Above ground pond

[outdoork9lady]

Finally getting to my above ground pond.....500 gallons built with 2x4's....sits on top of my stamped concrete patio

https://www.gardenpondforum.com/gallery/album/363-above-ground-500-gal-pond/

Question(s): I'm trying to save money, my koi are currently small (5 total 4-6" long), taking my pressure filters from my other 2 smaller ponds and making them work for this one.

Laguna PressureFlo 2100 system (20w UV light and MaxFlo pump 1500)

I have another pump to circulate water and run my current ugly water fall until I can have the one I envision built (basically a garden box sitting on top of the pond with a weir built out of stainless steel)

No bottom drain (I'm building it and I'm a chicken about cutting into the membrane...would rather use current and aeration)

I'm in Calif where the weather gets from 28F to 112F in my backyard (yep I have set up shading with my lil 55 gal and was able to maintain water temps under 80...hoping wit 500 gals and same system if needed, to keep it no hotter than 70 or less.

Finally the Question(s):

Which is the best way to circulate my water in my "square tank" using what I have and aerate (can buy), I will be purchasing a floating skimmer?
I have read about "shelving" submersible pumps?
I have "aquarium grade" aerators so I'm sure going from 55g and 100g ponds to 500g I'm going to need a "bigger boat". Curious, can I use the 1/2" drip system tubing (it's black) and punch some holes in it (also have typical 1/4" drip system tubing) and use that? Where is the best place to locate it/them? Down the middle, along one or more walls?
For circulation purposes, I was just going to use the Laguna system as an open hose to push water and the pump on a shelf (how high?). How should I set up the hose(s), like a whirlpool?

I know a lot of questions...but the build is almost complete (hoping the fill happens this weekend and the fish go in next week) so I may have time to consider the placement of everything. I will be putting extra rubber lining on anything that leans or sits on the pond lining, just for extra super duper caution.

More pictures to come. The inside skin is on. Outside skin to follow. I was told to NOT fill the walls with anything (I had saved my old spa cover top/Styrofoam to use as insulation but was advised against it as my system is NOT water tight like a home's wall. Therefore, the opportunity for all kinds of bad things, mold, bugs, etc could be worse than cold/hot air.)

 

[Waterbug]

500 gal and 5 Koi. Down the road (1 month, 3 months, 6 months, 12 months) you're going to have to get really serious about testing, filters and keeping the pond clean. Or lose fish. The Laguna PressureFlo is fine when a filter isn't actually needed. In 12 months the koi should be 12", that's 5' of Koi. That's a lot for 500 gal. It will take serious filters. I'd be testing water on day one. This is 'A' game stuff. No room for myths and farting around. If these fish are still alive in five years you will be at the apex of the hobby. A feat to be proud of.

I wouldn't worry too much about circulation. In a 500 gal pond it sure doesn't take much. But keeping the pump as high as possible I think is good. If something goes wrong a pump on the bottom can empty a pond pretty fast. But maybe in your case everything is inside the pond so nothing could leak. I would point the pump at the bottom. For 500 gal and 5 Koi you really want water all the water at the bottom to quickly get a shot at the surface. Your fish will need the entire pond.

Direction of current I don't think matters much when no BD. Just watch the fish and make sure they have a place out of the current for resting.

Construction looks good to me. Steel straps in the corners, perfect. The painting the bottoms of the studs and calling that water proofing or whatever...wasn't a good idea imo if it's just paint. Paint will keep water off the wood which is good, but it also keeps water in the wood. That increases rot. Paint is used as part of a complete system, like on a house. Without the roof over hanging the wall water could get in at the top. Building code for example would not allow studs to be painted.

However, I wouldn't bother changing it at this point. It's a risk, but not that big a deal if you're able to keep water off for the most part with sheathing.

I'm not sure if the wood is pressure treated or not. For sure I would make the piece in contact with the concrete PT. You could add that now if it isn't already.

When I torn down my wood frame pond that was on concrete the only rot was the plywood at the bottom. But the rot was pretty bad for just a couple of years and what I thought was a dry condition. I'd keep the ply up off the concrete. If you add new PT at the bottom (still plate) you can offset it into the pond by 3/4" so the ply can sit on top of it. That gives you a flush inside wall all the way to the ground and 1.5" of PT at the bottom.

If you're not going to drill into the concrete and bolt the still plate down I would consider running a galvanized steel strap across the bottom, running under the still plate and up the outside and nailed there. Not sure it's needed, but sure hard to add later. Needed more if in earthquake country. Once that starts bouncing across the patio there could be issues.

I don't think you're getting good advice on the insulation thing. The issue is warm moist air coming in contact with a cooler surface and condensing. The pond is generally going to be cooler than the air, so you'd expect condensation on the surface of the exposed plywood. So if you insulate you should put a vapor barrier on the outside. In winter the pond will generally be warmer than the air and moisture inside the wall will condense on the inside surface of the vapor barrier which isn't good, but that's less of an issue than continuous air coming in from the outside. That's kind of the vapor barrier thing, no perfect choice. I would insulate. It's not just how hot the water gets, it's also the temp swings. 500 gal is not a lot of mass.

I would also lay foam board down on the concrete first, then liner.

If you're sheathing the outside the walls better be water tight. The liner should come over the top and nailed on the outside of the sheathing. You can add a trim piece to cover it. Acts as a roof.

If the walls are left open, studs exposed, then it doesn't matter, but all the wood should be PT in this case if you want this to last more than 5, 10 years. Not sure of your climate. Untreated wood can last a really long time, but it's risky. Can also last a really short time.

Look forward to more pictures. Looks good.

