What I did while Canreef was down.

[BMW Rider]

Its amazing what you can accomplish when you don't spend all your time reading posts on Canreef I have been working on a project that had been planned for a few months now, the rebuilding of my pond. I figured that since I lost all my fish to a predator last summer, this was the perfect opportunity to do it, plus I got a good deal on some of the equipment when Big Al's closed out back in February.

I started by digging out the old preformed pond and enlarging the hole to increase the capacity a bit. Its not a big pond even yet at about 300 gallons.



I got the Savio surface skimmer with UV filter and the new pump from Big Al's. All the plumbing is done in PVC. I ran a water supply line fronm the house faucet so I don't need to drag out the garden hose to top up. Also put in a float valve to maintain the water level. I ran a second set of power plugs over to where the filter is to power the pumps and UV.







I laid down two layers of the underlay material since there are lots of sandstone bits in the soil, and I don't want one cutting into the 45 mil EPDM liner.The liner is continuous to the top of the falls so there are no seams to potentially fail and leak.





I am using a Rubbermaid brute container for my Bio-filter at the top of the water falls. I had the container on hand, it used to be my RO/DI container. I made the bio-filter according to the directions for the Skippy filter design I found on the web.





I had to go out to the new community nearby to hunt for a few more chunks of sandstone to finish around the pond. I found a huge area where they had been dumping fill material and there were plenty of rocks to pick from. Came home with half a truck load and laid them around the edge to conceal and secure the pond liner.



I planted some new plants to finish up the landscaping and put in some low voltage lights for night time enjoyment. After a few weeks I added a few water plants and some new fish and its looking really good.

[Chaloupa]

I gotta agree...you sure get more stuff done when the board is down...but where's the fun in that?!

Your pond looks great! I miss my pond. We sold the house and haven't built one in the new house yet. Nice job!

[Delphinus]

That looks awesome Ed Nice work.

[Buccaneer]

Very nice work Ed ... Do you plan on running it year round ?

[BMW Rider]

I'll shut it down in the winter and move the fish and non-hardy plants indoors. The pond is only 24" deep, so it will still freeze to the bottom. I have a 65 gallon tank that I over-winter the fish in. The plants live in rubbermaid tubs under growlights in the garage.

[Buccaneer]

I used to have a pond in my old house and in the winter put a Trough heater in it to stop it from freezing over and the fish stayed out all winter ... I did not have a nice filtration setup like you do but a friend of mine built a nice pond and used the skippy filter and said it worked well ... but with your setup dont you think a submersible heater in the Skippy filter at about 60 degrees farenheit ought to keep everything running year round ?

You will obviously still have to take the plants in but may save some space by not having to take the fish in each fall ... plus save you from draining it in the fall

I am thinking of building another pond in the backyard of the new place.

food for thought

[BMW Rider]

I all ready have the winter tank permanantly occupying a spot in my breakfast nook where its really not in the way.



I figure for the cost of heating the pond all winter, I can run the indoor tank much more efficiently and have better success at keeping the fish alive. I am not keeping koi, just pond comets, so they won't get too big for the tank or the pond. I don't drain the pond out in the fall, I just lower the water level a bit and pull out the pumps and drain the lines. The skimmer filter has a weir that can be closed off to seal the inlet, so I can drain it down for the winter. Some of the plants are native varieties that die off in the fall and remain outdoors in the winter. In the spring, I give the pond a clean out to get rid of the debris, then refill and and get it running. Once the water temp comes up, I move the fish out. It doesn't seem like too much effort, so I plan to keep on doing what works for me.

[TheReefGeek]

Very nice! I want to setup a pond next summer, but I want it to be deep enough that it won't freeze so I don't have to bring the fish in during the winter. Is that about 4 feet or so?

[danny zubot]

Very cool! Do you have a pic showing the water fall?

[mark]

Know nothing about koi but one of the 45g plastic drums I have for water changes was previously used to over winter koi in Edm.

Guess it was setup in a unheated garage with a small heater.

Nice project btw, all I did was slum on RC.