help for my expansion goals.....

[bean6924]

Hi all,

This is my first post, and I'd really love to hear some advice from the experts out there...

First, some history - I built a disappearing water fall last year and fell victim to the addiction to rocks, running water and water plants. Now I'm in love with fish, and I NEED to expand! Yes, I'm one of those 85% suckers that end up rebuilding and expanding their pond. :bye2: , I want to turn my disappearing basin (currently 3x4x3) into an 1500 gallon pond!

I understand from doing much research that the first question for me to answer is what do I want?

A. A plant pond
B. A goldfish pond or
C. A Koi Pond.

My answer is......... somewhere in between B. and C. Essentially, I'm looking for a clean natural looking pond with a bunch of goldies, a few plants, and one or two koi. I know what your thinking - Why not just admit that you'll be rebuilding AGAIN in two years to expand the operation to a TRUE koi pond? Well, there are many reasons I can't do that now - space constraints, budget, a two year old at home etc... I also understand how much $ it will cost to rebuild again when I fall in love with Koi, but I can't do that now. I know there are thousands of people out there just like me...

So.... I've uploaded my proposed design, and would like suggestions. I few details on the drawing -

Pond details

1. Pond dimensions will be approximately 10 x 10, and 3 feet deep at the deepest part.
2. I will keep walls verticle and build with concrete block and rebar.
3. I will have a skimmer and BD (explained below), and a 20 foot stream waterfall entering the opposite side of the skimmer..

Filtration

I decided on a Bog Filter over a settlement chamber for the following reasons -I don't have space BELOW the main pond to place the chamber, and I want the look of the bog filter with Iris', watercress, etc. ABOVE the pond. I'm also a bit confused over the construction of a settlement chamber. I'm hoping that my bog filter will act as my main BIO filter for the pond, but I will also have a BIO falls chamber on my waterfall. The Bog will be modeled after a great post here (that I can't find!). But, essentially it will work from diffusion pipes placed in 6 inches of water at the bottom of the bog. Above this will be a strong grate. Above that will be fine screening. Above that will be gravel, kitty litter and plantings in milk crates.
The bog will have a clean out pipe too. Bog will be approximately 5' x 5' x 18 inches deep (or 20% of the volume of the pond) and will be contructed like the pond (cinder blocks, with liner).

My mechanical filtere will be a savio skimmer. It will have two 1500 submersible pumps in it. The outlet will be split with a T valve for flow control (one end going to the Bog, the Other to the biofalls). I will attach the BD of the pond to the skimmer (I'M A LITTLE SCARED TO DO THIS AS I HAVE HEARD SOME HAVE PROBLEMS WITH THIS).

So, my real worry is the BD to the skimmer. I know that I'm suppossed to go for a gravity fed BD to a settlement chamber to a crazy multie chamber bio filter with external pumps, but I just don't have room for all of that.

Any help would be great!!!

 

[Mmathis]

Hi, and WELCOME! Sounds like you are prepared! I like how you have it all drawn out and thought out!

I don't have koi [goldies only], but from what I understand, they require LOTS of room and 1500 gal. might not be enough for more than 1 or 2 [the experts can chime in, here]. They are also terror on plants, but not a problem if you don't want plants in the pond-proper. And in general, you want to go as deep as you can -- 3' might be cutting it close. In the winter you want it deep enough that there is water that won't freeze, and in the summer, deep enough that there is somewhere cooler for the fish to hang out [having plants that give shade is helpful].

 

[bean6924]

Thanks for the welcome!

I could push the size a bit, and perhaps go to 2000 gallons, but that would be it. Perhaps 3.5 feet? I really want a couple of koi. I was planning to get them young, then just remove the plants when they grow (I heard the bigger older koi go after the plants.
Shade is not too much of a problem. The pond is shaded, and has a bridge...

 

[HTH]

Lots of people keep plants with koi. You just have keep putting them back in the pots.

 

[Mmathis]

Lots of people keep plants with koi. You just have keep putting them back in the pots.

LOL!

 

[bean6924]

Has anyone had experience with hooking a bottom drain up to a skimmer?

 

[HTH]

Has anyone had experience with hooking a bottom drain up to a skimmer?

Skimmer pulls floating stuff off the top. Bottom drain gets the heavy stuff off the bottom. They both need to be inputs to the filters. Does anyone know different then that ?

 

[bean6924]

I know that Savio makes a skimmer with an inlet for a bottom drain, but someone on another thread mentioned that you can have suction problems when you do that...

 

[HTH]

What is the point in connecting them ?

 

[bean6924]

so, you would have suction from both the surface of the pond and the bottom of the pond through the skimmer.

this would avoid having to set up an entriely different mechanical filtration system for the bottom drain.

 

[HTH]

This is how I would set it up.

Have the bottom drain and skimmer both gravity feed into the bog. On the clean side of the bog I would put my pumps and feed the waterfall which flows back the pond. That way you are always pumping clean water and you get full water flow over the falls.

Make sure that the rim around the bog is tall enough to take the water should the power go off.

Make the bottom drain outlet to the bog a bit lower then the skimmer outlet. A valve on the bottom drain feed will regulate how much flow there is in the skimmer vs the drain.

 

[sissy]

welcome and I have koi and they were a couple of inches long 9 years ago and are now over 2 feet long .Remember always prepare and not buy to many fish because babies come in droves .

 

[bean6924]

This is how I would set it up.

Have the bottom drain and skimmer both gravity feed into the bog. On the clean side of the bog I would put my pumps and feed the waterfall which flows back the pond. That way you are always pumping clean water and you get full water flow over the falls.

Make sure that the rim around the bog is tall enough to take the water should the power go off.

Make the bottom drain outlet to the bog a bit lower then the skimmer outlet. A valve on the bottom drain feed will regulate how much flow there is in the skimmer vs the drain.

this is a great idea! My only challenge is the falls are already built, so I don't know if they can take the flow without leaks. I suppose I could still dedicate one pump to spill from the bog to the pond on a spill stone and the other to the falls.

The only other challenge is my bog spot is located about 6 to 12 inches higher than the pond. Essentially, the land is a bit sloped so I would need to dig down more for the bog, as the water lines would be level with no power, correct? The spill stone from the bog to the pond would be higher than the bog waterline so the water would need to be pumped up to spill over...

 

[addy1]

My bog is higher than my pond, waterfalls into the pond, the only filter, perfect water...............so far (4 years)

the bog thread is in diy construction, I put it together with tons of net info and some experience. Been using bogs for years.

I use one pump for the bog, preforms, and new shubbie tank, split the flow. One different pump for the stream, on a timer, high head pressure, like 100 plus feet more or less.

 

[bean6924]

My bog is higher than my pond, waterfalls into the pond, the only filter, perfect water...............so far (4 years)

the bog thread is in diy construction, I put it together with tons of net info and some experience. Been using bogs for years.

I use one pump for the bog, preforms, and new shubbie tank, split the flow. One different pump for the stream, on a timer, high head pressure, like 100 plus feet more or less.

Addy

Thanks so much for the reply. Excuse my lack of knowledge but what is a preforms? And where are your pumps located? I'll look for your DIY instructions. Can't wait to build the bog!