A Change Is As Good As A Rest

If a change is as good as a rest, then we've certainly had more than our fair share of R & R on this project so far. It's not that we're indecisive, it's simply a matter of adapting our plan to suit the conditions and environment that we experience along the way. It would be great if we could plan the pond build and its filtration system set-up right down to the finest detail, but the simple fact is we don't have the knowledge and know how to be able to do this. Plus we don't know exactly what's around the corner so how can you plan for these unforeseen eventualities?

An example of this being our original plan for the filter house. Originally our plan was to build this at the back of the pond with the dimensions being 4 metres in length by 2.5 metres in width. This would fit nicely within the confines of the back fence to the rear, our son's garden to the right, the angled fence to the left of the area and the position of the pond. We envisaged the new filter house housing the filter system for the main pond as well as a small quarantine system which is an integral part of the new build considering our recent experience. So where's the problem you may ask?

The problem lies with our latest "bargain" purchase from Ebay of a preformed plastic tank, the type you see at many Koi dealers housing their latest "living jewels". It really was a bargain and was promptly delivered by the seller the day after for a very reasonable fee. The tank itself measures 6' x 4' x 3' and will hold in the region of 500 gallons. A little more than we first imagined and anticipated for our new quarantine system, nevertheless it really was a bargain not to be missed. The problem now is ...... factoring this into the filter house equation.

Having mocked up the new filter house using the original 4m x 2.5m dimensions it was blatantly obvious that there was no way we could fit this tank along with two vortexes and a Nexus 200, along with all the appropriate pipework and other equipment, plus a filter system for the quarantine tank! After pondering a while (sorry for the pun) over a cup of coffee, it was decided that we'd simply have to make the filter house bigger by extending the build right up to the angled fence to the left of the area. We'd have to angle this wall to match the run of the fence, but it would provide us with enough additional space to house all the filter equipment along with the quarantine set-up yet still provide us with enough space to manage the area without being cramped (we hope)!