Newbie needs help?

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Hi everyone,

My name is Michael and I am new to this site and ponds in general. I wanted to build a 4'x2'x12' pond made of wood above my cemented patio. The patio is not totally even and has a slight slope to it. Am I wrong to build the frame (just the front, back and the sides minus the bottom) just to retain the shape and not worry too much about the slope? Also since I am not building a bottom for it, I was thinking the cement could double as the bottom because I will be using a liner in that frame. Another question I have is that from the pond, I was thinking of having a 500gph pump going out of the pump to the biological filter and back, but do I need a UV clarifier? The pond will be near my fence and will have sunlight from round 8am til about 4pm.

Thank you for your patient and advice =)
 
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it is just ever so slight for drainage on the cement... but if anything i can make the frame leveled so then the filled pond will appear leveled at the top edges. Thanks =)
 
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It wouldnt be a bad idea to leave the lower side of the slope a hair lower or install an overflow drain so that the water flows over the downhill side when rain overflows it. Not a huge deal.
 
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addy1

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to our group! I would make the top of the pond level, like mentioned above, have one small area lower to allow overflow to go down and away from your house. If the pond top is now level, it might bother you to see the level water against an unlevel pond. It would me, but some of us are weird about things.
 
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Am I wrong to build the frame (just the front, back and the sides minus the bottom) just to retain the shape and not worry too much about the slope?
There no technical reason the pond can't be sloped.
Also since I am not building a bottom for it, I was thinking the cement could double as the bottom because I will be using a liner in that frame.
Absolutely OK.

Another question I have is that from the pond, I was thinking of having a 500gph pump going out of the pump to the biological filter and back, but do I need a UV clarifier? The pond will be near my fence and will have sunlight from round 8am til about 4pm.
UV is optional, depends on your feelings about green water. Without it I would assume you would have persistent green water in this type of pond, but no way to predict. The sunlight wouldn't matter much, it can make green water more green, but it's still green either way. UV is the fix.
 
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There no technical reason the pond can't be sloped.

Absolutely OK.


UV is optional, depends on your feelings about green water. Without it I would assume you would have persistent green water in this type of pond, but no way to predict. The sunlight wouldn't matter much, it can make green water more green, but it's still green either way. UV is the fix.

Is there a UV that you or anyone would suggest? I don't want to spend too much and calculated this tank to be about 1000 gallons. Also I would have the 500gph pump splitting to a Y and one side would go to the filter while the other goes to the UV and back to the pond. Any suggests would help thanks =)
 
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I like UV filters that are separate, not part of a filter which is a sign of poor quality and just harder to tweak.I like manufacturers like Aqua UV mainly because they give good info on flow rates and performance. Many places give almost no info which means they're targeting beginners which can mean lower quality. I like units that connect to pipe rather than hoses. Hoses come off, crack, get bit by raccoons, etc.

The "Y" is a good idea many people overlook. I read a lot of posts of people complaining about green ponds and want chemicals to add but they already have a UV. The deal with UVs is they aren't magic. The amount of water flowing thru them is important, it has to be controlled. The "Y", with valve(s) will allow you to do that.

Start up in the spring late if the water is already very green the flow has to be reduced. UVs are sized to keep a clear pond clear, not clear an already dark green pond. So if you stay on top of things you can get a unit sized like Aqua UV and others say. If you don't think you'll stay on top of things you should consider getting an over sized unit.

Understanding the difference between sterilizer and clarifier can save you some money. Aqua UV explains it well. But basically all UV filters are both a sterilizer and clarifier. The only difference is how much water you push thru them. Slower the water the more the UV has a chance to kill everything and is a sterilizer. Speed up the water and it can't be sure to kill everything, but kills enough that most algae dies, maybe slowly, and the pond is "clear" so its a clarifier. Speed up the water more and the UV doesn't kill enough and algae can reproduce faster then be kill and we call that a waste of money. How clear the water is matters, it's not just X oir Y flow = sterilizer or clarifier. UV passes thru clearer water to get at the stuff to be killed so is more effective.

If a seller only says it's a clarifier and maybe a GPH number you don't really know much about that UV. Hard to compare to other units. I assume they don't provide the info because they don't want to be compared to other products. So I don't bother with those.
 

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