My Above Ground Pond Build (Warning : Image heavy)

[Sauce]

After many years of running small ponds, I finally got the opportunity to design and build a dream pond from scratch when we renovated our entire home.
I immediately planned the biggest pond I could practically have, and designed it into our main outdoor living area.
The pond is to form part of the dividing wall between the patio area and the backyard, which are on split levels.
As the pond is 3/4 above ground for safety and aesthetic reasons , I decided to opt for a preformed shell as this would help take some of the strain off the walls which are fairly close to the edge of the pond.

Basic Structure Built

You can see near the fence, that the walls are 3 layers thick at the bottom, 2 and then 1 around the top.
It has a full 1x1 foot thick concrete footing with rebar under all the walls. While I designed it, I paid a professional bricklayer to actually build it because my skills are only adequate for simple straight walls !

Cavity space to house the Pressure Filter and Water Blade

I put a drain in for accidental spills and sloped the floor down towards it.

Rendered and clad with stone.

Current Stage

 

[Sauce]

Here you can see the top of the screenwall, its got a garden bed on top, which I plan to have some sort of vines hanging down the front.

The rear of the pond, showing utility access doorway

This is a 1000Ltr rain water tank, which i'm going to collect water in from the patio roof in winter. I have also plumbed in a tap to use in case it runs low. The idea is for the tank to continuously top off the pond via a valve as I lose about an quarter of an inch of water a day in summer. It sucks to keep bringing out the hose every day ! It will also mean a permanent store of ready to use water for the pond in case of emergency refills.

Inside the cavity I've got power points to control all the various bits and pieces. The switches are mounted on the outside wall, where ill be able to control the water blade, pond lights and surrounding garden lights.

You can see the waste pipe for back-washing the Bio-filter. It goes into 3 large dedicated soak wells under the decking, which I also use to empty the spa into when doing water refreshes. When vacuuming the pond floor the waste water also goes into the same pipe, but at the front where Ive put in a quick connector.

Basically all the hard works been done, now I've just got to fit the main pump, ornamental water blade with its dedicated smaller pump and the waterfall \ spill pond - stay tuned ! and thanks for reading !!.

 

[cas]

Thanks for sharing the pictures. Be sure to keep us updated!

 

[sissy]

looks like a really large preformed and nice work and great you are thinking ahead .That s a really neat water holding tank and nice idea for topping off the pond .I have never seen a water holding tank like that .Talk about thinking about everything

 

[Alisonvalley]

I love the rock-wall backdrop, so beautiful! It will look great with vines trailing artistically down the front. I'm not familiar with Australian plants at all, do you have any in mind -- foliage, flowers, both?

 

[Sauce]

I dont have any idea of what plants to use yet, Ill need to get the google out soon I think lol
Some sort of hanging vines, creepers probably ? ....

 

[sissy]

Best source is from people who may have those plants growing already .It will give you an idea if they are to aggressive or just right .Plus most people are really proud to talk about what they have done .Check with a local garden center and talk to people shopping for plants .Just strike up a conversation and you will be amazed at how willing people are to share info .We all love to brag

 

[Mmathis]

Very nice and well thought out! The wall is gorgeous!

 

[Sauce]

Ive got a noobie question, I want to be able to restrict water flow going to my waterfall.
So i've got a T piece splitting the flow to the waterfall and pond (from the filter)
Question is, where is it better to have the shutoff valve, on the waterfall side or the pond side of the T ?
I'm thinking on the pond side , as limiting flow into the pond will force more towards the waterfall - or am i missing something ?

 

[sissy]

I have mine on both sides this way I can adjust both .But mine is a much larger pond and I have 2 pumps .But one would work for you since you don't want to burn your pump out .I would think the waterfall side since that is where you want to slow the water down on .

 

[Tula]

Enjoy and thank you for sharing your pictures

 

[Sauce]

Pond is Done, Well its never going to be finished. At least its stocked and Im enjoying it.
Still need to cement down the border stones, and finish permanently installing a protective net to keep the damm Kookaburra's away from my fish ! ( next Update)
They sit on top of the stone wall each morning looking down at Breakfast !!
Yes Ive lost 3 so far, until I chucked a ugly net over the top of everything !

Done !

I dug an Edge out for the concrete pour, This will provide more area to glue the surrounding paver stones down.

It was very difficult to cement this is, no room to stand ! I nearly fell in one or twice lol !

Ive cut all the edging rocks to shape, locking them together while trying to keep it looking natural.
You can see where I have given up for now along the back edge, and just chucked them on for now.

This is how the pond fits into our outdoor entertaining area.

Here you can see the rainwater tank mounted and plumbed in. I use the valve to fill the pond after backwashing the filter weekly. I usually lose about an inch of water each time I do this - makes topping up easy and the water is always ready to go, no de-cholorinator needed !

The lit up waterblade going , looks really nice when fully dark. Shame it makes a bit too much noise to leave on 24/7, as I like the amount of agitation it does, keeps the water well oxygenated. I plan to raise the waterfall up about 4 inches to create more splashing and O2.

 

[cas]

Very nice!

 

[CeeJayH]

Looking good. Well-planned and executed.

 

[Mmathis]

I always thought that Kookaburras sat on old gum trees.......