Planning a new Pond Project!

[bagsmom]

When are you heading to dads to build his pond? And every day when you fist see the project take a picture . then one after lunch and one at the end of the day all from the same spot . and then some closeups to show your hard work

I'm sorry I didn't see this, @GBBUDD! I have been super busy with work and life and sadly, Dad's Pond has been a back burner thing. I am thinking about it again, though. As of now, the husband and I will drive up sometime in early June. I haven't gone any farther than my list of possible materials. Next step is for my husband to have a discussion with my Dad to see why he is resistant to regular electric. I think it will be much easier to deal with than a solar set up, especially since an effective filter needs to run 24/7. They can discuss all the nitty gritty with that and then we can continue planning. I was starting to think about an intake bay vs. a skimmer. But really, using the basic, BASIC plan of skimmer, pond, waterfall bio falls will be the most straightforward thing. I feel like a wetland filter and intake bay require a lot more "creative finagling" and time to play with. Fun to do but would need more flexibility than we will have. I think I'm going to order a liner somewhere around 15 x 20. That is the largest size without needing separate delivery charges and the largest size husband and I could maneuver together. I am a little worried about places selling out at this time of year, since it is "that time." Spring brings out the urge to build ponds! I need to get on it!
(Oh, hey - I should check my lottery tickets. If I won, I can pay someone from Aquascape! )

 

[bagsmom]

OK. We have shifted mental gears yet again. After talking it out a bit, I think the intake bay route might be better for my Dad to maintain. Fish get stuck in a skimmer, which would make him sad. Since my front pond has a skimmer and the back has the intake bay, I think the intake bay is much easier maintenance. For my Dad, who just turned 85, I think it will be easier to use a small net to scoop out leaves -- vs. getting down on his knees to get to a basket and having to rinse out filter pads and all that.
We are re-watching some of The Pond Advisor's videos with small residential ponds that have small intake bays.
Although a bog is wonderful, I still think we probably want to stick with a biofalls (with bio balls.) This is mostly due to the space situation. I think a small biofalls unit will be much easier to deal with in the build.
@GBBUDD - do you have any thoughts about the skimmer vs. intake bay maintenance issue?
And -- I just opened another mental can of worms. They are in central Illinois. I wonder if he can leave things running through the winter, or if he has to shut everything down and remove the pump?

 

[GBBUDD]

If i was to build something for my eldery dad who will get less mobile as time goes on I would go with a bog. Build it and forget it. And a intake bay with a negative edge. Where I could place a net in the waterfall and have all the leaves / budds / and whatever else may fall in ends up in a net for me.
But I know you have limited time and your not 18 years old yourself.
So my second choice would be a bakki shower with a skimmer.

The biofalls has large matts that dad is going to probably not enjoy removing for cleaning . The bakki shower has nothing as far as maintenance you can literally set one up in 2 hours 4 if you place the media in a certain way. They are wet dry filters that control gases in the water better than anything else. The skimmer if you look at the Helix skimmer they have a floating weir that allows fish to swim right into the skimmer and not get trapped.
Now as far as bending down for cleaning you can tie a piece of twine onto the basket to lift it out . You'll need to have it so the rope pulls evenly from above the skimmer and not just on one side.

Then I'm sorry to say I would go with a canister filter something that is not below grade that dad can get into easily and when winter comes along all he has to do is disconect the hose lift the top and bring that inside. Knock over the canister so it does not hold water and freeze.

So the inlet is in your intake bay with a narrow and s g allow opening fish will swim in and out. And the return water goes to the bakki shower.

Bakki shower In the winter is no work they self drain if done right.

Third would be a canister filter that leads up to a mini bog and waterfall. And a han d net.
The key to anything for dad is not to over stock the fish for a small pond three goldfish for the first year you know that will be 6 in year two etc etc.
The green reset is a new twist to a old process but in stead of having to remove the filters you lift a handle "to Reset " and push down on the handle. "BODY WEIGHT " No arm strength needed. To compress the foam to wrince the mulm from the filter. Now I imagine dad's not going to do this vigorously but if he did it every two weeks I'd think he could maintain it just fine.

Sicce Green Reset Canister Filter 100L with 2x 25W UV Sterilizer

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[bagsmom]

I think one of the reasons I was thinking of a biofalls as having little maintenance is that I have done nothing to mine in the 8 years I've had it. I bet I have been just lucky! Although -- I think mine is a Savio and it has a screwed on lid. So nothing gets in it from the top. My Helix collects all the large debris before it gets to the falls. I did clean it (the biofalls) out once and it seemed like it screwed up the biological balance (had an algae bloom after) so I never did it again. I wonder if I'm pushing my luck by not cleaning it and maybe I should this year?
@GBBUDD - you've given me a lot of food for thought! Back to the drawing board!

