Thread: Enclosing pond permanently

Good afternoon.
Hope everyone's had a decent year with their Koi and ponds.
In the next few weeks we will be enclosing our 18,000 litre pond using double glazed windows and polycarbonate roofing. the entrance will be a 2m patio style door.
All windows will have large opening lights and of course the doors can be left open when the weather warms up.
Our intention is to also heat the pond using a heat exchanger fed from our gas boiler.
There will be enough space to walk around one long side and one short side.
Does anyone have a similar set up? Other than condensation, can anyone see possible pitfalls?
The hope is that there will not be any sudden temperature changes for the Koi, leaves and unwanted visitors will no longer be an issue and we won't need to net although we will have jump guards.
Should we use a particular type of glazing so that uv still gets through?
Would really appreciate any information before the builder starts next week.

I have not seen this done before as such, so can not offer advice, but I really look forward to seeing what you do Denise, sounds a dream

Thank you. I will definitely post when it's complete but I am a born worrier hence the questions :-)

[QUOTE=Denise Doherty;430904]Good afternoon.
Hope everyone's had a decent year with their Koi and ponds.
In the next few weeks we will be enclosing our 18,000 litre pond using double glazed windows and polycarbonate roofing. the entrance will be a 2m patio style door.
All windows will have large opening lights and of course the doors can be left open when the weather warms up.
Our intention is to also heat the pond using a heat exchanger fed from our gas boiler.
There will be enough space to walk around one long side and one short side.
Does anyone have a similar set up? Other than condensation, can anyone see possible pitfalls?
The hope is that there will not be any sudden temperature changes for the Koi, leaves and unwanted visitors will no longer be an issue and we won't need to net although we will have jump guards.
Should we use a particular type of glazing so that uv still gets through?
Would really appreciate any information before the builder starts next week.

Ive nearly finished a similar project and built it for similar reasons as yourself, condensation is a problem and to help mitigate this i installed a heater in the koi house and try keep the room temperature the same as the pond and so far its worked, but have to wait and see when the temps really drop, this morning in the garden was 6 degrees, 17.5 in the pond house and water was 19.2, the bottom of the glass doors had a small amount of condensation but the ceiling and walls were ok. make sure the builder uses all stainless steel screws over and around the pond just incase condensation becomes a problem, you dont want rust leaching into your pond, i used CT1 on any snagging i had to do inside the pond house. good luck with the build.

[QUOTE=Paddy;430915]

Originally Posted by Denise Doherty

Good afternoon.
Hope everyone's had a decent year with their Koi and ponds.
In the next few weeks we will be enclosing our 18,000 litre pond using double glazed windows and polycarbonate roofing. the entrance will be a 2m patio style door.
All windows will have large opening lights and of course the doors can be left open when the weather warms up.
Our intention is to also heat the pond using a heat exchanger fed from our gas boiler.
There will be enough space to walk around one long side and one short side.
Does anyone have a similar set up? Other than condensation, can anyone see possible pitfalls?
The hope is that there will not be any sudden temperature changes for the Koi, leaves and unwanted visitors will no longer be an issue and we won't need to net although we will have jump guards.
Should we use a particular type of glazing so that uv still gets through?
Would really appreciate any information before the builder starts next week.

Ive nearly finished a similar project and built it for similar reasons as yourself, condensation is a problem and to help mitigate this i installed a heater in the koi house and try keep the room temperature the same as the pond and so far its worked, but have to wait and see when the temps really drop, this morning in the garden was 6 degrees, 17.5 in the pond house and water was 19.2, the bottom of the glass doors had a small amount of condensation but the ceiling and walls were ok. make sure the builder uses all stainless steel screws over and around the pond just incase condensation becomes a problem, you dont want rust leaching into your pond, i used CT1 on any snagging i had to do inside the pond house. good luck with the build.

That looks amazing ��. Thank you so much for responding. Can’t wait to get it finished it’s getting so cold now and neither me or the fish like it �� Have you got the pond heated? If so, what’s safe temperature would be best?

Originally Posted by Denise Doherty

Good afternoon.
Hope everyone's had a decent year with their Koi and ponds.
In the next few weeks we will be enclosing our 18,000 litre pond using double glazed windows and polycarbonate roofing. the entrance will be a 2m patio style door.
All windows will have large opening lights and of course the doors can be left open when the weather warms up.
Our intention is to also heat the pond using a heat exchanger fed from our gas boiler.
There will be enough space to walk around one long side and one short side.
Does anyone have a similar set up? Other than condensation, can anyone see possible pitfalls?
The hope is that there will not be any sudden temperature changes for the Koi, leaves and unwanted visitors will no longer be an issue and we won't need to net although we will have jump guards.
Should we use a particular type of glazing so that uv still gets through?
Would really appreciate any information before the builder starts next week.

