tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22324722177966889732024-08-28T20:12:11.494-07:00Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger39125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2232472217796688973.post-35517298618107138282009-09-12T11:06:00.001-07:002009-09-12T11:09:49.050-07:00

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2232472217796688973.post-21430777907684157992009-08-17T15:00:00.000-07:002009-08-17T15:00:18.270-07:00

The water comes in through a bulkhead fitting and then a few feet of flexible hose. The hose is there to make cleaning easy. Just use pop the gate valve for the drain and use the hose (with pond water instead of tap water) to hose off the filter pads. Easy, right? I also cut the left-over bits of Matala into 3 inch cubes and created a small bio-filter after all the regular mats.

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2232472217796688973.post-18947551182465849452009-08-17T14:49:00.000-07:002009-08-17T14:50:36.844-07:00

I installed a temporary filter last year, made out of a plastic truck box. It started to bow under the water pressure and had irregularly shaped sides. Time for a new one. It needed to be sturdy and have room for all four sheets of Matala filter material. I built the box with treated 5/8" plywood. It's about 6 feet long. The depression in the bottom is for the drain. 3 layers of fiberglass

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2232472217796688973.post-72373248956584092552008-10-28T18:33:00.000-07:002008-10-28T18:34:02.077-07:00

I finished the gate. Finally. I'm still undecided about putting a handle on the left side as well but other than that I'm very pleased.It's made of cedar and has copper pipe set in the top. I'm curious to see how square it stays over time. It's all bolted together from the sides and the boards in the middle are 1" thick and have been glued with tongues and grooves.

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2232472217796688973.post-19895755048313538542008-09-04T17:54:00.000-07:002008-09-05T14:04:20.936-07:00

So ... I went out to feed the fish the other day and noticed a bird circling above the back yard.  We often have hawks up there but this one looked different and was a lot lower.  It perched on a tree and so I grabbed the camera and caught it doing this:

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2232472217796688973.post-48826689908300276862008-08-06T18:08:00.001-07:002008-08-06T18:10:50.644-07:00

This is the AQUA 57Watt UV filter I added to the system. After adding a bypass, it has about 2000GPH flowing through it.Here's the pond before we turned it on.We went away on a 3 day holiday and were pleasantly surprised to find our pond all clear to the bottom!

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2232472217796688973.post-55911459503223671042008-06-30T06:45:00.000-07:002008-06-30T13:13:53.017-07:00

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2232472217796688973.post-58332211765782897852008-06-30T06:32:00.000-07:002008-12-09T12:29:04.220-08:00

Here are the parts for my new mechanical filter. 4 sheets of matala filter, a rubbermaid truck box and various fittings. It took a day to put together and get working. This filter is now the first after the pump. It drains into a 40gal brute can full of plastic scrubbies and left-over matala bits. This filter will work for the next year, until I build some fiberglass boxes. On the left (

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2232472217796688973.post-90464835591555813642008-06-11T18:22:00.000-07:002008-12-09T12:29:04.401-08:00

Despite a record cold June so far we still enjoy watching the pond plants bloom.

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2232472217796688973.post-61544384966032760872008-06-04T18:57:00.000-07:002008-12-09T12:29:04.955-08:00

It's been a slow week pond-wise but the electical is all wired up. Kari is happy that she doesn't have to mow around an extension cord anymore. :) We picked up ten koi today from a local guy who had a good spawn 2 years ago. So far they're sticking together and exploring every corner of the pond. They play follow the leader. If one swims into the skimmer then the other nine follow suit. At

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2232472217796688973.post-45679078108882600102008-05-17T22:46:00.000-07:002008-12-09T12:29:06.007-08:00

What a beautiful day!Here's the skimmer (the square can). It works very well so far.I sanded and stained the cedar trim. I'm very happy with how it turned out.

