My basement pond project
- Thread starter jameskoi
- Start date
Okay... I did a search here but nobody mentioned anything about 3m 5200 sealant, which is good adhesive/sealant for blue barrels (I tried the silicone, it'll seal but for how long? don't know b/c it just pulls right off). I read from other koi pond forums that this is the most popular product to use for bulkheads and bottom drains. Some people even toss out the gasket and use this stuff instead.
There are two products. Standard (48 hrs tack free and 7 days for full cure) and fast cure (1 hr tack free, 24hrs full cure). I bought the standard (no where to be found in big box stores - had to go to marine supply store). Takes much longer to cure but it's suppose to be better.
For my purposes, I'm just caulking the outside of the bulkhead (inside wall only). I'll wait 72 hrs before filling barrels with water. I mine as well caulk the bottom drains while I'm at it.
Koi won't be going into pond today.
Another thing, I'm going to try to loosen one of the bulkhead nuts (the one that gave me so much trouble and is reason why i'm going to use sealant, if possible). Just in case b/c I think i applied way too much torque on it.
There are two products. Standard (48 hrs tack free and 7 days for full cure) and fast cure (1 hr tack free, 24hrs full cure). I bought the standard (no where to be found in big box stores - had to go to marine supply store). Takes much longer to cure but it's suppose to be better.
For my purposes, I'm just caulking the outside of the bulkhead (inside wall only). I'll wait 72 hrs before filling barrels with water. I mine as well caulk the bottom drains while I'm at it.
Koi won't be going into pond today.
Another thing, I'm going to try to loosen one of the bulkhead nuts (the one that gave me so much trouble and is reason why i'm going to use sealant, if possible). Just in case b/c I think i applied way too much torque on it.
asudavew said:
My project is basically done. Plumbing is all set up and it works. 30 mins of testing, discovered 1 leaky bulkhead at the top of barrel. Now, the only issue is one silly leaky bulkhead. A tube of this 3M 5200 cost me $16CDN, shelf life is gone once I open it so I'm going to take down all the barrels and seal ALL bulkheads. Thankfully, i used rubber couplers for the bottom drains in case I do need to take the barrels down and I load and behold, after 1 week, I'm taking them down even before the fish are in. LOL! I'll post plumbing pics early next week.
BTW, I measured the bowing of the two bottom frames (11ft long side). Max bow is with 41" of water. It'll be 36" in the future. I believe it's still within tolerance. Haha... I can always slap a few more 2x6s if I don't feel comfortable anymore. I know 2x4s can bend a lot more before snapping, so I think it's okay!?
Waited 3 days for 3M 5200 sealant to cure a bit. I got lazy... maybe I should have scuffed up the barrel and bulkhead a bit before applying it. It can still peel off like silicon on test areas. LOL! Maybe after 7 days for full cure would make a difference!? I'll report again. I don't know... What I do know is, 7 of 8 bulkheads are water tight before the sealant. I should get years of leak free even if seal is left undisturbed. If not, the koi will have to share space with all the filter media for 2-3 days sometime in the future.
I introduced 17 koi into the pond (sizes range from 4.5-7"). So 1 koi per 100 gallons the day before I fired up the filter.
As you can see from pics, 130G is maxed out with Koi. Tank is 1 month into cycling. I started out with 5 and ended up tossing more in when ammonia levels started to drop b/c 70G was way over stocked.. I had 11 in there before and they were stressed out. Nitrites are currently still through the roof but doesn't matter anymore... I only have 1 koi left in there to keep the bio system alive.
I really wanted to dump these guys into their new home FAST!
Bad news is, within 24 hours, I already lost one Koi... poor guy jumped out and dried up. :-( too bad... it went into a very nice home and never had time to enjoy it. My fault... water was 1/2" from the top. I think it's 5" from the top now (after firing up the filter and doing another water dump). I'll have to get a net eventually. Only positive spin I can say is, the one that jumped was the one that looked like a feeder gold fish.
I introduced 17 koi into the pond (sizes range from 4.5-7"). So 1 koi per 100 gallons the day before I fired up the filter.
As you can see from pics, 130G is maxed out with Koi. Tank is 1 month into cycling. I started out with 5 and ended up tossing more in when ammonia levels started to drop b/c 70G was way over stocked.. I had 11 in there before and they were stressed out. Nitrites are currently still through the roof but doesn't matter anymore... I only have 1 koi left in there to keep the bio system alive.
I really wanted to dump these guys into their new home FAST!Bad news is, within 24 hours, I already lost one Koi... poor guy jumped out and dried up. :-( too bad... it went into a very nice home and never had time to enjoy it. My fault... water was 1/2" from the top. I think it's 5" from the top now (after firing up the filter and doing another water dump). I'll have to get a net eventually. Only positive spin I can say is, the one that jumped was the one that looked like a feeder gold fish.
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As for the really yellow picture... It's because of a sodium bulb. Doesn't look that good to the eye either but doesn't look nearly as yellow in this picture. One day, I'll upgrade the system with 6000k MH system.
