Thread: New pond build! Block and stone, approx 4k gallons

Hi All,
Thought I'd start a build diary for the new pond. We moved house approx 5 years ago and the koi have now been in their "temporary" pond in the garage far, far too long. It was only meant to be for a year but the move, 2 kids and various other things (including laziness) mean it's taken this long to plan the patio area and pond and get started! But here we go.
My previous pond I built myself (with bits of help from a brickie) in block and brick, and was approx 2k gallons with liner and home made filters. This one will be around double the size, and made from block faced with stone to match the house. It's going to be a big job! I managed to build the last one on a budget of about £2k 10 years ago, but this one will be a lot more. Initially had thought a budget of about 8k (I already have most of the filters) but I think we're going to be a fair bit past that. Hopefully not too much though!

Plans are as follows:
Approx 4k gallons - internal dimensions 3.5m square and 1.6m deep at deepest
Concrete block faced with stone
Fibreglassed
Single bottom drain
Raised wall at the back hiding filter pit/house with small waterfalls/stone blades
"Infinity" window
Feed existing mini shower and drum I found cheap on ebay a few years back from a pump, and build moving bed k1 filter driven by an airlift.

Here's the initial sketch:


Sketch.jpg

Wish me luck!
Matt

Sorry, when I said pump fed I didn't mean literally. Gravity fed to drum, pump and airlift after. Haven't decided yet whether the skimmer will go to drum or straight over the shower. I'd like to take it to the drum but don't want to have to throttle the BD line and also if the pump runs from the drum it'll lower the head a bit for the airlift.

Mini digger wasn't going to cut it really. Had a guy with a 3T digger round who is very reasonable and got loads done.

Before the start:
Start.jpg

After the dig:
Digger1.jpg
Ready for the base!
Prebase.jpg