Outdoor pond to greenhouse, partial in earth on both with waterfall feature. jus

[e.chil]

So I was just wondering if anybody has done a exterior pond with greenhouse aquaponics. It's a koi pond. 13 ft by 3ft. 3.5 deep. Partial in earth. I have started a greenhouse above it, as well being partial in earth too. All on a hillside. Any pointers for making this work would be great, and appreciated.

 

[j.w]

@e.chil
Wow what an undertaking! Not sure I have seen a huge one like that inside a greenhouse. Will be interesting to see how it goes.

 

[e.chil]

 

[e.chil]

No it's an exterior pond in earth. And greenhouse will be separate and in earth too. Above pond

 

[e.chil]

I gotta figure a way to make waterfall work from greenhouse to pond work

 

[e.chil]

It's for looks on outside with pond. But once I get greenhouse built I can really start crunching on how I can make this work.im a carpenter. Started as a hobby with a bathtub with aquaponics. These days I'm trying to figure a way to be self sufficient. I got solar panels, to eventually hook up to pumps etc.

 

[mrsclem]

Interesting project! I would go bigger on pond if you are planning on koi. They can grow to 30+ inches.

 

[e.chil]

Going bigger is not an option. But yes I'm aware. I got 12 koi, around 8-10 inches

 

[BKHpondcritters]

Going bigger is not an option. But yes I'm aware. I got 12 koi, around 8-10 inches

Your project is definitely ambitious, but (and I hate to be the one to start bubble bursting...) you do not have enough volume to support more than one, maybe two, full grown koi. I calculated your volume at just over 1000 gallons. 12 koi will overwhelm whatever sort of filtration system you have in very short order.

 

[e.chil]

I got ya. I looked into that already and it's fine as long as I have raised grow beds from greenhouse to help filter that. Not jus relying solely on the filter pump. And yes it is a little stressful with that many koi and invading frogs lol! Pretty green ya know lately. But no dying fish as of yet. Yes I gets a Lil overwhelming. But grow beds will help that filtering process I do believe. If they can survive year round as is, I would imagine the aquaponics setup would really keep it clean and viable for them. Oh and it's just one filter and pump already. The fish are very resilient and adaptable each year I noticed. I've got koi over 6 years old in there too.

 

[Mgessert]

I wonder if you might be better off plumbing the return from the grow beds instead of creating a water fall. I think the evaporation will require constant top off. I know the aquaponics folks use very high stocking rates, but koi are pretty valuable and I wouldn’t want to risk losing them if the system crashes, which they sometimes do. You are probably familiar with the backyard aquaponics forum, and Rob bob’s aquaponics YouTube videos. They are great places to get aquaponics info and ideas. It’s been a fascinating hobby for me.

 

[e.chil]

Yah I've seen his among others. I appreciate ur feedback. Many thx wat you mean by (evaporation will require constant top off? I originally started with 6. They bred.

 

[e.chil]

I thought of plumbing into an exterior bed, or box, that can make a steady flow to pond. I dunno how to go about this. Again thx. I'm thinking of doing 6, half water barrels for the raised beds. I would have to make half of beds drain alternating with other half to keep a small waterfall feature flow

 

[Mgessert]

My reference to evaporation is from water flow open to the air (stream, water fall), vs water flow in pipes. I probably misunderstood your design.

 

[GBBUDD]

The PROBLEM WITH KOI IS one day everything is fine for years then literally one spring as they all hit a growth spurt . What worked yesterday crashes today without warning.