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  1. #1

    Building a Second Pond

    I finished my first pond in February, it's relatively small in koi terms at 5,000 litres. I've been trying to get the filter to mature slowly so after having 2 starter fish and then adding 4 more the wife and me realised we'd got the bug! We love our "little" pond, it was a great build experience and I've learnt a lot more in the 4 months it's been running but we've decided to dig a second pond. The plan is to leave the first pond in place setup as is, I might perform a couple of upgrades, possibly a drop in drum for the nexus and fibreglass but other than that it'll become a grow on / quarantine pond.

    So, the plan for pond 2 is bigger with a few upgrades, I'm planning on adding a shower, ditch the nexus for a drum, window and two bottom drains. The internal dimensions will be around 4.8m x 2.7m and I had hoped to get down to 1.8m depth but realistically this will only be 1.5m as we're only coming out of the ground around 50cm so there's lots of digging to be done and all by hand! All in all it'll be in the region of 16,000 - 20,000 litres when done.

    The basic design is as pictured, it'll be less square than this in reality as I'll try to round the bend a little. Progress is going to be a little slow as I've promised to stop any building work at the end of October (on pond 1 we went right through the winter) and I've got a garage to build too but I'll keep the pictures coming.

    Pond 2.jpg



  2. #2
    The Site

    20180622_182010.jpg

    Digging Starts - 22nd June

    We don't have the access for a grab lorry so this is all going out in skips.

    20180622_210959.jpg

    Digging in a Heat Wave - 23rd June

    20180623_134833.jpg

    End of Day 1 - 23rd June

    20180623_211039.jpg

    Digging in the Evenings - 25th to 28th June

    With this heat wave I'm preferring to dig in the evening, so it's been several nights of 3-4 hours this week. This is as far as I'm at with the digging, obviously more planned this evening and over the weekend.

    20180628_064039.jpg

    Materials

    Decided to get some of the materials delivered, these have all been moved from the front of the house to the back now.

    20180620_074641.jpg

    I'm now just trying to find someone who can help with the base, as the pond is the best part of 60m from the road quotes for pumping are coming in at £700, if I get it premixed then I don't have enough man power to get it off the lorry quick enough so it might be having to mix onsite with the help of a builder.

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  4. #3
    Extreme Koi Member Rank = Supreme Champion Andy1671's Avatar
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    Coming very well.
    Can I suggest putting a 2nd window in the pond on the side that faces the house.
    I wish id put a window on that side of my pond so I could see them from the house
    5000 Gallon Fibreglassed Pond With 54" x 27" Infinity Window
    BD300 Drum Filter
    Artesian 0.5hp - Aquadyne 4.4c Beadfilter - PS4 Protein Shower
    Badu Eco Touch - EP20 UV Sterilizer - ASHP - Venturi
    Hi Blo 60 - Medo 45 - Spindrifter Bottom Drain
    Wide Mouthed Skimmer

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  6. #4
    Senior Member Rank = Grand Champion RoyLittle0's Avatar
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    Coming on really well, I don't envy you with the digging, I dug all through the day and into the evening, it about killed me, now i'm block laying all through the day and into the evening, its about killing me, there is a pattern forming here

    When I had my concrete delivered the driver told me he could have supplied a pump for £250 so I would shop around, try and look for a company that mixes on site, then you can get as much or as little as you want/need
    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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  8. #5
    Senior Member Rank = Supreme Champion freddyboy's Avatar
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    looks good mate. will be a nice pond. nice to see you have caught the bug.

  9. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by Andy1671 View Post
    Coming very well.
    Can I suggest putting a 2nd window in the pond on the side that faces the house.
    I wish id put a window on that side of my pond so I could see them from the house
    Thanks. We should be extending the house out to almost come up to the pond, the gap between the pond and the extension will be for the bins. We're going to move the kitchen into the extension so the idea was to look out over the sink / worktops across the top of the pond but now you mention it if the levels work out it might be a nice option to add a second window, you wouldn't be able to look into it straight on but you would be able to see into the pond nicely.... I'll run that by the aesthetics officer! Although, that decision is a little way down the line at the moment, if I can get it dug and blocked this year I'll be happy.

    Wow, £250 for a concrete pump, the £700 was supposed to be a cash price!. I'm waiting for a groundworks guy to give me a quote to mix onsite with me helping but I'll look into companies that mix on site too, the only issue is I don't think I can do this on my own.

  10. #7
    Senior Member Rank = Grand Champion RoyLittle0's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by LeeM View Post
    Wow, £250 for a concrete pump, the £700 was supposed to be a cash price!. I'm waiting for a groundworks guy to give me a quote to mix onsite with me helping but I'll look into companies that mix on site too, the only issue is I don't think I can do this on my own.
    I had 3 other people on barrows helping me, it was about the right amount of people for just over 3 cube, not something you want to try on your own as it can go off quite quickly, where in the country are you? people on here may know companies that they have used before for concrete
    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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  12. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by RoyLittle0 View Post
    I had 3 other people on barrows helping me, it was about the right amount of people for just over 3 cube, not something you want to try on your own as it can go off quite quickly, where in the country are you? people on here may know companies that they have used before for concrete
    I'm mid-Norfolk, just called the only company I can find for site mix and although they have a Norwich branch their site mix operates from Stowmarket so won't travel that far, typical... if anyone knows anyone or fancies operating a wheelbarrow for a day let me know!

