Just getting started.

[GERRY5]

gazza ...posted at the same time mate

[Gazza]

Great minds and all that Gerry

[Koine]

Is the bottom drain absolutely essentail as I dont think I'm going to be able to incorporate one.

[maxinegrundy]

Hello Koine
bottom drain ....i think they are a must have.
I have a pond that has a liner in it ..pump fed to the filters and no matter how much you try ..there will always be fish poo on the bottom ..so i hoover mine out 3 times a week..then top the pond back up..this is all time consuming.
So bottom drains if put in correctly will save you a lot of time .. and get rid of the poo off the bottom
There are a retro fit bottom drains available ..which are very good and Gerry put a posting on not so long ago as he made one himself.
Might be worth reading the thread "a challenge i could not ignore ...blue peter styley"
http://www.koiquest.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.p ... 126#p69126

Have a read and see what you think
regards
Max

[Capt Nemo]

2...a1 pond paint i believe is very good , capt nemo has a super pond which is coated similar to what your thinking , imho .i would render and fibreglass every time though as i believe the costing works out similar

Hey Guys,

sorry not been about much..... and No not doing nappies

thxs for the comment Gerry on the pond, and yep cost is much the same in the end I think.

well,my pond is just over 10k and when I painted mine it was around £700 total for the paint + the cost of the fiber mix when rendering the walls.

what I liked about it was you could do it yourself in just a few hours.... and it was great fun



you can read more here regarding the construction & paint: http://www.koicarp.org.uk/koi_pond1.htm

regards

Capt'n


.

[TicToc]

Gents, good afternoon and many thanks for replies and experienced advice.

By way of background, my new pond will be a replacement, a version 2 of my now leakey 11 years butyl liner attempt that is with hindsight has held up reasonably well.

Pre-build or rather for version two. I have purchased a substantial filter (L10ft xD3ft x W2ft) with Jap mat, plus vortex & UV. In answer to your question yes, Version two pond will indeed be heated using gas. A colleague painted the picture of snow everywhere at Christmas time and the steam/mist rising from the pond, exchanging with the ambient air that just sounded superb. Though this image is all in my head and drawings presently.

So, with the gas/electricity prices continually climbing, I am now wondering how best to insulate the side and bottom of the pond to minimise the heat loss (below 3ft). I totally agree that the planning stage is the most important though relative to what can be afforded. Some of the DIY outlets have silver foil matting for sub screed flooring to insulate a domestic heated floor. My thoughts (at this time) are therefore to encase the sump pipes in this foil, pre concrete stage obviously. This I envisage will reduce heat loss through the pipes constantly churning the water through the filters. Am also considering using this foil (or kingspan) in the side wall cavity of the pond but should there be a cavity? Am I going over the top, am I taking this far to seriously?

Regards, Tic Toc

[maxinegrundy]

Hello ..
insulation is a good thing ...and all that steam you imagine on coming off the pond ..
the steam you see is your gas/electric bill swelling the suppliers pocket.
Insulate every bit of pipe you can ..and the filters ..in fact i would knit the koi jumpers LOL
my leccy bill has come in at just over £1000.00 for 6 months and thats with insulation !
thats for 1500 gallons ...hmmm
regards
Max

[TicToc]

Many thanks Gerry & Gazza. I'll lagg everything based on your six month bill. Cheers TicToc

[TicToc]

Hi,

Can anyone shed any further light on bottom drains? In my particular case to be embedded in concrete. From experience would the group recommend the Rhino II Air Bottom Drain as the best on the market? I think I've seen a Spindrifter mentioned is this the same or better? All advice gratefully received.
Thank you
Tic Toc

[Gazza]

Hi Tic Toc,

Yes the bottom drain is in the concrete and normally you will make up your pipe work and set it into the pond base then use re-bar set off the bottom and then pour the concrete over the top of that,but make sure once you have done your pipe work you make sure it is 100% as you don't want to get a problem and have to dig it back up

This link may help:

http://www.koicymru.co.uk/constructb3.htm

[TicToc]

Just a quick thank you to Members for the assistance. I had posted earlier but it doesn't seem to have gone through. Cheers TicToc

[Gazza]

Hi Tic Toc,

You are more than welcome and any questions you just ask away we are more than happy to help out as thats what this forum is all about

[Koine]

Well, it's been a while since I posted but I didn't build the pond this summer because alot of things happened, the pond build wasn't going to happen but now I just can't keep my mind off it so I'm hoping to get planning done for the next few months and start construction around new year. I've decided to do it around 12x10x6 (feet) which is about 4.5k gallons I think. I'm hoping to be able to house around 10 maybe 15 Koi in there as I was told around 1 koi per 1000litres is a good thing to go by. I have a very tight budget on that which is why the build will be around new year. Hoepfully I'll just be ready for stocking around breeding season. I imagine it will take that long because of weather. I have a bin which is probably around 40gallons to use as 1 filter and then I'm going to have another filter compartment made for me. Not really sure where else to go from there if anybody has any suggestions?

Thanks

[GERRY5]

koine , make your own easys , have look in the diy section i will see if i can dig a thread out or to to assist , if your on a budget and can save on the filters so much more to spend on the fish\pond....

[Koine]

My own easys? That sounds interesting. I was thinking of filling a spare container I had with K1 and then using a filter I'm having made as the main filtration.