Rebuilding a pond

[Dryseals]

I have a pond in my backyard, roughly 10 X 14, about 18" deep. It was here when we bought the house and for the last ten years we've just lived with it as it was. looks as thought the liner may be leaking, so we're about to do a rebuild.

It's full of gold fish, some very large fan tails I beleive they are called, a couple around eith inche long. And since hurricane Ike (we flooded) there are hundreds of minnows. We live close to the bayou, about 100 yards away, So I know were they came from.

We're gooing to make some modifications when replacing the liner. But the fish are my main concern. I was thiking a wally world swimming pool, maybe eight feet to keep the fish in.

I'm on well water and wonder if there's anything I should do to treat the water. As it is now we cleaned it once before and it was horrible.

Looking for advice on bottom type filters, what to do with the fish and any mods to make while we have it taken apart.

 

[vertigo72]

If you could place a large swimming pool temporarily, that would be great.
Will you be able to filter it? If not, do regular partial waterchanges, since you have 'free' water. Id start out by pumping pond water in though, less stress for the fish.

As for the well water, impossible to say what, if anything you need to do to treat it, without testing it. Goldfish are pretty hardy, but get a water test set and determine at the very least PH, which is often a problem with well water. Test GH and KH as well, and we'll take it from there.

Not sure what you mean by "bottom type filters". You mean bottom drains or gravity fed filters? What sort of filtration do you have now? Also, give us a rough estimate of fish count, and whether or not you have plans to expand, or possibly add koi later. Any plants or bogs?

 

[j.w]

Dryseals

 

[Dryseals]

By bottom type filters, I looking for a way to pull. suction from the bottom and run it through a filter system.

The previous owners had a setup using rocks, but hurricane Rita took that one out and it never really worked.

Before hurricane Ike, I built a system using a "trash" pump which sat near the bottom and feed to a 55 gallon drum in the bottom. Filtered up through lava rock and then back ito the pond. Caught some larger stuff but the smaller fines could manage their way back.

The fines is one of the many things I want to rid.

There is also a sprinkler pump for the water wheel. The water wheel is five feet in diameter and takes a large volume of water to feed it. But it's nice in the evening.

When I go to rebuild, I want to angle the floor to help the trash run off. And then add a lot more rocks to the sides and include a small water fall. In the spring, since we live so close to the bayou, the frogs gather around the pond and sing all night, it really is nice. But I need to make it deeper to protect the fish. Nothing likea great blue heron in you pond in the afternoon feeding on your fish.

 

[addy1]

Sounds really neat, post some pictures so we can see you pond. Love water wheels.

 

[vertigo72]

lava rock and other biofilters, do little or nothing to filter out dirt and debris. They keep the water healthy for your fish, by providing beneficial bacteria ample surface area. Those bacteria break down ammonia and nitrite, which keeps your fish from dying and your plants happy, but it doesnt do much to keep the water visibly clean. UNless you use very fine lava rock and force the water through, but apparently it clogs fast and needs regular scrubbing. Not a pleasant job.

To catch fines and muck you need a mechanical filter before the biological one. A sieve, a vortex, brushes, mats, settling tanks or similar. Many filter try to combine mechanical and biological filtration, by creating a small vortex inside a 55 gal barrel filter, see the DIY section for some ideas. Havent done the math on your pond size, but I wouldnt expect a single 55 gallon filter to be able to cope with it.