My pond supplies list

[Alapondguy]

Many thanks to John at Greystone for helping me put this together. The two main goals for this pond (except of course fish) was efficiency and as maintenance free as possible. I wanted high quality parts and ease of operation year 'round. I would love to know what you all think about this:

BF1900 Filter Falls with Matala Pads and Backflush kit

Atlantic Big Bahama 9" PS7000 skimmer

BDK2A bottom drain kit with diffuser

2 Tidal Wave TT3000 pumps

2 Trition Check Valves

2 Atlantic pump controllers

TA3600 Atlantic air compressor

20x22 Firestone Pond Liner

5 sections of 5x22 underlayment

8x10 Firestone Pond Liner for waterfall

2 sections 5x8 underlayment

4 cans 24oz rock foam

25 foot 3/8 inch weighted air tubing

3 SOLW2 Atlantic lights

5LB American Pond 1.5Billion CFU dry bacteria

ProEco 18 watt clarifier

100' Roll of 2 inch flex PVC

My pond will be 10'X11' with 3' falls, 3.5 feet deep, 1800 gallons

Thanks everyone!

 

[Lisak1]

Such fun to be in the planning stages - kind of nerve wracking, too isn't it? Let's see... here are some thoughts as I read your list:

I'm fully in the planted wetland filter camp, so I know nothing of filter pads and back flush kits. Also not a bottom drain person, so can't speak to those. Are you planning this pond for koi?

Our underlayment came all in one big roll - but smaller pieces would work, too. Maybe even easier to work with.

Why two pumps on and 1800 gallon pond?

I would ditch the bacteria - not necessary. Tell them you will grow your own!

I LOVE the weighted air tubing - when I replace mine, I'm spending the extra to get weighted tubing.

 

[Alapondguy]

I went back and forth on the 1 or 2 pump idea. The skimmer is large enough to hold 2, and they will be plugged into two seperate breakers. That way if one fails when I am not home, I still have life support. Both will be on variable controller with wifi access so I can monitor operations when I am travelling. So , yes, there will be koi.

 

[MitchM]

What are your plans for monitoring and managing water quality?
How many koi?
I agree with Lisa, ditch the bacteria.

 

[Tula]

Where are you placing the UV light? Mine is designed to slip inside the skimmer and when I had 2 pumps in the skimmer, it pulled the water too fast past the UV light. I solved that problem by placing the waterfall pump in the pond and encased it with a matala pump bag, providing extra filtration.

I agree with the others, ditch the bacteria, not needed.

 

[Lisak1]

So is it a pump failing you're concerned about or power failing? I would think the chance that an outlet fails is low. And an all out power failure would affect both pumps. It's just an expense I would have a hard time justifying. But part of that is A. we are home most of the time, so a pump failure would be noticeable almost immediately and B. we live in an area where we could easily purchase a new pump within a matter of hours.

 

[Alapondguy]

We will be gone nearly a month next year, so yes, we are not home all the time. I too can purchase a pump, nearby...assuming I am home.
The UV filter will be out of the skimmer. One of the pumps will be T'd off to a small tube to go to the UV...the water flow will be restricted so it is not too fast. The water will be returned through 2 tangent returns (those are not on my list as they are being ordered elsewhere).

 

[Lisak1]

I too can purchase a pump, nearby...assuming I am home.

Gotcha. For some people mail order is the only option for a replacement, so they choose redundancy to avoid being without a pump in the case of failure.

Now let's talk about fish load - how many koi do you plan to have in your 1800 gallon pond?

 

[Alapondguy]

Gotcha. For some people mail order is the only option for a replacement, so they choose redundancy to avoid being without a pump in the case of failure.

Now let's talk about fish load - how many koi do you plan to have in your 1800 gallon pond?

6-8 large koi is what I am thinking...max around 100" total

 

[Lisak1]

max around 100" total

Well, if we're talking inches, 8 large koi could eventually be 240 inches. But the inch to gallon formula is invalid in a pond setting, especially with koi. Many people say you need 1000 gallons just for the first koi.

 

[GBBUDD]

Many thanks to John at Greystone for helping me put this together. The two main goals for this pond (except of course fish) was efficiency and as maintenance free as possible. I wanted high quality parts and ease of operation year 'round. I would love to know what you all think about this:

BF1900 Filter Falls with Matala Pads and Backflush kit

Atlantic Big Bahama 9" PS7000 skimmer

BDK2A bottom drain kit with diffuser

2 Tidal Wave TT3000 pumps

2 Trition Check Valves

2 Atlantic pump controllers

TA3600 Atlantic air compressor

20x22 Firestone Pond Liner

5 sections of 5x22 underlayment

8x10 Firestone Pond Liner for waterfall

2 sections 5x8 underlayment

4 cans 24oz rock foam

25 foot 3/8 inch weighted air tubing

3 SOLW2 Atlantic lights

5LB American Pond 1.5Billion CFU dry bacteria

ProEco 18 watt clarifier

100' Roll of 2 inch flex PVC

My pond will be 10'X11' with 3' falls, 3.5 feet deep, 1800 gallons

Thanks everyone!

UNIONS?
MANUAL SHUT OFFS?
Return diffusers
I AGREE WITH TWO PUMPS . They are machines a brand new identical pump twins per say can fail leaving you in good shape with a backup
AND MY FAVORITE ROCKS?
Good luck

 

[Alapondguy]

UNIONS?
MANUAL SHUT OFFS?
Return diffusers
I AGREE WITH TWO PUMPS . They are machines a brand new identical pump twins per say can fail leaving you in good shape with a backup
AND MY FAVORITE ROCKS?
Good luck

Please explain return diffusers, manual shutoffs, and unions.

John is including all of the necessary fittings for install to my order.

 

[Gordo33]

Curious as to where your bottom drain is sending the water to . Sounds like a lot of waste will be produced for the size of your pond. Based on 6- 8 large koi you mentioned. How do you plan to keep the growth to 100 inches? Koi can easily reach 2 ft which would give you closer to 200 inches . Their waste production goes up expoentially in relationship to their linear growth.

 

[Alapondguy]

Curious as to where your bottom drain is sending the water to . Sounds like a lot of waste will be produced for the size of your pond. Based on 6- 8 large koi you mentioned. How do you plan to keep the growth to 100 inches? Koi can easily reach 2 ft which would give you closer to 200 inches . Their waste production goes up expoentially in relationship to their linear growth.

The bottom drain will be fed through the skimmer, then to the waterfall filter (which will have a backwash kit), some of the skimmer's water will be fed through a UV filter. I am leaving the option open for adding a gravity fed filter in the future.

 

[Gordo33]

I'm not an a expert just a week end pond hobbist. My concern for your pond with the intended fish load is the waste production and removal. Not sure if your mechanical filtration as set up will be sufficient . That may lead to water quality issues and health issues for your fish. When researching bottom drains what I remember was the empasis on removal of waste with either sieves or large settlement chambers that can be back flushed.