Going for it! phase one 12,000 gallon pond.

[GBBUDD]

That's gonna be some bog @GBBUDD !

When we built our pond, one of my jobs was assembling the Aquablox - we use about 40 total. Took me a bit to figure them out, but once I got rolling I was an Aquablox assembly line!

I love the look of big boulders in a pond build. We use mostly two and three man (and sometimes woman!) boulders in our pond. I think smaller boulders are fine for smaller ponds, but if you're building a big pond the scale is better when they are bigger.

Love love love your dog! Is he a swimmer? We had a Lab who would have been in our pond in a heartbeat if we had had it when he was still alive!

Did you say 40 as is forty, One after 39? How big is your bog? I only used 15 and a lot of large rock. in all it's almost 6 feet deep with a 24" drain pipe that was pitched to the opposite end of the feed where the snorkel is a foot lower and the sides are filled with 8 to 12" round river rock that was brought up to the top of the centipede where a thin layer of 3 to 5" was placed to fill in the voids and then a layer of 1 to 2" to flush up the top so the aqua blocks would have a level base an other layer 1 to 2" about 4 inches thick with a good foot and a half of 3/4 so they called it nice round and clean upper Delaware river rock that had 3/8" to 3/4" took me basically 20 hours to place the snorkel and centipede and fill it with all the rock and i'm still not done as I have to raise the sides on the mafia blocks. an start excavating for the stream.


He loves the water both our dogs do its been a challenge keeping them out for now as the yard is all dirt and they can silt up the pond and quick. BUT the best part is watching the golden watch the fish he lays at the edge of the pond with his head an inch above th water line as he watches the fish it's comical.

I have to admit I surprised myself the over all design and the large boulders how it all came out the one thing I didn't want to see that I saw in video after video was a string of pearls as someone called it all round river rock the same basic size in a row and for the most part in a circle a ring in side of a ring at different depths

 

[Lisak1]

Yup - strand of pearls. Definitely not something you'd see in nature.

And yes - 40 blocks. We have a 1000 gallon rain exchange (that was 32 blocks), plus the bog, plus a pondless waterfall. Lots of blocks!

 

[GBBUDD]

Yup - strand of pearls. Definitely not something you'd see in nature.

And yes - 40 blocks. We have a 1000 gallon rain exchange (that was 32 blocks), plus the bog, plus a pondless waterfall. Lots of blocks!

I have already ran a pipe from the house to the garage circling the pond for a rain collecting system but I am leaning toward a cistern a 1700 gallon is in 1,500 dollars if I did two, that would be a easy 3,000 gallon with no rubber felt or aqaublox which would be about half the amount of work and close to half on price. But that's a way's away at this point still have too much to do.

 

[Lisak1]

We love our rain exchange. It keeps the pond at the same level all the time. And when it rains I know I'm storing up extra water for the dry periods. I wish we had built it double or even triple the size. But the aquablox would have been a bit pricey! Not sure why they are so expensive - they're just plastic. Proprietary product I guess.

 

[GBBUDD]

We love our rain exchange. It keeps the pond at the same level all the time. And when it rains I know I'm storing up extra water for the dry periods. I wish we had built it double or even triple the size. But the aquablox would have been a bit pricey! Not sure why they are so expensive - they're just plastic. Proprietary product I guess.

I'm trying to figure out how to draw from the main drain the skimmer and a rain collection system all at the same time I suppose if I have a stream as a negative edge over flow leading out of the pond. And have it disappear to a " pondless waterfall" idea That should keep the water level a constant in the pond, andd keep water circulating in the reservoir

 

[Lisak1]

You nailed it @GBBUDD - that's precisely what we have. The negative edge flows out of the pond into a "pondless" gravel area (the rain exchange). The pump lives in a vault in the rain exchange. Water gets pumped back up through the bog and down the waterfall.

Our first initial thought about building a pond came from a desire to store water. We aren't big "Preppers" but we do like the idea of self-sufficiency and planning for emergency. As we researched methods for water storage (big 50 gallons drums in the basement that need to be dumped and refilled every few months? No thanks!) we hit on the idea of underground water storage to capture rain water. Then we read that you need to keep the water circulating and voila! A pond was born! With a simple filtration system we know that we would always have a water source if a dire need arose (barring environmental contamination that a filter couldn't handle of course!).

 

[GBBUDD]

The negative edge flows out of the pond into a "pondless" gravel area (the rain exchange). The pump lives in a vault in the rain exchange. Water gets pumped back up through the bog and down the waterfall.

.

self sufficient is why I am looking at the rain capture have a pump pushing only 3,000 gph would create a nice little stream running out of the pond and it would be just enough to keep the tank refreshed but not to quickly as the longer the water is underground between the large bog and the rain capture i'm betting any water born algae will have met it's match. thus when I travel i'm hoping an automatic feeder is all I will need to keep the pond and it's occupants without any intervention. well that's the theory any ways

 

[GBBUDD]

Well the fish have been in the pond two weeks now and i'm not sure who is enjoying the pond more my wife and I or the dogs. I'll let you make your own opinioun

https://youtu.be/IoFt9tTZ5R4

 

[GBBUDD]

Not sure who is enjoying the pond more My wife an I or the dogs, i'll let you be the judge.

 

[j.w]

It's the dogs pond now and nobody is taking it away as it is going to be guarded every second of the day!

 

[ShawnInfirmity]

@GBBUDD your pond looks better and better every time you post something. Keep it up, it's going to be amazing!

 

[addy1]

One happy dog!

 

[GBBUDD]

@GBBUDD your pond looks better and better every time you post something. Keep it up, it's going to be amazing!

@GBBUDD your pond looks better and better every time you post something. Keep it up, it's going to be amazing!

The bog is 75% complete the stream has been excavated. The attached photo is light blue the stream that's excavated leading to the pond where it will branch off to two falls, the green is the bog and the dark blue will be the final phase a zero gravity edge that will go to the rain collection tank that will be a minimum of 1500 gallons to 3, 000. I hope to have the system up and running in 2 weeks

gallon max.

 

[CrazyLittleScooby]

The bog is 75% complete the stream has been excavated. The attached photo is light blue the stream that's excavated leading to the pond where it will branch off to two falls, the green is the bog and the dark blue will be the final phase a zero gravity edge that will go to the rain collection tank that will be a minimum of 1500 gallons to 3, 000. I hope to have the system up and running in 2 weeks View attachment 111396 gallon max.

Wow. My little 220 gallon pond is 54 times smaller than this 12,000 gallon pond.

 

[GBBUDD]

Wow. My little 220 gallon pond is 54 times smaller than this 12,000 gallon pond.

My last fish venture was only 90 gallons careful it gets addicting