DIY Budget Ecosystem Pond - Solo Build in 5 Days by Hand (1 Year Later) 

Pond Season is finally here, and I thought this was a great way to kick things off! I’m really pleased with how this one is developing. What do you think of its progress? I'm just getting started, though, and have some awesome stuff in the works right now. Have a great weekend SerpaSquad!

The time lapse showing the water clearing up was a good idea.

Your parents are so fortunate to have a master to build them a pond. It’s beautiful! I’m still dreaming up my pond but I feel it’s a year or two away at this point. For now I enjoy my little container pond.

It would be awesome to see you incorporate more native plants into your outdoor builds. Or something exclusively using native plants. Love the way this build came together!

Love the little pops of colour with the red.

Absolutely stunning pond! One point I want to highlight, is when outside planting, I think native plants to your area should be a highlight as they are crucial for the greater ecosystem outdoors! Love your work, and would love to see more!

You should replace the mint with a native plant, and add native pollinator flowers around the pond. Pollinator gardens are beautiful and help the local ecosystem.

I'd love to see you do a swimming pond or natural pool- there's not too many good DIY videos for them right now, but when properly balanced it can let you swim with fish

The sounds at 7:40 mark man I could just listen to that for days so relaxing! This pond is awesome.

My wife and I just bought our first home, and I can't wait to do something similar! Looks great!

Beautiful! Would love to see more of an emphasis on native plants and sustaining local food webs… ponds and even small bubbling fountains are incredible for birds!!! Any Doug Tallamey fans here? Your followers are already interested in nature, so imagine the difference you could make if you talked about protecting wildlife biodiversity with a little pond! People just simply don’t know about the problem, and you have the platform to create awareness.

There's a kind of wild, US-native Impatiens (Impatiens capensis) that grows tall, deep green, and blooms in late autumn with bright orange, orchid-like flowers. When the flowers ripen they make exploding seed pods that burst from the force of snapping coiled internal structures and fling seeds out in all directions. Usually called "common jewelweed." I've had some success raising from seed and I have a black thumb, so it might be something to try for your next pond build. I see them growing along creek beds and banks even in sandy soil. They also love shade to partial shade.

You may not still be looking at comments, but I have to say how fabulous your pond is! You have a wonderful eye.☺️

Great job, brother!! There is nothing like having a vision, executing, and sitting back enjoying the outcome. I'm creating a mini food forest in my small backyard. It's coming along well, I sit back and watch the new animals gravitating towards my yard. I have so many birds, praying mantis, lady bugs, frogs, butterflies, dragonflies, and 4 types of lizards. The creatures never scurry away when I'm close, and I'm convinced the dragonflies are landing near my chair to greet me. They even let me touch them. Love what you are doing. Please continue to create in order to help Mother Nature and this Planet.

The pop of red flowers was lovely!

Idk how many of your videos I’ve watched over the years, but I’m always surprised at how many times you blow my mind with quick info on what and why you’re doing the things in the video.

This pond is absolutely beautiful! I'm glad you addressed the Heron issue in an animal friendly way and added more plants!

Your parents must be so proud. I hope I rub off on my daughter a bit and she enjoys some of my worldly skills like farming and ecosystems and someday does something nice like this for me. A moment like that I feel is what makes the journey of life worth every struggle. Keep growing strong brotherman!!

The pond is looking great! Wherever the little frog hopped from, it certainly knows a good place to be. And the fish seem to be thriving. The plants, both terrestrial and aquatic, are so artfully arranged that they look totally natural. The moss has filled its niche perfectly. I'd say this project has been a big success!

I have my own 8 acre property now, and I plan to put multiple pond features on it. This is great for instruction and inspiration! Thank you! 🙏😊👍

I love the vibe of this one: visiting with animals/education/update. It's a fresh take on a channel standby video format

I love this outdoor pond setup. It’s so cool you get to do stuff like this for your mom. If my son did this for me I think I’d try to swim in it. Or soak my feet in this blistering heat. Awesome job!! ❤

This is a beautiful set up. Our pond started very simply with a hand dug hole, a couple feeder gold fish, and a $25 solar pump. It has grown and thrived over time. The fancy ponds seemed out of reach, but we started simply and love it. The plants and frogs and dragonflies arrived on their own. So don't worry about the price tags, any pond is way better than no pond!