 

[sissy]

My neighbor built a sand bag and left over cement bag pond in his big metal building .
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[outdoork9lady]

Waterbug, thank you for your extensive response. I am in earthquake country, bay area, and yet never considered the strap. Trying to keep things smooth smooth smooth.

The outside will have a 1/4" panel for beautification. The bottom 2x4 frame is made of pre-treated wood. Due to rain, sprinklers, etc, and thought too late to use pretreated studs, decided to give about 4" of the wooden studs some protection from weather. All my skins, inside 3/4" hardwood plywood and outside sheathing (basically decorative1/4"plywood) have been waterproofed.

My bottom/first layer is the thick felt (sorry, at the time of this one finger typing, I forgot the actual name of the product), 2 layers of it, pond grade. Then the membrane is .45mil. The thickest, I think, one can buy as pond quality? Both will be tacked to the top of the stud wall, then the 2x6 redwood cap will be nailed down over it to seal the hold.

My wrought iron trellis will be both decorative and provide shade to almost 1/2 of the pond. My pressure flo filter and I'm thinking of adding a second uv light, will be hidden on the backside of the pond and trellis.

I love the idea of the higher shelf for the pump. I've seen that pump "pour" water out of my pond. I think I will use some of the left over regular wood to build it/them. When they rot, easy and cheap to replace, easy on the membrane, and do not create a health hazard to my fish.

I will have a plant box that will span the pond and the water pumped up, into and out to a weir, will form my waterfall and a small natural filter. For now the plants will float or I can create more shelves. I already test the water weekly and water care.

Trying to figure out how to create a "koi cave". Currently in my small ponds I have "milk cartons" with slate holding them down and shelving plants. They seem to enjoy swimming in and out of the holes. I had to elevate one of them in such a way, to allow the larger ones access.

I also watch them play in the waterfall current and my aerator bubbles, so I want a section of my pond to have a "playground".

I've had some pond lights from forever, thinking of finally breaking the seal and placing them somewhere inside.

I have one HUGE RANT....my city made a water change....I hadn't tested my tap water in about a month or two, as it had always come up aces. I do test my ponds before and after a water change and any time I clean a filter. GAH! My water nitrites were getting worse, my ammonia no change...finally DOH! I thought to test my water, I absolutely didn't think I would see my problem there. Boy was I angry to see my water was coming out at ammonia .5 and nitrite .5 I do add a non-chlorinated treatment to my water. It wasn't enough had to go out and get a nitrite extractor. THAT is what I will be FILLING my pond with, 500 gallons of crap water...any advise? I'm going to put into non chlorine treatment, it does have metal extraction qualities. Wait 2 days, then turn off all my uv and bio filters and add the "good bacteria", wait another couple of days, test and hope its ready for fish.....anything else?

 

[sissy]

Some get the clay pipes ,heavy enough to stay down and get covered in muck so you don't see them .Here we can get clay pipe for 1.35 a foot and they cut it .I have a a 8 inch pipe 24 inches long .Called to find out if they had 12 inch pipe and they do and 2.25 a foot

 

[sissy]

Yu could collect some rain water .Under water lights you may want to give them an extra silicon seal as a lot on here have had there's leak .Also if they are not LED they do throw off a lot of heat and in the winter that may be good but in the summer not so good .I use down lights to shine down on the water so I do not get the glare up in my eyes .

 

[outdoork9lady]

Lots of good advise, thank you Sissy. We are out of the rain water season but caught this website:

http://www.purewaterproducts.com/gardenhosefilters.htm

Anyone have any experience and if so which filter(s) would you get?

 

[sissy]

I use one .I have well water and a whole house filter but here the water has lots of iron in it .
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[outdoork9lady]

Yours was a heck of a lot cheaper and it appears to come with a gauge. Aw well, I just want better water to start with otherwise it might take over a month to do it right an eliminate the nitrites.

 

[outdoork9lady]

My water PH is now crashing! Nitrites 0, nitrates vary from 0-5.0, ammonia varies from .25-.50, however my PH has gone from a beautiful 7.4-7.8 to 6.0 and looking like its dropping.

480 gallons, 2 pressure flo filters, one for 400 gallons and one for 1400, in leu of one larger one (I consolidated 3 small ponds). My small ponds were wonderful! I AM overstocked, but I'm cleaning filters weekly. My UV lights do not appear to be working (water isn't clear, but a bit murky) I have a nice current, 2 waterfalls, and an aerator.

I will be dumping the overgrown feeder goldfish into a friends horse trough. That will free up my lil 80 gal pond to receive 4 shubunkins, until I can find them homes. That means I will have 9 fish in 480 gallons. 3 to be removed as soon as I rehome the 4 feeders and at least 4 shubunkins.

All that said, do 2 filters (if they equaled the same as) do the same job as 1?

 

[Tazz3]

I have a 1000 gallon above ground pond that goes down about three feet in the middle.
We used cement blocks for the shape its oval they work great

 

[Dave 54]

Did you change your mind about that bottom drain Tazz?
You may live to regret not putting one in they make life so much easier on both yourself and your koi and are pretty easy to put in you just have to make sure that it is attached securely to the liner and is well siliconed prior to topping up your pond for the first time.
Its then a simpe matter of draining a percentage of the water each time to flush all the detritys through the system and out to drain install a 4" slide valve prior to the vortex enabling you to shut it off whilst draining your vortex then open it again whilst your doing the water change each time.
Ours makes my life easy having a pair of shot knees rife with chronic arthritis and suffering fibromylgia then toppoing the pond back up via a hose and dechlorinator I can whilst this is happening sit by the pond in good weather or retire indoors should it be inclement weather.
Rather than being stood there with a pond vacuum for hours cleaning the pond bottom.....

rgds

Dave

 

[HTH]

I need to post a video on how to make for an EPDM liner for the cost of a band clamp.