Pond estimate

Well I'ved just posted up on the Koi chat forum and got some quite different opinios, mainly about the filter I intended to use and that i should use bottom drains.

about 8-12 " wide in the bottom

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Sorry that doesn't make sense to me, maybe you worded it wrong?

A sump for the filter?? it will be a bio force which is like any normal ones, gets water pumped in then gets pushed out and would supply a water fall, alway the unit can be burriedup to the lid so won't be so ugly!!

about 8-12 " wide in the bottom

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dig your hole,then add a trench 4" deep 12"wide and fill with concrete ,this gives a solid base on which to build your wall

a meant a sump for the pump not the filter, my fault ,by sump i mean a deep bit in the middle

ive already built mine and asked builders who work for our firm for advice before i started ,basicly im just passing on the information

its still there so i must have built it correctly,its holding back approx 1tonne of water 2ft of which is above ground

you dont have to take what i say as facts, just advise but it worked for me

Ah right I get yas now i though you were talking about the middle of it!!, Did you fill in the middle with a layer of concrete before redering?

Aw yes a sump bit, i was thinking about one of those to pick up all the crap which would avoid having a bottom drain really.

people on koi chat are saying to put a mesh in the concrete aswell.

what size is your pond in gallons?- http/www.simplykoi.co.uk/pond%20volume%20calculator.htm

By the way can a system beover pumped? I know a system can't be over filtered but what about having a too powerful pump for the job asI might look on ebay to buy a pump too get it dirt cheap.

1350gallons more or less

the bottom of the pond is just lined with sand as all the pressure is pushing to the outside i only renderd the walls 3 times just to be on the safe side

i think some filters can be overpumped not allowing maximum filtration but saying that a valve can be fitted in line to slow down the flow but on mine wasnt needed i bought a vip pump from eastriding koi company for about £80

the sump will act sort of like a bottom drain drawing all the crap down to the deepest point any that does settle can be hoovered out with a pond vac(saves doing the whole thing)

for the size you plan you could put wire in the concrete and in the rendering to add strength but that will depend on what you build it with

your cheapest and strongest option is railway sleepers ,i made my small pond similar using 6x4 batons

Oh yes I remember my dad brought 2 of those pumps back from work as they broke down.

Yer I suppose valve can always be fitted plus I could split the outlet so it's pumping into a spray bar aswell or somehting like that.

I think i know what to do for the base now, about 6" thick with a reinforcement grid in it which goes 1ft further out away from the walls. the wall will need to be about 6" thick aswell I think so, railway sleepers are probable that then render it, add sand to landscape the inside shape of the pond. Where did you hide the edges of the liner?

I'm just getting bombarded on the other forum with people saying the bioforce will under filter it and I need a bottom drain etc etc it's nuts

If I camber the pond to go down to the middle then have all the crap sucked up from there, like you said bribones.

Have you got any pictures of your pond totally finished and stocked,I had a look at your profile and there's mainly building work pics!!

http/www.koicarp.net/pumps/nocchi/VIP_pumps.html

http/www.geocities.com/pondhowells/

a couple of sites i found usefull

http/www.vcnet.com/koi_net/ponds.html

this last one was great it has links to a number of different projects

the pic shown here is the finished thing more or less ,i still need to add cap stones and do some planting

Cheers, so you haven't actually finished yours yet then I take it you will jus put cement straight onto the liner or do yuohave to preper it in any way?

I take it the bit at the end is for flowers

just took this one today ,yes cement straight onto the liner

looking very nice, so what are the end caps?

what filtration have you got on that?

end caps /capping stones are just the top layer to finish it off.im going one more course up using dressed stone so no sharp edges for the kids when they lean over,i have a vip pump running into a hozelock bio/UV combined filter,its clean 99% of the time but the fish do muddy the water up sometimes

ah ha, what model did you get?

Yer I though about all they muck getting distrubed thats why I might consider a bottom drain after all. Being 4ft deep it will be pretty hard see the bottom even if it isn't completely clear.

feeding time ,you can imagine how much gunk this lot churn up

VIP - 180-7M Vip Pump - Manual clean water pump - 2300 gph £63.00 + Vat

does the job just fine

nice action shot, just need a fish doing a flip in the air to complete that pic.

I meant filter model depending on how cheap the expensive pumps go for on ebay i might get a VIP aswell.

Oh yer, do you mind me asing how mch your pond has cost to built altogther with sand cement, etc you got your bricks/slabs for free from a mate didn't you say?

it was either argos or index that has them not sure ill check the model and find out im almost sure it was the 2000

cost about £80 in total not including the filter and pump