Such a lovely little pond. Can’t imagine anything being more enjoyable to have in your yard.

Your parents’ pond looks great now Tanner!

This channel is like everything i find most neat in nature. Mosses, detritovores, glades, riparian animals and of course fish!😊 thanks

Absolutely gorgeous 😍 Most of us spend our life trying to figure out OUR gift.. you obviously found yours at a young age and have thrived replicating it! God bless you and your family ❤

This little DIY pond looks luxurious great job Tanner

I built my first pond with rocks off our property and an old waterbed mattress. A pump and fish was all I had to buy! It lasted great!!

I really like the definition of things popping up on the screen!

The pond looks great! A month ago I got my “big" pond (500l) ready for spring, I cleaned it and set up a bog filter which has given me great success so far in terms of water clarity and quality, I added a stream and got a bunch of new plants. Before I can get my first fish though, I need to fix the stream because it's leaking a lot...

That place is right up the street from me. Great pond

Inspirational! How beautiful - I congratulate you on this wonderful ecosystem! I agree with some other comments - adding native plants would take it to the next level.

This was beautiful to watch. Thank you for sharing the update.

reminds me of the boom in my pond. also, how the plants really grew, and looked good, but just the other day i trimmed them back because they looked just a little wild and invasive, and i also thought things looked better when you could see more of the rock. i also refreshed the mulch and pulled up the sunken stepping stones that let you access the waterfall. now it all looks good and wild but not chaotic or overgrown (neglected). all this was on a preexisting pond at this house, above ground and made with a liner and heavy bricks. the landscaping just MADE it. i'm still impressed every day at the transformation i achieved. and the water lilies i put in went NUTS in just the year ive had them and the fish spawned just after they went in (and the previous owner's gorpy filter system totally crashed since the wood manger they built for holding the barrel was shoddy af. and it crashed the whole pond, lost 2 big fish to an ammonia spike, saved another, and also figured out what was killing them, and had to do maintenance and monitoring daily for almost 2 MONTHS. so, in the midst of that early chaos, they spawned. YOLO, i guess. i got 5 beautiful fish out of it. they are so much bigger now! spotted them at tadpole size. there is a white, a sparkley white, 2 calico colored (redorange, black, white) and a brother who is darker brownish but also has stripes like a tiger barb. this year they spawned again. a LOT. so far i've seen 2 new babies and then a tiny baby that must've been from a later spawn. it's so wild to see them so itty bitty, then grow up, get colors, can barely make out the markings as they hide and are so small, and NOW they are easily identified and just so cute. mine happen to be KOI, but i've always loved comet goldfish. that's what got me into the hobby. i won a fair fish, and my friend did to and gave me his. they started in a bowl, weekly full water changes. then i learned stuff and got them a 10g. was sad to learn how big they got and i'd never have the size tank to keep these guys. ponds really are made for stuff like this. but big tanks are awesome if you have the means and the space. : ) anyway i love this build! it's beautiful, and so nice to have all the space now!

Beautiful pond what a lucky mom

Crazy how time flies in 14 turning on 15 now but in 2019 I remember watching u I was about 9-10 I remember watching u make terrariums I use to go out and try to recreate what u use to do and let’s just say it wasn’t good but that’s not my point my point is that I thank you for making some of my childhood even tho I’m still a child jst wanted to say u inspired me in ways I coudnt imagine love your vids

I loved all of the closer looks at the moved-in life. the bugs and frogs and moss made me very happy

I LOVE your pond Tanner ! I’m sure your parents love it too ! 💐💚🙃

Great video! As a noob to this stuff, I'd love to see even a rough breakdown of the cost of this pond. Thanks for posting!

