Water Garden Construction - novice

Question
Leigh,

In our old home the formal gardens had substantial stonework and we uncovered a 30'stone watercourse cascading into a 4' x 8' (3'deep) concrete lined pond - all filled with debris.  I repaired the concrete pond and set in a submersible swimming pool pump and had an operating stream and water garden with koi and lilys etc.   Filtration was never a problem because the steam leaked and if operated required a trickle from a hidden hose to maintain level.  I threw in some algae teatment when it got too green.  Pretty crude but it was the only one in the neighborhood.

In our new home - no pond.  I have started to dig a freeform pond approx 6 x 8 and thought to use a pond liner with underlayment etc and a simple fountain type filter. We just wanted to get some of the fun with out creating Niagara Falls.   

I see kits for about $150 - $200 with the fountain/filter or I can buy the components al la carte.  

Is it unrealistic to just do a simple fountain filter for a small pond or must I turn the garden into a mega stream project for $1,000+?  Is it possible to balance a few fish with plants and avoid any filtration system at all?  

Any recommendations?

Thanks,

Chris

Answer
Chris, you might be able to get away without a filter but I think it will cause you more grief than it's worth. You don't have to get an elaborate filter. One of those 3 section filters 2 with sponge and the third section with a cereamic media about $60.00. What I would suggest rather than the ceramic media replace it with a bag of pond peat. The peat keeps the PH of the water about perfect and everything in balance. Don't forget floating plants especially if the pond sees a lot of direct sun. Remember the more  plant the less algaie

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