sissy
sissy
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But with that out put you will get lots of air in the water and that will help keep it clear
Pond Build! Upgrading from 400 gallons to 2000 gallons. With Bottom Drain.
- Thread starter max384
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I basically got all of the rocks that will be in contact with the water put in today. I still need to add some more pebbles all around the outside of the pond, but most of the larger rocks are in place.
I have both pumps up and running, and everything is running perfectly. There is a good counterclockwise current from the skimmer outlet, even in the shallow basking area, which I was worried might be a dead spot that would collect debris. The skimmer is working beautifully at collecting stuff on the surface.
I've actually come to like the waterfall the way it is... At least for now. I'll leave it as is for now.
The water has cleared up quite a bit since yesterday. I added dechlor yesterday and tested it today, and it was dechlorinated. So, I figured now was as good a time as any to move the fish from their trash can home to the pond. I also found that my Japanese Trapdoor snails had TONS of babies in the trashcan, so they all got transferred over too. They're already schooling and swimming circles around the pond against the current. Here is a crappy shot I got of a few of them in the basking area:
I have both pumps up and running, and everything is running perfectly. There is a good counterclockwise current from the skimmer outlet, even in the shallow basking area, which I was worried might be a dead spot that would collect debris. The skimmer is working beautifully at collecting stuff on the surface.
I've actually come to like the waterfall the way it is... At least for now. I'll leave it as is for now.
The water has cleared up quite a bit since yesterday. I added dechlor yesterday and tested it today, and it was dechlorinated. So, I figured now was as good a time as any to move the fish from their trash can home to the pond. I also found that my Japanese Trapdoor snails had TONS of babies in the trashcan, so they all got transferred over too. They're already schooling and swimming circles around the pond against the current. Here is a crappy shot I got of a few of them in the basking area:
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looking very nice
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Very nice!
Did you just use silicone caulking for the drain gasket?Today I got a lot of work done. I started off by draining the pond. WOW, that 4280gph pump really empties out a pond quickly!
Then I attached the liner to the bottom drain. Cutting the hole in the middle of the liner is an unpleasant thing to do! The whole time I was just waiting to realize I screwed up and had a new hole in my liner!!! However, everything went according to plan fortunately.
I also figured out what I was going to do for a skimmer. Instead of using a tupperware or similar container and attaching it to the liner, I just dug a hole next to the pond and then put the liner's overlap over the new hole. Then I used a skimmer net over my pump. Easy peasy!
IOW, this:
Then I built up some dirt around my filter/waterfall, added an outflow pipe from the filter to the waterfall, and put the liner in the waterfall and creek. Next up was rocking in the pond. I only partially got this done, and didn't get to fill in any of the spaces with pond foam. Hopefully I'll be able to finish that up tomorrow.
Also, since I had so much liner overlap, I dug out a small flat basking area about 8-10" deep. You can see it in the picture above on the right.
j.w
I Love my Goldies
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Looks great 
I got the electrical conduit put in yesterday.
I still need a lot more fill dirt... Probably a half dozen trailer loads or so. That's a time-consuming process, so I'll unfortunately have to hold off until this weekend for that most likely.
After having the pumps run for a few days, the water is now crystal clear all the way to the bottom! I'm probably going to buy a few koi this weekend to put into quarantine. Hopefully the pond will be cycled by the time the fish are ready to come out of quarantine.
I way underestimated how much river stone I'd need along the edges. I'll probably need to get twice as much as what I've got now to finish up the stone along the outside of the pond. Maybe more. But, I did get some stone down.
I also picked up a few plants for around the pond.
One problem I've got to figure out is water splashing out of the stream by the waterfall. It is splashing everywhere and I'm losing a decent amount of water. The water level dropped by about a half an inch overnight...
I still need a lot more fill dirt... Probably a half dozen trailer loads or so. That's a time-consuming process, so I'll unfortunately have to hold off until this weekend for that most likely.
After having the pumps run for a few days, the water is now crystal clear all the way to the bottom! I'm probably going to buy a few koi this weekend to put into quarantine. Hopefully the pond will be cycled by the time the fish are ready to come out of quarantine.
