Mi pawnd rebild tew

[fishin4cars]

looks like you decided to open the bottom up a little more. Not just a trench as in the last pic you posted. I think in the long run your going to be glad you did. That's a heck of a project, but as it's coming along I think we can all see it's going to be a really nice place when your all done! keep up the hard work, and keep on posting. I'm enjoying seeing how it progressing along.

 

[Pond Boy]

Thanks for the update, I enjoyed the pics.

 

[j.w]

Wow monster construction area...........please wear hardhat when entering :lol:
You are really getting into it aren't you :regular_waving_emot
Enjoying watching you work your buns off and me sitting here relaxing
You're doing good and keep on keeping on.........all your hard work will pay off in the end.........sore back, arms, headache, etc. and then voila!!!!.........beauty of a pond build :twisted:

 

[Shdwdrgn]

...and then voila!!! It's time to start putting in the garden!!!

Yeah, it's gonna be awhile yet before I actually get the chance to rest. The good news is that my garden is smaller than my pond.

 

[addy1]

hubby asked me when i was going to wipe out the rest of the grass with gardens! lol have enough to care for, grass is easier unless it is on a slope.

 

[Shdwdrgn]

Well today I finished cutting all my lengths of pipe, including the electrical. I figured out that I can use that long black drain pipe, and it will nicely reach from one of the barrels, across the large pond, and dump into the river. This means that tomorrow I can disconnect the filter that is sitting beside the river, finish gluing all the rest of the pipe together, and pipe the output from one of the barrels across to keep the river running while I build up the wall for the waterfall. I was expecting to do all of that on Monday, and having a couple of days where there would be no circulation on the small pond (that has all the fish in it). This is fantastic because it means not only will I be ahead of things on Monday when we're ready to spread out the liner on the big pond, but that I also do not need to rush finishing the waterfall so that I can get the circulation up and running again.

So tomorrow I will finish gluing together the rest of these pipes, then I can run the water for a few hours to confirm there's no leaks, before filling in the trench. The fish should do just fine when the lack of water flow only lasts a few hours instead of days.

Here's a quick shot where I added the drain to the first barrel today. I dug a hole for the drain to sit in underneath the barrel, and once the barrel is set in position I will fill the hole full of sand so the pipe is well supported.

I did a lot of work with the filtration today. I've got the pipes worked out to put the small bucket up inside the barrel, essentially being supported by the pipes. Since all this pipe-work is contained in the barrel, there's no need to glue anything against leakage, which means that I can tear it all apart later if I change my mind.

And finally, here is the first barrel set in position with the intake and drain pipes coming up the side. It's really surprising, but overall I only have about a 4' head from the pumps to the top of the barrels.

 

[addy1]

Very nice, good pipe work

 

[sissy]

gosh thats some setup plumbing supply store must love you right about now .Guys there must know you on a first name base:lol::lol:

 

[Shdwdrgn]

Yes, they do know me, and my crazy projects. They also know that when I walk in, they usually can't help me, because I'm putting together some weird contraption that they've never seen before Fortunately they also have great pricing, so its not breaking the bank to put all this together.

 

[sissy]

hmmm must call you the crazy guy then and say let him be if he starts putting things together on the floor just block the isle off so no one trips on it .:lol::lol::lol:I think when I go in they just scatter and let the new guy learn the hard way :lol::lol:

 

[Shdwdrgn]

Stick a fork in me, I'm done. My hands are raw and cracked and my body is ready to fall apart. Good thing I won't have time to work on the pond this weekend, maybe I can recover...

So all the pipes are done, the electrical is pulled (but not hooked up), and the trenches are all filled in. Both filter barrels are set in place, and the dirt is packed up around them. I used some of the extra dirt to smooth out the low area in the yard which should help direct rain runoff once I get some new grass growing. So here's another picture of the whole pond area, with the ground fairly cleaned up compares to the last shot...

After the barrels were set in place, I had to fill in about 8" of dirt around them, and rebuild the wall in front of them to support the waterfall bricks. I made ample use of all that clay I dug up, plus some water and a dead-blow hammer to really pack down the clay. On top of that I laid a 2x6 cedar plank and leveled it out. I also had a sprinkler head that needed put up on a 3' pipe so it will clear the top of the filters.

Before filling the trench back in, I sunk a 2' cedar plank into the ground to attach this new electrical outlet to. Makes a solid mounting point for the box, and I can plug in lights or extra pumps here, out of the way.

After moving around the biofilters today, there was a lot of crud in the water. I hope it settles out overnight and gets trapped in the filters, otherwise I may have to do a severe water change to prevent losing any of the little fish.

So Monday I will be working on cutting the carpet to line the large pond, and finishing any other prep-work so we're ready to drop in the liner in the afternoon. I also need to put up a piece of plywood behind the filters so that as I build the waterfall, I can fill the space behind with dirt. I think I'm going to use the liner to form a small pool at the top of the falls, in between the filters, so the dirt-filled area will make a good solid base for that to sit on.

Whew, I'm tired!

 

[addy1]

Wow you have been cranking! That looks great!

Make sure you use the pressure treated plywood, the other thing that would work well would be the concrete board. From what you are saying it sounds like it will be a wet area, dirt etc. But you probably already know that, with all the planning you have done.

 

[DrDave]

Beware when using the PT wood that no runoff from it gets into the pond. They use arsenic and other poisons to treat it. I use a sealer, primer and then paint on my Japanese Bridges to avoid this.

 

[sissy]

The new pressure treated wood is done with vinegar and is safe enough to eat yourself .They have it available in most states now .I would not eat it myself ,but you can tell what it is made of by the look as it is lighter in color than old pressure treated wood and most home depots carry it and state so in that department .They also have one kind now that is treated with baking soda and is not widely available yet

 

[marla]

nice!