• You are viewing the forum as a Guest, please login (you can use your Facebook, Twitter, Google or Microsoft account to login) or register using this link: Log in or Sign Up

Journal Freds new pond build

Status
Not open for further replies.
frederick thompson

frederick thompson

Member
Joined
14 Nov 2015
Messages
1,081
Location
hull
hi my name is fred. i am having a pond built this winter. i already have a pond. but its just basic. i plan on having a 6 foot deep pond lower pond and a raised pond above. the dimensions of the upper pond will be 8 feet width. length 5 feet.and 3 foot deep with plants in.and then water fall back to lower pond. lower pond will be 6 foot deep length roughly 13 feet width 10 feet.square pond. glass window, skimmer, 4"inch bottom drain.(spin drifter air diffuser kit.) 2x badu pumps 14000,and 12000.and fish pump 15000. filtration is ultra sieve 111. gravity fed,from bottom drain to pump badu14000 to nexus 320. with balance line. out of nexus to badu pump 12000 into uv evo 55. t pieced with ball valves one to water fall and one to TPR 12"of bottom. then skimmer on separate line to easy pod gravity feed with 15000 fish pump on outlet. with to returns to two TPRs 12"of bottom. Brick work 3 foot below ground and 3 foot above ground. rendered then fibre glassed. what i am trying to find out is if this set up will work. you see i have already bought all the gear and its cost me a fortune. you see i had pumps in side my old liner pond. heck of a lot cheaper. but what the heck my lovely Koi come first. just don't tell the wife.ha ha. Is the TPRs okay at this hight. and will the pumps be good enough. hope to hear from you all. take care freddy boy:)
 
Last edited:
Hi Fred sound nice! I do feel you might get more response posting on a Koi forum though?
As it happens I was a processional pond builder for around 30 years however, I might not be up to speed on all the latest methods.
first thing that strikes me is 3' out of the ground is pretty high, apart from the structural integrity required it seem a big high cosmetically?
 
thanks for quick response mate, the reason for that hight is two fold really. main reason is grand children. i have a pond at ground level. and it was murder having to be with the kids all of the time. plus having to lock the doors if you was not out side with them.. we also have a new addition coming a long in feb 2016 so thats one reason. the other is my new window i have bought is quite large.. also i do not want to go to deep with the filter pit. when leveling the water hight for the gravity fed filters. there not far off 3 foot tall.plus when we put a floor down for filters that is more hight. to get the walls lower.i would have to go down in the ground quite a lot. any way mate thanks for replying. hope this helps. any suggestions
 
heres my new pond build when built
fred new pond.jpg
 
I am not familiar with the brands you mention, but a rule of thumb is you should aim to turn over the entire pond volume once every 2-3 hours. (for koi)
So the questions are
1) Have you calculated your total pond volume
2) What is the maximum flow rate of your filter
3) What is the maximum flow rate of the pump you intend for the filter (You should take into consideration bends and pipe diameter)
4) Can your 55watt UV cope with the flow rate?

None of your answers should "conflict"
e.g. pond volume = 100 litres. Max pump flow 20L /hr. There is a "conflict" It will take the pump 5 hours to turn the pond over, which is over the 3 hours maximum. Since you cant make the pond smaller you will need a bigger pump
 
Thanks for your help martin. my filter house is going alongside the left wall off the pond. it will all more or less be straight pipe work. longest run will be bottom drain and this will only be about 10 feet to filter ultra sieve. after the ultra sieve will be a badu top 14000 pump. then after nexus 320 will be a badu top 12000. and my skimmer will be on separate line to easy pod, with a super fish 15000 to the 2x TPRs. the evo uv 55 has 11/2" inch pipe work running out of it martin. i hear conflicting story's some people say run it slowly through your uv. someone else say turn over is priority. which is the most priority mate. i assume turn over. but i may be wrong. i for got to add. on my existing pond i have a 55 watt uv on this and this will be getting added to my skimmer line. thanks for your input mate. it is much appreciated. you sound like you know what your on about with flow rate and all that. all the best fred
 
Hi Fred, I am a little confused as you seem to be writing in past, present & future context all at the same time :)
So the pictures are of your present pond but you are having a new one built but using some of the original components?
Have you already bought new filter equipment?
 
sorry i forgot to add the pond is not built yet martin. it starts to be built in two weeks time. so i can still make the size what i want still. but i do want that size. so if worst comes to worst i will just sell pumps and buy larger. i know its an exspensive way to do things.AND ALL THAT BUT I ALREADY BOUGHT ALL MY GEAR BEFORE HAND WHICH IS A BIT DUMB ON MY PART. THANKS A GAINE FRED
 
To foxfish the photos you see are going to be the new build.and it starts in 2 weeks time. that is a pond i saw on the web.and fell in love with it.so the photos are of the new build and all the gear i have mentioned is for the new build. my old pond is 3000 lts and had pumps in the pond to 2x easy pods and 2x 55 watt uvs my fish are still in the old pond and the day before theb builders start they will be put in a large holding tank pool that i have bought for them. with one pump in the water and a easy pod to filter it.. sorry the way i have laid it out. it must sound confusing. all the best fred
 
frederick thompson said:
heres my new pond build when builtView attachment 54751
Click to expand...

