CW's Back Yard Water Garden Begins!

[combatwombat]

And it may be an optical illusion but is that berm sloping toward the pond as much as the photo makes it appear?

Yes, there’s a bit of a slope there that I still need to correct. The photo does make it look a lot bigger than it actually is, though.

 

[DanielleB]

In the meantime, what do you all think about adding just a touch of dye to the water?

Have you seen this one?

 

[combatwombat]

All quiet on the pond for now. Patched all remaining liner leaks and letting the cycling continue. Big reduction lately in surface/clinging algae. Water still has a strong green tint to it. No plants yet, so to be expected. We still swim regularly, but are careful not to get the water in our mouths/eyes.

Have had TWO tiny power blips in the last week (one created by me) that resulted in my stupid DIY priming pot lid blowing off the suction pipe and spilling 600+ gallons before I noticed and corrected.

Fixed that today by simply eliminating it. I have 1000 gallons of headwater in the bog to fill the suction pipe with the simple turn of a valve and a tee with a threaded cap further up the line if I ever needed to fill with a hose.

The majority of my time this week has been installing a 100 amp sub panel near the patio that will power the hot tub/pond/landscape lights and convenience outlets. Will also allow me to shorten/tidy a few other circuits that are haphazardly run halfway around the exterior of the house.

 

[combatwombat]

@DanielleB: I did see that!

 

[combatwombat]

Random electrical lesson that I learned long ago but still manage to forget: don’t try to pull a 1” cable through 1” holes. You will be miserable.

Should have consulted @poconojoe.

 

[Jhn]

Random electrical lesson that I learned long ago but still manage to forget: don’t try to pull a 1” cable through 1” holes. You will be miserable.

Should have consulted @poconojoe.

That isn’t an electrical lesson that is a life lesson.

 

[GBBUDD]

Over size oversize and oversiz again, any conduit pull in an extra and leave a p line. And lube the heck out of it.e again .

 

[combatwombat]

Over size oversize and oversiz again, any conduit pull in an extra and leave a p line. And lube the heck out of it.e again .

For sure. No conduit here, though. Just pulling through holes in joists. Never worked with cable this big before. Only had a 1” paddle bit. Figured I could make it work. Nope! Forgot I had a hole saw kit!

 

[combatwombat]

API testing kit showed up today and took first tests carefully following all directions. PH is 8.2 and ammonia/nitrite/nitrate all reading 0. Will test tap water soon to see what’s in it.

Will continue to test weekly until I don’t care anymore.

Thinking I’ll try to find a way to test for human pathogens occasionally since there’s no chlorine and the family has been taking a lot of dips.

Pond has been running over a month now. Still no fish but assume the cycle is complete? Frogs seem to have moved on (or at least gone quiet) but their offspring are alive and well. Tons of water bugs, too.

Water has a green tint to it. Assume that’s algae consuming the nitrates and will continue either until fall or until I get a lot of plants established.

The irises have looked better. Not sure if the algae is eating all their food or if they just need more time to establish. They’re still in pots. I should probably find them a permanent home.

I can’t keep V (daughter) out of the pond. She listens and behaves safely but wants to “swim” (in her life jacket) constantly. Up until a few weeks ago that meant Mom/Dad going in with her because she was too afraid to go by herself.

Last weekend, a 6-year-old came and hopped in with V. Suddenly, V couldn’t care less about mom and dad. She’s 100% comfortable in the water by herself now now. And starting swim lessons next week. Just needed an older kid to help her gain some confidence.

They really put my rock work and other construction details to the test, including an unsanctioned cannon ball from the older kid.

So far, all tests passed with flying colors. Was initially worried about waves from swimming going over the liner, but the way I’ve constructed my edging allows the large rocks to break the waves before getting to liner’s edge. Works great.

Otherwise, life has been a little hectic lately and progress has been slow, but having the pond functional has been great stress relief for all of us.

Property still looks like a bomb went off and I feel a lot of pressure to get everything finished, but at least I can relax to the sound of the flowing water as I work.

Really looking forward to getting the hot tub out of my way so I can finish the patio edge and, thus, finish the near side pond edge. That’s held up right now by work on electrical, which is getting closer to finished. A lot of complex code to follow when you’re installing 100 amps, a pond, a hot tub, and an outdoor shower all in close proximity. Going slowly and making sure I get it right so nothing has to be redone.

