- Joined
- Sep 19, 2024
- Messages
- 3
- Reaction score
- 5
- Location
- Olympic Peninsula
- Hardiness Zone
- 8b
- Country
Ahoy!
I have a pond and stream at my house that was built by the previous owner. When I moved in the pond had been long-abandoned, so over the past year I have rehabilitated it as best I can. As I've learned more about ponds and pond ecosystems, I have recognized several major issues that need to be addressed:
Basic issues
----
* No filtration, aside from my awesome above-ground rubbermaid tub
* All of the waterfalls leak, making it impossible to run the whole system
* The pond is excavated like a cereal bowl, so there are no ledges for marginals or wetland plants. Everything slides into the middle.
* No skimmer or intake bay, so everything that falls in the pond stays in the pond
* Shallow. The lower pond is the largest and the deepest: a respectable 21' wide, but only 14" deep at the center.
Aesthetic issues
----
* This thing is overly man-made looking. Pond aesthetics are subjective, but to me the border stones, perfect roundness of the pools, and the identical small falls between pools all make it feel disappointingly fake.
I planned to excavate and re-build the whole pond system in a way that directly addresses all of the above. After calling 811, I found that two utility lines go under the current bottom pond, so I could not go deeper there -- I had to move the large bottom pond to a new location
Plan highlights
----
* big bog filter. Thinking of a hybrid Ozponds bog filter using upcycled barrels and a plastic culvert, coupled with a 2x4 rectangle of AquaBlox laying on top a la Modern Design Aquascaping. The filter will be at least 6' x 5' and about 3'+ deep of AquaBlox + rock.
* multiple pumps. one lower-volume 24/7 pump will run the bog filter which feeds the lower pond. A possible second pump would run a small bog filter 24/7 at the top of the stream. Modern Design Aquascaping recommends about 90-125 gph per block, which I'll surpass ever so slightly for the big bog with a 1200gph pump. Should be alright. Upper pump would be maybe half of that, and I am planning to sink a 55gal barrel into the ground for that bog. A final higher-volume pump will bypass the bog, it's there only to put lots of water through the whole the stream system. I am considering only turning on the big pump during the day to save 600w or whatever overnight.
* intake bay. Thinking of submerging 4 AquaBlox here so I can shrink the surface area without reducing volume. This would get something like 12" of rock on top of the blocks so it acts as a manual pre-filter
- Deeper! 5' in the middle of the bottom pond. 4' (at least) in the bog filter. around 4' in the intake bay. Lots more resistant to temperature swings.
* Plant shelves and space for marginals
* Re-work edges with boulders and mixed aggregate up to 3-man size rocks
* 2 new falls: at the top of the stream return to the top pond, and one from the bog filter to main pond.
I have attached a couple of scale drawings, where 1 square is 1 square foot.
A. pond system to scale as it existed before any updates
B. pond system plan, version ... 15? who knows. many many revisions
I also attached some before images with the original pond system, and two images taken from the same general location that show before and current progress.
1. Earliest image of the pond
2. Initial state after first full clean
3. Finding that my Rubbermaid Falls™ is not cutting it. Also, all stream ponds are drained because they all leak
4. View from above of the whole system
5. Day one of rebuild
6. Current state (more or less) of rebuild. Notice the temporary relocation of the bridge.
I have a pond and stream at my house that was built by the previous owner. When I moved in the pond had been long-abandoned, so over the past year I have rehabilitated it as best I can. As I've learned more about ponds and pond ecosystems, I have recognized several major issues that need to be addressed:
Basic issues
----
* No filtration, aside from my awesome above-ground rubbermaid tub
* All of the waterfalls leak, making it impossible to run the whole system
* The pond is excavated like a cereal bowl, so there are no ledges for marginals or wetland plants. Everything slides into the middle.
* No skimmer or intake bay, so everything that falls in the pond stays in the pond
* Shallow. The lower pond is the largest and the deepest: a respectable 21' wide, but only 14" deep at the center.
Aesthetic issues
----
* This thing is overly man-made looking. Pond aesthetics are subjective, but to me the border stones, perfect roundness of the pools, and the identical small falls between pools all make it feel disappointingly fake.
I planned to excavate and re-build the whole pond system in a way that directly addresses all of the above. After calling 811, I found that two utility lines go under the current bottom pond, so I could not go deeper there -- I had to move the large bottom pond to a new location
Plan highlights
----
* big bog filter. Thinking of a hybrid Ozponds bog filter using upcycled barrels and a plastic culvert, coupled with a 2x4 rectangle of AquaBlox laying on top a la Modern Design Aquascaping. The filter will be at least 6' x 5' and about 3'+ deep of AquaBlox + rock.
* multiple pumps. one lower-volume 24/7 pump will run the bog filter which feeds the lower pond. A possible second pump would run a small bog filter 24/7 at the top of the stream. Modern Design Aquascaping recommends about 90-125 gph per block, which I'll surpass ever so slightly for the big bog with a 1200gph pump. Should be alright. Upper pump would be maybe half of that, and I am planning to sink a 55gal barrel into the ground for that bog. A final higher-volume pump will bypass the bog, it's there only to put lots of water through the whole the stream system. I am considering only turning on the big pump during the day to save 600w or whatever overnight.
* intake bay. Thinking of submerging 4 AquaBlox here so I can shrink the surface area without reducing volume. This would get something like 12" of rock on top of the blocks so it acts as a manual pre-filter
- Deeper! 5' in the middle of the bottom pond. 4' (at least) in the bog filter. around 4' in the intake bay. Lots more resistant to temperature swings.
* Plant shelves and space for marginals
* Re-work edges with boulders and mixed aggregate up to 3-man size rocks
* 2 new falls: at the top of the stream return to the top pond, and one from the bog filter to main pond.
I have attached a couple of scale drawings, where 1 square is 1 square foot.
A. pond system to scale as it existed before any updates
B. pond system plan, version ... 15? who knows. many many revisions
I also attached some before images with the original pond system, and two images taken from the same general location that show before and current progress.
1. Earliest image of the pond
2. Initial state after first full clean
3. Finding that my Rubbermaid Falls™ is not cutting it. Also, all stream ponds are drained because they all leak
4. View from above of the whole system
5. Day one of rebuild
6. Current state (more or less) of rebuild. Notice the temporary relocation of the bridge.
Attachments
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