Newbie Build and Question Thread...

[addy1]

Do a 90 on your bottom drain, run it out from under the barrel out into an area you can open and drain.
I put a 55 gallon barrel before the shubbie tank, with a bottom drain, (I do have a slope) using the 90 I have the piping coming out away from the barrel, buried 2/3 of the barrel.

 

[dieselplower]

I hate to be a negative Nancy but you will end up spending more on your budget build in the long run by going cheap right off the bat. You're looking at a filterthat is only 10% the recommended size. Sure, it might work ok for a bit but down the road you will be trying to hid two junky little filters. And then you'll get sick of that a buy a nice looking big filter. And then another one. Ask me how I know....

 

[sentrek]

Thanks guys I appreciate the input, but I have decided to use a 20 gallon tote in the back corner, it was the largest one home depot had (in the rigid brute type, the rubber maids didn't seem durable enough). I am hoping with a light load and partial water changes if needed it will work out ok. I am going to go ahead and put it in the back corner as original planned, I will make a removable access panel on the fence to access the drain.
Dieselpower, I read your post so I know how you know. I almost picked up that same rain barrel but the flat back and limited access in the top prevented me from doing so.

I see you do landscaping, what do you think about mixing Adobe mortar and cementing all my rocks together once I get them placed, to make them more rigid and finished.

 

[sissy]

I went cheap and don't regret it .I spent so far to date now less than 500 dollars on every thing .I keep a book of spends .The oval tank with plants works and the the tank i took out is now filtering my 300 gallon stock tank .my pond this morning .
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[sissy]

I bought lemon verbena and lemon grass to keep the mosquito's away and lemon verbena is not cheap 4 dollars for one plant and I bought 4 of them .I include plants in my spending on the pond and fish food and treats .

 

[Nepen]

I didnt know anything about the size of the filter has to be at least 10% of the pond!! I'm doomed.... I just looked up and my waterfall biofilter is only like 2.5 gallons

 

[sentrek]

I have no idea how you managed to build a complete pond for less than $500, that is pretty good. I have a feeling I will be way more than that when all said and done. So far I spent about $250 on the liner and underlayment, $30 on the small pump, $86 on the large Beckett Mag Drive that will run the filter/falls, I spent $104 on stuff at Home depot last night to make the filter and some other stuff, foam, tubing, lava rocks ect. Plus the bio balls, about $40, the bulk head I ordered online, $6, the other filter media I ordered, $9, I spent about $40 on the drain, tubing, ball valve ect currently hooked up the barrel that i will move to the tote. I cant remember what i paid for all the rocks, It took two trips in my Silverado I had, I think it was $50 but possibly $75, I bought them almost a year ago when I first got this idea. So I am about $600 on just the pond so far, that doesn't include the Jasmine i bought to cover the fence or the Banana Trees. I still lots of landscaping to do once I finish laying the stones around the pond and filter. And then the lighting. I will probably hit $1000 when its all done.

 

[sissy]

pump was harbor freight 59 dollars on sale and 2100 gph which actually pumps 2400 gph .Liner was 35 dollars from a retired roofer 25x30, new filter was 20 dollars for 3 of them off craigslist and sold one of them for 20 dollars to a neighbor and tank adapters were 6 and 7 dollars .Fish most were 1 and up to 7 dollars for one at the koi farm .Totes I got onsale and they were 4 dollars .And funny thing I stopped at the dump on my way home to drop off garbage and some one threw 3 of them away .Lava rock 2 bags were 4 dollars and 2 bags were open bags for 2 dollars .I also got alot of stuff in the last 3 years for taking apart ponds at foreclosed homes after I bought my second house .Sold the fish for a profit and just gave some of them away .Concrete block and some of the retaining wall block off craigslist .Dumps here are a wealth of great finds .Rocks from streams here and from the other house .Furnace filters and quilt batting and plants keep adding it up .Lighting is down lighting and led bulbs were 4 dollars a piece at ollies discount .I just got banana trees for free in a barter sisters neighbor bought new sinks and needed them installed .I was putting in a new sink and faucet for my sister at the time .Underlayment free, corn bags from feeding my deer buddies .No drain ,no skimmer and no UV .Mulch I get from the mulch yard here and he loads 10 dollars for a truck full I have a sport track truck .I scavenge and barter .I'm cheap .Fountain grass and most plants either from sharing or from the half dead shelves at lowes .hose sump pump hose less than 10 dollars and 2 bags .I am out in the country so you search and find things . :cheerful: If you minus everything I have sold my pond would come out to almost free from all the stuff from the ponds I took apart .

