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  1. #1
    Senior Member Rank = Yonsai Liam77's Avatar
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    New pond build....first timer!!!!

    Hi to you all, after about a year of scouting around on here...seeing what’s been done right and wrong...I am in a position where my pond build will be starting in a few weeks. You would think that after a year I am full of all the right information but as I sit to write this my mind goes blank!

    it is going to be 4m x 2m and between 4 and 5 ft deep so will be running around 10-12000 gallons. It will be fibre glassed so any recommendations in the Bedfordshire area would be a great help. Also planning on an Atlantica window. Here is a list of the kit I am planning on purchasing:

    Nexus 320( might push out to the auto but we will see)
    cetus sieve
    hydro hps 50 pump
    pro wide skimmer
    spindrifter bottom drain
    UV
    evo aqua 130 + 80 air pumps
    Plan on angling the base towards the centre bottom drain to aid in crud removal
    may heat at some point in the future if it is needed.

    Im having the garden done at the same time so all the filtration will run into the shed which is placed next to the pond so this will keep me a bit warmer in the winter and I like to run a tidy ship so I’m looking forward to setting it all up.

    I have read all the points on drums and beads but something always makes me go back to the nexus and I feel it’s the right choice for me. I will still be interested to hear your views on my set up though so don’t get me wrong. That’s what this site is all about and it’s helped me to get to where I am now!!!!!! Excited!!!!



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  3. #2
    Senior Member Rank = Supreme Champion Ajm's Avatar
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    Good luck with your build sounds good so far . As you know the people on here are first rate for advice helped me loads with my build . Pictures are a must when you do get building please and lots of them

    Sent from my SM-N950F using Tapatalk
    Freddyboy the legend

    "we are water keepers first"

    Johnathan

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  5. #3
    Senior Member Rank = Yonsai Liam77's Avatar
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    Thanks very much, yes I see that there is a lot of valuable knowledge on here. And it’s nice to have some opinions to bounce of and see if your heading in the right direction

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  7. #4
    Senior Member Rank = Gosai Goonerharwood's Avatar
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    Hi Liam and welcome to the forum if your being pulled towards the nexus have a look at the Draco Drum you drop in the top of the nexus . Have a look at Fred's build thread he's well happy with the Draco Drum . Good luck with the build and don't break the rules by this we mean pictures of your build and lots of them

    Colin

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  9. #5
    Senior Member Rank = Grand Champion andikoi's Avatar
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    welcome and good luck with the build ,i cant believe im saying this as a nexus fanatic lol but if your thinking new nexus auto and new cetus sieve then id get a seperate drum and bio chamber or combined instead,im now off to see my therapist haha,andi

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  11. #6
    Extreme Koi Member Rank = Nanasai Rog.G's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by andikoi View Post
    welcome and good luck with the build ,i cant believe im saying this as a nexus fanatic lol but if your thinking new nexus auto and new cetus sieve then id get a seperate drum and bio chamber or combined instead,im now off to see my therapist haha,andi
    I agree, so many people have done just that, so there must be a reason!
    My own experience (biased) is get any drum you can, followed by a moving bed bio that is big enough to handle your intended fish stock/feeding etc.
    Even I’m getting bored hearing me keep saying DRUM + MOVING BED

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  13. #7
    Extreme Koi Member Rank = Nisai nugster's Avatar
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    I would echo the drum and moving bed!

    I have a pump fed QK15 followed by a DIY blue drum wih 50 litres K1 micro and it is so easy to maintain. The only upgrade I want to make is to get a variable flow pump which will both increase my flow and enable me to dial things back in the winter to save on the electric.

    If you are looking to stock your fish then I would recommend a Google search for UK Koi Hobby Breeder. Don't be fooled by the UK or Hobby title, the koi Adam breeds are outstanding!

