Thread: New Natural look koi pond build

Hi everyone

I have been in and out of this site for 9-10 years and been soaking up all of the variations of pond and filtration designs and in awe of what some of you guys manage to achieve.

We recently moved to Chester and The time has finally come where I have the space and time to start planning , digging and getting my pond underway. The Mrs has given the green light so I need to get cracking before she changes her mind!

Little bit of background I grew up fishing for carp all across the country but mainly Surrey/London based, and have always found harmony in natural lakes and water features. I’m a big fan of natural looking settings and the Japanese garden style setup. Sourcing rocks and creating a main feature of a waterfall. Pictures below of my aim and a friends pond I grew up with that inspired me. God knows how he keeps the Heron away as I recognise fish there from when I was a child.

I found this tutorial that Iv watched a few times over and want to follow this as a guide https://youtu.be/2JWn8NEvgrc

The plan was to go concrete base, insulated and fibreglassed, drum, big bio, heater and bakki shower but plans have gone in for an extension so I have had to rethink financially. Iv decided to get cracking and go liner route with a bottom drain to Nexus I think and skimmer which I can revisit in 2-5 years and make bigger and throw proper money at it as the hole has been dug.

Now financial plans have changed I’m a Little bit stuck on whether for now to go pump fed this time round to save the hassle of digging out an in ground blockwork filter house, and also stuck on how then the skimmer will run if pump fed, and also whether a bottom drain is redundant with a pump fed setup.



Current dimensions are 10 x 15ft and aiming for 3ft to 5ft center. Roughly 2800 gallons from calculations

Be great to get any thoughts and ideas.

Cheers
James


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nice size pond
if i had the space you had i'd have bult mine in ground, or with a small 18" high wall as it makes netting fish ect easier...
though the problem with gravity in ground builds, is the in ground filter house,

my last pond was inground but i had a bottom drain feeding a brush chamber with the pump in,
and then pumped it to the filters above pond level with a gravity return.

it makes cleaning the pump easier and you can bung the 110mm bottom drain inlet with a piece of 110mm pipe and pump out the filter then pull the pipe to purge the bottom drain.
keeps the pump free of debris too plus you can easily add a topup valve and over flow.

Originally Posted by Frimley Koi keeper

Sounds like you’ve got a nice pond coming.

Decent size too. Get some big ones in there

Someone suggested an airlift to me as I'm currently doing my own small scale pond build compared to yours.

Good luck.

Thanks bud, I’ll look into the airlift idea. Sounds interesting.


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Originally Posted by john1

Hi there James, looks like a lovely build there and I also love the natural pond in ground.
Unfortunately with g/kids I had to do a raised one and my size is similar to yours.
Can see your point on the bottom drain maybe a retro drain would work.

Your not far from me in Chester, I am near Queensferry.

Thanks John, that’s not far at all.
RE kids I did nearly back out last week with the worry of them falling in, I’m going to fence it off and also gate between the office, so there is no access unless I unlock the gate for the next 3-4 years. I can then also net the top of the fence to keep the Heron away.

I also have 2 cats, trying to figure out the best way to have areas they can climb out of if they fell in.


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Originally Posted by davethefish1

nice size pond
if i had the space you had i'd have bult mine in ground, or with a small 18" high wall as it makes netting fish ect easier...
though the problem with gravity in ground builds, is the in ground filter house,

my last pond was inground but i had a bottom drain feeding a brush chamber with the pump in,
and then pumped it to the filters above pond level with a gravity return.

it makes cleaning the pump easier and you can bung the 110mm bottom drain inlet with a piece of 110mm pipe and pump out the filter then pull the pipe to purge the bottom drain.
keeps the pump free of debris too plus you can easily add a topup valve and over flow.

