Hello all,
I am almost complete with my latest build. My background is almost 10yrs of pond keeping. I was a member on here years ago during my first two builds. I have since forgotten my login info and had to create a new account. Last year rodents ate into my liner while I was on a two week trip. Unfortunately they continued to eat the liner down to access the water until they created holes low enough the pump ran dry and the system crashed. This happened in the middle of the summer. I lost my three eight year old koi but their one offspring made it. I did not lose a single goldfish. I was so upset with the loss I almost called the quits for pond keeping. My wife talked me into building another. My previous pond was a natural in ground design. It looked great but did not go with our yard. This time we decided on a formal all above ground build using both wood and metal to match a planter box we built.
The pond is on top of a preexisting 10.5’ X 10.5’ X 4” deep cement slab that used to have a shed sitting on it. The ponds total dimensions are, L X W X H, 10.5’ X 10.5’ X 30” filling to just shy of 2100 gallons. The pond is stocked with far too many goldfish and one Koi. If anyone lives in the Sacramento area and would like some goldfish please let me know. The pond utilizes a Dreampond in pond 3” bottom drain connected to a 2” bulkhead. The filtration is handled by a Sequence 750 4200 connected to a TSE Koi ABF 2. The water makes its way back into the pond through two total Pond 14” lite spillways. There is also an Oase AquaSkim 40 in pond skimmer teed into the drain line. Currently the pump does not pull enough water for the skimmer to function properly so I will tee in an external little giant 4000gph into the drain line and run it a few hours a day. The bottom drain has a diffuser incorporated into the top which is fed by a 560gph air pump.
The pond is built using15 5’ 4x4 posts buried in 2’ of cement. The corners are 6x6 buried to 2.5’, cemented as well. To ensure there are no failures of the posts there is a ¼” vinyl covered steel rope belly band 3.5” down from the top of the posts. All the 4x4’s and cap wood is redwood and the rest is pressure treated Doug fir. The sides of the pond are made up of 2x6 redwood stacked, the aft is ¾ ply, and the front is corrugated metal backed with ¾ ply. The rear wall will eventually continue all the way to the top with the same 2 X 8 pressure treat that is being used. Also a shade will fill in the top of the structure. The pond sits in shade for the vast majority of the day with the maximum amount of area impacted by the sun being ½.
So far everything is running great and I am going to let the system mature before making adjustments to the filtration system, if required. I plan to move half of the goldfish out, if I can find a good safe home for them. I will continue to post updates through the completion. If anyone has any questions please ask. I consulted a friend of mine that is a structural engineer prior to the build to ensure all the design and materials would endure the weight of the water. I have completed all the work myself or with my best buddy.
Break down of materials and cost:
Building materials
50 X 50lbs bag cement $175
8 X 4x4x10 Redwood $112
4 X 2X8X12 Redwood $172
4 X 6x6x12 Pressure treat $200
6 X 2X8X16 Pressure treat $192
3 X ¾”X4X8 exterior grade ply $180
1 X Corrugated metal $36
Fasteners $100
Pond materials
Liner 20x20 $260
Plumbing $200
Pump $360
Filter (used) $400
Skimmer $100
Spillways $110
Air pump $30
Total build cost so far $2627
I am almost complete with my latest build. My background is almost 10yrs of pond keeping. I was a member on here years ago during my first two builds. I have since forgotten my login info and had to create a new account. Last year rodents ate into my liner while I was on a two week trip. Unfortunately they continued to eat the liner down to access the water until they created holes low enough the pump ran dry and the system crashed. This happened in the middle of the summer. I lost my three eight year old koi but their one offspring made it. I did not lose a single goldfish. I was so upset with the loss I almost called the quits for pond keeping. My wife talked me into building another. My previous pond was a natural in ground design. It looked great but did not go with our yard. This time we decided on a formal all above ground build using both wood and metal to match a planter box we built.
The pond is on top of a preexisting 10.5’ X 10.5’ X 4” deep cement slab that used to have a shed sitting on it. The ponds total dimensions are, L X W X H, 10.5’ X 10.5’ X 30” filling to just shy of 2100 gallons. The pond is stocked with far too many goldfish and one Koi. If anyone lives in the Sacramento area and would like some goldfish please let me know. The pond utilizes a Dreampond in pond 3” bottom drain connected to a 2” bulkhead. The filtration is handled by a Sequence 750 4200 connected to a TSE Koi ABF 2. The water makes its way back into the pond through two total Pond 14” lite spillways. There is also an Oase AquaSkim 40 in pond skimmer teed into the drain line. Currently the pump does not pull enough water for the skimmer to function properly so I will tee in an external little giant 4000gph into the drain line and run it a few hours a day. The bottom drain has a diffuser incorporated into the top which is fed by a 560gph air pump.
The pond is built using15 5’ 4x4 posts buried in 2’ of cement. The corners are 6x6 buried to 2.5’, cemented as well. To ensure there are no failures of the posts there is a ¼” vinyl covered steel rope belly band 3.5” down from the top of the posts. All the 4x4’s and cap wood is redwood and the rest is pressure treated Doug fir. The sides of the pond are made up of 2x6 redwood stacked, the aft is ¾ ply, and the front is corrugated metal backed with ¾ ply. The rear wall will eventually continue all the way to the top with the same 2 X 8 pressure treat that is being used. Also a shade will fill in the top of the structure. The pond sits in shade for the vast majority of the day with the maximum amount of area impacted by the sun being ½.
So far everything is running great and I am going to let the system mature before making adjustments to the filtration system, if required. I plan to move half of the goldfish out, if I can find a good safe home for them. I will continue to post updates through the completion. If anyone has any questions please ask. I consulted a friend of mine that is a structural engineer prior to the build to ensure all the design and materials would endure the weight of the water. I have completed all the work myself or with my best buddy.
Break down of materials and cost:
Building materials
50 X 50lbs bag cement $175
8 X 4x4x10 Redwood $112
4 X 2X8X12 Redwood $172
4 X 6x6x12 Pressure treat $200
6 X 2X8X16 Pressure treat $192
3 X ¾”X4X8 exterior grade ply $180
1 X Corrugated metal $36
Fasteners $100
Pond materials
Liner 20x20 $260
Plumbing $200
Pump $360
Filter (used) $400
Skimmer $100
Spillways $110
Air pump $30
Total build cost so far $2627
