Planning a pond build! Questions.

[Peter86]

Hi all,

New to the forum and my first pond build. its in the early planning stages so was just going to use this thread to thorw all questions in


Firstly, i am going for a bricked up/raised pond, 1 ft below ground level and 3/4ft above, rectangle shape. couple of questions.

i take it the three options are pond lining,fibreglass or render and paint?

Wasn't too fussed on pond lining, fibreglassing is very expensive so was swaying towards rendering the inside and painting it. I would laso like to fit a window, and will be running a bottom drain system.

Can i fit a window using this method (render/paint)?

 

[sissy]

Thing is if I can remember lots of cement ponds on here from all over have been having leak problems and can be expensive to fix and also means taking everything out of your pond to fix it .Liner are easier as the 45 mil thick ones may be expensive to start with but last longer with fewer problems with leaks .If you find one try to get one with free shipping .Other option is rubber roofing cheaper and the same exact thing,Just needs cleaned well .They all really need cleaned as the put powder on them to keep them from sticking together .You say shape and depth but how big are you going to go
[sharedmedia=core:attachments:56266]my rectangular one

 

[Mmathis]

I vote for a liner, too! And if you plan on having fish, I would suggest going deeper.

 

[sissy]

I wondered also is that 3/4 above or 3 or 4 ft above .

 

[Peter86]

Thanks guys, ideally ill ld looking for 4ft depth as a minimum. The rectangle will approx be 1m wide by 4m long, its all space I have. If I go for lining, can I still fit a bottom drain, and possibly a window on the side?
I would mainly like to keep koi.
How much would the price difference be between fibre glass,lining,or concrete with a pond of that dimension. Roughly?

 

[sissy]

I know whiskey on here has a window and not sure if he has a bottom drain as he rebuilt his pond and water wheel ,if I remember correctly

 

[Mmathis]

Thanks guys, ideally ill ld looking for 4ft depth as a minimum. The rectangle will approx be 1m wide by 4m long, its all space I have. If I go for lining, can I still fit a bottom drain, and possibly a window on the side?
I would mainly like to keep koi.
How much would the price difference be between fibre glass,lining,or concrete with a pond of that dimension. Roughly?

Ooops, sorry! I read that as 3/4 of a foot, not 3-4'.

 

[sissy]

I wasn't sure my self looked like 3/4 to me but thought maybe since it was above ground it must be 3 or 4 feet . :cheerful: :cheerful:

 

[slakker]

My votes for liner too... also, my thinking is that the deeper in the ground the better to over winter the fish. I'm not certain, but thinking having so much of it above ground will likely increase it's chances of freezing "deeper".

Not sure what the frost line in your area is, but getting either on top of it or mostly under it will help with possible leak issues if you end up going with concrete.

 

[dieselplower]

What is render and paint?

 

[Dave 54]

Liner would be your best option rather than build in brick or breezeblock or you can use railway sleepers instead not the British ones due to the tar preservatives but Asian one, they make really good substancial walls for ponds and can be bought realiively cheaply .
One tip I would suggest is build larger as many people end up refaring to their first ponds as puddles and end up building not two but three ponds before being satisfied.
If you want a window in the pond that can cost as it needs to be well supported and you'll need quite chunky glass to hold the pressure behind it, not only that sight it wrong and it can lead to algae problems.
Pre molded ponds can be bought "not those awful kidney shaped jobs", but something like our own 1,000 gallon imperial circular pond 7ft across 4ft deep and 20 odd feet circumferance with a 4 inch bottom drain, they can be rectangular and larger than 1.000 gallons imperial.
Ours cost us £600 second hand with 4 32" vortex style filters and an Oase 3500 inline Pump.
Building it yourself wold save money rather than as many do
I would personally study all the options and go with the one that suits you and your Wallet.
If your keeping koi as we do be aware that there is a Welsh Koi Keepers Society that you could join, many of whom come down to the Plymouth and District Koi Keepers Society's "of which my Partner and I are considered founding fathers of", koi show every year as many of us go up to visit them joining it would allow you to use a BKKS koi health official should things go wrong at anytime with your koi's health

rgrds

Dave

 

[Peter86]

Brilliant, thanks for the info guys, judging by what I have read, think I will in for the pond liner, and brick/nice stone for the structure. I will be starting in the next few weeks and will keep a picture blog on here. Do I need to buy the equipment first to plan all the pipes? I was looking at an eazy pod filtration system with a bottom drain? What you guys think?

 

[slakker]

Are you still planning the window? It'll be cool to see what you engineer it to be. As info, pressure is a function of depth and not water volume and it's approximately 1/2 PSI for every foot depth of water plus atmospheric. So if the bottom of the window is 2 feet from surface, the bottom of the glass will be holding back about 16 PSI (1+15). So it's not that huge a pressure when you consider household pipes carry 50-60 PSI.

 

[Peter86]

Thanks slakker - very useful information. I am still potentially planning a window - i think i will only be gutted now if i didnt. I will keep udating on here with my progress.

Just looking at the rest of it now so i can plan out a cost.

Will i need an aeriated drain? and skimmers? there is so much to consider......but i think i am going with the eazy pod filtration system.

Are you still planning the window? It'll be cool to see what you engineer it to be. As info, pressure is a function of depth and not water volume and it's approximately 1/2 PSI for every foot depth of water plus atmospheric. So if the bottom of the window is 2 feet from surface, the bottom of the glass will be holding back about 16 PSI (1+15). So it's not that huge a pressure when you consider household pipes carry 50-60 PSI.

 

[slakker]

I'm new to ponds and just build my first one. I didn't use a bottom drain (too much hassle and the thought of holes in the bottom of the liner just didn't sit well with me). But I'm sure it's just my paranoia!

I did use a skimmer, as that's where I placed my pump and stuff...