My Pond Project

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Hi.

Starting this thread for help and advice as I beging building my garden pond. I would love a stream and waterfall feature into the pond, with fish and plants in a natural as possible scene.... with perfect water quality and maybe some lights involved. Have I a better chance of winning the lotto !?
 

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addy1

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wow thats some setup you have there addy! my project is miniscule in comparisson.
Thanks, all my hubbies fault he bought the tractor for me!

We have the land, it was all boring grass. The biggest issue was building on our slope. Made a few errors but it all worked out in the end. Added on small ponds over time. Done now!
 
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Few pictures of the garden makeover. Currently my plan is to use the right hand side which is shaded to design and build a garden pond approx 5ft by 4ft by 3ft deep, in a basic kidney/oval shape. Id like to hide any wires/pumps/filters/skimmers and have the water cleaned and pumped up to a small stream/waterfall back into the pond. I definately like the pond skimmer idea hidden away on the opposite side of the waterfall entry with the pump within. The pond diggers skimmer looks very good and I have lots of questions around this area. For example what makes his design fish safe, im guessing its the circular flow into the weir which gives fish a fighting chance to swim away? The budget for this project is non existant , so im really considering a diy job on this. I seen a very good utube video on a diy skimmer I must find the link and post it here; search diy pond skimmer and auto top up. Id love to have an float levelling weir though and that may be tricky and dangerous to my pump if i didnt build it right. Also I wont be able to use a stop cock auto fill system so the floating weir will be a necessity. Ok ill just post some qs and please freely comment, redicule, suggest or slander anything about this project any and all feedback will be gratefully accepted or blantantly ignored as I see fit

Has anyone built there own adjusting weir skimmer?

From the outset as a blank build ill accept and tips or warnings...

Am I on the right track thinking that if I have a pump inside a wall skimmer with a uv light somewhere in there that would a good setup?

Many thanks!
 

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Looks like a great location, love the curved walk.

Has anyone built there own adjusting weir skimmer?
Yes.
back.jpg

Instructions

Am I on the right track thinking that if I have a pump inside a wall skimmer with a uv light somewhere in there that would a good setup?
I like and use that set up. Some people say to put the pump at the pond bottom to rotate water but when a pipe breaks, raccoons move a filter, the pump drains the pond and kills the fish. Happens. In the skimmer no problem and water can be directed to the bottom to get the exact same rotation.

UV is a good way to ensure no green water. Generally you only have to run them for a few weeks and other algae will stop the green water. With the UV if you get green water it means there is something wrong with the UV...too small...too much flow....installed wrong....old bulb...etc...

24/7 trickle water change is another option for clear water. But for your climate and yard size I assume the overflow water would not be useful in the garden. I would consider having an overflow pipe. Heavy rain can overflow a pond and generally in the worst possible way. Better to have control.

I like a catch basin that the base of the waterfalls. Still water for better viewing and no foam on surface. Will also direct water to the bottom helping to keep the bottom clean, better gas exchange, and free.
koibasin.jpg
CatchBasin.jpg


Too keep a water garden (rather than Koi pond) clean I like vacuuming. Especially in a small yard.

Water changes, which can be part of vacuuming, also help.

Be careful of filter recommendations, actually all recommendations. Everyone has an opinion and their filter is always the best. But often their filter actually does nothing. There was a very nice lady in one forum with an absolutely stunning pond, most impressive I'd ever seen at least in photos. She chatted a lot but never really gave details on how she ran the pond. Then once she did and explained her filter. It was a kind that people had given up on years for not working very well, so that was strange. Then she said she also did water changes and it turned out to be a little over 33% per week. That's massive and completely explained the perfectly clear water. She also cleaned the underwater rocks regularly. She continued to believe it was her filter and unfortunately was a bit upset when others suggested otherwise. Sometimes you have to look beyond what people say and see what's really there.

Looks like a fun project.
 
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I just finished reading your post on that!!! Great job I love the ingenuity and that its working well for you. Im still back and forth in my mind about pump placement in the skimmer. Im dreading if i put the pump in the skimmer and for some reason it stopped getting water then I would burn the pump out. At least if it was in the pond it would have full access? Great tip on the waterfall I never thought of that. And I will definatley have to do something on the overflow I had that in mind.
 