I way underestimated how much river stone I'd need along the edges. I'll probably need to get twice as much as what I've got now to finish up the stone along the outside of the pond. Maybe more. But, I did get some stone down.
I also picked up a few plants for around the pond.
One problem I've got to figure out is water splashing out of the stream by the waterfall. It is splashing everywhere and I'm losing a decent amount of water. The water level dropped by about a half an inch overnight...
Yep. 100% silicone. A healthy bead between the drain and liner and between the liner and the ring. After cutting away the liner, I also put a bead around where the liner, ring, and drain meet. The silicone between the liner and ring was really completely unnecessary (didn't really think about it until I had already done it)... but it surely didn't hurt anything!
You know your bottom drain won't work very well with those rocks in the pond.
Yeah. I'm aware of the downsides to rocking in a pond. But, it'll work a whole hell of a lot better than no bottom drain at all. I'd rather have no pond than a liner-only pond. No offense intended to those who don't have their ponds rocked in, but I find them ugly as sin. I've seen well-established ponds with liners that are covered in algae and whatnot, and I still really dislike the look, although it's better than a brand new liner-only pond granted. I'd much rather have the increased maintenance of a rocked in pond than to be stuck staring into a pond I hate the look of...
Thanks for the reply though!
Thanks for the reply though!
I am pooped! Four loads of fill dirt, all dug by hand, then 21 wheelbarrow loads carted back to the pond, again all by hand, has left me tired!
I think I'll only need one, maybe two, more loads of fill dirt around the waterfall/creek/biofilter to get it where I want it.
Not a great picture, since it was dark by the time I finished for the night, but here's how the area looks now after adding the fill dirt.
... Compared to this earlier in the day:
I think I'll only need one, maybe two, more loads of fill dirt around the waterfall/creek/biofilter to get it where I want it.
Not a great picture, since it was dark by the time I finished for the night, but here's how the area looks now after adding the fill dirt.
... Compared to this earlier in the day:
I did some landscaping this morning, and also got a few birch trees. I need to get a lot more mulch to finish this pond up... but I'm done for the day!
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Looking nice!
I took my kids out to get koi today. I picked out two koi, a butterfly and a regular. My girlfriend picked one out, and my two kids each picked one out, one regular and one butterfly. So we have a total of five koi, two of them butterfly.
I had a quarantine tank all set up with pump and fitter. I told the kids to take the fish out to the pond while I used the bathroom. I came out and they had already released them into the pond. My mistake. I wasn't very specific, and the boys didn't think they were doing anything wrong... soooo, so much for a quarantine.
Oh well. What's done is done. The place I get them from has a strict month quarantine before they offer any of their fish for sale at least.
Not the best picture, but here they are...
I had a quarantine tank all set up with pump and fitter. I told the kids to take the fish out to the pond while I used the bathroom. I came out and they had already released them into the pond. My mistake. I wasn't very specific, and the boys didn't think they were doing anything wrong... soooo, so much for a quarantine.
Oh well. What's done is done. The place I get them from has a strict month quarantine before they offer any of their fish for sale at least.
Not the best picture, but here they are...
Ugh. My pond is losing about an inch of water a day. I calculated that out to losing about 60 gallons daily... Which sounds quite excessive to me. There is some splash around the waterfall, which I'm sure is contributing, but I can't imagine that much water loss just from that. There isn't any muddy or wet areas around the pond that would signify significant water loss. I don't want to have to keep adding that much of my chlorinated tap water to the pond each day...
I'm thinking about turning the main pump/biofilter off for one day and seeing if the water loss stops. Would my fish be okay with only the skimmer running for a day? The skimmer is an 800gph with only a prefilter. I have five 5-6" kois, one 6" shubunkin, and four other small <1" shubunkins.
I'm thinking about turning the main pump/biofilter off for one day and seeing if the water loss stops. Would my fish be okay with only the skimmer running for a day? The skimmer is an 800gph with only a prefilter. I have five 5-6" kois, one 6" shubunkin, and four other small <1" shubunkins.