Thanks Dave, that’s a great idea. I did own a small pond years back and the cleaning of the pump was horrendous, really want to avoid it. This is a great way to avoid the mess I’ll do some research, sort of like a settlement chamber? Is there any worry of the pump running dry or will the bottom drain always feed enough water?. I’m slowing thinking I just need to get digging and get the nexus in ground with a shed build overhead. Mrs had a brainwave yesterday and we are going to keep all the soil and relocate where the stones are with retaining wall etc. save me the mammoth task of wheelbarrow and grab lorry


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Originally Posted by Frimley Koi keeper

We have 2 cats and I had a net over my last pond. They would wait for feeding time and try to tap the fish through the net. The youngest one would walk across the PVC pipework frame I had the net attached to. Mine was round same as my new one is so just used some heavy duty 25mm black electrical pipe. Put a 4 way (cross box) in the middle with pipes running out to T's on the side of the pond. Then had pipe between the T's sitting on the lip of the pond. The pipes going to the cross box were all made slightly too long to lift the cross box up which meant it could take a lot more weight and not drop on to the surface of the water if too many leaves or snow got on the net. May be able to do something similar with your pond but with extra straight sections to make it oval? Use a black net not a green one like I did as the black will disappear against the back ground of the water better than green does. Just thought with algae turning the water green the net would disappear against that! Well it didn't!!

Love this idea, I really want to have something I can remove easily when in the garden this sounds lightweight but strong. Problem is my male cat is giant, size of a small dog. I’ll have to do some tests to make sure it can handle his weight


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Originally Posted by Frimley Koi keeper

My last pond was pump fed with an in pond pump which worked really well I thought and only had to clean the blanket weed off the pump and cage a couple of times a year but then went with a retro BD and to be quite honest wished I'd stuck with the pump on it's own as the blanket weed just kept blocking the dome where as the cage allowed the blanket weed to reach the impeller of the pump which then chopped it up and pushed it into the filter where as the retro BD just allowed the blanket weed to build up, block the dome and some would get pulled through the pipework into the pump and then get chopped up. If you can keep on top of the blanket weed then maybe the retro BD is the way to go. Either way I still had a pump in the pond that had to be removed to clean. With the retro BD it was a big issue as the pipework, BD and pump all had to be pulled out together but with the pump in a cage, it was easy to pull the pump out to clean that. Not sure which way I'll be going regarding the retro BD this time if I do go pump fed again.

Originally Posted by Frimley Koi keeper

My last pond was pump fed with an in pond pump which worked really well I thought and only had to clean the blanket weed off the pump and cage a couple of times a year but then went with a retro BD and to be quite honest wished I'd stuck with the pump on it's own as the blanket weed just kept blocking the dome where as the cage allowed the blanket weed to reach the impeller of the pump which then chopped it up and pushed it into the filter where as the retro BD just allowed the blanket weed to build up, block the dome and some would get pulled through the pipework into the pump and then get chopped up. If you can keep on top of the blanket weed then maybe the retro BD is the way to go. Either way I still had a pump in the pond that had to be removed to clean. With the retro BD it was a big issue as the pipework, BD and pump all had to be pulled out together but with the pump in a cage, it was easy to pull the pump out to clean that. Not sure which way I'll be going regarding the retro BD this time if I do go pump fed again.

That’s interesting, I think the thought of any chopping up gives me anxiety. Was there any times the pump came to a standstill. What happens when your away, can you relax knowing all will be ok? Iv made sure the pond is in a more shaded area and thinking of putting a sail up to keep it fully out of the sun when needed. I’m liking the idea of the settlement tank at water level then pumping above ground to nexus in a shed. Here is the back of the garden I have to play with for all the gubbins.. i think apple tree roots could cause a problem



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Originally Posted by Frimley Koi keeper

It used to just slow the flow right down when the retro BD blocked but as everything gravity fed back through the system the pond would never get emptied unless something started to leak

Got it, thanks. Lots to consider. One thing I haven’t considered is an overflow incase of heavy rain. Did you have one installed?


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