My pond build thread

[Delapool]

Looking nice! How old are they and do they need any special care?

 

[enrgizerbunny]

Must not need special care because they don't get it, lol. Not sure how old they are, my pond water is pea soup hopefully only until I get my filter up.

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[Autumnsky]

The little specks are the babies, lol. The 5 big ones are parents..

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Okay... That was funny! I was thinking that it was really quick that they grew, or that you just didn't know they were there.

"Little specks" make me feel a little better though slightly blind. I just got finished trying to take pics of Guppies darting around and think I used up my squinting abilities by this time of day! (Guppies might be for my little pond)

 

[enrgizerbunny]

I'm feeding flakes along with my floating pond food to get them grown up before winter. My pond stays warm until October so they should be fine.

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[enrgizerbunny]

Better pictures to show size.

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[Autumnsky]

How cute!

 

[EOGoldfish]

Awesome!


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[enrgizerbunny]

Internal plumbing of the new filter is complete. Keeping it super simple. Down flow, first through sponges, then bio balls and outlet at the bottom. 1 1/4" inlet and outlet, still being fed by the same 1 1/2" flexible PVC.

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[enrgizerbunny]

Forgot pictures

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[Fresh2o]

Nice. That kid looks pretty secure. Screw top?
Are the bio balls in a mesh bag or free roaming? I find they are easier to clean/rinse when in a mesh bag. I've used laundry bags for this purpose.


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[enrgizerbunny]

Nice. That kid looks pretty secure. Screw top?
Are the bio balls in a mesh bag or free roaming? I find they are easier to clean/rinse when in a mesh bag. I've used laundry bags for this purpose.


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Mesh laundry bags. I only have part of them in there, the rest are in the old filter. I want to get matala sponges, but I'll probably throw some bonded media in there and try to clear up the water through the winter.

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[enrgizerbunny]

Oh, yes the lid is screw top with a foam rubber gasket. I refuse to have similar problems to my last design. I'll probably get the external plumbing and installation complete tomorrow.

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[Autumnsky]

That looks solid! Very nice.

 

[enrgizerbunny]

Additional note- bio balls can easily get stuck in a 1 1/4" pipe, which is my MAIN motivation for using bags. My last filter had a bio ball lodged firmly in the output bulkhead fitting.

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[enrgizerbunny]

Worked on the external plumbing today and got it pretty much all roughed in. Each bulkhead fitting is coming out at an angle other than 90 degrees to the ground, so I had to use a series of 90 elbows in order to make the top pipe drop to the ground plumb and the bottom pipe come out level. The ball valve/T fitting is for when I clean the filter I can easily flush the filthy water into the garden. I'll probably rig a hose of sorts to attach.

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[Autumnsky]

Are you going to be running htis through the winter time? Are you using any kind of heater to prevent freezing?

 

[Fresh2o]

Are you going to be running htis through the winter time? Are you using any kind of heater to prevent freezing?

One consideration if you decide to run it throughout the winter is if there is a power outage and an extended cold snap at the same time. If the water does not drain from the plumbing when the power goes out, then it might freeze and damage the pipes and/or filter.


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[Autumnsky]

Yes, I am wondering for my own selfish reasons and when ever someone else might set up a pond of THEIR own

 

[enrgizerbunny]

Yes, I'll run through winter, external pipes should be empty enough to prevent bursting if pump is off, and I never had a problem with filter freezing last year. You don't need a filter during the winter and any deicer method will work, I'm just going to run my pump through the filter barrel.

In fact, the filter will drain down if I lose power and be empty enough that it won't be damaged.

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[enrgizerbunny]

Don't have to run through winter, mind you. Only need a hole in the ice with a pump or a heater.

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