Finished!

Wanty · Post by **Wanty** » Sat Feb 16, 2008 11:43 am

Finally !

Started to dig out last July and this week got our first pond up and running. Not on the scale of some of yours on here but we are very pleased with it. All in it has cost us a shade over Â£2200 but like i said this is our first build so we made a couple of expensive errors.
Breakdown of money

Skip hire Â£197
Digger hire Â£182
Reclaimed bricks Â£395
Blocks Â£120
Sand/ballast/cement Â£359
Brickies money Â£320
Paint Â£100
Filter,UV,pump etc Â£452
Cable,junction box etc Â£33
Cover whilst rendering Â£10
Bottom drain Â£21
Plumbing fittings Â£35
6 goldfish

Â£17.50!

1000 gallons ranging from 2-4ft deep bottom drain gravity feed with vortex and 3 chamber filter going through UV light,simple but effective.

Thanks for the little bit of advice gained off of here

.

One last thing to do is fit the pot on the coping stones for the return water,which we are doing this weekend.

Next job is to plant up around it and stock with a few Koi.

From this :
[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v705/brai ... ond001.jpg[/img]
[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v705/brai ... ond007.jpg[/img]
[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v705/brai ... ond036.jpg[/img]

To this:
[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v705/brai ... ond057.jpg[/img]
[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v705/brai ... ond059.jpg[/img]
[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v705/brai ... ond060.jpg[/img]

Thorny · Post by **Thorny** » Sat Feb 16, 2008 12:21 pm

Nice neat little job, I am a fan of reclaimed bricks I think they just add a touch of class to a job, but then what do I know

Hope it brings You plenty of enjoyment
Justin

Post by **B.Scott** » Sat Feb 16, 2008 1:48 pm

Tidy bit of work! Well done!
So how much water does it hold?

B.Scott

eds · Post by **eds** » Sat Feb 16, 2008 1:53 pm

Very neat work and it'll be a doddle to clean the filters. I wish my first pond had been anywhere near that well done!

Daz · Post by **Daz** » Sat Feb 16, 2008 2:12 pm

Nice neat job you have done there, it looks great ! Reclaimed bricks do look the mutts

Is that hozelock pipe on your return to the pond ? if so, it may be better to change it for food grade hose as this will prevent nitrite leeching into the pond.

jason-m · Post by **jason-m** » Sat Feb 16, 2008 4:38 pm

Looking good wanty, i too am a fan of reclaimed bricks.Hope you get plenty of enjoyment from it...

Gazza · Post by **Gazza** » Sat Feb 16, 2008 5:00 pm

Spot on i would say a great job done you must be very pleased

Wanty · Post by **Wanty** » Sat Feb 16, 2008 9:19 pm

Thanks for the coments guys, feel more chuffed with it as the days go by

It only holds 1000 gallons.

As has been raised what would you all suggest as a "better" idea on the return? As i thought and have been told

it is very restricted. Today i replaced the hose pipe with 15mm copper into a fancy pot placed on the coping's to fill and then run into the pond. Thought about running 1.5" waste right up to the ponds surface but not sure on how to hide it to blend in with the rest of the pond.

Any/all comments more than welcome

Post by **B.Scott** » Sat Feb 16, 2008 9:32 pm

Wanty,
switch to food grade hosepipe or PVC but by all means avoid copper for the pond plumbing. As a water filler it's ok providing your water isn't too soft as the water passes through once only. but as part of the circulation system it will add copper to the system on each pass and in the long run poison the fish!

B.Scott

Wanty · Post by **Wanty** » Sat Feb 16, 2008 9:37 pm

B.Scott wrote:Wanty,
switch to food grade hosepipe or PVC but by all means avoid copper for the pond plumbing. As a water filler it's ok providing your water isn't too soft as the water passes through once only. but as part of the circulation system it will add copper to the system on each pass and in the long run poison the fish!

B.Scott

AH! good job its not conected yet as was going to conect that part tomorrow,thanks matey

cupid koi · Post by **cupid koi** » Sat Feb 16, 2008 9:59 pm

Wanty

nice job on pond

As a suggestion as to return to pond ,

Extend pipe from UV straight up and over wall perhaps into a nicely placed urn/pot.
So when viewed from front will look very effective

good luck

mick

eds · Post by **eds** » Sat Feb 16, 2008 10:28 pm

B.Scott wrote:Wanty,
switch to food grade hosepipe or PVC but by all means avoid copper for the pond plumbing. As a water filler it's ok providing your water isn't too soft as the water passes through once only. but as part of the circulation system it will add copper to the system on each pass and in the long run poison the fish!

B.Scott

I thought copper was stable and wouldn't dissolve as long as the pH was alkaline? As soon as the pH drifts into the acidic range then the copper will become dissolved into the water. This is one of the reasons our water supply's pH is always boosted to alkaline levels.

Post by **B.Scott** » Sun Feb 17, 2008 11:35 am

Not completely untrue Eds, The softer the water, the greater the danger. In normal water transport usage the pipes become coated on the inside by a combination of bacterial film and calcium that separates the water and the pipe.This layer inhibits most reaction between the water and the copper. You can see this is you ever drain the pipes at home to work on them and then refill them afterwards. The first water to come out of the pipe will often be discoloured. Also in most transport supply systems between the source and the customer, copper only come into play as the diameter of the pipe decreases as it nears the end user. This also limits the exposure to metallic copper.

In the pond it is another kettle of fish. Water circulates repeatedly though the same bit of pipe. The exposure is cumulative. ANY leaching of copper no matter how small will be added to the pond system as a whole and increase exposure. Remember that copper exposure in carp in also cumulative with each new bit of copper absorbed being added to any already present resulting in a steady increase in toxicity within the internal organs of the fish.

The last factor is the water itself. The water traveling in drinking water systems is generally of good quality (unless you live near Gazza

) but in a pond this can vary greatly due to influences such as meds, salt, acid rain, and a whole host of different things that may or may not affect the leaching of copper from within the plumbing of the pond. A bit of copper pipe my possibly never be a problem but in the same breath it could well be a ticking time-bomb, slowly degrading the health of the fish in the pond when the circumstances are right.

IMHO it is better to remove the threat and play it safe than to sit back and wonder why I lose a fish or two every year for no apparent reason.

B.Scott

delboy · Post by **delboy** » Sun Feb 17, 2008 1:12 pm

Wanty looks great mate.