Yet another week has passed since the last blog update and we've certainly seen some changes in and around the pond. I don't know if there's something in the air (perhaps it's the glue vapours) but we seem to have shifted up a gear and have made considerable progress in the last week as follows :-

First thing to report is ..... the window's in! Gaz who completed the block work for us came round last Thursday evening to give us a hand putting the window in (no it's not Gaz in the picture).The water used to combat the ballooning bottom was drained during the day so it didn't take us long to fit the window once we'd started.

We also finally fit the aerated bottom drain. At this juncture, and after months of planning and building, we finally turned on the tap to begin filling our pond through a flow meter so we'd have an accurate figure at the end of filling of the overall pond volume.

The first job on Friday was to turn the water back on in order to continue filling the pond. We'd turned it off the night before as we wanted to present just in case something happened. After then purchasing more bits & bobs first thing Friday, the rest of the day was spent finalising and titivating the plumbing for the filter system, whilst all the time the water level in the pond slowly increased. We also switched filling position from the main pond to the header pond which when full, would flow into and fill the main pond anyway. At 11.10 pm we'd reached maximum levels in both the header pond and the main pond!

 Saturday morning and we were eager to get out into the garden and take stock of the situation in day light. We weren't disappointed! In our opinion, all the hard work, ups & downs, time and effort we'd put in to reach this point had finally all been worth it! It was now time to open up all the valves and fill the filter system so that we could then have one final top-up and achieve total pond volume. It wasn't long before this was achieved and ...... 19,640 litres or 4,320 gallons !!!

We also started the pumps up on the filter system but unfortunately had a few leaks and drips which form our list of first fixes.

We've still got a chunk of work to complete to finalise the actual pond building stage such as laying the facing bricks and applying the render where it's required, after which we'll then be able to apply the coping stones to finish off the pond and complete our pond build.

When In Doubt - Improvise!

"Improvise" is definitely the buzz word around here at the moment whilst trying to plumb all the filter equipment into the filter house. Everything looked fine on paper and in our heads however in reality it's proving to be a different matter.

The plan initially (and what we've been working to) is for the pipework from the bottom drain to feed into the filter house to the right hand side, then flow from right to left through a vortex, then a Nexus 200, through the pump, then the bead filter, through the UV unit and then back into the pond via two returns. On paper and during planning this seemed absolutely fine with enough room to achieve this. In our heads and on paper that is!

The reality of actually achieving this hit home yesterday after finally locating all the equipment into the filter house for a dry run. Although there's enough room physically, when you start adding in the pipework and valves plus taking into consideration the actual positioning of the inlets and outlets on each piece of equipment, the issues start.

What seemed hours of man handling and re-positioning of filter equipment etc (not to mention the headaches caused by all the thinking) we concluded that the original configuration just wasn't feasible, not if we were to retain and use all the equipment in our original plan, therefore a new schematic was required.

After more man handling and maneuvering we finally arrived at a new configuration which actually worked in the available space and utilising all the equipment still whilst at the same time making it a lot easier to connect the various inlets & outlets. This is achieved basically by swapping the equipment around so that the flow runs from left to right, instead of from the right to the left. Water from the bottom drain still enters the filter house on the right as this can't be moved, but is then sent the full length of the filter house via a 4" pipe.

It then enters the vortex which is situated at the left end of the filter house and proceeds to flow from left to right through the Nexus 200, through the pump and then into the bead filter which is located at the right end of the filter house. From here the flow then starts its journey back, now flowing from right to left through the UV unit and finally to the pond returns.

This system is a lot more convoluted than our original plan but will work nevertheless, it simply means the water has to travel further and around a few more bends than first anticipated.

August (Not April) Showers

To quote Billy Ocean (and to a lesser extent Boyzone) ... "When the going gets tough, the tough get going". If that's true, then we must be as hard as nails by now, especially with the latest ups and downs in the crazy world of koi ......

