Area 51 - Restricted Access

With illness now behind us (hopefully) and the resurrection of the fallen fence, we've finally been able to make a physical start to the new pond build process! So what progress have we made so far ....

Old Pond

We started to dismantle the actual pond by removing the wooden beams which were screwed on top of the sleepers. This proved to be a pain as we predicted due to the screws being rusty, even though they had a coating of grease when first used. A bit of brute force and ignorance fettled the ones we couldn't unscrew. It was then time to remove the first of umpteen sleepers which formed the pond walls. Moving just one sleeper caused a cascade of memories to flood back to the forefront of our minds as to how exhausting it was to build the pond originally using the sleepers ... and that was with extra help! It also brought home the reality of how difficult it would be to front the new pond using these unforgiving pieces of wood especially trying to sit three high, one on top of the other without any wobbling, falling down or threat of injuring someone. Guess what .... time for a rethink!

Whilst endeavouring to build a new pond in the area we deem as the back garden, we're also in the process of "updating" another area which we call the middle garden. For the past seven years this particular area of garden has slowly but surely got away from us. So much so, that it actually became a dumping ground for materials, predominately of the building type such as bricks, chunks of wood and sheets of polycarb, which we couldn't find a more appropriate place for. This "restricted area" became affectionately known as AREA 51. And so it was that earlier this year or towards the back end of last year, or perhaps it was the year before that .... at some point in the not too distant past we made the conscious decision to finally turn the middle garden into a middle garden once again. With the help and we must say patience of Tracy & John from Worlds Home & Garden Services, the transformation from a no go area back to a real garden again has begun. We'd already decided that AREA 51 would make an ideal raised patio area, however this would have to be completed at some time in the future as funds wouldn't stretch to completing this along with everything else. For the time being work has currently ceased as the next stage in the make over is to lay the paving which will form the paths from one gate to another. However as this is our only access for the mini digger which we're hiring to assist us excavate the area for the new pond, we thought it made sense to wait until the mini diggering (just invented a new word) had been completed. It's at this point we jump back to the rethinking!

Bingo! We use the sleepers from the old pond to form the raised patio area for the middle garden. Not only that, but we use the soil excavated from the new pond area as infill. Genius ... cancel that skip! AREA 51 was therefore duly cleared apart from some rubble (lots of visits to the waste recycling centre this weekend) and the site readied for the imminent relocation of very heavy raised patio retainers.

Area 51

The shed to the rear of the old pond has also been emptied of all its contents and completely dismantled. Well we say dismantled but in truth once we started to take things apart it kind of dismantled itself. However we'll be salvaging what we can for use as a small tool shed in the bottom garden.

DIY (Demolish It Yourself)

Hopefully the gorgeous weather we've been having lately will remain kind to us for the weekend so we'll be able to get some more DIY (Demolish It Yourself) completed.

Best Laid Plans

So work was due to commence on clearing the old pond and site last weekend. There's quite a bit to do so that we have a blank canvas with which to start the new pond build. Firstly we need to remove the soil and then the hardcore from the pond borders (we've actually managed to take up all but  theplants), then we need to remove the sleepers and store them away from the area of the site as we'll be re-using these to "front" the new pond. We also need to remove all the gravel from the area which we were hoping to simply move and use elsewhere, however we're not in a position to do this yet so again we need to find a place to store it until we're ready.

The reason for the post title then .... because we were unable to start the above work because the fence between our property and next door blew down! We're still at a loss as to how 4 inch posts managed to rot so easily and quickly, however i think it's fair to say that the sewage flood we were subjected to on two occasions late last year certainly contributed considerably. It meant that we spent Friday afternoon with the help of Tracy & John from Wolds Home & Garden Services digging out the old posts and concrete to make way for the new. A task made extremely difficult apparently by my concrete mixing skills, resulting in the use of a concrete breaker having to be seriously abused! Saturday morning we managed to get a number of posts cemented in before having to bob out, with the remainder of the posts being concreted in on Sunday. The rails were then screwed on during the week ready for boarding, which was due to be started Friday when home from work and finished off Saturday morning so that we could spend the rest of the weekend tidying up the old pond and area.

Best laid plans - take two!

Friday saw Wifey seriously ill with the latest stomach bug prompting many a visit to the loo ..... with bucket! It seemed to hit her with extreme prejudice knocking her completely off her feet (apart from the running to the bathroom). Needless to say that come tea time on Friday i was beginning to feel a bit queasy and by the time 9.00 pm came, was in full illness mode. I must admit that i've been no way near as bad as Wifey, but still wouldn't wish what i experienced on anyone.

Both of us were feeling more human this morning and so we've managed to position the landscape fabric and pin it down, board one side of the fence so there's at least a garden divide again which should keep next door's cat out and prevent our dog from eating said cat. We also managed to gravel one side also. Not a great deal achieved really, but in the scheme of things and the way we're still feeling it was quite a monumental effort really.

So here's to next weekend when we can finally start clearing the old pond site ready to begin work on the new.

The Quest Continues

So the whole reason for keeping this blog (online diary) is so that we can share our thought and decision making process which is going into building a new Koi pond. To therefore "share" this experience we also need to divulge all the decision changes we decide to make ..... and yes you've guessed it there's another one on the way!

Increasing the size of the filter house would mean that all the equipment could be accommodated and therefore would provide a solution to the Ebay bargain dilemma. However it was when we started to think and plan the set-up to accommodate all the equipment that we once again questioned if this was the correct set-up for us? Could the expense of purchasing all the valves. pipework etc to run this system be better spent on an alternate solution using alternate equipment? Perhaps the blinkers were on in that we were thinking that we had to make this new system work with the equipment we already had and that maybe we should be reviewing the alternatives? At this juncture it was decided that we did indeed need to review the situation and so some in depth investigative work was carried out over the last weekend with many subsequent emails and phone calls being made since.

