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  1. #21
    Senior Member Rank = Supreme Champion Ajm's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by RS2OOO View Post
    Ha ha, we don't talk to our neighbours down south so if he's a southerner he's got no chance!

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    Hahaha mint

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    Freddyboy the legend

    "we are water keepers first"

    Johnathan

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  3. #22
    Senior Member Rank = Nanasai Handy Kenny's Avatar
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    Think of a ton of water as being roughly the same size/weight as a ton of soil, if you are having a 5000 gallon pond then that is roughly 22 tons of water so approximately 22 tons of soil to remove if the pond is completely in the ground, less if the pond has walls and is partially above ground. Add in some more for the width of the walls and depth of the floor and room for bottom drain pipework and it looks more like 25 tons. That is a lot of soil to move and will take an inexperienced operator a week with a mini digger, and you will need help. A normal skip will take 8 tons. An experienced labourer can (but maybe wouldn't) move 8 tons into a skip in one day but it is hard work. Mechanical help e.g. a conveyor or motorised wheelbarrow is a must. Many people just lay a slab near ground level and build up from there which saves on the digging.

    I was lucky, digging a 20 ton hole in the ground I had the room to pile it up, build the pond with some walls and then level out the soil across the garden which raised the garden by around 8 inches at the deepest point which had always been the plan. Was a bit of a quagmire by the time I had finished though.

    Kenny

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  5. #23
    Thanks for this, I think I will be building up more than I thought and digging down less. It will help with the gravity filter as well as I didn’t realise that needed to be at water level till I had a look into the workings of them.

    I’m now thinking about digging down about 3ft and building up 2-3ft - May need to rethink the decking area which I wanted to be almost like a bridge over one side, though I could still do that with steps up to it I suppose.


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  7. #24
    Senior Member Rank = Supreme Champion Ajm's Avatar
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    Heard a few people on here have gone 6ft and yeah more volume which is brilliant but they have had a mare to catch if a fish is I'll

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    Freddyboy the legend

    "we are water keepers first"

    Johnathan

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  9. #25
    Senior Member Rank = Nanasai Handy Kenny's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Akai the Shiba View Post
    Thanks for this, I think I will be building up more than I thought and digging down less. It will help with the gravity filter as well as I didn’t realise that needed to be at water level till I had a look into the workings of them.

    I’m now thinking about digging down about 3ft and building up 2-3ft - May need to rethink the decking area which I wanted to be almost like a bridge over one side, though I could still do that with steps up to it I suppose.


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    Yes, the top of your gravity filter will need to be at water level, but you can dig down and create a pit to put your filter into. I have seen a few big ponds in Holland/Germany where the filter pit is part of the overall pond structure at say one end. The filter is then covered with decking which can be lifted to give access and otherwise used for somewhere to place table and chairs etc. If I was to redesign my pond I would be doing this.

    My own pond has gravitated towards this through abortive attempts to get filters that I was happy with. Ended up with a partially submerged RDF (it is actually on a platfrom raised a foot off the ground which allows some height adjustment) which I built a block structure around and added a wooden top onto. The space between the actual pond and the RDF bunker is covered in removable decking.

    I am a fan of deeper ponds which allows my fish to get away from divebombing seagulls and picks up a bit of heat from the ground.

    Kenny

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  11. #26
    Senior Member Rank = Supreme Champion freddyboy's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Akai the Shiba View Post
    Thanks for this, I think I will be building up more than I thought and digging down less. It will help with the gravity filter as well as I didn’t realise that needed to be at water level till I had a look into the workings of them.

    I’m now thinking about digging down about 3ft and building up 2-3ft - May need to rethink the decking area which I wanted to be almost like a bridge over one side, though I could still do that with steps up to it I suppose.


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    Mine is 7 feet. But 6 feet of water. If you put a skimmer in the build. That's what my setup lines up to. At the skimmer water level. Theres ways also around wall height.
    We had 3 feet walls built above ground because of grand kids. But when putting in the indian stone flooring in the garden. Raised it by 6 inches. Higher with concrete.
    So now the walls only look 2 1/2 feet.
    Fred

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  13. #27
    Senior Member Rank = Supreme Champion freddyboy's Avatar
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    As AJ said it is harder to catch the fish in 6 feet of water.
    My way around this is to empty water out to about 4 feet.
    I find that easier to use the net. As it becomes lighter to handle

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  15. #28
    Unfortunately things will have to change with this build as my budget has been pretty much wiped out by vet bills over the last few days.

    So I’m now looking at ways to build a big pond as cheaply as possible, things I don’t want to compromise on are the filtration and UV, but with those it doesn’t leave a lot for the build so I’m thinking the lowest cost option is a pond liner, not sure if it will be lower cost to go with a bottom drain and gravity filter or a big pump and pressurised filter, if I’m going gravity filter then that will need to be pretty much buried as I don’t think I will have the funds available to build up a raised pond.

    My other option is just to slightly extend my current pond and leave the big build till I have the funds available.

    Gutted.

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  17. #29
    Senior Member Rank = Supreme Champion Ajm's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Akai the Shiba View Post
    Unfortunately things will have to change with this build as my budget has been pretty much wiped out by vet bills over the last few days.

    So I’m now looking at ways to build a big pond as cheaply as possible, things I don’t want to compromise on are the filtration and UV, but with those it doesn’t leave a lot for the build so I’m thinking the lowest cost option is a pond liner, not sure if it will be lower cost to go with a bottom drain and gravity filter or a big pump and pressurised filter, if I’m going gravity filter then that will need to be pretty much buried as I don’t think I will have the funds available to build up a raised pond.

    My other option is just to slightly extend my current pond and leave the big build till I have the funds available.

    Gutted.
    Sorry to hear that mate . Imo I would wait to you can save up again rather than rush in and do a pond that your not happy with . (Speaking from experience) itll cost you more in the long room to buy every thing twice when you redo it . Itll give you longer to make your plans perfect to the last detail

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    Freddyboy the legend

    "we are water keepers first"

    Johnathan

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  19. #30
    There’s ways you can have a pond on a budget.
    Half in/half out of ground sleepers with a liner.
    Secondhand or DIY filtration doesn’t have to cost a bomb. Ie, shower from plastic crates with Grog will work fine.
    Secondhand Nexus can be picked up cheaply now and again.
    You can get a decent pump for around £120
    You just have to think outside the box a bit.
    You could go fully in ground with a liner but that’s an awful lot of digging/soil to get shot of.
    A grab lorry is miles cheaper to use than skips.


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  21. #31
    Thanks guys, so it looks like this year will be another extension of the existing pond with a view to a big build in the future, a real shame as I was looking forwards to it but I have plenty of time to do the groundwork on it now. Existing pond will be extended on all sides and if I have the spare cash built up with a couple of windows along the enclosure fence so I can have a good view from outside the enclosure as well as inside - think I will stick with the pump and filter I have with no bottom drain and hopefully it will last another 3-4 years.


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