Raised Pond help

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I have decided to build my first pond. Thinking sleepers and raised with a window. These are my plans so far. Anything i have missed or sugestions then please chip in. All help would be greatly appreciated.
 

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Thanks all
Much apprecited
At the minute very much in the design stage so dimesions will vary on room but want to go as big as possible at the minute doing all my research and getting advice and watching loads of vids etc and getting a overload of info
Im thinking of using sleeper screws on the side and bolts from top and drilling a hole in the next sleeper layed so that ontop fits flush, also going to use a tie for each corner so that should hold. There is going to be alot of pressure on the glass and to be honest its going to be a big spend, other option was actylic but i hear it scratches. For water proofing i was going to use a blue liner to make the koi pop colour wise
 
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Welcome to the forum!
There are glass thickness calculators on line but the ones I am familiar with are for aquariums. There could be some for your pond application. If you strike out, you might contact a public aquarium and ask them to provide the information for the manufacturer who built their smaller display tanks that are often called focus tanks. The Mississippi River Museum in Dubuque, Iowa has sensational display tanks with glass inserts like you describe. Specifically, the display tank in the main area that contains large fish and turtles is exactly as you describe. Bass Pro and Cabella's are another possibility. The Wonders of Wildlife Museum in Springfield, Missouri is another excellent resource. They have many tanks like you desire. Sorry to 'spam' you with an answer but your project is most fascinating and I am excited to see how it turns out. Again, welcome to the forum.
Stephen
 
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Thank you Stephen
Unfort i am in the uk but will get in touch with azquariums here and zoos
 

addy1

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Welcome to our group!

I have only done in ground ponds so can't help you a lot. One of our members @whiskey Did a real nice above ground with a viewing window.

Here is a link to his thread, not sure if he has been around recently.

 
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I’ll chime in with this. Outdoor viewing panes will need constant scraping so, access to do that will be critical in design. I’ve seen it done with sketchy results. Done right I bet it’s awesome.
 
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Here's one I made.

from_lemon5.jpg


I put plywood on the inside rather than solid timbers. The timbers are connected with threaded rod.

I built a bigger one two that was 11' x 7', 34" deep using 4"x6" (pressure treated). It bowed out when filled with water and I had to bolt another 4x6 so the 6" was horizontal which fixed it, but it must have been pretty close to failure. You can place a length of lumber (2x4) across the pond with cleats on the end spaced the pond width. Then when you fill the pond the cleats will stop any bow and if there is bowing you'll know because you won't be able to pull it off.

These were built on top of a concrete driveway. Drilled and anchored the first timber to the concrete..

I took these apart when I sold that property after 2 or 3 years. The plywood had started rotting at the bottom.

In your diagram there's no timber above the window. I doubt that would hold. Don't know the dimensions of any of this so don't know for sure.
 

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welcome and remember you will need to factor in weather ,cold and heat effect above ground ponds a little more .Being more exposed they tend to be colder or hotter .You can line them with insulation to help in that
 
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YouTube king of diy builds. He built a huge aquarium with viewing panels, and has videos on the builds
 
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I have to agree with Sparky ... constant cleaning.

Personally, I went with a smaller design that met both WAF and made me happy that I was able to recycle a 20yr old hot tub that would otherwise when into a landfill.

Before ...

After ....

And of course, the tenants ...

Might be an option for you ...
 
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