 

[GBBUDD]

I

I think one of the reasons I was thinking of a biofalls as having little maintenance is that I have done nothing to mine in the 8 years I've had it. I bet I have been just lucky! Although -- I think mine is a Savio and it has a screwed on lid. So nothing gets in it from the top. My Helix collects all the large debris before it gets to the falls. I did clean it (the biofalls) out once and it seemed like it screwed up the biological balance (had an algae bloom after) so I never did it again. I wonder if I'm pushing my luck by not cleaning it and maybe I should this year?
@GBBUDD - you've given me a lot of food for thought! Back to the drawing board!

If you can get dad to watch listen and ADHERE to your body Oz you shouldn't have much of a problem . I would bring some MUCK black gold from your pond or even a pond in the area to give the pond a boost of bacteria.. if you get pops to chill on the food and even stop feeding in a couple months you should be fine regardless of your design. Just remember filters are rated for their extremes I cut their numbers in half if not a third. So if it says good for 5000 gallons I will use that on a 2500 gallon pond.

 

[GBBUDD]

I have never used a bio falls so I really can not say for certain but I do have matala pads half as big and they are a pain to rinse but if you never have who am I to say other wise.
I am adding more mechanical filtration to my pond to get it where I'd like.

 

[bagsmom]

I have never used a bio falls so I really can not say for certain but I do have matala pads half as big and they are a pain to rinse but if you never have who am I to say other wise.
I am adding more mechanical filtration to my pond to get it where I'd like.

Your pond is INCREDIBLE!

 

[GBBUDD]

Your pond is INCREDIBLE!

Thank you , hard to believe a biker built such isn't it ? just goes to show you can never judge a book by it's cover. I should add that that green reset i have seen being used it is just like a bead filter with a 6 way valve so you pump this heavy duty handle a few times then turn the handle and it back washes no fuss no mess. again i have no experience with this filter but as a prefilter the operation is simplistic. the foam is fine maybe too fine but if dad has all the time in the world on his hands pumping this may become therapeutic , a little exercise.

 

[addy1]

It is beautiful @GBBUDD . My basic pond satisfies me.....but if someone built and paid for one like yours I would go for it. Would be a rough build as all of my yard is a good slope.

 

[j.w]

It is beautiful @GBBUDD . My basic pond satisfies me.....but if someone built and paid for one like yours I would go for it. Would be a rough build as all of my yard is a good slope.

Me too I would have someone do it just like his if I hadn't already done what I did. And yep it would have to be all paid for but not by me,lol! @GBBUDD put his heart, head and muscle's into it all and it is all perfect!

 

[bagsmom]

This is off the topic but I just finished a little still water lotus pool. I have a little bit to do in the front with rocks, plants and such - but I think the lotus will be happy! I stole some moss from my other ponds and there were adorable little salamanders in it!!!! (Please ignore the bloops of foam. I left my professional foam applicator with my dad, so I was using one of the weird little cans with a straw thingie. I will fix later.)

 

[GBBUDD]

The nerve showing expanded foam and you didn't remove it as soon as it showed up. LMAO I SAW A VIDEO years ago where the guy was doing just that and what a mess he made. The right way, Like what was done above let it expand AND DRY then cut it off with a putty knife other multi tool scraper. That is how i did the dead pool walls. 4 years latter and not one rock has budged even with my large frame walking on them " nice way of saying my fat ars.."

Thats going to look fantastic with a lotus in bloom, you can use the foam to use it and some construction adhesive to stick a thin rock on that little bit of liner. THEN STICK SOME MOSS ON THE FOAM AS ITS SKINS LIGHTLY
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[YShahar]

This is off the topic but I just finished a little still water lotus pool. I have a little bit to do in the front with rocks, plants and such - but I think the lotus will be happy! I stole some moss from my other ponds and there were adorable little salamanders in it!!!! (Please ignore the bloops of foam. I left my professional foam applicator with my dad, so I was using one of the weird little cans with a straw thingie. I will fix later.)
View attachment 162445

That's already lovely! It's going to be spectacular with a lotus in it and the plants grown up around it!

 

[bagsmom]

That's already lovely! It's going to be spectacular with a lotus in it and the plants grown up around it!

Thank you! It really is just a quickly-thrown-together little project. Not my best work! Hubby was being cheap about the kind of stones he would let me get. (We got a cheap mini pallet of those thin, tan colored flagstones. I ended up scavenging/stealing some of the larger gray, flat boulders from our dry creek. No one really sees that area anyway and they won't be missed.) But for a glorified planter, I'm happy with how it turned out. Some of the rocks are totally uneven but I decided I like that for the different critters that might visit or live in it! There are easy access points for birds and frogs, etc.

 

[bagsmom]

That weird area at about 1:00 -- with the wonky flat rock on top of underlayment -- that is a blocked-in void where the gate valve is for the other pond. I need to be able to access it. I'm going to put a pretty pot of some trailing kind of plant on top of it.