats and offer some design possibility inspiration. Even a small backyard offers many design possibilities and in my opinion the aesthetic beauty and tranquility of these naturalistic setting scan not be beaten. And when teamed up with intensive food production within a glasshouse aquaponics system - offers a food producing system far more productive than a garden bed - with far less management required.
Following this technique a typical high intensity permaculture style backyard of lawn, vegetable beds, fruit trees etc can be re-imagined as a thriving natural wetland ecosystem teamed up with a highly productive food producing system in the more controlled environment of the glasshouse - which (once the pump is plugged in) is entirely automated and requires very little management and maintenance.
Perfect for the busy urbanite who wishes to create a very productive system of nutrient dense food - within a soothing natural setting.
Following this technique a typical high intensity permaculture style backyard of lawn, vegetable beds, fruit trees etc can be re-imagined as a thriving natural wetland ecosystem teamed up with a highly productive food producing system in the more controlled environment of the glasshouse - which (once the pump is plugged in) is entirely automated and requires very little management and maintenance.
Perfect for the busy urbanite who wishes to create a very productive system of nutrient dense food - within a soothing natural setting.
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| fishfarm3rdproof.pdf |