REDSTEVEO
Member
My old pond built in 2009 looked like this.
As you might have guessed the planting was causing a problem for me because it was so deep with no ledges or shelves.
It holds around 3000 litres measuring 1m.85cm from front wall to back wall and 2m.85 from left corner to right corner. It doesn't have any shelves or ledges at varying heights or depths so I have always had a problem with my pond plants dying off. The water was too deep for the marginal plants and even the lillies struggled. I tried plastic crates, up turned pots, plastic shelving which sort of worked but it was all very temporary and never looked how I expected it to be.
For the last two years I have thought about half filling it in and turning it into a natural damp area with no filtration but everyone I spoke to said it would become anaerobic and start to smell. So after some long debate I went for the half way option.
I had already sold all my Koi Carp and all the large goldfish and only had about 20 odd goldfish fry from last year in various sizes. So I caught all the fry and put them in a temporary home then drained the pond, jet washed the whole of the inside and gave it a good clean out. I then laid a cross section of square drain pipe drilled with 10mm holes on all sides every two inches. I put a few right angles in and inserted two upright pieces as stand pipes.
I put a 3ft by 2ft paving slab in each corner to keep an area free for the pumps, then covered the remaining area with 1 ton of 20mm gravel - substrate. In the centre I placed a 25 gallon black plastic loft tank and reinforced the sides with flat slate tiles. I ordered a half ton of of Horticultural grit and bought 8 x 25 kg bags of aquatic pond soil. I divided the remaining area into sections using more flat slate tiles and sank them a few inches into the 20mm gravel.
I used the horticultural grit to various depths on top of the 20mm gravel then added about 5 inches of aquatic soil on top of the grit. I placed all the new plants I had bought at various depths around the pond straight on top of the soil and then added more horticultural grit to cover the roots up to the base of each plant.
The finished result is that I have got a pond divided into sections at various different depths. At the back of the wall I removed the old water blade and replaced it with a purpose built waterfall, connected up the pipework from the old water blade, and positioned the waterfall at the back of the pond which is connected to a separate pump.
The idea behind the drain pipes and the upright stand pipes is that every now and again I can stick the long hose of my pond vac down the stand pipes to the bottom of the pond and vacuum any silt or sludge straight out and into the garden while topping it up from the top, sort of like the undergravel filter system in an aquarium.
Well whether it will work in the long run, who knows? But it is finished now and the pumps are back up and running and the fish are back in the pond. Time will tell.
Here is what it looks like now. You can see the outline of the 25 gallon loft tank but I am hoping this will be covered in leaves from the lillies and other surface plants so you won't see it.
To the right rear are plants that grow in planting zones 2 and 3
To the left are plants that grow in planting zones 1 and 2. At the front centre are the marginal plants that grow in planting zone 1. These get more sun here and will hopefully reach the surface.
In the bottom of the 25 gallon loft tank are the oxygenating plants.
The plants have only been in for about a week. No fertiliser added.
There is a 10,000 litre pump in each corner going into a large Pond One 10,000 filter both with UV lamps. UV is turned off at the moment.
You can see some of the goldfish fry which are still black. The orange ones are fry from the year before.
Three LED lights come on for a few hours at night.
Any comments or suggestions welcome. Updates in a few weeks time when the plants have developed. Anyone think this won't work?
Cheers,
Steve.
As you might have guessed the planting was causing a problem for me because it was so deep with no ledges or shelves.
It holds around 3000 litres measuring 1m.85cm from front wall to back wall and 2m.85 from left corner to right corner. It doesn't have any shelves or ledges at varying heights or depths so I have always had a problem with my pond plants dying off. The water was too deep for the marginal plants and even the lillies struggled. I tried plastic crates, up turned pots, plastic shelving which sort of worked but it was all very temporary and never looked how I expected it to be.
For the last two years I have thought about half filling it in and turning it into a natural damp area with no filtration but everyone I spoke to said it would become anaerobic and start to smell. So after some long debate I went for the half way option.
I had already sold all my Koi Carp and all the large goldfish and only had about 20 odd goldfish fry from last year in various sizes. So I caught all the fry and put them in a temporary home then drained the pond, jet washed the whole of the inside and gave it a good clean out. I then laid a cross section of square drain pipe drilled with 10mm holes on all sides every two inches. I put a few right angles in and inserted two upright pieces as stand pipes.
I put a 3ft by 2ft paving slab in each corner to keep an area free for the pumps, then covered the remaining area with 1 ton of 20mm gravel - substrate. In the centre I placed a 25 gallon black plastic loft tank and reinforced the sides with flat slate tiles. I ordered a half ton of of Horticultural grit and bought 8 x 25 kg bags of aquatic pond soil. I divided the remaining area into sections using more flat slate tiles and sank them a few inches into the 20mm gravel.
I used the horticultural grit to various depths on top of the 20mm gravel then added about 5 inches of aquatic soil on top of the grit. I placed all the new plants I had bought at various depths around the pond straight on top of the soil and then added more horticultural grit to cover the roots up to the base of each plant.
The finished result is that I have got a pond divided into sections at various different depths. At the back of the wall I removed the old water blade and replaced it with a purpose built waterfall, connected up the pipework from the old water blade, and positioned the waterfall at the back of the pond which is connected to a separate pump.
The idea behind the drain pipes and the upright stand pipes is that every now and again I can stick the long hose of my pond vac down the stand pipes to the bottom of the pond and vacuum any silt or sludge straight out and into the garden while topping it up from the top, sort of like the undergravel filter system in an aquarium.
Well whether it will work in the long run, who knows? But it is finished now and the pumps are back up and running and the fish are back in the pond. Time will tell.
Here is what it looks like now. You can see the outline of the 25 gallon loft tank but I am hoping this will be covered in leaves from the lillies and other surface plants so you won't see it.
To the right rear are plants that grow in planting zones 2 and 3
To the left are plants that grow in planting zones 1 and 2. At the front centre are the marginal plants that grow in planting zone 1. These get more sun here and will hopefully reach the surface.
In the bottom of the 25 gallon loft tank are the oxygenating plants.
The plants have only been in for about a week. No fertiliser added.
There is a 10,000 litre pump in each corner going into a large Pond One 10,000 filter both with UV lamps. UV is turned off at the moment.
You can see some of the goldfish fry which are still black. The orange ones are fry from the year before.
Three LED lights come on for a few hours at night.
Any comments or suggestions welcome. Updates in a few weeks time when the plants have developed. Anyone think this won't work?
Cheers,
Steve.
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