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2232472217796688973.post-62915878280479635572008-05-14T20:35:00.000-07:002008-12-09T12:29:06.313-08:00

Here are the parts for the skimmer. I found a square rubbermaid heavy duty garbage can. I then cut two frames from 1/4" plastic and purchased enough stainless steel bolts for the job. I've got some work to do in preparing the pond. I'll get started on that if it ever stops raining. :)

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2232472217796688973.post-86350769625330022902008-05-12T20:06:00.000-07:002008-12-09T12:29:06.441-08:00

The trim hangs about 1 1/2" over the water and about 1/2" above it. I installed it over the weekend. I cut 1/4" thick plastic washers to go under the 2x6 cedar trim. This will let the water from the pond run under the boards if the level gets to high and help prevent rot. Then, I counter-sunk 4" lag bolts through the boards and plugged them with hot glue and dowels. I'll sand and stain the

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2232472217796688973.post-9500709529278281102008-05-05T20:23:00.000-07:002008-12-09T12:29:07.385-08:00

Pond Bridge The bridge is back in black. I like this version a lot better. It sits nicely about 1cm off the water with very little deflection in the middle, even with 3 adults standing on it. The reflection of the trees in the water is nice too. There are four slats to the left that are hinged. The skimmer will hide under there and the bridge section opens up to empty the basket. Once the skimmer

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2232472217796688973.post-82488485362312574982008-04-28T21:11:00.000-07:002008-12-09T12:29:08.241-08:00

The boys do some sanding. These are the cross pieces for the bridge.Here's the bridge in place. It was stained with Behr's natural stain. After putting it all together I'm thinking that the bridge is too much. It looks nice enough but all I see is bridge. It stands out so much that it seems to eclipse the entire pond. I'm now thinking about what to do about it. Perhaps staining it a dark colour,

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2232472217796688973.post-23915454823300778732008-04-26T22:05:00.000-07:002008-12-09T12:29:08.391-08:00

We drained the pond (sadly) and started building the bench (left) and the bridge (center).

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2232472217796688973.post-18506261759144461422008-04-26T22:01:00.000-07:002008-12-09T12:29:09.085-08:00

The liner is in! We put in 2 layers of underlay first, then the liner.Time to fill 'er up. We babysat the liner and kept shifting it to smooth things out.We trimmed the edges and filled up the pond. It is level to 2mm (1/16"). You can see the waterfall in the background. The sound was fantasic! Now we need to drain it to put in the bridge and build the bench. It's such a waste of water, but

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2232472217796688973.post-2067103844120678062008-04-25T12:28:00.000-07:002008-12-09T12:29:09.227-08:00

The pond is about 15000 liters (4000 gallons) and 1.5 meters (5ft) deep at the lowest point.For this pond, we decided that a treated wood frame would make an ideal attachment point for the pond liner. On one side there was a lot of gravel so concrete footings were used to keep the 4x4 posts level and solid. 3ft rebar was pounded through the posts at 2ft intervals. Once the liner is in, cedar 2x6

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2232472217796688973.post-19754263486573236992008-04-25T12:22:00.000-07:002008-12-09T12:29:09.478-08:00

We actually ended up going down another foot on one side to create a slope but at this point you can get an idea on the size.

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2232472217796688973.post-91642056040472479012008-04-15T11:09:00.000-07:002008-12-09T12:29:10.065-08:00

You can see the outline of the pond from the string-linesThe whole family gets involved

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2232472217796688973.post-79791073997735457742007-11-01T11:07:00.000-07:002008-12-09T12:29:10.552-08:00

After toying with all sorts of different ideas (see the concrete slab lying on the dirt pile?) for our new pond, we decided on a formal, rectanguar shape with a copper fountain. These pvc pipes will send the water from the pond to the copper pipes. The black end-caps were replaced with white before it was all glued together.

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2232472217796688973.post-80603696735202530362007-10-15T10:54:00.000-07:002008-12-09T12:29:10.699-08:00

Lessons:1. Skimmers are important when you live next to a forest.2. Liners that are glued together might leak. Brian has been fighting leaks on this one. We'll order a single liner when we do ours. We're also going to try to avoid having any holes in the liner for pipes or drains.3. It's worth having a bottom drain, or at least a low spot where a pump can sit.4. Salamanders love ponds. There are

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2232472217796688973.post-5689579291196171092007-05-22T10:40:00.000-07:002008-12-09T12:29:10.904-08:00

Lesson learned: Don't clean the pond with fish in it.

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2232472217796688973.post-30297547556112922852007-03-11T14:32:00.000-07:002008-12-09T12:29:11.190-08:00

We just couldn't help it!

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2232472217796688973.post-44567464890431393162007-03-10T10:38:00.000-08:002008-12-09T12:29:11.527-08:00

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0