So i decided i want to get into this hobby, and have been getting advice form people and will i have taken the first step to build my pond. ( I think what made this decision easy was the vist to Pieter de Villiers and viewing his awesome ponds and fish.)


So i decided where i wanted the pond and what size i wanted and then it was time to get started.

First marking and digging the hole:


You will see how badly my garden slopes as im on the top of a hill, the dimensions are 3m x 6m and the on the top of the slope 1,2m deep although the pond will be going above the surface aswell to prevent run off water and dogs making their way in.

Next up plumb in the bottom drains


Dont really have a good pic but you can see the drains in the pics below.Decided to go with 2 bottom drains with 50mm outlets as im going to run them straight to the pump.


Then Came the Base



We then lay a 15cm base and leveled the floor, this was a crusher mix which was compacted. We then lay the plastic wich was 2 sheets of 175 micron as they would only sell 250 micron in 30m rolls. This is both to keep as much moisture in the concrete while it dries and stop anything from trying to grow through.


Then came the steel reinforcing and the concrete base


The Steel reinforcing was bent and goes a meter os so up the side just to give extra support to the sides for the backfill.

The Drains are now about 10cm or so below the base so i will need to extend the hats on the bottom drains.

Any thoughts comments ??? i will try update this as we go along.

Thanks
Lee

Thanks for sharing. You clearly did your homework first and got advice from an "experd". The way to go! Very well done so far.

Please keep us posted.

Hi Lee,

I hope you used class 6 SABS, 50mm pipes!

Dont really have a good pic but you can see the drains in the pics below.Decided to go with 2 bottom drains with 50mm outlets as im going to run them straight to the pump.



DOES THISM MEAN YOU SUCK FROM THE DAM AND PUMP TROUGH SANDFILTERS WITHOUT ANY SETTLEMENT CHAMBER?

Nelius

Sucking from the bottom directly into your filters .... hmmm ... me think you will wake up one morning and take Tequila instead of coffee and then start banging your head against the wall.

This plan of yours is going to force you to clean those filters plenty times a week and once you have big fish you might be cleaning filters plenty times per day.

Just my 2 cents.

Hi LJ
Consider your bottom drains and skimmer to lead to a settlement chamber prior to your main filter system.
This will reduce the amount of solid waste that passes through you main filter system and so reduce cleaning effort.
Jan

Hi,

Please people don’t talk about things you don’t experience yourself.

There is no problem sucking water direct from the bottom drain to the sand filter!
I am doing it for years with no problems. Most people have problems with to small filter system, over stocking and feeding and then they blame the sand filter set-up!

So as julle nie weet waarvan julle praat nie, bly liewer stil ! O ja, vir ‘n lui gat sal dit nie werk nie!

Sjoe, maar oom Pieter is kwaai vanoggend,

Either way there is going to be maintenance for any koi pond. The quality of water so forth will be determined by the amount effort put in.

Even if you have a settlement chamber doesn't mean you dont have to clean it in the same way, the longer the stuff is in thier the worse it will contaminate the water just the same way as a sand filter.

I dont think there is a right way or wrong way just various ways to do the same thing.

Like i said ive looked at a few different setups and decide that this is the way i want to go.

Cheers
Lee

Die koue en 'n dam wat lek help ook nie juis nie!

Daar is ‘n paar van ons se tjanke darem nou solied afgetrap!
Ek het nou net ‘n sielkundige gekontak om te laat kyk na hierdie gekneusde binneste van my.
Ek is ingelig dat as ek ‘n paar mede geaffekteerdes saam bring kan ons afslag kry! So kontak my as julle belangstel.
Jan
(die luigat)
Ns. Jammer oor jou dam Piet.