Any mint needs a root barrier, unless you're wanting to fill a space. Totes or tubs or a pond liner to keep it in it's own space, should help, easy to thin out yet keeping it in the spots you want it, I wouldn't trust landscape cloth. Such a beautiful little pond!!!!!! 🎉❤🎉

I love it so much that you make follow up videos!

This is just totally wonderful!

That is my dream pond! A peaceful oasis. (Gina)

I could just sit and watch this with the waterfall going for awhile. Likely much better in person. Thanks for sharing.

I just set up my little tub pond last week so I've got that pond bug too! It's been great seeing the progress on this one - I'd love to see another tub pond/patio pond from you too, and I've been looking forward to your update on your gigantic backyard pond also

Your videos are always so inspiring! Thank you!

Gorgeous pond, turned out great! Not sure I'd have cut the mint so low. Taller plants means more shade. Reduces overheating of water and provides more cover from birds. But then the mint will grow back.

Thanks for the update. Looking forward to seeing how the pond at your place is going.

Hope to see your pond soon 😊, i think it will be amazing

Mosaic plant! I can never find any in my area. I did once years ago and lost it the following year. What amazed me is, its part of the ludwigia family of plants!

I love watching your videos. Your eye for design is wonderful! I have a challenge for you. This pond is outside, and you mentioned attracting wildlife. However, the plants you mention are not native to the US. My challenge to you is to build something with 100% native to the area plants. I think when you research it, you will find the wildlife you attract will be huge!

It’s absolutely beautiful 😍

You worked so hard and it still looks amazing❤❤❤❤❤

what a beautiful pond!

update vids are so valuable. i really appreciate you telling us the how and why of its development, I can't wait to someday make a pond of my own.

Lovely pond and very cute frogs 🐸

loved seeing an update! wonderful! just wanted to give a suggestion for fish protection. My uncle used overturned curved terracotta roof tiles in the bottom of the pond so that the fish could swim in and hide when predators were around. especially since things like raccoons are sneaky and will come eat your fish at night. i hope that helps!

I'm like constantly pregnant and thus unable to lift much of anything, but I seriously hope to make a DIY water feature in my own backyard one day and pass the natural garden bug to my babies - can't be a small one, go big or go home! ❤❤❤

So cool! Love that it supports local wildlife that volunteered to live there ❤

Lucky me, this is the year we are doing our pond and I remembered your video when you put this in, and woo hoo! an update posted yesterday. Great work, fingers crossed our works as well. Thanks for the inspiration.

Hey tanner! when will you make an update video for the other massive pond build 9 months ago😅

The only feedback I can offer is the Mint will become very invasive spreading throughout the surrounding area of the pond. It looks amazing otherwise and something that a lot of people could achieve on their own ❤

I like when you say " dont you think?" ... then i start thinking about my life and try to think more.... sometimes partaking of the moss. Morivational speaker you are!

The pond looks great

Thank you for the update on this pond! Let's see yours next!

Always love seeing pond updates 😍 and this one is looking gorgeous! Glad to see the diy techniques held up!

i love the pop of red flowers with the goldfish it looks so good

Beautiful project. ❤ Lucky parents 😊

I love the pond. I think SerpaDesign does a much more beautiful plant design than any of the Mega $$$$ Pond Ego First guys. My vote as best, by far; SerpaDesign.

Those pepper plants looked great!

We need more biodiversity, especially in cities. Of course there will be problems because everything has pros and cons. Just… I’m so tired of the life-sucking grass lawns that got normalized. If I had the money, I would turn my sad backyard into a plant and animal haven. ❤

This is so cool! You should definitely do more educational and exploratory videos like this to explain the whys, and hows of the ecosystems you replicate. For instance, next time you build a tank or vivarium you could talk about the real environment and how it works in nature and explain how it all works together. Seeing the tour of the different critters and life forms felt very eye opening and fun like the old school nature documentaries before they started to become animal reality tv with manufactured drama for some reason. I love this kind of stuff and you do a great job of explaining the how/why of your tanks/builds but sometimes I find myself wondering how it works in nature! What is doing the job of the pump, or little beads, or other stuff you use. That kinda stuff… Just a suggestion!