Took 2 weeks to heat water up to room temperature. Did 4 hot water tank dumps (that probably only did +6-7F) and applied 600watts of heating in the last 48 hrs (+3F) to get from ~36 to 69F.
Last pic is entire setup. Now all I have to do is clean up the mess.
Took 2 weeks to heat water up to room temperature. Did 4 hot water tank dumps (that probably only did +6-7F) and applied 600watts of heating in the last 48 hrs (+3F) to get from ~36 to 69F.
Last pic is entire setup. Now all I have to do is clean up the mess.
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nice i like the pond in ur basement but whats the point b/c (Nothing wrong wit that) or u breadin and raising koi?
Reason: I wanted something up quick plus it's a fraction of cost to build one outside that looks good! Now that it's done, I would do it all over again. I will have my backyard pond one day and I get to enjoy koi right now. I wish I did this 2 years ago. Another thing I realized. I can look at my koi any time I want without every putting on a jacket or face bad weather or during the winter.
koiguy1969
GIGGETY-GIGGETY!!
exactly right.. if i had done my basement pond first i dont know if i would of ever had an outdoor one. indoor ponds just dont have some of the problems that an outdoor pond does. no temp flucuation.. no algea to speak of due to no sun.. no liner u.v problems.. year round enjoyment.. no wildlife to bring in parasites etc.. no preditors..and the list goes on. i put a pump from the pond to my sump marked my liner at the 10% waterchange marks, and plumbed a spicket right to my basement pond. what could be easier.
Oh, and if anyone is worrying about humidity concerns, I have none. Humidity levels is between 50-55 even after 2 days of rain. Basement is roughly 1200sqft.
That said, I used to have an older dehumidifier. It was half busted. It was okay sucking up moisture with my other fish tanks but useless when with the new pond. I retired it with a new one (70 pints) and it's even drier than right NOW before I put in the pond!
Granted, I don't heat my pond. That may change things. Whatever temp is stable at 67-68F.
That said, I used to have an older dehumidifier. It was half busted. It was okay sucking up moisture with my other fish tanks but useless when with the new pond. I retired it with a new one (70 pints) and it's even drier than right NOW before I put in the pond!
Granted, I don't heat my pond. That may change things. Whatever temp is stable at 67-68F.
koiguy1969
GIGGETY-GIGGETY!!
i dont heat mine either its maintained roughly 63* since late september... although it should be closed by now but im waiting for my friend to finish his pond and take the last 12 fish...
righ on james i like it. I have my old preformed pond in my basement w/ a WF on it for winter and i have not decided if i wana take it down yet its a just a 300 gal but it sits empty (filter still runnin) at the moment B/C all fish went out side.
I really like this idea, as i will be moving soon, i want to do something simular and have an above ground pond in the backyard, so my little one on the way will be able to enjoy koi fish and i dont have to worry about him falling in, one question how many 11 foot boards did you use on the side? it looks like there is 4 on each side? is your height 3 or 4 feet? I plan on building one 4 feet tall, and use 5 boards on the side and possibly a 2x8 on the bottom 2 boards. have you had any issues with the bottom two boards bowing out any further?
I'm using 2x6x12ft lengths and 8ft lengths for the side. So inside dimensions ended up around 11x7ft.
4 frames, screwed by 4 5/16"x3" lag bolts per corner. So I used 64 of those. My pond is just screwed down, so I can move it in one day if need be.
I based my build from this guy: http://www.backyardpuddle.com/diy.html
It's 3.5ft deep. I filled it all the way to the top to test. Bottom frame has max deflection of about 1", sides I did not measure since I visually notice zero bowing. However, I'm not worried about that bowing. It's still super sturdy. Go all 2x8 and and have 5 rows of framing would be really really sturdy, esp if you double up the bottom half, since I didn't. You really shouldn't go higher than 3.5" for viewing purposes, unless you want to have raised platform or you're really tall.
4 frames, screwed by 4 5/16"x3" lag bolts per corner. So I used 64 of those. My pond is just screwed down, so I can move it in one day if need be.
I based my build from this guy: http://www.backyardpuddle.com/diy.html
It's 3.5ft deep. I filled it all the way to the top to test. Bottom frame has max deflection of about 1", sides I did not measure since I visually notice zero bowing. However, I'm not worried about that bowing. It's still super sturdy. Go all 2x8 and and have 5 rows of framing would be really really sturdy, esp if you double up the bottom half, since I didn't. You really shouldn't go higher than 3.5" for viewing purposes, unless you want to have raised platform or you're really tall.
Awesome.
Certainly don't have to worry about herons, unless you have one as a pet :banghead3:
Certainly don't have to worry about herons, unless you have one as a pet :banghead3:
I have another question and i am getting ready to build mine, how did you run the plumping out of the pond and back in? From the pictures it looks like you just ran it up the side for going out(white pipe/ How large pipe?) and just dump it back in from the top(black pipe 2 in?)