Pond Build

Well Paul, if I want any further advice, I certainly wont be asking for it here. I've found the whole thing quite distasteful. As I've already stated, I've built a KOI pond before so I DO know a little about it. I also stated "I figure this one would be around 10' by 8' or so, and 6' deep." So all the subsequent nonsense was really unnecessary.

 

I think youve taken offence were none was intended.

I did not read anything into Watergardens advice, and found his replys to you courteouse.

The advice I gave regards glassfibre I also feel is helpfull

 

Excellent link Walnut...I passed that info on only this morning to a friend in the early stages of creating her own pond.
If I thought the build cost was a lot I was gobsmacked at the cost of mature Koi!

 

Paul, "The advice I gave regards glassfibre I also feel is helpfull" Yes, it was. I wasn't knocking you.

 

W G you seem to take everything you read on tinternet as gospel this quote is rubbish.

My fish follow me around the pond will take food from my hand those monster ponds the(specialist Koi keepers have) are made in order to develope the leviathans of the Koi world, they incorporate heaters etc to enable the fish eat all year round,they need the room for the excercise so they don't develope pot bellies, not my idea of fish keeping.Here are a few quotes I found about pond sizes a bit different than yours but someone elses views,with this I will leave you with your own ideas of doing things.
http://www.dpandassociates.net/management_charlotte.htm
http://www.okanagankoi.com/subcat249.html

 

Freddy, As I said earlier, sorry, but it looks like I am right about you

Which there for leaves me. (water-garden)

But wait, did you not say:

Yes, yes you did say that.

On a personal note, I would like to say thank you to Pro Gard and Paladin

But I think the last word on this should go to Paladin

([water-garden]Think how much the pool costs to look after such expensive fish)

 

Just to add my opinion.:gnthb:

If I were building a pond for Koi (AKA poo machines !!!!) I would build deep and wide.

There has been some good advice in this thread, which has perhaps been lost in translation.

I did have koi in my garage in 2 tanks made by the company that installed the tanks at London zoo ! 6feet long, 3 feet deep and 3 feet wide. Despite the water passing through huge bucket filters twice an hour they still didn't have the water quality or indeed space that I initially wanted. One hot summer (40 degrees in about 2002 IIRC)I lost a large channel catfish (AKA even bigger poo machine) that I had had for about 10 years to pump failure and oxygen loss.:( It is very true to say the bigger the area of water the less the immediacy of water quality/temp change.

The key is do you want your fish to survive or thrive. Obviously you can build any size and bung fish in it, but if welfare and longevity are your primary concerns you should be matching your fish choice to your pond choice.:thumb:

Freddy initially asked for advice/book/reference on how to construct a pond so can we please meet that need, and perhaps offer a few more sources. The fish he chooses to put in that pond is entirely up to him and I am sure he has enough information from this thread and from keeping fish in the past to match his choice of stock to his choice of ponds.

Nice discussion but lets not get side tracked.

Cheers Everyone :thumb:

 

Wow, i can learn much from this forum. The discussion quite "hot" but i like it. Gimme more point of view. Koi Pond is one of best part every gardener should has. Don't know whether this link would help http://www.aero-garden.us/koi-ponds

 

Hi folks. Latest is, I think I WILL go ahead with it, but not just yet. I'll keep my eyes open for some nice designs and probably get it going next year. It means I'll have to re-shape the 'tropical' area of my garden, but done right, I reckon it COULD look great.
Cheers...freddy.

 

This one caught my eye.....
http://www.ukkrazykoi.com/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=197

 

Don't worry what anyone else has, (I have yet to see two identical Koi ponds) Draw yours now and keep it. In a month or so have a look at your drawing and ask yourself do you still like it? If not you can always change a drawing at "no cost"

Then, come next year, if you still like the idea, you can build it.

 

New post to follow.......

 

Hi folks.

Well it was pretty much this time last year I started my pond build. I decided to build it at the nearest point to the house. One of the reasons for this was because I have a shed (with power)there, and I'd decided to house all my filtration etc there. As for the design, I was pretty much limited as I have very little width to my garden (15ft). Safety was one of my concerns, so with that in mind (and a few other considerations) I decided to have it 3ft in ground, and 2ft 6ins out of ground. My original calculations had the capacity at 3,000 gallons, but stupidly I forgot to take into account the amount that the block-work would take away. This means that my pond now comes out at around 2,200 gallons. I'd originally allowed around £5,000 for the total cost, but as with any major project, there's always something unforeseen, but I'd foreseen this One of these unforeseen costs was finishing off the top of the pond. Originally I'd planned on finishing it with slabs or the like. But because I hadn't worked out the levels correctly, the water level was 2" lower than expected, which meant that the liner was exposed, something I don't like. So, as you'll see in the pic, I had a timber edging put around the top. This added £1,155 to the cost, the timber alone was £650. Btw, the timber used is a hardwood called Iroko. Anyway, all of this (and a few other things)has probably pushed the cost up to around £7,000 I'd say. Originally, my plan was to have the walls fibreglassed, but I had to abandon this idea because shortly after laying the base, and whilst putting up the block-work, water started seeping in through the sides. My only option was to go for a liner, so to make things easier and neater, decided on a box-welded liner. Obviously, what I SHOULD have done was to put in a membrane first, ah well, live and learn.

I have to say that the design is pretty much a 'standard' design, being rectangular. Measurements are 10ft x 7ft x 5ft deep. This whole thing was a compromise, as I would have liked a LOT more water, and for it to have been all in ground (with more 'shape'), as I think in ground looks a lot more natural. As for filtration and associated equipment, I've gone for a Cetus Sieve(for removal of solids), an Econobead EB60(for the biological stage), a 55w U/V, a Hiblow 80 air pump(for the introduction of air). The filtration is powered via 2 Sequence 12,000 pumps. In the pond there is a skimmer to remove the surface debris, and there is the bottom drain, a Spindrifter which not only takes the water to the sieve (under gravity), but also delivers the the air from the air pump. I'm currently in the final stages of 'new pond syndrome'. This is a condition where the filter hasn't matured, and is releasing Ammonia and Nitrite straight back into the pond. Both of these are toxic to fish, so this is something that has to be worked through carefully until the filter 'kicks in'. Sorry if all that was a bit technical for some, but some folks like to know these things

Anyway, here are a few pics...



















There's a whole lot more info on this build, but I've tried to keep it brief and simple. If anyone wants to know more, by all means ask.

Cheers...Freddy.