Newbie here. Been researching and working on a mud pond construction and have been very successful but, this is where my knowledge ends. I'm looking to create a koi pond environment and starting to research filters and pumps and would like to get some opinions on my plans and build progress.
For background, my wife and I purchased our place in Indiana about 2 ½ years ago. What started as a literal garbage dump hole on our property has slowly transformed into a nice little pond. To start we got most of the big stuff out and then I constructed a siphon 200’ of 2” PVC down the hill and a flexible hose at the top. This worked great and I was able to clean out tons of silt and get the remaining garbage. As we did this, we noticed that that next day it would fill again, one side was all pit run and sand which we discovered was a surface spring. This created addition motivation about this project and I put more attention to it thinking I could turn it into something nice.
Last year I purchased a front loader/backhoe tractor for work around the property and started playing with the pond a bit more. I had lots of issues with our lower land and it constantly being wet and thought this pond/seep was creating the issue so I decided I needed a pipe to control the water. I proceeded with digging a trench and installing a 3” pipe from the lowest point of the pond to the bottom of the hill to control the water flow and level. Also built a ditch that diverts the water where I want. Once the pipe was in I started measuring water flow from the spring and estimate 150-200 GPH and in late summer it will drop to 50-100 GPH.
This year I have gotten even more involved and rebuilt and expanded to fix potential leaks due to trees, pit run, and top soil around the edges. Now it is about a little over double in size from when we started. So far, I’m really pleased with how it’s come along and now I’m considering the final layout and options. I’m estimating the today at 50’x 70’ with 2 ½’ deep on the shallow side and 6’ on the deep end, and around 40,000 gallon. For the past two years the water has been pretty clear and can see the bottom on the existing side but, I have a bit of suspended mud on the new side (deep end). Attached is a picture of the drain pipe install early last year and where I am today on the build. Unfortunately I don’t have any earlier pictures when filled with garbage as back then I didn't know what I had or what it would be.
In addition, attached is the master plan from in my head on what I ultimately want it to look like. I'm thinking two pumps, one for the bottom drain on the top pond and a skimmer/spillway that feed to the smaller pond with a pump that takes it back to the water fall. At this time the focus is on the top pond so the bottom drain pump will most likely be the first install. The lower pond and stream is not constructed yet so my options are still open for any design changes. The part I am stumped on is pump sizes and bio filter size to achieve the best filtration results. I drew up some bio filter plans and will show that upon having a better understanding on sizing to maintain the proper flow through the system. As for water fall flow I'm not wanting niagra falls but, more of a 3' wide light fall. Also, I understand that the stream could also be used for bio filtration and would like to get a better understanding on how that should be constructed to achieve a good filtration as well.
Am I thinking this correctly or is there a better solution that I'm not seeing? Thanks.
For background, my wife and I purchased our place in Indiana about 2 ½ years ago. What started as a literal garbage dump hole on our property has slowly transformed into a nice little pond. To start we got most of the big stuff out and then I constructed a siphon 200’ of 2” PVC down the hill and a flexible hose at the top. This worked great and I was able to clean out tons of silt and get the remaining garbage. As we did this, we noticed that that next day it would fill again, one side was all pit run and sand which we discovered was a surface spring. This created addition motivation about this project and I put more attention to it thinking I could turn it into something nice.
Last year I purchased a front loader/backhoe tractor for work around the property and started playing with the pond a bit more. I had lots of issues with our lower land and it constantly being wet and thought this pond/seep was creating the issue so I decided I needed a pipe to control the water. I proceeded with digging a trench and installing a 3” pipe from the lowest point of the pond to the bottom of the hill to control the water flow and level. Also built a ditch that diverts the water where I want. Once the pipe was in I started measuring water flow from the spring and estimate 150-200 GPH and in late summer it will drop to 50-100 GPH.
This year I have gotten even more involved and rebuilt and expanded to fix potential leaks due to trees, pit run, and top soil around the edges. Now it is about a little over double in size from when we started. So far, I’m really pleased with how it’s come along and now I’m considering the final layout and options. I’m estimating the today at 50’x 70’ with 2 ½’ deep on the shallow side and 6’ on the deep end, and around 40,000 gallon. For the past two years the water has been pretty clear and can see the bottom on the existing side but, I have a bit of suspended mud on the new side (deep end). Attached is a picture of the drain pipe install early last year and where I am today on the build. Unfortunately I don’t have any earlier pictures when filled with garbage as back then I didn't know what I had or what it would be.
In addition, attached is the master plan from in my head on what I ultimately want it to look like. I'm thinking two pumps, one for the bottom drain on the top pond and a skimmer/spillway that feed to the smaller pond with a pump that takes it back to the water fall. At this time the focus is on the top pond so the bottom drain pump will most likely be the first install. The lower pond and stream is not constructed yet so my options are still open for any design changes. The part I am stumped on is pump sizes and bio filter size to achieve the best filtration results. I drew up some bio filter plans and will show that upon having a better understanding on sizing to maintain the proper flow through the system. As for water fall flow I'm not wanting niagra falls but, more of a 3' wide light fall. Also, I understand that the stream could also be used for bio filtration and would like to get a better understanding on how that should be constructed to achieve a good filtration as well.
Am I thinking this correctly or is there a better solution that I'm not seeing? Thanks.
