My pond build thread

[Fresh2o]

Nice to hear about the drain-in-the-event-of-a-power-outage setup. I learned that one the hard way.
I use a 100w floating heater that looks like a large donut. Keeps a hole open for gas exchange.


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[enrgizerbunny]

Some detailed pictures for anyone who might use this type of drum. You can see how I dealt with the angles. The top is input, the bottom is discharge.

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[enrgizerbunny]

Finished the filter today and got it up and running with just bio balls in laundry bags in there. I'll get mesh filters in the spring most likely. I can finally take out the fountain pump as it's getting too cold for the UV bulb soon.

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[Delapool]

Looks nice - do you have much of an issue with leaves dropping in?

 

[enrgizerbunny]

Looks nice - do you have much of an issue with leaves dropping in?

Oh yeah, I'll scoop them out with my dip net before I put the netting on for winter soon enough. My pump is in a cage, so it doesn't have issues with leaves. As the netting gets covered I pull it out and get the leaves out periodically.

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[Delapool]

Nice, sounds very easy.

 

[enrgizerbunny]

It's easy enough, I wish I had a better method, but being under the trees protects the fish from birds and keeps water temps down when it's a hundred degrees outside

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[enrgizerbunny]

Not sure if I would believe this if I hadn't seen it myself. Came home to find this after independence day. The GFCI went out so my pump turned off and this happened.

Also discovered that my filter is a regular blood worm farm.

I thought the barrel was ruined because after I "inflated" the barrel with the pump it was leaking. I let it sit in the heat for a couple days, put the lid on again and tried it-good as new, no leaks.

 

[TMaier]

Free food!

 

[Autumnsky]

So lucky.

JB Weld Marine is safe with fish and can be used wet too I believe, and will work to seal a crack in the plastic. Had to do that in the past when kids decided it was fine to sit on the edge of the pre-formed plastic pond liner, more than once

 

[Delapool]

Geez, I can't believe that is still working!

 

[enrgizerbunny]

Geez, I can't believe that is still working!

Yeah I wasn't thrilled about the idea of replacing the barrel after I JUST added 10 gallons worth of old oyster shells in the bottom a week or so prior. I finally ordered some sponge media for the filter instead of just bio balls in laundry bags. It does the biological filtration, but not much for solids...

I'm going to test 22" circles for ordering matala filter media in the future. THey sell 22" rounds that are 6" thick on amazon, but my filter is approximately 22.5" in diameter, so I've got the figure that one out.

 

[enrgizerbunny]

How well does barley straw work for green water algae (pea soup)? If so how much would I need for ~2000 gallons. I'm first going for physical removal of as many solids/nutrients as possible by cleaning the filter often after I put sponges in it. I have a bypass so that I can clean the filter in its own water and then drain it off until it runs clean.


Curious to know how my pH has changed since adding the oyster shells (calcium carbonate) to help keep the water buffered. I prefer a buffer in the filter rather than adding a product especially because when we get lots of rain the pond overflows.

 

[Delapool]

I've seen it listed in an organic water conditioner here but not sure how effective it is. Did you try a search back through threads out of interest? From memory I can recall it coming up but might have been theoretically.

 

[Autumnsky]

Not too sure about the barley straw for pea soup water. I know it does help clear it up.

What about a filter sock like used in a sump. When I stopped at a SW store they had HUGE ones for really large sytems. I don't know that much about it all, still in the learning processes there. FW can use a sump too. It captures the particulates.

 

[enrgizerbunny]

The filter input does have piping inside of it, so in theory I could attach a fine strainer of sorts, but I'd probably be cleaning it every day to keep it from clogging, and then there's the issue of possible stretching and making the pores bigger where they won't filter the algae anymore. I think the bulb in my fountain pump is dead, because it's supposed to be a UV sterilizer/pump combination, but I haven't had any noticeable effects. I also think there's an excessive amount of nutrients, so some floating plants next season could help with that. I'm thinking maybe water lettuce would cover the surface and block light while I deal with the nutrients.

I also want to put a ball valve on the input so that I can slow down the flow through the filter and give the particles a better chance to be captured. I've found media that filters to 5 microns, but these things cost $$.

 

[enrgizerbunny]

Did some more research and discovered how UV sterilizers and the products that clear up green water work. I thought the UV light killed the algae, but apparently it only damages the cells and causes them to stick together into clumps that can be removed by the filter. I also found a product that is supposed to accomplish the same thing. I might order 28oz of it to give it a try after adding more filter media. If anyone else uses this, please post results!

https://www.pondclearproducts.com/Hydra_Crystal.html

 

[enrgizerbunny]

Also received my filter media and cut it to fit. I have soooo much room for more media though.

 

[Autumnsky]

The media for diy I always read about is listed as the scrubbing pads for floor polishers, cut into chunks??? I think you can get bulk numbers of them from sams and costco if I remember correctly, making them kinda cheap. I don't know really which is better $ value, for initial cost, term of use and value of surface for bb growth.

I know that floating plants and much collected from the dying plants and pond muck can be a big mess. Maybe a strainer basket,catch the big stuff, to empty once a week. like a pool. Being able to remove the nitrate producing stuff might help and having a working UV bulb, lol!

Barley straw bale.

 

[Delapool]

Did some more research and discovered how UV sterilizers and the products that clear up green water work. I thought the UV light killed the algae, but apparently it only damages the cells and causes them to stick together into clumps that can be removed by the filter. I also found a product that is supposed to accomplish the same thing. I might order 28oz of it to give it a try after adding more filter media. If anyone else uses this, please post results!

https://www.pondclearproducts.com/Hydra_Crystal.html

That looked good - just a straight flocculent I think? Sounded pretty safe.