Pond v3

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an interest in aquariums or fish keeping!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

acewiza

Aquarium Advice Freak
Joined
Aug 11, 2015
Messages
299
Location
CO
I've been playing with a backyard pond the past few years. I think I finally learned enough to have a really good go at it this past spring, ongoing to date. Check out the progress on my blog. Maybe it'll give some of you an idea or 2:

Acewiza's Pond Project
 
Not bad at all!
Looks pretty sophisticated for sure, hoping you get it to work!
 
Thanks for the words of encouragement, guys! We did get the concrete done yesterday, which was notably, the first time I hit a schedule target all year. Just too busy with lots of peripheral distractions. Today the fountain base gets finish coated with speedset mortar and I need to fabricate a grill for the outlet. Of course digging will continue as soon as I feel up to it. I'm getting too old for this shyt! ;)

Pondv3-04.jpg
 
IOC Today!

The pond is running again, only 2 months late this year. Finished the liner install yesterday, got it trimmed and pumps running again for the first time this morning.

Pondv3-11.jpg


There's still at least a couple weeks worth of finishing work left to do. The old fountain pump obviously doesn't have the grunt to lift 9 feet at more than the dribble you see here. I ordered a new alpine cyclone pump. That will replace the main sump pump, and he will be promoted to fountain duty. Need to get the water line buried, and of course last, but not least, alot of stone masonry to finish the fountain and walkway around the edge.

Pondv3-12.jpg


I decided to go a different route with the filter and ordered a roll of Aqua-Flo pond filter media. It appeared the poly-fill was starting to clog after only 3 weeks in operation, but it turned out that was a red herring. The faucet splitter to the supply line was seeping, causing the sump to slowly fill whenever the garden hose was being used. Oh well. The Aqua-Flo stuff isn't that much more expensive and will be easier to change out.

Pondv3-13.jpg
 
Hi Delapool! Not too sure about the size/capacity. I would guess around 500 gallons, but it's quite oddly shaped and I forgot how to do that kind of math a long time ago. It is 4 feet deep in the middle. I was going for 5, but 4 was the most I could safely get. The sides go down at a very steep angle. It's good I quit digging at that point anyway, because a 13'x20' liner was just about the exact right size. Trimming the liner amounted to basically cutting off the corners.

I have a shoal of seven 3-year-old goldfish waiting to get back into their summer home. I imagine it will be ready for them in another week or so. Today I'm sealing the sump liner, making big rocks into little rocks and waiting for a pump and filter media to show up.
 
Looks amazing - it seems to be coming together quickly? Wasn't sure, looks like lots of hard work but seems to be going well.
 
it seems to be coming together quickly?
I don't think "quickly" would be the term here. I've been at it for almost 3 months. But thanks for the kind words. I am getting slower and slower with each passing day and expect this to be my capstone DIY achievement. Goldies have been promised they will get to go outside some time next week... :cool:
 
I don't think "quickly" would be the term here. I've been at it for almost 3 months. But thanks for the kind words. I am getting slower and slower with each passing day and expect this to be my capstone DIY achievement. Goldies have been promised they will get to go outside some time next week... :cool:

Enjoying seeing your progress fast or slow :)
 
Ah, yes - I see what you mean on the work required apart from just getting the hole dug :) Looking very nice though - very keen to see it stocked.
 
Fish are In the Pond!

Got the goldfish moved outside today. We have six - four in the 5-6" range, one about half that size, and a young 2"-er who survived one of the rides home with a batch of feeders from the pet store last winter. I believe the middle guy is offspring from the others. Didn't know about him until moving them inside last fall when he was discovered, still in his juvenile brownish camouflage. I thought I saw an unknown darting about a couple times last summer, but never got a good look at him until I caught him in the process of emptying the pond and getting them moved inside.

Did an "insta-cycle" - cleaning the aquarium gravel by rising it in a strainer under the pond waterfall. Should be good to go! :dance:
 
I would still check the pond water to make sure all is well - for a few weeks.
Yes, absolutely! Especially considering it is an all-new setup with water plants fresh from the nursery. Who knows what pathogenic nightmare hitched a ride home with them yesterday! :whistle:

Today is in-fact, water check day. If the cichlid tank shows good again today, it will go to background monitoring status. The pond and feeder tanks will both continue getting regular checks. The pond obviously because it is new, and the feeder tank is always under a bio-load concern condition, being a 20-gal with guppies, snails and shrimp constantly reproducing.
 
Very happy for you and all your hard work is coming together and making it decorative around it should be a fun part as well. Congrats on getting this far. You have officially caused me to decide to wait till next spring, if I am going to do it I want to do a good job...thanks :)!
 
I've learned the hard way over the years, the old adage "haste makes waste" can be a very astute observation in terms of DIY projects. Better done right over a longer period of time than quickly botched up!
 
Back
Top Bottom