3.

CONSTRUCTING FISH PONDS

 
HOW LARGE SHOULD YOUR POND BE?

(48) It is good to start with a pond greater than

300 square
metres. Such a pond will produce
enough fish for food. It will
also produce fish for
sales and additional cash income.

 
(49) For example, if you build a pond 20 by 20
metres,
the pond will measure 400 square metres.

 
(50) A square or rectangular pond is easiest to but your pond can have a different shape to fit
the
build,
size and shape of your land.

 
HOW TO BUILD A 20 BY 20 METRE POND  

(51) First mark out a big square on the site you

have chosen,
about 26 by 26 metres. Mark the
corners with pegs and run a string
between the
pegs to show where the outside of the banks will
be.

(52) Clear the big square

of all trees, bushes and
grass and take away as many big roots
as you can.

 
(53) Take away about 20 centimetres of topsoil
from (54) Now mark out a smaller square inside the big
all over the square. Put the topsoil aside. Later you square, about
20 by 20 metres. Mark the corners
will
put it back on the top and outer sides of the with pegs and run a string between
the pegs to
banks. show where the inside of the banks will be.


    

(55) The bottom of the bank in the shallow part of

your pond
and along the sides should be about 1
metre from the upper end
and sides of the small
square.

(56) The bottom of the bank in the deepest part of

your pond
should be about 2 metres from the lower
 
end of the small square.

(57) Now mark out a third smaller area in the centre

of your
pond, about 17 by 18 metres. We will call
this the central area.
Mark the corners with pegs
and run a string between the pegs to
show where
the bottom of the banks will be.

 
(58) Be sure that all the pegs and strings marking
the 26 by
26 metre square, the 20 by 20 metre
square and the central area
are set up as shown
in the drawings.

(59) Now you are ready to begin digging out soil

from inside
the central area to build the banks of
your pond.

(60) Ask your neighbours to help you dig your big

pond. Then
you can help them dig their ponds in
turn.

(61) Shared work is lighter work. When

we work  
together with our neighbours, the work is easier  
and faster.
     
 
(62) Begin digging inside the central square at
the upper end
of your pond. Dig about 20
centimetres deep. As you dig towards
the lower
end, dig a little deeper. When you get to the
deepest
part, at the 2-metre string marking the
central area, you should
be digging about 30
centimetres deep.

(63) As you dig out the soil, put it between the

lines marking
the 20 by 20 metre square and the
26 by 26 metre square, where
the banks will be.
Put it nearest to where you are digging. This
way,
the banks will be higher and wider as you move
toward the
lower end.

(64) When you come to roots, take away as much (65) Whenever the loose soil you put on the banks
of them as you
can and put them aside. reaches half as high as your knees, pack it down
tightly. You
can do this by beating the soil with a

heavy plank, a length of
tree trunk or an earth

tamper.

(66) When you are digging, keep the slope

of the (67) Begin again to dig soil out of the
central area.
pond bottom as regular as you can. It should slope Dig 20 more centimetres from the upper end and
gently
down from the upper end to the deepest 30
more centimetres from the deepest part. Put
part. The bottom of the pond
should have slopes the soil on the banks
and pack it down tightly as
like those in the drawings. before.
   

(68) Now begin again, for the third and last time, to
dig soil
out of the central area. Dig 20 more
centimetres from the upper
end and 30 more
centimetres from the deepest part. Put the soil
on
the banks and pack it down tightly.

(69) When you have finished digging out the

central area and
you have put on the banks all the
soil that you have taken out,
you will have a hole
17 by 18 metres with straight sides. Now
it is time
to shape the banks.

(70) Dig the soil away from the edges of the (71) The inside of the banks should slope less
central
area to form the slope of the banks. Put steeply
than the outside. The drawing shows you
this soil on top of the
banks and pack it down what the banks should
look like when they are
tightly. finished.
   

(72) The top of the banks should be about 1.5 (73) Get the 20 centimetres of topsoil you took
metres
wide and should be straight and flat all the away when you began digging and put it on the top
way around the pond. and outer sides
of the banks. Plant grass on the
banks. Banks covered with grass
last longer.

(74) The bottom of your pond should be about 1.1

metres (110 centimetres) from the top of the
banks at the shallow
upper end and about 1.4
metres (140 centimetres) from the top
of the
banks at the deepest part.

(75) Be sure that the bottom of the pond is fairly

smooth and
regular.

(76) Now dig a ditch in the bottom of the pond (77) When the ditch is finished, remove all loose
from the centre
to the lower end. The ditch should soil and other
trash from the bottom of the pond.
be about 50 centimetres wide
and about 20
centimetres deep. This ditch will help you drain
out
all the water when you empty your pond.

   

BUILDING BIGGER PONDS

(78) If you want a still bigger pond, you can build one of 20 by
30 metres, 20 by 50 metres or even 30 by
50 metres. The banks of
ponds this size should also be 1.5 metres wide at the top, but because
these
ponds are bigger and deeper and hold much more water, the
banks should be stronger at the bottom
than the banks you built
for your smaller ponds.
(79) Since you will be digging bigger and deeper ponds, you will
take out more soil. Put all the soil you dig
out on the lower part
of the banks. This will make them thicker and stronger.

(80) The drawing below shows you what the banks (81) However, if you build ponds of this size, you
should look like when you are finished. should build them a little deeper. They should be at
least 0.75
metres (75 centimetres) deep at the
shallow end and at least 1
to 1.2 metres deep at
the deepest part.

(82) If you live in a place where the temperature Note: When ponds are side by side,
you will need
falls below 20�C, make your ponds 1.5 to 1.8 only one bank between two ponds. If you are
metres deep. The
water will be warmer in the building
two ponds side by side at the same time,
deepest part and your fish can go
there during the you can make the top
of the bank between them 1
colder part of each day. metre wide instead of 1.5 metres.

Summary

YOU HAVE LEARNED HOW TO BUILD YOUR FISH PONDS

The pond should

be greater than 300 m2 to produce fish for food and cash

have a square or rectangular shape
be shallow, with water depth from 60 cm (upper end) to 90 cm (lower
end)

The banks should

be 50 cm higher than the water on top
have a good slope on the sides
be built with soil tightly packed

Build your pond in successive steps:

clear all vegetation, rocks, etc. from the area

remove the top soil and keep it aside
mark the limits of the inside banks at ground level
mark the limits of the inside banks at bottom level
dig inside these last limits by layers of 20 cm (upper end) to 30
cm (lower end)
use this soil to build up the banks, layer by layer and tightly packed
form the inside slopes of the banks
form the outside slopes of the banks
add topsoil on top and on the outside slopes of the banks
inside the pond, dig a small draining ditch