  13. #9
    Extreme Koi Member Rank = Supreme Champion Andy1671's Avatar
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    Oi Lee.....less typing and more digging.....
    5000 Gallon Fibreglassed Pond With 54" x 27" Infinity Window
    BD300 Drum Filter
    Artesian 0.5hp - Aquadyne 4.4c Beadfilter - PS4 Protein Shower
    Badu Eco Touch - EP20 UV Sterilizer - ASHP - Venturi
    Hi Blo 60 - Medo 45 - Spindrifter Bottom Drain
    Wide Mouthed Skimmer

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  15. #10
    Quote Originally Posted by Andy1671 View Post
    Oi Lee.....less typing and more digging.....
    Haha! Currently stuck at work, digging commences at 6:30pm until I can no longer see then again tomorrow until I can no longer stand the heat, or I fill the skip... whichever comes first!

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  17. #11
    Extreme Koi Member Rank = Supreme Champion Andy1671's Avatar
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    Or football comes on
    5000 Gallon Fibreglassed Pond With 54" x 27" Infinity Window
    BD300 Drum Filter
    Artesian 0.5hp - Aquadyne 4.4c Beadfilter - PS4 Protein Shower
    Badu Eco Touch - EP20 UV Sterilizer - ASHP - Venturi
    Hi Blo 60 - Medo 45 - Spindrifter Bottom Drain
    Wide Mouthed Skimmer

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  19. #12
    Extreme Koi Member Rank = Supreme Champion Andy1671's Avatar
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    I dug my 5000 gallon pond with a mate by hand......
    Mixed all 18 tonnes of concrete myself with a mixer
    I feel your pain
    5000 Gallon Fibreglassed Pond With 54" x 27" Infinity Window
    BD300 Drum Filter
    Artesian 0.5hp - Aquadyne 4.4c Beadfilter - PS4 Protein Shower
    Badu Eco Touch - EP20 UV Sterilizer - ASHP - Venturi
    Hi Blo 60 - Medo 45 - Spindrifter Bottom Drain
    Wide Mouthed Skimmer

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  21. #13
    Senior Member Rank = Grand Champion RoyLittle0's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by LeeM View Post
    Haha! Currently stuck at work, digging commences at 6:30pm until I can no longer see then again tomorrow until I can no longer stand the heat, or I fill the skip... whichever comes first!
    Could be worse, you could be at home laying blocks in full sun
    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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  23. #14
    Quote Originally Posted by RoyLittle0 View Post
    Could be worse, you could be at home laying blocks in full sun
    Very true, currently sat in my air conditioned office working on IT projects is a far cry from that!

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  25. #15
    Senior Member Rank = Supreme Champion freddyboy's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by LeeM View Post
    Very true, currently sat in my air conditioned office working on IT projects is a far cry from that!
    I know what i would rather be doing
    Building the pond for the fishes.
    Enjoy the weather while it lasts.
    And come on england.

    Sent from my SM-G925F using Tapatalk

  26. #16
    Weekend - 30th June / 1st July

    Progress was good, I managed to get another 18 inches to 2 foot deeper, clear the turf on the next cut and fill another 8yd skip but ran into a couple of snags.


    1. I hadn't considered my garden was on a slight hill so a 50cm wall at the low end will only be 28cm the other, this requires some thought as I can't bring it any higher than 50cm due to the window on the extension.
    2. My wife was watering the plants last night and then I found out we had a landslide this morning so I've got to clear that out tonight!


    Another skip arrives today, yippee!

    20180702_064222.jpg

    This has been my motivation to do another load every time I pass it with a wheelbarrow full of soil!

    20180630_111443.jpg

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  28. #17
    Extreme Koi Member Rank = Supreme Champion john1's Avatar
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    Very good progress Lee,good to have a motivation keep at it mate.
    John

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  30. #18
    2nd July

    Only 3.5 hours digging last night but I've started to open it out to the full size now so getting a feel for how big it'll be. I'll deal with the landslide at the end as my priority is to get the bulk of the soil out as the skip permit only lasts 28 days! Also, 2 x aerated bottom drains ordered from JBR and probably a trip to Costal Koi this weekend to pick up some 3m lengths of 4" pipe.

    20180703_064919.jpg

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  32. #19
    4th July

    Moredigging tonight, that's another skip filled so 35 yards of soil moved so far, another skip arriving today so I'm hoping to have the bulk of the pond cleared out this weekend then I'll have to dig the filtration house in a bit. Getting the turf off was tough work, it was like concrete as it's been baked on over the last few weeks.

    I had a chap round last night to quote to help with laying the base and he said to lay it in two sections and as long as there was steels joining the two sections it would be fine and they'd be no movement?

    20180705_064244.jpg
    20180705_064200.jpg

  33. #20
    Senior Member Rank = Sansai richythepom's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by LeeM View Post
    4th July

    Moredigging tonight, that's another skip filled so 35 yards of soil moved so far, another skip arriving today so I'm hoping to have the bulk of the pond cleared out this weekend then I'll have to dig the filtration house in a bit. Getting the turf off was tough work, it was like concrete as it's been baked on over the last few weeks.

    I had a chap round last night to quote to help with laying the base and he said to lay it in two sections and as long as there was steels joining the two sections it would be fine and they'd be no movement?

    20180705_064244.jpg
    20180705_064200.jpg
    I'm not a builder, but that does sound odd. Surely even if any movement is very unlikely, having a base comprised of two sections, rather than a single solid section would have to introduce a potential point of failure at the join, wouldn't it?
    As a matter of interest, why did the builder suggest this approach? Did he offer a valid reason?

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