Spent the weekend building my SC enclosure

[randythawkins]

This past weekend allowed me 2 days to work on my settlement chamber enclosure. Follow along...

Saturday morning and this is what I started with:

[sharedmedia=gallery:images:3171]

A little measuring and some digging gave me this:

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I then dug some post holes and set 4 posts:

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I filled the holes with some quick setting concrete and spent the time thinking about how the BD line was going to run from the pond to the SC:


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Once the concrete had set I removed the post supports and wrapped the perimeter with some framing:

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I then set the stock tank in place to see how space underneath would be:


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Things looked good and that was the end of that day. Sunday morning began with more framing and the addition of some deck boards:


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I then placed the stock tank back on top, turned upside down, and marked it:


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I then measured in from this mark 1" and cut the opening:


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Now knowing where the bottom of the tank would be I built the rest of the framing. This is what will carry the weight of the tank so it needs to be strong:


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View from the above:


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This upcoming July 4th weekend will allow me tons of time, weather permitting, to get more done such as...

• plumbing
• electrical
• pour a concrete floor

I will be placing the pump in this enclosure and wrapping it with some aesthetically pleasing boards (/access panels) .

Thanks for letting me share,
Randy

 

[HTH]

Nice work Randy thanks for sharing.

 

[addy1]

Very nice!

 

[Mmathis]

Nice work!

 

[randythawkins]

Thanks.

I have posted a few times on this forum with various nuggets of my grand master plan but let me try to paint an all-inclusive broad stroke and try to describe my vision...

Using this picture as reference,

[sharedmedia=gallery:images:3188]

The pond will be inside of the circular raised flower bed and will be 4' deep. To the left of it, where the skimmer is sitting, about where the skimmer will be installed. I will cut out part of the wall and set the skimmer inside that cut-out. The skimmer will feed a UV and both will be enclosed in an aesthetically pleasing structure. The bottom drain will be at that same edge of the pond with pipes from both the BD and the skimmer making a short run to the from of the SC (in this picture, the left side of the SC structure).

The SC will be full of floating plants to help decorate that corner of the patio and its water will feed the pump which will push to the upper-right corner of the picture to the water fall. In the picture the biofalls I will be using is turned upside down but is close to where it will be installed. It will be raised on some framework and will then let the water feed down into the pond (the details of how all that will look is yet to be figured out). The pump's feed, once at the falls, will split into the biofalls and a couple of TPRs which will force a circular motion of the pond's water.

Up against the house, where the wood scraps and buckets are I will build a small turtle habitat. Roughly speaking, it will be about the size of the space from the buckets to the wall at the chair and out from the house about 3' to where the 4x4 scraps are sitting.

The space between the pond, SC, and turtles will be landscaped with brick pavers, plants, and a bench. On the far side of the pond I will create a smaller paved area sized for another bench. It will be between the pond and the left dirt pile.