Hi
I setup my first pond in 1981. Raccoons, possums, dogs, cats, kids, turtles toads snails have all been problems over the years . Runaway most serious has been water birds particularly herons When i first started I couldn't keep GF for a week . Switched to tropical fish which did fine until the polar vortex of 09 so switched back to GF and have not had a single problem..Why I don't know ,guess the herons are dining in better locations ?? lol I'm down to one pool above ground 5x10 feet around 2 feet deep Have had less problems with the above ground One problem that I've been unable to solve is Cane toads . i don't think a deep pool would help as the fish are always at the surface any way
What kind of fish and plant are you thinking??
gary

We had the raccoons clean us out of koi lots of times, and tear up the ponds then I put out one of those ultrasonic motion sensors.. I think it was a Cat Scat? Did it about 3 years ago and I have only lost one to the raccoon and that was cause I didn't replace the battery. It doesn't seem to faze my cats (lol). I put it across the pond pointed down towards the waters edge cause the raccoons work there way under the ultrasonic range if you just put it straight up. I have a shelf about 6 inches under water and 3 feet deep on one pond and the other is about 2 feet deep.

Hi thanks for all the responses :) I haven't decided where I should put the pond yet. We have a natural spring under one part of the property that stays wet most of the summer. In drier seasons it will dry out. There are a ton of large hardwood trees out there so lots of leaf litter and roots to deal with so I am not sure that is where it will go. I am thinking it might be better just to get a liner and put it in a more open area.

waterbug_guy, I am not sure if I will have plant shelves or not. I appreciate your illustration. That is helpful!
I was thinking of mostly planting around the outside and then having some sunken water lilies and some other plants that are out towards the center more away from where the raccoon can get in and knock over the pots. I have a few books on water gardens and saw they had the pots submerged underwater on 'pillars' of concrete block etc.

Gary, Your place sounds like ours in relation to critters lol. I haven't seen any herons here but we do get the occasional large egret and both bald and golden eagles. However I suspect that if I build it...they will come (herons) lol.
I have quite a few plants that could work in or around water right now. Various colocasias, tropical waterlilies, canna, papyrus, lizard tail. I have found that chocolate mint does excellent grown in a bog and doesn't freeze in the winter or die back during the heat of the summer. I grow a lot of mint for our rabbits that I use their 'bunny berries' for composting and vermicomposting.
As far as fish goes. I really love the look of koi but due to the critters and my last koi liking to eat up all my plants, I might go with plain old goldfish. I have heard that the goldfish won't eat up the plants as much. I will just have to find pretty ones LOL :P

darla,
I had 4 koi that I kept in a large preformed pond. One is still there. It is all black. When we moved here a few yrs ago, I had to put them in a holding pool while I got the other one set up on the screened patio. Overnight, a raccoon ate up all the koi except the black one which I assume maybe he couldn't see. I will probably just keep him where he is and get him a friend. When I get the in ground pond going, I am thinking of using goldfish. Do your koi eat your water plants at all?
That is a good idea about the motion sensor. Haha I am surprised that it doesn't bother the cats but then again they are probably smart enough to avoid where it sprays. Does it also help with keeping the large birds away?
~SJN

Mine doesn't spray its just a ultrasonic sound and a light comes on. And my bigger koi 18-28 inches eat anything and everything that's in the pond.. made shelves about 6 inches underwater and planted cattails, iris directly into pea gravel and they don't bother them but if its a floating plant or hangs over they will eat it up. my smaller koi don't bother any of the plants in my other pond.

You may want to visit this webpage for information on how to protect your koi from raccoons and other predators. https://www.raccoonremoval.us/ponds.html

Hi David, This is an old post but I'm still around lol. We moved to a totally different property now. I never did the inground ponds at that last property but opted, instead, for pre-formed patio ponds. I kept koi, goldfish and a bunch of plants in various ponds on our screened in patio.

Our new farm has 2 deep natural ponds and one shallow one ( a few acres total) Theres tons of wildlife out there that will eat fish.

I still want to make a smaller pond just for goldfish or Koi. I kept some fancy fan-tailed goldfish in patio ponds at the old house. I really enjoyed them. They got pretty big. I am planning to enclose/fence'in, this new fish pond totally and it will be attached to the back of my greenhouse. It will stick out the sides of the greenhouse so it can still get sun in some areas. I am going to use my pre-formed patio ponds around the edges of the inground pond for more plants etc.

We are deciding if we should build the pond enclosure frame from wood or just get a 20x40 High Tunnel (metal frame) them we will use screen then layered with hardware cloth for the actual fencing/covering . The high tunnels are alot higher than I would make my wood enclosure but then I can keep my tender tropical fruit trees in there and just move them them right into the greenhouse. Birds can't get the fruit that way either lol.

I would do a pool screen enclosure but they are really outrageously priced..like 20 grand for the size I wanted. Way cheaper to use a high tunnel or wood and diy. I would pay for a pool screen for an actual pool but not for a fish pond lol.