Construction 1 |
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POND DETAILS
Built in 2006. Irregularly shaped @ 23 ft. X 12 ft.
6 feet deep, 9000 gallons.
My first pond was built from a small kit in 1992 at a previous home. With a larger yard, "biggish" budget and some hindsight I started planning the construction of this koi pond during the winter of 2005.
The first design consideration was protection of the koi from predators. We are located very very close to Stoney Creek Metro park which is a haven for Herons. I wanted to maximize the depth, making the sheer size a natural defense. The pond is 6 feet deep everywhere, with sharply sloped sides, almost vertical. There are no shelves, beach or shallows. It is really like a small swimming pool, just with more complicated filtration.
The pond is built into the slope of my yard. It was hand dug over a 3 week period. The falls total about 5 feet and horseshoe around a small birch into the lower/main pond. I did add a small upper pond in 2007 for more "sound" and natural filtration.
Equipment List
Pumps - (2) Sequence 5000 series and one auxilory for running the fountain. Pump "one" is gravity fed directly from the skimmer using 2" flex pipe and pvc. It feeds into the upper waterfall. Pump "two" is gravity fed from the settlement chamber and pushes into the filters.
Settlement/vortex - 150 gallon rubbermain stock tank, modified with 90 degree inlet/outlets. The tank is fed by two 4" pvc bottom drains .
Savio Skimmer with 57 watt UV.
(2) Tetra bio filters
(2) Fishmate pressure filters
Compressor- Hakko 60 litre per minute air pump running stones and biofilter in summer, and de-ice duty in the winter.
Auto Float valve. We are lucky to have well water. My outside taps are unsoftened with a direct feed to the pond.
Operational cost summer - $75/month for electricity