EVMIII's pond build

[EVMIII]

It was suggested that I track my progress of my pending pond build; it's going to be a long saga working on weekends around a busy schedule. I'll post pictures as I make noteworthy progress. I'll be asking lots of questions over in the pond construction and DIY areas as I go and learning from others successes and areas for improvement.

My plan (thus far)

Pond to be made from converted 16x32 I ground fiberglass pool.
Planning raised bog area about 6x12
Pond area roughly 12x30, 4' deep at center, sloped to 3' at the sides (maybe 4.5K gallons)
Center drain plumbed to homemade S&G filter(s) then to a couple returns
Skimmer plumbed to skippy style 150 gallon stock tank that will gravity feed my water feature
Also planning a couple protected planting shelves

Planning on doing a handful of koi (nothing fancy), not looking to get overstocked to stress Bio load. I have experience keeping fish and am familiar with filters and maintaining water quality. I have a successful 125 gl reef tank in the house.

Progress so far:

Drilled out fiberglass pool to ensure drainage ( it won't be too much but their will be area inside the pool boundary that is not part of or within the liner of the pond)

Had 3 loads of dirt delivered. Have a bobcat coming next weekend to get the dirt in the pool. Thanks for all the advice thus far. My goal is to have fish in by Spring.

 

[EVMIII]

Pushed some dirt in the hole, about all I can do with the tractor. I foresee a lot of shovel time in my future. More rain projected this weekend so not sure how much will get done his weekend. Still not sure I have enough dirt.

 

[EVMIII]

Got started on the shoveling, ordered a savio slimmer (filter), UV light and bottom drain. I have decided to go with a single bottom drain that I'll slop the bottom towards. Bought a 150 gallon stock tank to build my skippy filter/waterfall. Busy next couple of weeks at work so probably won't make much more progress this month, but will work when I can.

 

[EVMIII]

Progress has been slowed by work and life, but I'm still moving forward. Cut the steps out of the pool and tunneled over to my filter area. A little more digging and shaping. Blocks are in to help retain shape based on the next couple of days of predicted rain. It has gotten warm again making the work less pleasant. Looking forward to a cool front ne/t week.

First load of PCV, Savio skimmer /filter and bottom drain are now on hand. No more work for a couple weeks, plan to get back at it in November.