Very nice pond. Love to see the development of this project. :) I would make an helophyte filter out of that top section.. Saves a lot of money on regular filters and could be a great botanical addition to the garden if well planted. A properly placed and sized helophyte filter is all you need and unbeatable in performance and maintenance.
 
ZoZo, you are not so far from the truth... although not so many koi keepers will agree!
I built around 50-60 koi ponds over a 30 year period and without doubt the most successful ones all had large vegetable filters or helophyte type filters in operation.
However I found you need a large area for this method, at least half the surface area should be dedicated to gravel bed planting and ideally, some form of back flush fitted.
Having said that, a smaller area that is supplied with pre filtered water i.e. a sieve or vortex can also work wonderfully well!
A few years ago I joined up to a few Koi forums but all my ideas were simply shot down in flames by the "know it all brigade" regardless of any evidence I produced.. so I left them to it :)
You can see a modern approach to my system here, where pre filtered water is fed into a planted gravel bed of about 1/3 of the pond volume ... http://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/nice-pond.12645/
 
Last edited:
Foxfish, well let them be.. ;) i do not mind people who don't agree, always like to hear them out. And think about wath they have to offer.. But if you look to succesfull natural ponds.. All they have is a clean watter supply probably with helophytes and other aquatics. So what ever argument they have, you can't get around nor beat that.. :) If you think you can do better than mother nature "think again".. :)
Of course are sizes and stocking always connected, most ponds i've seen till now are generaly over stocked. And prefiltering is never a bad idea if thats the case or in any case. It always will reduce filter cost to a large extend using natural filter.

That's a massive project you showed in that link.. Beautifull looking professional pond. :clap:

An acquaintance of mine about 20 years ago, was into Koi trade and did good, he one day bought a Finca in spain a natural pond came with it's propperty.. He went nursing pond plants there to step into that trade as well. Perfect climate for it and all went very well for a year ore 2 and one day all his plants where dying. He brought a sample of the water to a spanish laboratory and came to me with the results. Because i know a bit Spanish and no strangers to basic chemistry. I do not remeber what it excactly was, something with sulphur in it and after looking some up. It happend to be his pond was all of a sudden full of herbicides. I told him to go and find the source of his ponds water supply, follow the stream that feeds it. And he ended up with his neighbour farmer. The fountain feeding his pond was on his land and he kinda distroyed it with digging all vegitation out. Now the herbicides the farmer used on his fields werent filtered out anymore and ended up in his pond. That was the end of his plant nursing adventure, he couldn't come to an agrement with his neighbour. That was my first experience with what helophytes are capable off.. :)
 
There was an interesting case that happened in Guernsey a few years back.
A watercress farmer lost all his crop over a matter of weeks, he could not understand what had gone wrong as he had been successfully growing the cress for many a year.
He used pumped water from gentle stream to flow through his beds & that in turn, then ran into the sea, it turned out there was high concentrations of chlorine & salt in the water!
The matter was pursued by our local authority's and ended with a conviction!
It appeared that a nearby swimming pool owner was flushing his waste water directly into the stream.
 
to ZoZo glad you like what you see i did not even know what a helophyte filter was till i read yours and foxfish posts. i like that idea. i am having gravel and plants put in the upper pond. The size will be not large enough for it to be a helophyte filter. But i do like the idea. Originaly when i seen the pond above. i liked the idea of the plants when i seen it. i thought it gave it a bit of character, but if it could give it s little help with filtration i might try some thing like that. thanks for all your input guys. it is giving me more and more ideas.
 
Hi all,
foxfish said:
A few years ago I joined up to a few Koi forums but all my ideas were simply shot down in flames by the "know it all brigade" regardless of any evidence I produced.. so I left them to it
Click to expand...
I don't know anything about Koi, but I know the feeling.

For whatever reason people who keep large, messy fish seem to be particularly ill disposed towards planted bio-filters, despite the fact they need them most.

cheers Darrel
 
Yeah Darrel you learn every day with ponds. i have had a pond for nearly 15 years but it was just basic. now though as you can see above. i want to go a lot bigger. for my koi mostly. for there quite large now. all i want to get the garden all done so we do not have to touch it again. IE paved and new walls. but my new pond build will be the first thing that will be done. but on this site i have been learning different things as i go along. it should all be starting in December. so i will be putting photos on here . to give people more ideas. my head has been in bits at times with all the planning. but i am now getting there. i am a way now on a oil rig working. for 3 weeks. this is also very frustrating.as i cannot be at home getting on with it. all the best fred.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top