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  15. #8
    Senior Member Rank = Supreme Champion freddyboy's Avatar
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    agree with what has been said. i had already bought my nexus. brand new. so to sell it from buying at £1600 pounds. and selling at say 5 to 6 hundred pounds. was to big a loss.
    so i bought the draco and put it in the nexus.
    and i would recommend it to anyone. on my setup it works perfect. you only know how good if you have it. nexus and draco. every one one here will tell you how good there drum is.
    but at the end of the day a drum is a drum no matter what the make. what is more of a point to consider is the amount of media you need for your setup. i have 350 lts of k1 and helx 13 in my 320 nexus.
    that s my maximum which suits my setup.
    if you want more. the nexus with a drum is not for you. a drum before hand with a moving bed is for you then. but i would recommend the draco to anyone. i have had mine 2 !\2 years now. so it has proved it s self to me.

    also to consider is how many lines you want to run into your drum.

    and also to consider is how much flow you want through your moving bed. if you want it flowing faster then . obviously buy a larger drum with more flow. also the more fish you have the more
    media you will need.

    the other thing i like about my draco and nexus is if it packed in while waiting for parts or new drum. all i do is lift the drum out. put my easy back in. connect centre air up. with media and hey presto i still have filtration.
    of my nexus.


    lots of things to consider.

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  17. #9
    Extreme Koi Member Rank = Yonsai muttley's Avatar
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    Do you mean litres? 4m x 2m x1.5m is 12 cubic metres. 220 gallons per cube equates to 2640 gallons. Don't be buying pumps etc for 10,000 gallons lol.

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  19. #10
    Senior Member Rank = Yonsai Liam77's Avatar
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    Thanks all very much for your replies and input...I, as everyone else on here,have seen and read all of fred’s Build and yes I really like what you have done. And like Fred says he already had the nexus so the draco was more of an upgrade on what he had and I totally agree he has done the right thing there so it might have to be the same for me in that once the missus has calmed down at the price of it all I can sneak one in there.
    Yes Muttley, sorry about the typo...2640 gallons at 10-12000 litres. Gallons would be nice but that would be the garden and the budget all used up, and probably the last of my 9 lives!!!!
    can anyone recommend a fibre glasser who is in or would travel to Bedfordshire as I’ve seen that people are always happy with the results on here and don’t want to move away from that in to the unknown....
    it should all come together fairly quickly once they start and I can’t wait but I’ve got a 3 week holiday around Europe to do before then so I need to start getting my business done

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  21. #11
    Extreme Koi Member Rank = Rokusai Chipmonk's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Liam77 View Post
    Thanks all very much for your replies and input...I, as everyone else on here,have seen and read all of fred’s Build and yes I really like what you have done. And like Fred says he already had the nexus so the draco was more of an upgrade on what he had and I totally agree he has done the right thing there so it might have to be the same for me in that once the missus has calmed down at the price of it all I can sneak one in there.
    Yes Muttley, sorry about the typo...2640 gallons at 10-12000 litres. Gallons would be nice but that would be the garden and the budget all used up, and probably the last of my 9 lives!!!!
    can anyone recommend a fibre glasser who is in or would travel to Bedfordshire as I’ve seen that people are always happy with the results on here and don’t want to move away from that in to the unknown....
    it should all come together fairly quickly once they start and I can’t wait but I’ve got a 3 week holiday around Europe to do before then so I need to start getting my business done
    Phone Pam at Avenue fisheries and see if she can give you a contact number for one.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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  23. #12
    Senior Member Rank = Supreme Champion freddyboy's Avatar
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    Thanks for the nice words liam.
    Have a nice holiday. Come back refreshed. And get stuck into your build. Lots of photos bud.

    How i payed for draco. Said to the wife. I want an early birthday and christmas pressie. Got my way
    Haha.
    The only thing is. I aint had a pressie since. Haha.
    Only kidding.

