Originally Posted by esshup
Welcome to the forum. It's best to water the animals with water from the pond in a water trough or tank vs. letting them walk into the pond.

The smaller the pond, the harder it is to keep a viable reproducing population of fish in it, smaller ponds are better suited for low reproduction rates of hybrid fish.

The design of the pond is driven (sort of) by the species of fish you have in it. Most fish are like wild critters, they like edge cover, so a more uneven shoreline is better than a round, square or rectangular pond.

Depth all depends on the ground and the area. Being in Florida, you probably won't have many issues with drought, BUT since Florida has a lot of sand in the ground and it will most likely be a water table pond, you need to figure out how much the water level will fluctuate over the course of a full year. I wouldn't feel comfortable having a pond that would be shallower than 8' deep during the driest time of the year.

With sand, you are limited to a max slope of 3:1.

Thanks for the info. Agreed concerning watering animals via ponds. We've employed solar-driven wells on the family cattle ranch for the better part of 15 years. There are currently cows on the 10 acres, and I'm not eager to kick them off so I can come out of the gate with an ag exemption. The pond need is many steps ahead of the solar well need though. My wife served me up with a funky design with fingers. That design looks like a pia to maintain. Ponds on the family cattle ranch a few miles away rise and fall as much as 5', depending on conditions. The 3:1 ratio is noted, thanks. I'll visit with the operator next week and get his thoughts.

Eta: This is what we use at the ranch, although I think newer ones call for pressurized tanks.
[Linked Image from ar15.com]

Last edited by Ragnaut; 07/16/21 11:07 AM.