New Pond Build

[Neo]

It is a smartpond from lowes with a uv attached. It has two separate media rings, one looks like a sponge for fine particles and the other has larger holes. And there are bio balls in the bottom.

I need to by a better test kit also, right now all I find are the strips and I know people discourage use of those so I need to order online.

 

[sissy]

I did put a drain pipe under my pond liner with a sock over it .We have clay soil and did not want the water collecting under it .I do have a sloping front yard and pond is out front but wanted to take extra precautions just in case .

 

[Neo]

I did put a drain pipe under my pond liner with a sock over it .We have clay soil and did not want the water collecting under it .I do have a sloping front yard and pond is out front but wanted to take extra precautions just in case .

I probably should have went this route, we also have clay. I didn't think we would ever get it dug only using shovels because it was so thick.

 

[Neo]

Now that it hasn't rained for a little while I've discovered that not all the water loss was attributed to the water under the liner but instead I'm thinking that the concrete around the waterfall is just soaking up the splash back like a sponge. So I'm either going to have to take the waterfall down, buy a longer weir, or hopefully just move the existing one out a little further.

I noticed the pond looked like it was losing around 2 inches a day so I would fill it a little back at a time then I noticed that once it got down to about 4 inches low that it stopped and I think it has to be because the water level is down making the splash hit the liner instead of the rock.

I haven't worked on it for the last few days because My allergies have been a wreck! Neighbors cottonwood finally started making it look like snow in the backyard again. Every year I want to poison that tree because allergies and it also has huge Poison Ivy vines all up it that she refuses to take care of..ugh!

 

[Neo]

Still working on clearing the water but I can see the bottom again. I've added a few more plants in and out of the pond and the lilies are finally taking off. We also added the heron spitter today.

Any Ideas on what I can plant to hide the hose on the left of the waterfall? It would probably have to hang in the water a little.

 

[callingcolleen1]

Water fall is nice Nick, but I don't have one, they splash lots and wind can blow the water right out of the fall too sometimes, and that can contribute to water loss as well. I see your koi are getting large too and they can splash the water right out of the pond too! So how many inches of water can you loose on a windy day would you say?

 

[Neo]

Thanks!

It was losing around 2 inches a day just from the splash but I adjusted the weirs (still have to hide them a little) and pushed them forward a few days ago and so far it hasn't lost an inch, fingers crossed.

Wind really isn't a problem because it has walls on all four sides. We had 40 and 50 mph wind gust all day Today and that little bit of water on the walls in the pics are all that hit it, I did notice a slight drop, maybe a quarter inch.

 

[callingcolleen1]

Dry hot wind can also suck alot of moisture out of the pond too. We have hot dry winds here in Medicine Hat some days, and my pond is sheltered too from direct wind, but I still see more water evaporstion on windy days. It is good that you found the water loss, weirs can need adjustment from time to time.

 

[Neo]

Spring is when we get most of the wind around here and that's just about over. Soon it will be 110 degrees everyday again and we will be wishing for the 50 mph days in april and may.

Don't know why the heron quit spitting Today for some reason..Pump still works but he refuses to spit.

 

[callingcolleen1]

That is pretty hot down there! Your spitter must be plugged up with gunk, see if you can blow it out? If you can't blow air threw it then it is plugged. Feel free to wash it down before you blow threw it.... he he he. I have had to do that before once or twice.

 

[callingcolleen1]

If you have a air compresser you could blow it out with that too...

 

[Neo]

I do believe it's getting clogged, I blew into it...yuck and something broke free then it clogged again by the end of the day. Not sure what could be catching though since it's a fairly new pond there isn't that much gunk in it yet but the pump has no filter right now, just a cage to keep fish from getting sucked to it.

I finally got my liquid master test kit today!

Readings were:
PH - 7.5
Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 1.0
Phosphate - 1.0

 

[callingcolleen1]

I would create a filter out of something like a plastic sponge and tie onto the pump to prevent it from getting plugged up again.

 

[Neo]

I think I'm going to try a bigger pump with a filter already attached, I may have to slow the flow down some but hopefully it will work because I really like the spitter when working properly.

First I have to try and fix my wall that caved in...ugh.

 

[callingcolleen1]

Ugh is right, I hate caved in walls! Thank goodness my soil is heavy clay so not to much moving, but I did fix the top side of wall on part my bottom pond a couple weeks ago, water seeped there from overflow and caused side to move. If you have enough liner left that was not cut away, try making an overflow spillway to carry the excess water from pond well away from pond foundation, like a dried creek that overflows during heavy rain....