Modern styled koi pond and pondless waterfall plans

[vestaviascott]

Here's an overlay to better illustrate the guide lines purpose:

 

[vestaviascott]

Here is a shot of one of the 4 inside corners after fastening with a hand clamp for temporary hold. I'm going to try to pre-fold all 4 corners and use hand clamps to hold the folds until we have the liner placed into the pond.

 

[moby]

Neat! Can't wait for the next instalment

BTW, in one of your first posts in this thread, you mentioned you 'wanted your fish to stay small', simple answer is....they won't! All fish will grow given time, as lots of ppl have found out and had problems ending up in making ponds bigger, upgrading their filter and pump systems etc etc. I know, I've been there! Believe me, even a shoal of small goldies will turn into a breeding pack of larger goldies in a relatively short space of time. Admittedly goldfish don't attain the size of Koi, but they can get to over 12" easily, not counting their tails as fish are measured by body size only and not including their tail length.

My fish seem to grow tremendously during the winter months, I don't think they actually do, maybe it's just because they're not that visible and I don't go out to them every day so I forget what size they are. Spring comes, and good grief, they've turned into a shoal of huge monsters of the deep!

As for other pond varieties, this is what's available in the U.K., (without going into the other types which are generally sturgeons, sterlets, tench etc. as they're generally dark in colour and not that often seen, either for sale or seen when actually in your pond due to them being bottom feeders and dark in colour).
The chubby fancy guys with double tails or other odd adornments stay shorter than goldies say 6" max. The fancies don't swim as fast as the sleek types due to their bulbous bodies and split tail arrangement.
Comets which are like goldfish with extra long but single tails, also don't grow quite as large as regular goldfish, they are often orange and white.
Shubunkins are calico/nacreous scaled goldfish and can get to the similar size as a goldfish. They're blue/black/white/red in all kinds of combos. You can also get some with long single tails too, like a comet shubunkin.
Orfe come in blue or gold types and can also get very large.
...and goldfish also have yellow types too.

 

[vestaviascott]

Thanks Moby, not having had pond fish before, I have no idea about growth rates. The pond is limited by code to a depth no more than 2 feet in order not have require a perimeter fence. It is 4 foot wide by 10 foot long (600 gallons).

 

[moby]

I wasn't aware of this code you mention till I read about it in another US ponders thread. We don't have anything like that over here, we can build ponds as deep as we wish, I have no gates or front fence on my property either, a drystone wall separates me from my neighbour on one side and shrubs with open spaces in between on my other boundary.

 

[vestaviascott]

An update on my pond project...

The liner is in, pump is in with temporary tubing (one continuous clear 1" tube with no fittings for bends yet). I will be replacing this with a black tube with 90 degree fittings to keep things clean and unseen.

The fountain is up as well and the flow over the fountain reel ends appears to be near perfect form. The 750 ghp pump should be giving about 1.5 water changes per hour (500 gallon pond @9x4x2)

Added a couple hearty lilies (one white bloomer, one unknown)

Still left to do:

1) Fix a leaky corner fold that's causing my water level to be lower than desired

2) Add more rocks to the fountain basin

3) Stucco coat over cinder block fountain walls

4) Secure paver steps

5) Finalize pump tubing and run a new electrical line and receptacle for pond (currently running pump plug to the porch plugs).

6) Add fish

 

[vestaviascott]

I'm considering checking out an inexpensive solar light kit for illuminating the pond at night. Cheap enough that I don't really care if it doesn't work out but it just may. Thoughts? Only thing I'm not sure about is the color temperature is "daylight". I think I may prefer a warm white.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XJTWXYX/

 

[qclabrat]

you mentioned early of only having 4 hrs of light, not much time to charge the solar cells for the light to stay on for too long

 

[moby]

Very modern with clean lines, it matches the style of your house and garden well, it would look totally out of place in my garden and vice versa no doubt!
One thing sprung to mind when reading job #3 in your list. I can see that the concrete blocks are absorbing the water, what will you use to render them? I would imagine it will it need a waterproofing agent to be added. Don't think the water level at the base of the blocks is deep, so not a great deal will be in contact with the render, but would it need to be a fish friendly product, and if you don't waterproof it, will the lime leach out of the render and affect the pH over time? Just a thought.

 

[vestaviascott]

Very modern with clean lines, it matches the style of your house and garden well, it would look totally out of place in my garden and vice versa no doubt!
One thing sprung to mind when reading job #3 in your list. I can see that the concrete blocks are absorbing the water, what will you use to render them? I would imagine it will it need a waterproofing agent to be added. Don't think the water level at the base of the blocks is deep, so not a great deal will be in contact with the render, but would it need to be a fish friendly product, and if you don't waterproof it, will the lime leach out of the render and affect the pH over time? Just a thought.