Thanks to everyone for following along and offering help. Lots more still to come.

Oh, and finally got some “floating shade” on the water.

 

[bagsmom]

This is just fantastic! I am at the stage you are now - trying to get everything in the yard surrounding the pond cleaned up. It isn't as fun as building the pond!

 

[GBBUDD]

API testing kit showed up today and took first tests carefully following all directions. PH is 8.2 and ammonia/nitrite/nitrate all reading 0. Will test tap water soon to see what’s in it.

Will continue to test weekly until I don’t care anymore.

Thinking I’ll try to find a way to test for human pathogens occasionally since there’s no chlorine and the family has been taking a lot of dips.

Pond has been running over a month now. Still no fish but assume the cycle is complete? Frogs seem to have moved on (or at least gone quiet) but their offspring are alive and well. Tons of water bugs, too.

Water has a green tint to it. Assume that’s algae consuming the nitrates and will continue either until fall or until I get a lot of plants established.

The irises have looked better. Not sure if the algae is eating all their food or if they just need more time to establish. They’re still in pots. I should probably find them a permanent home.

View attachment 152886

I can’t keep V (daughter) out of the pond. She listens and behaves safely but wants to “swim” (in her life jacket) constantly. Up until a few weeks ago that meant Mom/Dad going in with her because she was too afraid to go by herself.

Last weekend, a 6-year-old came and hopped in with V. Suddenly, V couldn’t care less about mom and dad. She’s 100% comfortable in the water by herself now now. And starting swim lessons next week. Just needed an older kid to help her gain some confidence.

They really put my rock work and other construction details to the test, including an unsanctioned cannon ball from the older kid.

So far, all tests passed with flying colors. Was initially worried about waves from swimming going over the liner, but the way I’ve constructed my edging allows the large rocks to break the waves before getting to liner’s edge. Works great.

Otherwise, life has been a little hectic lately and progress has been slow, but having the pond functional has been great stress relief for all of us.

Property still looks like a bomb went off and I feel a lot of pressure to get everything finished, but at least I can relax to the sound of the flowing water as I work.

Really looking forward to getting the hot tub out of my way so I can finish the patio edge and, thus, finish the near side pond edge. That’s held up right now by work on electrical, which is getting closer to finished. A lot of complex code to follow when you’re installing 100 amps, a pond, a hot tub, and an outdoor shower all in close proximity. Going slowly and making sure I get it right so nothing has to be redone.

Thanks to everyone for following along and offering help. Lots more still to come.

Oh, and finally got some “floating shade” on the water.

View attachment 152887

couldn't figure it out something looked like it was missing yet it was looking good. Then it hit me , it's not the same without barney in the picture

 

[GBBUDD]

This is just fantastic! I am at the stage you are now - trying to get everything in the yard surrounding the pond cleaned up. It isn't as fun as building the pond!

nor is weeding.

On the project im working on me mowed down a bunch of bamboo a abutter had planted , and a month and a half latter this stuff was came right back with vengeance . it is now 8 to 10 feet tall in 45 days

 

[combatwombat]

couldn't figure it out something looked like it was missing yet it was looking good. Then it hit me , it's not the same without barney in the picture

Miss him a lot. Think he had a hard time adjusting when he went home. His dad told me he immediately went in the back yard and took out the Comcast line. Trying to recreate some of our time together, I think. Foster system is hard on an excavator.

 

[combatwombat]

nor is weeding.

On the project im working on me mowed down a bunch of bamboo a abutter had planted , and a month and a half latter this stuff was came right back with vengeance . it is now 8 to 10 feet tall in 45 days

I used to fret over our bamboo, wondering if I was giving it enough water or if the extreme weather we've had was harming it. Then I remembered that most people work really hard to kill the stuff and still fail, so ours will probably be fine.

Bamboo really isn't that hard to eradicate, though. Behaves the same as grass since it is a grass. If you keep mowing it down and don't let it photosynthesize, it'll die sure as any plant will. The problem is when it's on a property line and you don't have access to the whole grove. You'll never get it unless you can regularly mow down the whole patch.

 

[GBBUDD]

we used a fecon head / a bobcat with chains on a rotating drum anything alive will be ripped to shreds anything dead will be ripped to shred's