The consensus of opinion was that although our envisaged set-up would work, and work fine, we felt that the equipment "footprint" was simply too much with two vortexes, a Nexus 200 and all the other valves, pipework, etc as well as installation of all the quarantine equipment. However there was a definite need to increase the biological filtration. We also felt that it was important to give a helping hand to the mechanical filtration also. The solution to this being to incorporate one vortex before the Nexus (helping hand on the mechanical front) and to then purchase a bead filter to increase the biological filtration capabilities of the system. We also identified appropriate water pumps and configuration in order to make this system as efficient, as well as economical, as possible.

We're also in the process of gathering costs for materials and equipment hire costs for physically building the pond, so once these have been received we'll bring you an update - which will be v4.0!

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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)!

It's My Prerogative

No we're not talking about an 80's song by Bobby Brown, we're talking about changing our pond design yet again!

Last weekend we finally had a break in the weather where it wasn't snowing, it wasn't raining (too much anyway) or that is wasn't too cold so that your fingers stuck to the metal tape measure. The idea for the excursion into the garden and to the old pond was to start taking the appropriate measurements for calculating amounts of concrete for the new pond base, numbers of blocks required for the walls, etc. It was during this process that the divine inspiration occurred ..........

To cut a long story and many thoughts short, we've decided to go with a rectangular built pond with the header pond built on the left of the main pond. The main pond will be 3 metres wide by 4.5 metres long with a depth (hopefully) of 1.5 metres. This would give us a volume of 4,455 gallons. The header tank would be 0.9 metres wide by 1.2 metres long with a depth of 0.6 metres, therefore giving a header pond volume of 142.6 gallons. Therefore the pond volume, excluding filter and vortex units would be 4,597.6 gallons maximum. I say maximum because i'm still not convinced we'll be able to attain sufficient depth to incorporate the hardcore base and concrete to leave us with enough depth for the water without having to build above ground higher. Which is what we want to avoid.

Not only is it easier to calculate the volume of water a lot easier, it also means the other calculations such as for the concrete base, concrete block, etc considerably easier. Not to mention getting quotes for fibreglassing. Yes that's another decision made (or changed). We've definitely decided to have fibreglass the new pond! So we're now in the process of phoning around and getting quotes to see what outlay we're looking at.

Evolution - Dazzle's Theory

When we're talking evolution here, we're not talking about Darwin's theory of evolution ..... we're talking about Dazzle's theory of evolution for his new filter system!

Following my last blog post regarding the potential filter system i was contemplating, i was contacted by a member of the EYKS, who during the conversation offered further insight into the pro's and con's of the set up i'd previously detailed plus first refusal on a piece of equipment they had surplus to requirement. As usual, the insight was invaluable and after much more deliberation (who said building ponds and designing filter systems was easy), the next version or patch of the pond build. Which now means we're on v3.1.3.

v3.1.3

• Aerated bottom drain through 4 inch pipe to vortex.
• From vortex to EA Nexus 200.
• From EA Nexus 200 to second vortex (possible filled with jap matting or K1).
• From second vortex to :-
• either pump then UV or
• UV then pump
• Back to pond via tangible return at ground level

The same details regarding the skimmer system and header pond remain the same.

Deliberation is given as to whether to put the Nexus 200 after the two vortexes which would hopefully result in less maintenance required for this unit. However part of the beauty of the Nexus range is the ease of cleaning as opposed to the sometimes perceived "chore" of cleaning a mass of brushes or jap matting. Therefore in my opinion, it makes sense to utilise an easy clean option earlier on in the process instead of at the end.

As to whether to put the pump before the UV or after?

No need for answers on a post card, simply click the red "comments" text at the bottom of this post and type your reply away. The more replies the better!

A Cunning Plan!

As previously detailed, when building a pond you not only have to take into consideration the actual build (materials that form the actual base and wall structure), but you also have to design and plan your filtration system at the same time, as both elements go hand in hand together. With so many factors to inwardly digest not to mention all the different pieces of equipment that are available these days, planning a pond & filter system is enough to give any perspective Koi keeper nightmares!

After many, many hours of deliberation (and then some), a cunning plan has finally emerged from the depths of pond planning despair ........

After considering a multitude of options, variances and connotations, my plan was finally revealed to a fellow Koi keeper who'd had previous pond designing/building experience. As there's no right or wrong way to building ponds or designing filter systems (although i will add here that there's plenty that can actually go wrong and there's certainly plenty of Do's and Dont's), I simply wanted to ascertain if they thought my plan was "do-able". After some further deliberation over a pint of cider (which I find always aids the thought process and gets those creative juices flowing - or was that the thought of another pint?), we decided to tweak the original plan and therefore came up with version 3 patch 1.2 or now abbreviated to v3.1.2.

v3.1.2

• Aerated bottom drain through 4 inch pipe to Vortex.
• From Vortex to Nexus 200
• From Nexus 200 to dry pump
• From dry pump to UV
• From UV the pipework then splits into two
• One branch leading to Fluid Bed
• The second branch returned direct to pond via tangible return
• From Fluid Bed return to pond via tangible return.

• Wall mounted skimmer to dry pump
• From dry pump to Multicyclone (potentially)
• From Multicyclone return to header pond.

• Header pond to have 2 inch bottom drain to aid cleaning.

The next part of the plan is to set some time aside to re-take measurements out in the garden again in order to hopefully finalise the overall shape and dimensions of the pond, which will then allow the calculation of pond volume etc. This will also then allow us to contact companies for quotes on the costs involved either getting the pond fibre glassed or having a box welded liner produced.