Curious about intake bays

[Mmathis]

I hope this question makes sense…..but how much extra “real estate” do you need to incorporate an intake bay into a new pond build? IOW, how much EXTRA square footage AND depth does an intake bay require?

We are (fingers and toes crossed) looking at building in the Spring/Summer. Looking at about 2000 gallons for the pond, but curious about what size and total water volume we would be looking at?

 

[GBBUDD]

Intake bays can be any size. the one i added to my pond is 17 feet long and 8 feet wide at its plus wide.widests but the intake its self is only a foot plus wide and shallow. but not so shallow a large fish can't swim in and out. But what i do is when i have more need to pull off the surface like in the fall, where i have several trees that dump leaves in my pond i will stack rocks making the intake even shallower and thus pulling in the surface even more. This works incredibly well, as you can see in the video.

The issue i see with intake bays is that they pull debris down into the water and it is no pick nick to clean out the gravel. matala mats on top of the aquablock reservoir can help to a point but they want to float.

What i decided on was to incorporate a negative edge at the end of the intake this way the sediment could fall to the bottom and can bet netted or using a pond vac can be collected as its never pulled down into the rock. The negative edge can fall onto the mattala mats as they only have water passing through them floating isn't an issue and when you shut the pump off the water stops and you can remove the debris in the ,mats easily. so the reservoirs is outside the pond the pond remains a constant at one height , " a huge plus imo" but you have to keep in mind water in motion. a must see video bt ADVANCED MODERN DESIGN AQUASCAPES

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_4mpaH-LtU

 

[GaryMoz]

Take a look at ozponds channel on YouTube, he has a lot of good information

.

I think in reality they can be any size, they are doing the same job as a skimmer. I put one in my pond as I didn't what to have to keep cleaning out a skimmer every few days. I have a 5000 gallon pond, my intake bay is around 1.5' by 2' and 1.5' deep, there is a side outlet, I've made a plastic crate with some filter media in it. It works really well for me.

 

[GBBUDD]

THE other advantage to a negative edge is i'll leave my pond net/ on a pole and i made the waterfall with a small shelf under the falls so i can plce the net under the falls collecting what ever falls over just like a traditional skimmer but i get an extra waterfall when i do not have leaves to contend with.

As @GaryMoz mentioned size shape depth can vary and each can work as long as it can handle the amount of water flow and or water in motion. coupled with the amount of debris

 

[GBBUDD]

Take a look at ozponds channel on YouTube, he has a lot of good information

.

I think in reality they can be any size, they are doing the same job as a skimmer. I put one in my pond as I didn't what to have to keep cleaning out a skimmer every few days. I have a 5000 gallon pond, my intake bay is around 1.5' by 2' and 1.5' deep, there is a side outlet, I've made a plastic crate with some filter media in it. It works really well for me.

View attachment 166582
View attachment 166583
View attachment 166584

HOWS THE POND DOING are you past the green water and nw battling string algae? or are you past that too seeing you have an rdf

 

[GaryMoz]

HOWS THE POND DOING are you past the green water and nw battling string algae? or are you past that too seeing you have an rdf

It's doing really well . The water has been clear for a few months and there has been no weed. The bog is getting well established, although i could do with a few more plants in.

I think I will add an air line around the base of the curved wall, I think you suggested it, it will help with the movement of water.

As I mentioned in another tread it does use a bit more water then I originally thought, although I think most of it is down to evaporation. Because the water is clear and I don't have a big fish load on it, the rdf only fires now and then.

SO overall I'm really please with the way it turned out.

 

[Lisak1]

THE other advantage to a negative edge is i'll leave my pond net/ on a pole and i made the waterfall with a small shelf under the falls so i can plce the net under the falls collecting what ever falls over just like a traditional skimmer but i get an extra waterfall when i do not have leaves to contend with.View attachment 166585As @GaryMoz mentioned size shape depth can vary and each can work as long as it can handle the amount of water flow and or water in motion. coupled with the amount of debris

THIS Is brilliant - one move we missed. We chose a waterfall rock that doesn't really overhang the negative edge by enough to get the net under there. I may someday fashion a basket of sorts myself that is custom fit to the edge. Ours is more of a u-shape rock than a jutting over the edge rock. We only need it a couple of times a year so I think I could come up with something. It's a thought I've had for a while... nice long winter ahead to ponder my options!

