New Kid in Town

[DaneDad]

Hello my name is John, my handle hear is DaneDad as I own a new Great Dane puppy, I'm also know as BoxerDad on some other forums as I have a 9 year old Boxer as well
I'm interested in building an above ground pond using 4x4x8 pressure treated posts or 4 x 6 x8 landscape timbers. The pond will be a square 8'x8'x3' with a total volume of approximately 1,400 gallons.

I live on Long Island NY and plan on housing the fish outdoors through the winter. I'm planning on heaters as well as an insulated cover almost like a hot tub cover but of course with openings for some air exchange. I've been a tropical fish hobbyist for many years and have breed discus successfully. At one time I had 9 pair's.

So any help or suggestions would be appreciated as well as any links for filtration ( homemade) as well as some pond design plans etc....

Thank you

 

[addy1]

WELCOME again lol

 

[koiguy1969]

WELCOME TO THE GROUP BRAINDEAD...OOPS! I READ THAT WRONG...DANEDAD.....lol
seriously...welcome aboard

 

[sissy]

welcome danedad and meet my big boy his name is Hershel

 

[fishin4cars]

Welcome aboard! I would seriously consider if possible dropping the pond into the ground some. Timbers bow, three foot high the bowing of the wood can get pretty extreme, above ground the winters are going to rough and I've yet to find a pond heater that will actually warm the water outdoors enough to do much good, there are deicer heaters that are designed to keep a hole in the ice, Aquarium heaters just aren't going to cut it outside, If you dig down say 2' and left 2' above ground you would accomplish warmer water in the winter, cooler in the summer, take almost 50% of the stress off of the wooden sides, and gain 25% more water in the same size footprint for the pond.

 

[sissy]

he is 10 month's old and not getting any smaller

 

[j.w]

DaneDad

 

[DaneDad]

Welcome aboard! I would seriously consider if possible dropping the pond into the ground some. Timbers bow, three foot high the bowing of the wood can get pretty extreme, above ground the winters are going to rough and I've yet to find a pond heater that will actually warm the water outdoors enough to do much good, there are deicer heaters that are designed to keep a hole in the ice, Aquarium heaters just aren't going to cut it outside, If you dig down say 2' and left 2' above ground you would accomplish warmer water in the winter, cooler in the summer, take almost 50% of the stress off of the wooden sides, and gain 25% more water in the same size footprint for the pond.

I'm planning to drop some sonic tubs in at the four corners and then anchoring the four sides with threads rods and torque them down. As far as going 10 high with the 4x4's I'm going to build the four sides up three lengths high with construction adhesive and then bolted in the middle using threaded rod again, it will be countersunk. The bottom will be 3/4" plywood 2 4x8 sheets. the interior will then be lined with foam panels and the corners will have shaped inserts that will allow the liner to be curved in the corners instead of at a right angle. Capping off top with some redwood. I'm hoping it doesn't flex too much

 

[DaneDad]

welcome danedad and meet my big boy his name is Hershel

My Dane is 3 months old and over 50 lbs already. He's almost as tall as my boxer. His name is Nitro. I'll post some photos soon

 

[sissy]

herschel is now 97 lbs and has feet like a horse .I'm going to get a saddle and ride him soon LOL

 

[fishin4cars]

I'm planning to drop some sonic tubs in at the four corners and then anchoring the four sides with threads rods and torque them down. As far as going 10 high with the 4x4's I'm going to build the four sides up three lengths high with construction adhesive and then bolted in the middle using threaded rod again, it will be countersunk. The bottom will be 3/4" plywood 2 4x8 sheets. the interior will then be lined with foam panels and the corners will have shaped inserts that will allow the liner to be curved in the corners instead of at a right angle. Capping off top with some redwood. I'm hoping it doesn't flex too much

I recommend at least reading through this thread, One of the better above ground builds I have seen done in a step by step that can be followed through from start to finish. this is a indoor pond but some of the ideas you have are similar to James build. Hope you get some useful information from it. I've seen several above ground ponds built from wood, Most bowed the worst ones were where water was deeper than 24-30" above the ground.
Shttps://www.gardenpondforum.com/my-basement-pond-project-t3120p16.htmlo just giving you a heads up.

 

[CometKeith]

Hi John, Welcome to the forum and good luck with your pond!

 

[koidaddy]

Welcome to GPF DaneDad! I belong to a boxer forum and my name there is koidaddy. lol

Here is a pic of my 15 month old white boxer Chase with his best friend Lexi(golden retriever).

 

[DrCase]

Welcome to the forum !!

 

[DrDave]

Welcome to the Forum!