The first thing on the agenda for this particular post strangely enough concerns the latest weather we've been experiencing. To say we're pretty precipitated off is a complete understatement to say the least. We just about managed to finish off boarding the filter house last weekend when once again the heavens opened, and stayed open! "Downpour", "storm", even "deluge" are all words that simply can't put into context the ferocity and amount of rain we experienced. With the sheer volume of water coming down it was inevitable that it was going to cause us problems and on Monday morning the problems could be clearly viewed. The bottom of the pond was bulging with the amount of water underneath.

A quick check with Matt (GRP Lining Services) confirmed what we'd already diagnosed ... we needed to get water into the pond asap to put pressure on the fibreglass to hopefully dispel the water that was present below. However as the pond window hadn't been fitted yet as we were still waiting for more "gunk" the volume of water that we could put in was restricted. After a full day the water level had reached an inch below the window aperture, therefore approximately half full.

Tuesday morning soon came around and although we'd experienced pretty much the same weather conditions as the previous day, the pond floor appeared to have returned to its normal level. A few days after that and the water in the pond appears to have remained at the same level. Hopefully this means no untoward damage which in turn hopefully means no leaks, which hopefully means we've been very lucky.

So we entered this weekend still feeling a little drained from all the man-fluenza etc that we've been suffering with, but with every intention of getting the filter equipment plumbed in etc. Surely by now though you realise that nothing ever goes according to plan ......

Cold & Damp

They say time flies when you're having fun. If that's the case then we must have been having an absolute thrilling time as i can't believe it's been two weeks since our last Crazy World of Koi blog update!

Progress has been hindered somewhat again due to cold and wet weather. I use the term "wet weather" very loosely as we've experienced downpours lately that would have seen Noah rubbing his hands together in anticipation! In fact we perhaps should have been building an Ark instead of a Koi pond?

As for cold, i'm not actually making reference to temperature at all, it's actually been quite warm, in fact extremely "muggy". No, the term cold refers to the fact that we've all been quite ill with a cold (aka man-fluenza). The dreaded bugs knocked the three of us for a six and we're only just beginning to feel human again .... well human with immense headaches, bunged up sinuses and snot!

Despite these set backs we've still managed to make some progress ........... (drum roll)

Keiran's pond is finished (fanfare) !

The home made filtration system (thanks to Wifey) is working a treat and Keiran's original fish have given it the fins up too! And seeing them swimming around through the window is absolutely fintastic, we're really glad we decided to go this route as we're chuffed to bits with the outcome. Can't wait to get the window in the main pond installed, which will hopefully be soon.

As for the main pond, again we've made considerable progression. The framework for the filter house is in place and now ready for boarding. We completed putting the roof on yesterday and have just finished fitting the UPVC filter house window, which looks out of the pond. We'll hopefully finish boarding soon (weather permitting of course) so that we can then move on to plumbing in the filtration system.

Fibreglass - Day 3

Into day 3 of the fibreglassing and the weather was looking considerably better compared to the previous few days. The glassed ponds were looking fine with no further water ingress or drips plus the whole area was looking less damp. So it was on with the top coat.

In no time at all Keiran's pond was completed and Matt from GRP Lining Services moved straight on to the header pond. In fact he almost ran the short distance from one to the other. The inside of the header pond was soon completed with the black top coat which was followed by a well earned cuppa and a quick breather before moving on to the main pond.

Keiran's Pond

Header Pond

The last swig of tea was soon followed by a quick calculation check before the top coat for the main pond was mixed. No sooner was the top coat mixed the whole application process started again, but this time on a much larger scale. The walls were first to be coated before moving on to the floor area. Matt worked his way back towards the window opening before jumping out and finishing off the floor area where he'd just been stood with a roller on a pole. Job done!

Main Pond

Yet another major part of the new pond build process out of the way and although there's still quite a bit of work for us to complete, we definitely feel that with the pond now glassed, the majority of the work on this project is now behind us. What's more, although it's not full of water yet, we actually feel that we now have a pond again!