 

[HTH]

I didnt know anything about the size of the filter has to be at least 10% of the pond!! I'm doomed.... I just looked up and my waterfall biofilter is only like 2.5 gallons

10% is misleading. The filtering ABILITY of filter needs to be sized to the fish load more so then the pond size. How many gallons it is does not really mean anything directly. At best it is a hint of what it might do.

And as far as cost goes I have a 500 gallon 'pond' setup that so far has cost me exactly $18 including the filter. The thing is a 8' sanpset pool, You could do the same with with the tractor tire mentioned in another thread if you want a more permant setup. I am building a filter today. For a pump I am using a big old powerhead that came to me in a box of junk. Modified the input and output with PVC and hotmelt to make it pump better. The filter itself is a stack of 5 pepsi crates which will be filled with lava rock aka trick tower style. Even if you had to buy the stuff I expect you could do it for $100 which is 2 cents a gallon. Perfect pond maybe not but it does illustrate the point.

FWIW the modified powerhead is delivering a gallon in 19 seconds. Which is 190GPH which is on the wimpy side but I expect it will still work, if not I can replace it later.

 

[Nepen]

Oh Thank you Howard, that makes me feel better. Ijust added more media so hopefully I have more BB soon. Also, giving away 5 more goldfish... Now I'm down to 9 goldfishs, 3 shubunkins, 3 mollies, 6 guppies, 3 catfish and 1 algy eater (catfish and algy eater are very small about 1-1.5") I'm hoping in a few weeks my ammonia level will go down.

 

[sentrek]

I surf craigslist everyday looking to save a buck wherever I can but either people are asking new prices for used stuff or it is sold faster than its listed, I check everyday, and i cant tell you how many pumps and waterfall filters i inquired about and they were always sold.. the stuff is very popular. I don't even know where the dumps are around here, its nothing like PA where I grew up.. everything is always so crowded and over run with people its crazy.. flea markets are a joke. I work 6 days a week so I never get to go to any yard sales, it seems like no one around here has yard sales on Sundays. There are no streams around here to get rocks from either, and I no longer have a truck...which really sucks! It seems as though I am stuck paying full price for everything on this pond.

 

[dieselplower]

Sure, you can go less than 10% in some situations. But remember, fish grow and filters do get dirty. If you don't mind more maintenance a smaller filter may do.

 

[HTH]

Sure, you can go less than 10% in some situations. But remember, fish grow and filters do get dirty. If you don't mind more maintenance a smaller filter may do.

The point is that saying a filter should be 10% is next to meaningless. For all you know it could be an empty box!

 

[sentrek]

The point is that saying a filter should be 10% is next to meaningless. For all you know it could be an empty box!

All I know, which isn't much about ponds yet, but I know trolling and reading around on this site and you tube that many people run far less than 10% with decent results, on the other hand I don't know all the variables or the amount of maintence they do to keep the pond clean. If my filter doesn't keep up I will do something different, I mean that is the point isn't, for the pond to keep us occupied. I would much rather be fooling with that than waisting away on the couch watching reruns of storage wars, ancient aliens, or antiques roadshow... lol

 

[dieselplower]

The point is that saying a filter should be 10% is next to meaningless. For all you know it could be an empty box!

Yes Sir that's a good point! Truth be told my filters are not quite up to 10% either. But I have been enlarged them multiple times because I have not been satisfied with the results of the smaller filters. I would have saved a good bit of money if I hadn't started with smaller filters and gradually increased in size though.