- Joined
- Sep 29, 2010
- Messages
- 343
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- 159
- Location
- South carolina
- Hardiness Zone
- 8a
- Country
hey everyone. I don't remember if we posted an update about our pond so here goes. This is pond number three. We left our second pond behind when we sold our house. As a matter of fact, the pond and garden actually sold our house. We had a bidding war in the end and sold for a higher price than we asked. So don't underestimate the power of a quality pond and landscaping. We went from 5000 gallons to 8000 gallons and from a British over and under filter to two ultima II pressure filters. I experiment with pond construction when I build, so this one has several unique characteristics. We will provide pictures when we finish. We used 3 and 4 inch pipes this time, pvc pipes. There are two pumping systems. One pumps water from a lake behind our house 120 feet with a vertical lift of 12 feet. The pump is a sequence 9600 self- priming pump, 230 volts. Pumps a 2000 gallon water change in under 20 minutes. We can operate the pond entirely off lake water with no filtration if we choose, but the power requirement is pricy. With that pump off and some valve changes we switch to two recirculating pumps, a sequence 5700 and a sequence 6300. We use a 57 watt uv for clarifying. We have two bottom drains and a skimmer. The skimmer and bottom drains are valved so that we can adjust for winter and summer operations. We use a sequence 4200 to power the two side waterfalls. The others power the two end waterfalls. All four waterfalls are 18 inch wide she falls that drop 8 inches in sheets.the waterfalls completely avoid touching sidewalls with the water flow to eliminate leakage. The waterfalls feed from plant ponds that are sealed with xypex. The main pond is epdm lined. We can shut the waterfalls off and feed water through the sidewallls if we choose. The pond structure is concrete block, and rises up about 18 inches out of the ground. We can view the fish at water level our from a deck 10 above. This winter we recirculated using only one pump and filter to reduce power costs. We are finishing the sidewalls and waterfalls this month and should have pictures in April.
Lots of lessons learned from these three experimental ponds. We are glad to share them...like for example, 4 inch pipes are a dumb idea and are expensive overkill. But the effort was fun.
Lots of lessons learned from these three experimental ponds. We are glad to share them...like for example, 4 inch pipes are a dumb idea and are expensive overkill. But the effort was fun.