Hi everyone, I'm a lurker here and have enjoyed the education. My Lyle husband and I live on a farm in Saskatchewan Canada (North of Regina), and I've been learning about Koi and Goldfish ponds or about 3 years. We started our formal pond build two weeks ago, and I'm at the stage where I need support/advise. I'm going to try and upload build pics in the photo section today, hope I can figure out how to do that. Ok, on to my offer and questions:
Pond is attached to a Gazebo we built last summer, with proper electrical for water.
Has 2' above ground wood cribbing all around.
Total with cribbing: 6'(wide), 16'(long), 6'(deep).
At one end, ground level: 2 - 6'x3' steps/shelves.
Including cribbing, its lined with carpeting to protect Firestone EPDM 45ml liner.
I calculate pond to be max 3,500 US gallons.
(please note: although I totally understand having a bottom drain with underground plumbing is best, I could not convince my husband that we should cut a hole in the liner and have two bottom drains in this pond. Cutting the rubber liner was a horrifying thought for him, also he is stuck on submersible pump/s that he can place in and lift out of the pond. He uses them all the time in his geo-tec-enviro work.)
I have been following this pond re-build, and ours is pretty much the same design in intention (less the commercial filter), he has a "veggie filter" at one end with a commercial filtration system:
We want to do, a large DIY Skippy filter. We have a 300 gallon poly water tank, after cutting off the top, it would be 250 gallons. We plan on having the poly tank sit on ground level, and boxed in (6'wide, 4'long, 3'high [gives 1' spill way into pond]) with same timbers we built the 2' section around pond, having removable sections to get at poly tank.
QUESTION:
Is this possible, is my thinking correct?
I've been studding these sites (and others with similar ideas):
Combining the two, I was wondering if its possible to:
do a large Skippy filter with a settling tank/solids filter, *inside* the 250 gallon tank. This tank has a bottom drain and I would place a 45-55 gallon drum inside the 250 gallon tank to act as the 'settling chamber/solids filter'. Have the solids go to the bottom and hook up this drum (inside) to the bottom drain of the poly tank for purging solids out to the garden.
- The pump shall sit in the pond and push the water up into the *top* of the settling tank, using vortex have the solids go to the bottom of the drum, then have the water in the drum, overflow into the poly tank skippy filter (pass to bottom and filter up through stages of media), and then have it overflow back into the pond.
On the internet (YouTube especially), I keep seeing instructions for these two and three stage chamber drums people use having exterior plumbing hooking them all together. I was thinking why can't this settling chamber be put inside the 250 gallon poly tank as an enclosed unit within to one side (the side of the tanks bottom drain)? Exactly the same way my septic system works on the farm. Our septic tank is a TWO chamber system - solids go on one side, and liquid on the other, then purged to a filter rock fines system in our field. That is where my thinking is. I wonder if this is possible or has been done - advise is needed.
QUESTION:
We were told to drop the level down 2' (to ground level) in the winter so the Koi and pond goldfish overwinter in 4' of water. Reason for this, is we were told there is a possibility that the ice which builds up around the inside of the pond, can damage the 2' wood cribbing. I need advise if this is true, or not? Is this a case of 'better be safe then sorry'?
Ok, I'm sure I forgot to mention some things, but this is my first post after reading so much excellent advise from everyone. Here in Saskatchewan Canada, we don't have a pond club, but we do have an Aquarium Society with members who do keep ponds. Lyle and I are being introduced to them this summer. Really looking forward to learning on how to make our Koi dreams be fulfilled and everything run as smoothly as possible. Thank you for all your wonderful help, your posts have already helped us so much.
blessings,
(((hugs)))
barb sinclair
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