My Pond Project

[Lisak1]

@Pond skipper - as you noted, this thread is months old. Not sure you'll get an answer from the OP. But I agree with you - that math is definitely sketchy!

 

[Mmathis]

Hey there, @Pond skipper! Why not go over to introductions and let us know something about yourself! I enjoy @water bug. Wish he still posted regularly!

 

[Madsilverfox]

1***)Currently my plan is to use the right hand side which is shaded to design and build a garden pond approx 5ft by 4ft by 3ft deep, in a basic kidney/oval shape. *****

2)***** If my pond is averaging at 5*4*3 = 60,000lts and the pump is 4000 lts/hr, that means the entire pond contents gets circulated every 15 hours, I hope thats right!, All averages I know but is that enough of a circulation?*****


Just been reading this thread due to waterbugs participating in it .. And I know I'm late to the party... it looks like a good project however, and maybe I'm missing something here because no one else has mentioned it but I keep looking at your volume calculations that you are basing the pump etc. on. ..5 ft x 4ft x 3 ft... From my understanding through on line research, My calculations give that a water volume of 450 gal . (5x4x3x7.5=450gal) I tried converting feet to metres and also gal to litres and I can get close to your 60,000 litres. However from your pictures the pond appears to be more likely 5 ft than 5 metres am I desperately wrong in my calculations or my perspective of the pics or is my formula not correct?

Hi,

Sorry not been logged into this for ages! Yes I think I admitted somewhere along the line those calculations were way out. Here is a very recent view of pond

 

[Pond skipper]

Hi,

Sorry not been logged into this for ages! Yes I think I admitted somewhere along the line those calculations were way out. Here is a very recent view of pond

Ok yeS I only read about 3 or 4 pages and hadn't seen anyone say anything about it... So I was just wondering if it was yours or my math that was out of whack...It looks great and looks like the skimmer is doing a fine job.. I'm still fighting with my skimmer.. works great for about 8-10 hours and then the bucket is empty and pump is sucking air and I have to top up pond again. I'm still waiting for the plants to grow and start hiding the liner.. I'll try and add a picture here but I just joined today so don't know much about posting yet

 

[Madsilverfox]

Wow its really nice well done. Have you pinpointed where your loosing water from? For the skimmer to be empty so quickly means you have a sizeable leak somewhere which you need to find asap!

Mine is not without some troubles similar. I top it up about every week by a few inches depending if its been raining or not. Lately on hot sunny days Id keep an eye on water level every 4 days and add a maybe 100 litres or so at a guess. I know where im lossing water and thats why i keep the adjustable pump ticking on low as I dont loose much that way. Of course for bbqs it gets the full flush and top up it looks brilliant and the skimmer does a great job there for me. I have lights still to install but the other half has taken all my plug spaces

 

[Pond skipper]

I have a friend that owns a land scaping company and does quite a bit of pond work he hasn't actually seen my pond yet but in conversations he has suggested it could be evaporation due to the waterfall.. not sure if that would account for the amount of loss but I don't see anywhere else it's going.. I still have to set my waterfall rocks in place with pond foam so I may be losing a bit there.. I'm just afraid to mess with the waterfall because I have a water path that I really like.. lol

 

[Pond skipper]

Thanks, it's still a work in progress, but then I guess they all are, forever lol .
I couldn't go as deep as I wanted due to all the tree roots... So I used the dirt from the excavation to build up all around the edges.. hence the big bump all the way round.. it's 18x6x 1.5 - 2 at the deepest

 

[Madsilverfox]

11 Fish doing well

 

[Lisak1]

Did you ever tell us how big the pond is? I fear you're overstocked with fish.

 

[Tara]

You're pond is lovely. Where in Ireland are you?

 

[Madsilverfox]

Did you ever tell us how big the pond is? I fear you're overstocked with fish.

Hi Lisa, It measures 5ft wide 7ft long about 18inches deep to about 12 inches at shallow end. Iv worked it out to about 300 gallons, not including the water from skimmer and the 150 litre filter and the small water well in the stream. It is not going to hold the koi forever but I think its ok for 11 fish, the water is crystal clear and the plants are thriving. The fish seem happy and friendly and always approach for food... im thinking of adding a small group of danios to it.

 

[Madsilverfox]

You're pond is lovely. Where in Ireland are you?

Kildare

 

[Lisak1]

It is not going to hold the koi forever but I think its ok for 11 fish

300 gallons may be enough for 11 goldfish with good filtration, but those 11 will soon become 30 then 70 then... Adding more fish seems like a risky proposition. And danio are tropical, right?

 

[sissy]

If we could all pick only 1 sex of fish we would be OK ,but that never happens but sure wish it could happen that way .