 

[GBBUDD]

THIS Is brilliant - one move we missed. We chose a waterfall rock that doesn't really overhang the negative edge by enough to get the net under there. I may someday fashion a basket of sorts myself that is custom fit to the edge. Ours is more of a u-shape rock than a jutting over the edge rock. We only need it a couple of times a year so I think I could come up with something. It's a thought I've had for a while... nice long winter ahead to ponder my options!

Why not put a rod through the bet lond enough to reach both sides thus the nets where you want it elevated right under the falls. When it's full you just left the net and the rod. And when not in use like all summer you have nothing blocking the waterfall

 

[GBBUDD]

THIS Is brilliant - one move we missed. We chose a waterfall rock that doesn't really overhang the negative edge by enough to get the net under there. I may someday fashion a basket of sorts myself that is custom fit to the edge. Ours is more of a u-shape rock than a jutting over the edge rock. We only need it a couple of times a year so I think I could come up with something. It's a thought I've had for a while... nice long winter ahead to ponder my options!

Why not put a rod through the Net long enough to reach both sides thus the nets where you want it elevated right under the falls. When it's full you just lift the net and the rod. And when not in use like all summer you have nothing blocking the waterfall

 

[GBBUDD]

It's doing really well . The water has been clear for a few months and there has been no weed. The bog is getting well established, although i could do with a few more plants in.
View attachment 166587

I think I will add an air line around the base of the curved wall, I think you suggested it, it will help with the movement of water.

As I mentioned in another tread it does use a bit more water then I originally thought, although I think most of it is down to evaporation. Because the water is clear and I don't have a big fish load on it, the rdf only fires now and then.

SO overall I'm really please with the way it turned out.

LOOKING GOOD , hard to tell how well the rdf and clarity is doing as the sky's reflection is over powering. i've thought about a bubble wall and i think the cheapest and most efficient would be to pump to a pvc pipe with just an open end hose/tube. weigh down the pvc with some sand and simply drill a lot of holes . the big question will be if algae can and will eventually limit the holes closing them in and how long that may take.

My second option was to make my own bladder with epdm and tons of punctures but im less hopeful with this option

 

[GaryMoz]

LOOKING GOOD , hard to tell how well the rdf and clarity is doing as the sky's reflection is over powering. i've thought about a bubble wall and i think the cheapest and most efficient would be to pump to a pvc pipe with just an open end hose/tube. weigh down the pvc with some sand and simply drill a lot of holes . the big question will be if algae can and will eventually limit the holes closing them in and how long that may take.

My second option was to make my own bladder with epdm and tons of punctures but im less hopeful with this option

I not much good at taking photos of the water, I'm not sure if it counts as crystal clear, but I can see the 5ft deep bottom in complete clarity.

The bubble wall needs to be curved to match the pond wall, I've brought some bubble tubing of amazon, around £20 for 5m Amazon link, to weigh it down, I will get some stainless steel round bar, around 4mm diameter and thread this up the tubing. I can then bend the whole thing to match the wall and then just normal airline pipe.

The algae could be a problem, if so I will have to take it out and jet wash it.

 

[GBBUDD]

I not much good at taking photos of the water, I'm not sure if it counts as crystal clear, but I can see the 5ft deep bottom in complete clarity.

The bubble wall needs to be curved to match the pond wall, I've brought some bubble tubing of amazon, around £20 for 5m Amazon link, to weigh it down, I will get some stainless steel round bar, around 4mm diameter and thread this up the tubing. I can then bend the whole thing to match the wall and then just normal airline pipe.

The algae could be a problem, if so I will have to take it out and jet wash it.

bending stainless can be a heck of a challenge. pvc just needs a little heat to reshape to a curve. But a simple cut on one side will allow bending