Beautiful

Fantastic! And, the the mint is edible! I'd love to build another pond, but illness prevents the heavy lifting and bending. I'm afraid my next pond will have to be built by a pond contractor!

This is so beautiful Looking forward to seeing update of your one too!!

love this series

Nature's Aquatics Is a great place! when I lived in Pittsburgh I used to go there a lot

You may have solved a mystery we've had for a while. About five years ago I planted a variety of different mints in pots in my backyard. Some did well, others not so well, and today a few stout varieties have established themselves in various places. I have apple mint and lemonbalm out front, garden mint and a bit more of the lemonbalm out back. And then there's the crazy mint, the strong stuff, the mint that just wont give up. It's established itself in several places, most by my own choice, and it's hardy stuff. I couldn't figure out WHAT it was exactly though, and our theory was that some of our 2019 mint must have hybridised. Various apps erroneously identify it as spearmint, even though to my eye it looks nothing like it. Then I watched this video. The mystery mint is the spitting image of the aquatic mint in your parents' pond. I researched a little more, and sure enough all the features of aquatic mint line up. The shape and colour of the leaves, the stems, its flowers in summer, and the most important fact: It loves water and waterlogged soil, the latter of which has been a constant feature of our yard since we moved in. I've also noticed that sprigs of this mint ALWAYS take root if left in water for a few days, and the water they've been sat in always stays fresh and never goes bad as long as a spring of the mint is present. So yeah, it looks like I have a lot of aquatic mint in my garden, and that is not a variety I've planted. I don't know if a bird dropped off a few seeds, or if the varieties I had all mutated to create a perfect facsimile of aquatic mint, but it sure looks and behaves like the stuff in your parents' pond. Great video as always!

I live the little hooks with flower pots hanging in them, I’m stealing that idea😁

Looks awesome, love the flowers

Amazing job! Well done!

The Looks amazing! I'm more an aquarium guy, but this is just incredible. It was amazing even before you made changes. It is wonderful.

So beautiful

Ive found that mint planted directily into the pond/waterfall medium roots tend to take off in all directions and have to ne pulled to curb the spread and crowding of other plants. This inevitable leads to some roots getting left behind and rotting. I started drilling ~1.5cm holes in a pot and planting that for the mint and its much easier to maintain.

I adore your outdoor ponds. I don’t have room for a pond but I want to use some of your methods for an outdoor water bowl.

The pond looks beautiful

Beautiful!

Yes I’ve been looking forward to an update on this 🤩

I just watched the first video and this showed up, that's crazy!

Hi serpa been a long time viewer and I just recently got a slimy salamander as a pet and I would love to see a video of someone raising one along with me in a bioactive set up just to see the difference in life between mine and theirs and I thought no better person than the one who got me into terrariums himself

Thanks for the tips!

i love this style of video! it's so lovely to see your growth as a creator continuing to reach new heights! i'm a little disappointed this doesn't have a gaziilion views (it deserves it)

Perfect timing as I'm over here dreaming of a pond 😊

Try to make almost totally free ecosystem pond using only plastic foil to hold water in pond. Add: 1. Plastic foil 2. 1-2cm garden soil on the bottom and 5-10cm clean sand above (just sand can also do the job but it will grow slower) 3. Rocks around edges 4. Tons of fully aquatic and semi aquatic plants 5. After two or three weeks add only algae eaters fish and snails and don't feed them, some fresh water mussels is also recommended 6. 2-5 months later when plants grow like crazy add other fish and start feeding it. 7. This way water will stay clear all the time without any filtration. This principe work everywhere in aquariums, ponds, buckets, or jars

Wow that amazing. Glad the fish are repopulating and you have new life(frogs) that are able to use it as well.

The original pond video feels like it was yesterday oh my gosh I can’t believe it’s been that long already !

I just started my pond build on my channel, it's a whole debacle, it's a lot harder than you think!

It’s Beautiful ❤

How cool! It makes sense that it takes plant and algae maintenance, but I must confess that part made me feel sad because it makes doing something like this feel more daunting. 😅 would love if you do a demo on, like, low maintenance pond design