Fibreglass - Day 2

The amount of rain we'd had the day before really was unbelievable. The site was protected very well by the cover that had been erected, albeit from the odd drip which worked its way through or down. We'd managed to survive a deluge that was for sure, with the only evidence being half full buckets which we'd strategically placed around the area to catch the run offs from the cover in order to prevent that from then running across the ground towards the pond.

After a good look round the previous days work as well as taking stock of the site area, Matt was soon bringing in sheets of glass and tissue in readiness for glassing the main pond as well as Keiran's. By the time the first few sheets of glass had been applied the heavens opened up once again, and more rain descended upon us .... followed by more .... and more .... and more ..... yet more! We thought the previous days rainfall was phenomenal and yet it was nothing compared to what we were now experiencing. The situation was now beginning to cause concern.

Matt had completed glassing half the main pond and was just moving some sheets of glass out of the way when the alarm bell started to ring. The sheets being moved had a damp patch! There was no way it could have come from above as this was directly under the main polycarbonate pond roof so Matt checked the floor immediately. WATER!

The amount of rain we'd had the day before coupled with what was now coming down was clearly penetrating the ground around the site and was subsequently soaking through the walls and under the PU foam. Matt quickly rectified this dilemma whilst more buckets were strategically placed around the edges of the cover where the water was running off the most in order to prevent as much run off water reaching the ground immediately around the pond area. Sweeping brushes and anything else we could get our hands on were positioned to try and channel the water from the cover towards the lowest point where a paddling pool had been placed. Matt continued to work around the problematic area until eventually the water situation was back under control. He then quickly glassed this last area whilst yours truly continued to rush round emptying trugs and buckets, puddles of water with a jug whilst also ensuring the water in the paddling pool was kept to a minimum.

After glassing the main pond it was straight on to Keiran's. This proved quite challenging simply due to its small size. It was now a case of waiting for the fibreglass to cure but with the rain still coming down in droves, Matt decided it would be better to come back and finish off. Plus the weather had been forecast to be more lenient than we were currently experiencing.

Fibreglass - Day 1

Possibly one of, if not THE most anticipated tasks of a new pond build .... the day the pond gets fibreglassed. Although a lot of time, effort and money has been put into the project so far in making the new structure look like a pond, it's not until the fibreglassing has been completed that you actually sit back and think "there's my new pond". And that's before putting the water in!

Tuesday 19th July was the scheduled start date of our fibreglassing experience which as previously mentioned, was being lovingly applied by GRP Lining Services. After a quick safety brief from Matt (over a cuppa of course), he was soon at work and cracking on with the task at hand. After a thorough look around the main pond, the header pond and Keiran's pond for anything untoward, Matt was soon applying the first of many sheets of PU foam lining. The PU foam is cemented direct to the blockwork so there's no need to render. It presents a great surface with which to apply the GRP (glass reinforced plastic) but also offers thermal properties too - so it's a win win situation, especially if you're going to be heating your pond.

Straight after completing the main pond it was on to the header pond for the PU foam lining treatment, quickly followed by Keiran's pond. It was about the time of lining the header pond that the heavens decided to drop it's full content of water onto Market Weighton. It absolutely chucked it down! It's no wonder that Matt insists that ponds are fully covered with ample over hang. There's no way work could have continued without the cover, in fact what had already been completed would have simply been ruined without it.

Time was just about on our side and so Matt decided to glass the header pond also. He'd pre-cut the sheets of glass to length and so after a quick mix of resin, he was soon rollering and applying the sheets to form the fibreglass finish.

After enduring an absolute torrential downpour for the majority of the afternoon, we'd managed to keep the area clear of water contamination apart from one small white splash mark (caused when water interferes with the curing process and discolours the fibreglass) in the header pond caused by a solitary drip from the cover. Things could easily have been a lot worse.