Good points. I'll need to research all of that. The fountain basin is holding appx 1/4 to 1/2 inch of water at any given time before it drains over into the pond.

 

[sissy]

looks like a long enough wire could you put the panel up near the roof line or some where will it will get more sun .Warm white with modern look may look like someone peed in your pond .Sorry for the reference to pee ,but that is the reason I am changing the bulbs out on my driveway lights looks terrible

 

[vestaviascott]

Apparently I miscalculated or misstated my daily sun on this side of the house. The pond starts getting partial sun around 10am and lasts until around 6 before it goes behind trees on opposite side. We already have several solar landscape lights that go well into the night. No issues there.

 

[Usman]

Neat! Can't wait for the next instalment

BTW, in one of your first posts in this thread, you mentioned you 'wanted your fish to stay small', simple answer is....they won't! All fish will grow given time, as lots of ppl have found out and had problems ending up in making ponds bigger, upgrading their filter and pump systems etc etc. I know, I've been there! Believe me, even a shoal of small goldies will turn into a breeding pack of larger goldies in a relatively short space of time. Admittedly goldfish don't attain the size of Koi, but they can get to over 12" easily, not counting their tails as fish are measured by body size only and not including their tail length.

My fish seem to grow tremendously during the winter months, I don't think they actually do, maybe it's just because they're not that visible and I don't go out to them every day so I forget what size they are. Spring comes, and good grief, they've turned into a shoal of huge monsters of the deep!

As for other pond varieties, this is what's available in the U.K., (without going into the other types which are generally sturgeons, sterlets, tench etc. as they're generally dark in colour and not that often seen, either for sale or seen when actually in your pond due to them being bottom feeders and dark in colour).
The chubby fancy guys with double tails or other odd adornments stay shorter than goldies say 6" max. The fancies don't swim as fast as the sleek types due to their bulbous bodies and split tail arrangement.
Comets which are like goldfish with extra long but single tails, also don't grow quite as large as regular goldfish, they are often orange and white.
Shubunkins are calico/nacreous scaled goldfish and can get to the similar size as a goldfish. They're blue/black/white/red in all kinds of combos. You can also get some with long single tails too, like a comet shubunkin.
Orfe come in blue or gold types and can also get very large.
...and goldfish also have yellow types too.

i think his pond shud b ok with goldfishes , they dont grow that quick it will take several years and rarely they become huge over 12 , mine still majority under 8 . it also depends on gene , the more its refined good colours and fins the lesser they may grow , more raw fish will grow bigger , shubunken sarasa wud do well i guess , ye they will breed within few months then he will need to do smthing with fry

 

[Usman]

An update on my pond project...

The liner is in, pump is in with temporary tubing (one continuous clear 1" tube with no fittings for bends yet). I will be replacing this with a black tube with 90 degree fittings to keep things clean and unseen.

The fountain is up as well and the flow over the fountain reel ends appears to be near perfect form. The 750 ghp pump should be giving about 1.5 water changes per hour (500 gallon pond @9x4x2)

Added a couple hearty lilies (one white bloomer, one unknown)

Still left to do:

1) Fix a leaky corner fold that's causing my water level to be lower than desired

2) Add more rocks to the fountain basin

3) Stucco coat over cinder block fountain walls

4) Secure paver steps

5) Finalize pump tubing and run a new electrical line and receptacle for pond (currently running pump plug to the porch plugs).

6) Add fish

thnx for the update ur among few who started a thread and kept us informed till end u deserve award
I loved the end result its same as u have planed , hardwork paid off nice modern neat look congrats! . u will add more pebles ? i was wondering how wil u circulate water behind the wall if ur using gravel as filter there .
will plastering or coating these bricks will solve the absorbing water look?

 

[vestaviascott]

thnx for the update ur among few who started a thread and kept us informed till end u deserve award
I loved the end result its same as u have planed , hardwork paid off nice modern neat look congrats!

Thanks Usman. And especially for all your suggestions along the way. There is still more work to be done, but I do have the beginnings of a functional water feature that I'm hoping brings many years of enjoyment for my family.

U will add more pebles ?

I will be adding more pebbles. They are very expensive (Mexican beach pebbles) so I'm just using what I already had on hand. I have to order more to complete the finishing.

i was wondering how wil u circulate water behind the wall if ur using gravel as filter there.

The water is driven through a 1" rubber tubing from the pump and up to the upper basin, along the back of the fountain wall and into a hole in the block. then bends 90 degrees upward where it is routed up through the cavity in the block and into a cutout at the corner intersection of the aluminum fountain channel.. In terms of circulation from the fountain basin, there is only gravity.

will plastering or coating these bricks will solve the absorbing water look?

I expect so. More to come!