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No matter how you slice it the pump has to be after the skimmer. If the skimmer clogs the pump starves and can be harmed. True for external or submerged, manufactured or DIY. The huge skimmer basket reduces the risk, but also a smaller pump does too. A 900 GPH pump will not be starved by the same amount of clog as a 4000 GPH pump will.
 

addy1

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I used a pool skimmer, ran the piping to my external pump, right before the pump is a ball valve so I can draw from the skimmer either full open or partial draw. I change dependent on what is falling.

The skimmer line and the draw from the pond for the pump T together.


lousy drawing.............

upload_2017-4-3_15-33-30.png
 
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Couldnt sleep last night for ages ideas kept running through my head. I cant do the project quickly as funds are limited, but I want it finished for this summer for sure. Im taking it slow and making sure I have the plans in place and I know exactly what I can do, and what I will need to do it. So here are some "artist" impressions :) of where im at with designing this. One picture is a view from the deck area at back of garden and the other from the house side. There is a large concrete mass right in the pool area shaded grey or black in the photos and labelled boulder. I cant move this so it has to be taken as the shallow end maybe 12 inches deep as a guess right now. Im going to skip a self build on the skimmer and fork out for this ... http://www.coastal-koi.com/shopping.php?class_id=81 or similar my search continues on that one.

The marsh area is for shallow water or bog plants to blur the lines or i may make it in a beach fashion up to the edge of path.

Im a little worried about pressure on the liner so im thinking of stepping the falls back from pool and have a collecting pool which trickles back to pond. I know that wont help the pond bottom or keep the surface ripple free so im still caught between that and
...waterbugs excellent suggestion.

The overflow pipe is in yellow.

Thats all for now !
 

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Pressure on the liner? It can be very easy to trick yourself into believing things that aren't actually true. Can lead to problems. Not sure what liner material you're planning but EPDM is very tough. I've seen multi ton boulders set on it (with a mortar base and/or padding) and in ponds more than 10' deep. When laid properly there should be no stretching pressure and even then it can take a great deal.

I know what you mean by staying awake...I was very obsessed for 3 years straight. Glad that passed. Now I'm just obsessed.
 
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That is a relief, Ill probably go for that idea so thanks again! Well you certainly know your stuff Waterbug.

I'm looking at pumps and skimmers and have found the best deal I can find on these, an OASE aquamax eco premium 4000 (blockage and dry running stops which is great!) combined with BIOSYS pond edge skimmer. Together will cost me 500 euro approx delivered (540 dollars). Iv worked out that pump running 24/7 on 35 watts = 300 kW/year @ 25euro per kW will cost me 75euro per year which is grand!

Question time,
1) If my pond is averaging at 5*4*3 = 60,000lts and the pump is 4000 lts/hr, that means the entire pond contents gets circulated every 15 hours, I hope thats right!, All averages I know but is that enough of a circulation?

2) The weir door has 100mm of self adjusting, seeing as the climate is more than likely to fill it with rain rather than evaporate it out, and that I intend on installing an overflow pipe, at what position should I set the weir level?

3) lastly for tonight, no question but many thanks again these forums are a great help and the people like Waterbug and addy simple make the world a better place!
 
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1) If my pond is averaging at 5*4*3 = 60,000lts and the pump is 4000 lts/hr, that means the entire pond contents gets circulated every 15 hours, I hope thats right!, All averages I know but is that enough of a circulation?
This turning over the pond a certain number of times per hour is just an internet thing. A yahoo says it, others read it and repeat it like it has some meaning. It doesn't. The only reason to be concerned about flow (other than for equipment requirements) has to do with fish load. If there's so many fish that they pull O2 out of the water faster than it can exchange from air then things are needed to aerate the water and pump flow is one way. Virtually all Water Gardens, and even many Koi ponds, are fine with no pump at all. Without knowing your fish load, pond design, climate, etc... I'd assume you'd be fine.

Also how the water is circulated matters. Skimmer to falls in a deep pond isn't as good as moving water up from the bottom. Falls don't penetrate very deep normally.

2) The weir door has 100mm of self adjusting, seeing as the climate is more than likely to fill it with rain rather than evaporate it out, and that I intend on installing an overflow pipe, at what position should I set the weir level?
I'm puzzled. The manufacturer should explain that. Basically the skimmer is set so the water level will be about at the skimmer mid point. Some skimmer actually have a mark on them for water level.

The overflow is set to whatever max water level you want. So you wouldn't probably want the overflow to be higher than the skimmer max level. But then overflows are normally very easy to adjust. Skimmers aren't. I install the overflow riser very high. After the pond is full and everything checks out I then cut the rise to the height I want. That way I'm sure what the water level is.
 

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