Our above ground pond

[OntarioTodd]

Something a little different. We wanted something above ground with an easy to navigate walkway for my disabled inlaws to enjoy.

Video:
[ame="[MEDIA=youtube]lsK1Hp6QmMg[/MEDIA]"]

Pics:

Lily:

Thanks
Todd

 

[DrCase]

There it is

 

[koiguy1969]

post the url not the embed code..........simple cut and paste.

 

[OntarioTodd]

Fixed!

 

[DrCase]

Looks very nice..
and accessible for every one

 

[newday3000]

nice pond. what is your filter setup? I don't see a filter anywhere

 

[koiguy1969]

very nice.........is it partially below ground too? how deep is it?

 

[OntarioTodd]

It's completely above ground. It's 22" deep

Here's some photo's of it going together:

You are correct- we don't have any filtration system-only the pump and fountain. We dealt solely with a business that has been in the pond business for 12 years. They have several ponds-both above and below ground, many with koi and they do not use any filtration system. They told me that if I am patient, with the right number of plants and not too many fish the pond will take car of itself. Our water went murky about 2 weeks after it was built, then as the plants started to spread the water cleared up- almost overnight. It was amazing to see this happen. I did have to treat stringy algea using a product called "pond balance" and I have added fertilizer for my suffering water hyacinths. I think next year we'll build up one end (the end closet to the house) and add one of those filter/waterfall units. I do have to clean the pump inlet every 10 days or so. I also just got one of those water vacuum tools to clean silt from the bottom. The view with my underwater camera is very clear- about 4-5 feet however some of the fish like to stir up the silt on the bottom.
Todd

 

[OntarioTodd]

The photo's don't show the sand layer and felt we put down before installing the liner.. I also had a couple of very helpful neighbors give me a hand- the fellow in the photo is one of them!

 

[newday3000]

I am suprised they recommend no filtration!!! A pond is bigger version of an aquarium which must have a filter. I would agree with no filtration with plants only and no fish.

Plants do not convert ammonia to Nitrate. The natural bacteria that grows on the surface of everything in a pond can not sustain more than a couple of fish for anylength of time. The only other method is water changes to dilute ammonia since nothing in the pond is converting it to Nitrate.

I am curious how many inches of fish the store recommends for a setup with no filtration?

 

[stroppy]

great pond ...im about to build a raised pond myself so my son who uses a wheelchair will be able to enjoy ponding too ... so seeing yours have given me more ideas :biggrin:

 

[DrDave]

Very nice photos and video. I am impressed.

You might share the details on how you attached the timbers and in particular the corners. Did you drill and "pin" them with a steel rod?

 

[OntarioTodd]

We used 12" spikes to hold everything in place. Deck screws were only used for areas not bearing the weight of the water. Here's a pic showing us driving the spikes. I'm the guy standing with the hammer watching my neighbor do all the work!

I just came in from sucking up silt from the bottom of the pond. My wife and I were talking and I think we may head out and buy a good filter anyway. Can't hurt!

Todd

 

[DrDave]

Cool, did you get any splitting when driving these monster nails?
BTW, what vacuum do you have and how well is it working for you?

 

[koiguy1969]

at least use an underwater filter that hooks up before your pump... they make them biological..so you can have some sort of bacterial colony living in circulating water.