    Sent from my SM-G925F using Tapatalk

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  25. #13
    Senior Member Rank = Yonsai Liam77's Avatar
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    Hi all, right the holiday is over and was better than expected...Europe is not a bad place, some lovely villages/towns and would recommend it to anyone but now I’m back and this pond has to start getting done!
    As I imagine is to be expected, everything has changed. Had my mind set on a nexus and now I’m getting an evolve with a big Draco built by evolve with huge amounts of Jap matting and what I love about it is the ability to add-on. It will be enough for around 6000g so should cover it. I’ve ordered it with a leaf catcher so now....oh yes forgot.... it’s now also going to be a fibreglassed 5m x 2.5m x 1.5m deep so needed to up the filtration.....so now, I’ll have 2 spindrifter BD fed straight in and the skimmer. All 3 into the leaf catcher and then fed to the drum and then into the bio which will have 3 Jap mat cartridges which he has made specially so each cartridge is well over 2m by 1m. 2 outlets, 1 through a 10000lph DM variable pump to the main mid level return. Another 10000lph DM variable pump to a higher return to aid the skimmer and possibly feed some waterfall type feature. An amalgam uv will be in there somewhere to. And the affinity window frame is going to turn up tomorrow and the glass in a few weeks. And then 2 air pumps, 1 for the BD’s and 1 smaller one for the filter. Think that’s it, and it’s definitely the final draft so no more changes. Criticism welcome if required

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  27. #14
    Senior Member Rank = Supreme Champion freddyboy's Avatar
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    All sound like a good setup lee.
    Glad to hear you had a good holiday.
    Now it is time for work
    On the pond

    Sent from my SM-G925F using Tapatalk

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  29. #15
    Senior Member Rank = Yonsai Liam77's Avatar
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    Hi everyone..start day is nearly here and I’m getting excited. I have a question about the returns. The pond is in the 18000 litre area and I have 2 outlets from my combi drum. My thinking was main pump which is now a 20000 dm vario will feed 1 mid water return and a 10000 dm vario feeding a higher second return but turned down a bit to aid the skimmer and then when I’m ready I’ll T of that second feed to a water feature and up the power a bit. How does this sound? Or am I better running both returns from the 20000 and just run a water feature of the 10000?

  30. #16
    Senior Member Rank = Yonsai Liam77's Avatar
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    Hi all, start time is here!!!! We have had a few days of getting on with it and the patio has been marked up and today the big dig started. Got to go down about 3 ft but we are on our way and that’s the main thing. Also a good chance to start seeing how these photos get uploaded so here goes, some of the project, some of the garden and a few bits ready to decorate..here goes

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  32. #17
    Senior Member Rank = Yonsai Liam77's Avatar
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    I’ve upgraded both pumps now to 20000 do varios and would still like to hear people’s views on the pond returns??

  33. #18
    Senior Member Rank = Grand Champion RoyLittle0's Avatar
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    Not sure if it helps but this is my setup, 1 mid level return and 2 high level and the Bakki shower, trying to get the water to vortex around the bottom drains

    Pond Plumbing - Copy.png
    4600 Gallon Concrete Block and Fiberglass
    2100 mm x 710 mm Infinity Window 32mm thick glass
    2 x Aerated Bottom Drains and Skimmer
    Filtreau HiFlow 30 Drum Filter
    Bio Chamber - 140 litres K1
    Bakki Shower - 30 KG Sakura Far Infrared Media
    2 x 18,000 lh pumps
    Heated from house boiler through a heat exchanger
    Idealseal MS290

    My Pond Build

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  35. #19
    Senior Member Rank = Yonsai Liam77's Avatar
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    Thanks Roy, mine is kind of the same but just a bit more rectangular....I think I can only get 2 returns in and my skimmer is almost in the same place as yours but isn’t set in the wall. It’s a 3 inch pipe about a ft from the edge but yes my idea is to try and create that vortex motion. I think I may have to have 1 mid by where yours says 2 metres and the other on the opposite end/corner to give me that rotation and to aid the skimmer.

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  37. #20
    Senior Member Rank = Yonsai Liam77's Avatar
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    Day 2 if the big dig....coming along well but the last thing I expected was the corner of a wall in my pond. I’m sure it will come out easy enough, just hope there aren’t any bombs in there. Moving along nicely and not sure why the photos have taken on some sideways action
    Attached Images Attached Images

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