Mi pawnd rebild tew

[addy1]

I had lasic done, one eye reads, one eye sees distance. Love it no need for reading glasses.

 

[j.w]

So you have to close one eye to read and close one for distance. Aye matey, me thinks you are a pirate woman................shiver me timbers :yikesu:

 

[addy1]

no your brain takes over and it learns to use the correct eye. I do not even think about how to see.

 

[sissy]

oh no senile too and I thought it was just me .lol

 

[Shdwdrgn]

Wow what a busy day! I'm sore, but happy with the results. Today I finished digging the trench for the electrical, got everything wired up to the breaker box, filled in that trench I worked so hard to dig out, and got the pumps plugged in to the new GFI outlets next to the new pond. Whew! Tomorrow I plan to start digging the river and a trench for the pipes running between the pumps and the filters. Really anxious to get the river bed dug out, because once that is finished, I'll be moving all the smaller fish into the new pond.

And now for the answer to the question I bet you didn't know you asked... When building a biofilter, there is always the issue of how to elevate the swirler pipes off the bottom of the barrel, especially if you want to keep the center open for drainage. Today I found the answer!

These are plastic hangers, used for suspending PVC pipe. Pretty cheap, these were only about $7 for a bag of 10. Used in pairs, crossed over each other, they make quick stands for the pipes...

I used a piece of copper wire, run through the holes in the legs, to hold them together in the X shape. They are a bit tall, standing around 8" off the ground this way, so I plan to cut down the height by a couple inches. The great thing is, they're solid enough to hold up the plastic bio-media (although I don't think they would work for lavarock), and they leave the bottom of the barrel completely uncovered.

 

[addy1]

What a neat idea! Great job shdwdrgn

 

[sissy]

geeze and I have some of those too as the plumber left them behind here after putting in all the flex plumbing for my water lines great idea and if you had to easy to shorten them lol and I looked at them I don't know how many times because he left behind a little over 4 bags of those things dummy me lol

 

[j.w]

Now how clever is that Shdwdrgn :lol:

 

[Shdwdrgn]

We had some rain/snow overnight, and I didn't feel like digging in the mud today, so instead I picked up bits and pieces to run the pipes between the pumps and filters. All of the pipes are 2" PVC.

Here's the head where the two pumps will connect. I figured I would stick a cleanout port here for easy above-ground access, in case I need to run a snake through the lines to clear clogs. You can also see the weatherproof electrical outlet box sitting on the bricks, which will be mounted once I get the large piece of slate for the cave into place.

And here's a quick shot with the pipes laid out. I still have another 5 feet towards the fence, then cut back in behind the pond to the filters. It looks like about 35 feet of pipe once I get everything in place.

 

[sissy]

insulate your pipe if you are burying it .It could save you a headache later.I learned the hard way

 

[sissy]

And I ran a wire along the top of the pipe after I wrapped it with the insulation this way if I ever forgot where it was I could use a metal detector to find it .The insulation I bought at a plumbing supply store it was rubber on one side and a foil paper type stuff on the other side

 

[DrDave]

Thats a great idea sissy.

 

[sissy]

saved me when my pipe broke and could not remember where it was and the insulation was the second go round and just started pulling hoses out I use in the winter now .I was a little gun shy about how lines would work this winter underground so I blew them out with my air compressor and that helped clean the lines too .And thank you DrDave I try to get some ideas once in awhile that work .If they don't work, try and try again , you fail try again my father told me to never give up or you will never succeed .right

 

[addy1]

totally agree sissy try try again

 

[Shdwdrgn]

sissy - if the insulation was foil, then why bother with the wire? Foil is metal too.

For some reason I didn't even think about insulation, however I might have just the thing! When I raided the carpet company's dumpster, I pulled out a couple rolls of carpet padding. This stuff looks practically new, and its the rubbery type, not the foam type. I could cut that into pieces and wrap a couple times around each pipe before I drop them in the ground.

So the current plan is to get the first length of pipe in the ground, then the river will cut diagonally over the top of the pipe. The ends of that short stretch of pipe will be in just the right position so when I finish digging the river, I can elbow the end of the pipe up into the river bed, and see how the water flow works out.

Having fish already in the old pond is making the project harder, because I have to plan each step so I always have a place to keep the fish. Catching the koi is going to be the worst part. My net isn't big enough for them, and fishing nets are such a wide mesh that I'm afraid of catching their gills. My best plan so far is to sink a 5-gallon bucket, chase them in with the net, then hold the net over the bucket as I carry each fish to their temporary home (and then do it all over again once the big pond is ready).