Spent my Memorial Day weekend diggin' some dirt

[randythawkins]

Hi. Thought I would share with everyone the beginnings of my pond project. Over a year ago I decided to convert a raised flowerbed into a Koi pond. Since then I have been thinking, reading, and learning a lot and this past weekend I converted from being an arm-chair pond person to an actual doer. With nearly 2 full days, and help from family members, I now have a rough-draft hole.

It will have the obligatory waterfall on the left side and the skimmer on the right (you can see the items I plan on using sitting in their approximate locations). The hole is about 4' deep and 9' across. I still need to do a lot of clean up, rocks and roots, but I feel I am off to a good start and am excited about what lies ahead.

Thanks,
Randy

 

[DrCase]

You have a great start
Are you going to bring the liner over the top rock and cap it with new

 

[randythawkins]

DrCase - Thanks. One of the things I have found over the years is that sometimes the hardest part about a project is getting started. (...and the second hardest part is everything else. :razz: )

To your question - I plan on removing the rock from both the top and the inside. Part of the cleanup I mentioned will be to soften up those sides, removing rough-edged concrete footings, and trimming back roots. I then plan to have the liner come up and over the top a couple of inches. Once that is secure I will re-install the rocks along the top covering the liner edges. Liner will still be visible on the vertical part but with a water line about 2-4" down I don't think it will be a problem. With the remaining rocks I plan on finishing the base of both/either of the waterfall or skimmer box with those leftovers so that they kinda blend into the entire visual and don't look like an afterthought. That's my plan and we'll see what role reality decides to play in it.

With the next several weekends already booked I don't think I will make much headway but we will see.

 

[bean6924]

Looks great randy. I'm digging this weekend too. What filtration did you decide on using?

 

[randythawkins]

Looks great randy. I'm digging this weekend too. What filtration did you decide on using?

Thanks. I was able to get out there this past weekend and get the stone removed from the top and insides. It was a slow process but I have plenty of rock to resurface the top with later after the liner is in *and* to rock around the new skimmer and, possibly, waterfall so that it all looks like it was built together instead of the skimmer and waterfall being add-ons. (Picture down below.)

As for the filer system...I also picked up this past weekend a 150 gal stock tank from Tractor Supply. It will be my settlement chamber from the pond's BD. I will place a bunch of floating plants in it so that their roots can providing filtering for the water. From that the water will feed a pump which will push it to a bio falls waterfall system. I found a bio falls waterfall on craigslist, along with the skimmer, and it is about twice the size one would normally use for a pond my size but that is a good thing as I plan on stuffing it with as much bio material as possible. I should not have a problem from a bio standpoint (fingers crossed). Also, the skimmer will feed a UV which will then run to the same pump.

 

[bean6924]

Thanks. I was able to get out there this past weekend and get the stone removed from the top and insides. It was a slow process but I have plenty of rock to resurface the top with later after the liner is in *and* to rock around the new skimmer and, possibly, waterfall so that it all looks like it was built together instead of the skimmer and waterfall being add-ons. (Picture down below.)

As for the filer system...I also picked up this past weekend a 150 gal stock tank from Tractor Supply. It will be my settlement chamber from the pond's BD. I will place a bunch of floating plants in it so that their roots can providing filtering for the water. From that the water will feed a pump which will push it to a bio falls waterfall system. I found a bio falls waterfall on craigslist, along with the skimmer, and it is about twice the size one would normally use for a pond my size but that is a good thing as I plan on stuffing it with as much bio material as possible. I should not have a problem from a bio standpoint (fingers crossed). Also, the skimmer will feed a UV which will then run to the same pump.

looks good Randy. I was at Tractor Supply looking at the same rubbermaid stock tank this weekend! Mine would be completely submerged, so I'm sort of struggling on how to clean it (I might plumb to a waste container with a sump, but this would require some incredibly deep digging. I might also just put a waste pump in the stock tank). How are you going to clean the tank? Are you worried about having to remove all the floating plants to clean? The drain in the tank is 1.5 inches, but it's not coned so I'm not sure all the waste will go out.

 

[randythawkins]

looks good Randy. I was at Tractor Supply looking at the same rubbermaid stock tank this weekend! Mine would be completely submerged, so I'm sort of struggling on how to clean it (I might plumb to a waste container with a sump, but this would require some incredibly deep digging. I might also just put a waste pump in the stock tank). How are you going to clean the tank? Are you worried about having to remove all the floating plants to clean? The drain in the tank is 1.5 inches, but it's not coned so I'm not sure all the waste will go out.

As for your challenge on emptying/flushing your tank...I dunno. You probably need to do a bunch more forums searching to see how others have addressed the problem. (maybe even search some youtube videos...I've found good stuff there.)

Other than flushing it by opening the bottom drain of the tank, I don't plan on cleaning it. I guess if I ever did clean it it would be in the fall or early winter when the plants have died off and would be removed...I could address the problem then I suppose. I will ignore that 1.5" drain and install a 2" shower drain in the bottom. I also plan on lining the bottom with concrete so that it slopes to the drain (much like how someone would mortar the bottom of a shower floor before tiling it. This link is the basis of what I will be doing with some modifications of my own.

Although more concept than implementation, here is my working design and it shows the settlement chamber plans I have. The orange lines are the sloped concrete bottom and the 'wall' that allows only water from the surface level to make its way to the pump and not the water at the bottom which still has muck floating in it. My system will probably have the BD from the pond coming into the front (e.g. the long side), directly above the SC drain b/c of the curved sides of the tank...the only reasonable flat surfaces are the bottom and the long sides.

(ignore the skimmer's 'vent' line. I am not sure what I was thinking when I drew that. Well, that's not true...I know what I was thinking but not sure why I drew it that way.)

 

[bean6924]

looks good randy. so, your drain goes to a septic field of some sort?

I posted on another site about draining to a gravel pit, and some warned against it (because of the amount of solids that the drain pipe would put out) see link:

http://www.koiphen.com/forums/showthread.php?137948-drain-settlement-chamber-to-gravel-pit

 

[randythawkins]

looks good randy. so, your drain goes to a septic field of some sort?

I posted on another site about draining to a gravel pit, and some warned against it (because of the amount of solids that the drain pipe would put out) see link:

http://www.koiphen.com/forums/showthread.php?137948-drain-settlement-chamber-to-gravel-pit

It will drain to a lower part of the yard a little ways away. Later I will probably dislike all that stuff being spit out where it will but I really don't have any other reasonable options (reasonable to me for what I want to do and spend). The area around the pond is somewhat sloped so I am taking advantage of that for SC location and drains. There are some pics at http://thehawkinsfamilypond.blogspot.com/ .

 

[bean6924]

that makes sense. as long as you have access to the drain pipe and the stuff coming out. you can also use it for the garden! good compost.