Going for it! phase one 12,000 gallon pond.
- Thread starter GBBUDD
- Start date
Will try to remember to take some before, during and after pics, when we do it.
I believe i mentioned my aquablocks island experiment that i started late in the season last year. the idea was to build an island in the upper pond and have papyrus growing out of it. No soil what so ever just plants on three aquablocks and this way i could see by draining the water exactly how much of a root system one plant would make . curious if it would take multiple years before the plants created a living "spoung" filter through out the entire top of the bog. well the answer with papyrus was 6 months tops. The roots are over three feet long and very dense and like a huge living mat of steel wool. THE FIRST PHOTO IS THE AQUABLOCKS WITH SOME GRAVEL ON TOP the plants were placed directly onto of the aquablocks and pushed a thin layer OF PEA STONE more for decoration around the plants . Well i just tried to pull the blocks apart and they Laughed hysterically at me they were not coming apart. that is not until i broke out the saws all. And thats were the second pic comes in i know it's hard to see but take my word for it after using a sawsall to separator the blocks and cutting the roots apart from one to another. Tomy surprise and you can see it in the pic the roots that were at the back of the island that were not exposed to water or the air are still alive and the roots are still red... Yes we had a mild winter but papyrus is not a plant that can tolerate and feezing temps. i desired to leave the mass of roots in tack and see if it comes back in the spring.
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Got the pond up and running with temp pumps two 3,000 gph and I sealed the leak cumming from under the water fall from the upper pond with was probably allowing a couple hindered gallons an hour to run under the main waterfall instead of over it .
And I installed the log with the large Knot on the small water fall. And i'm loving it the log is almost hollow from one end to the other and is allowing water to seep out at the very end and the moss is really going to thrive.
sorry for the construction fence and the exposed pipes as we are still underconstruction.
And I installed the log with the large Knot on the small water fall. And i'm loving it the log is almost hollow from one end to the other and is allowing water to seep out at the very end and the moss is really going to thrive.
sorry for the construction fence and the exposed pipes as we are still underconstruction.
LOL my problem seems to be giving something time to grow i keep tweaking but i do see a real fence in the future and get rid of the damn orange fencing but my neighbor has grand kids so i have to be a responsible neighbor and make sure his little jewels cant gain access to the pond
I originally thought i would have phases to this blog of the pond build. Well the first phase was going to be the pond build ... check.....The second Phase was going to be the upper pond and the stream ......Check..... Phase three was building the wetland with the snorkel centipede and aquablocks ......Check..... Phase 4 was to build the small backup Pea stone bog.....Check.... Well ... i am thinking it is now time to build the last major piece to the project and thats going to be the negative edge with a 2,000 gallon rain water capture system . While saving money on the town water bill sure sounds good it's going to run over $4,000 now i know i have rocks in my head.... but i estimate in 4 to 5 years it will pay for its self and the piece of mind knowing i can leave the pond for weeks on end without any concerns is well worth it.
@GBBUDD that's one big advantage of the underground rainwater storage. Our pond level never drops - only the level in the rain exchange. We rarely have to add water and not having a skimmer means we don't have to worry during those times of the year when we get major blossom drop off the crabapple or leaves in the fall - they can collect forever on top of the gravel without causing any issues with the pond or pump.
This whole pond thing started for us when we were researching ways to store water for "just in case". We aren't "peppers" per se, but we do like to think through potential issues and come up with some reasonable solutions. My BIL stores water in barrels, but those are A. ugly B. take up space and C. need to be dumped and refilled on a regular basis to keep the water fresh and potable. One day we were sitting in our backyard (we had just installed a new paver patio) and I said to my husband "what about UNDERGROUND water storage"... and he was off to the races. We researched pumps for circulation and for accessing the water and learned that some people put small water features - think bubbling boulders - on top of their rain exchange to keep the water moving. The next thing I knew, we were building a 4000 gallon "water feature" - best decision ever!
This whole pond thing started for us when we were researching ways to store water for "just in case". We aren't "peppers" per se, but we do like to think through potential issues and come up with some reasonable solutions. My BIL stores water in barrels, but those are A. ugly B. take up space and C. need to be dumped and refilled on a regular basis to keep the water fresh and potable. One day we were sitting in our backyard (we had just installed a new paver patio) and I said to my husband "what about UNDERGROUND water storage"... and he was off to the races. We researched pumps for circulation and for accessing the water and learned that some people put small water features - think bubbling boulders - on top of their rain exchange to keep the water moving. The next thing I knew, we were building a 4000 gallon "water feature" - best decision ever!
My concern is i may not be building it large enough while 2000 gallons sounds like a lot it's only 3'x8'x11' and for the feature i have that could be used up pretty quick. Thats roughly only this is being generous adding about 8 " of water across the ponds and bog ,while we rarely have droughts they have become more and more these days . I have room to add more but i am not planning on leaving the entire space open on top but only open /rocked on one end where the negative edge / falls into the side of the block. The top of the system will be covered with epdm. so i keep some of my yard. after all it's 60 aquablocks for the main vault and another 6 for the negative edge collection area. I think i just answered my own question that's what i get for building a larger feature I guess if i want it to be a backup it will need some more storage area.
j.w
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@GBBUDD That will be fun to see when you get that new negative edge project built.
@Lisa K Are peppers and preppers the same or did I miss something?
I guess if we run out of water due to a catastrophe or whatever, we head to the river. I'm not drinking my pond water!
Do you both get your stored rain water from the downspouts off of buildings?
@Lisa K Are peppers and preppers the same or did I miss something?
I guess if we run out of water due to a catastrophe or whatever, we head to the river. I'm not drinking my pond water!
Do you both get your stored rain water from the downspouts off of buildings?
yes all from the roof well that is what doesn't fall directly in the pond. No I am not worried about contaminants from the roofing. yes I gave asphalt shingles however I have seen how long it takes for shingles to degrade half a shingle is aggregate/ stones pressed onto asphalt that tries it best to resist heat. And canvas or fiberglass. Take my word for it fish in any pond in this country have to deal with much worse the mentioned above . next timed you pull up to a parking spot take a good look at the ground all those oils antifreeze and grease far out weight a little asphalt and fiberglass.
No I'm not doing it as a prepper I'm doing it because I travel a lot and it can vary greatly. I have learned my passion keeping fish and eco systems is not second nature to others . when I was in my 20's I asked sis in Law to watch my reef tank all she had to do was turn on the ac if it got hot . when I got back from 2 weeks in florida it smelled like low tide she said she couldn't find the air conditioner we only had 5 windows in the townhouse.
And my planted tank well that's a sore subject I had pretty damn close to where it could be left alone if only needed a little help and that suffered a slow painful death.
so here we are with the pond and the only item left for self sustainability is water this the new reservoir.
The negative edge is shown in blue that will go through the stagnent bog i am going to extend the bog so that it willl be off to the side of the falls /stream and let the water leach over in places. there will be 14' of said stream and falls to a catch pool where the leaves will be suspended in water " easier to remove leaves from water then it is in stone . where the water will then fall over an edge to the dry bed disappearing falls" where the last line of clean out will be before the water goes under ground to 2500 gallon or 1920 still not sure which i will go with yet
HA! I guess my computer didn't like the word "prepper" and fixed it for me! Just now it tried to change it to "preppier"! I am neither a pepper, a prepper, nor preppier!
Drinking the pond water would only happen if I were A. desperate and B. it was filtered. Our rain exchange is filled from rain water that falls in the pond and our sump pump.
@GBBUDD - build it as big as you can is my advice. But as you know - those aquablox aren't cheap!