Sounds amazing, looking forward to seeing this build as it progresses, lots of pics please

Hi Paddy,

That's the envy of many Koi keepers !!

Regarding your condensation problem, I have always read you should heat the room, not just the water. If you heat the room, the pond temperature should pick up the air temperature. I have no experience of this, but makes sense.

Regards,

Clive.

Hi Denise,

Look forward and interested to see how this project progresses. See my reply to Paddys post about his condensation problem, if you are heating the pond from your gas boiler, is your boiler big enough so you could also have a Radiator in the room to heat this as well ? Just a thought...

Regards,

Clive.

Originally Posted by clive1964

Hi Paddy,

That's the envy of many Koi keepers !!

Regarding your condensation problem, I have always read you should heat the room, not just the water. If you heat the room, the pond temperature should pick up the air temperature. I have no experience of this, but makes sense.

Regards,

Clive.

I had heard it as heat the room, not the water.
But as long as the inside of the room is warmer than the water, you shouldn't have any condensation issues.

That is a very good idea. That way I can go out there and watch the fish but keep warm

Seems to be the general consensus Denise to heat the room and let the air temp in the room control the water temp, my ASHP hasn't been on in over a month now, room temp is approx 1 degree lower than the water temp and very little condensation infact you have to search for small areas on the glass, the pond is dropping by 0.1 degree a day which is what i wanted and try gently bring it down to 18 degrees without any condensation issues. im sure there will be hurdles to get over when winter kicks in, but for now its working ok, cant help wondering what would happen in a power cut the temp would fall for sure but at what rate, i supose it would depend on the insulation, not sure but i think we have to consider it as a possibility.

I love that you have named your Koi. I would but with 2 dogs, 3 cats, 7 hens and r ducks I would have no chance of remembering names of Koi. It made me laugh when we had to visit the vet with one. She asked what its name was and I said fish ��. Retirement is on the horizon and neither me or the fish like cold weather so the enclosure will hopefully suit us both.

This is the pond now. Will let you know how we progress. Already pond temperature is at 11.5 so other than knitting little coats for them (can’t knit) we have no choice ��

Originally Posted by Denise Doherty

I love that you have named your Koi. I would but with 2 dogs, 3 cats, 7 hens and r ducks I would have no chance of remembering names of Koi. It made me laugh when we had to visit the vet with one. She asked what its name was and I said fish ��. Retirement is on the horizon and neither me or the fish like cold weather so the enclosure will hopefully suit us both.

I've named all my fish, mind you I only have 6, I had 7 but Phillip jumped out of the pond a few months ago and he was dead when I found him, hence the jump guards

Originally Posted by Paddy

I've named all my fish, mind you I only have 6, I had 7 but Phillip jumped out of the pond a few months ago and he was dead when I found him, hence the jump guards

Poor Phillip. That must have been upsetting.
Definitely going to get jump guards. Do you know if you can get ones that fold down at all? This would be for when we needed to catch or hand feed the fish.

Which way does it face ? Our garden room is West facing with insulated tiled roofing,
3 inner walls, triple glazed & Death Valley heating on sunny Summer afternoons.
.

I've done something similar with a 10m x 4m x 2m deep tropical fish pond (80,000 litres) but I've opted for fully above ground with 2m high walls and a glass wall on the front long side.

* I used a fairly steep roof pitch ~ 40 degrees to shed leaves easily and capture rainfall.

* I have two 1.5m wide single swing doors (use 3 hinges). One door at each short end slightly off center. The swing direction differs at each end. Wider doors for getting in future bulky items and to act like extenders to capture and funnel any passing breezes into the enclosure. I had to put secondary wire screen doors to stop fish jumping out and birds flying in but you shouldn't have that issue.

* I placed my water heat pump (ASHP?) in the middle of one wall. It intakes the moist indoor air (which is warm from heated pond water) and expells the cold waste air to outside. This venting reduces any humidity and condensation issues on inside and using the warmed air is more energy efficient. I have a removeable 30cm high wall panel directly above the heat pump should unit service or access be necessary.

* In my situation, I wanted to limit/control sunlight to avoid green water and hair algae so I used 20mm thick polystyrene sheets underneath clear polycarbonate roof sheets. This lets diffused natural light through. Through experience in my local sun exposure area, I knew this thickness was suitable but I was prepared to add a second polystyrene layer of appropriate thickness if necessary. And shadecloth could be rolled down / up on the exterior if summer got extreme but luckily after 4 years, only the single 20mm polystyrene was needed.

I don't have this but a small lift open hatch at the peak of your roof would passively vent built up heat and humidity easily.

I've got several fish rooms too (glass aquaria) and heating the room air with an inverter (air conditioner) does prevent condensation.

On my pond/big tank, I'm using a water heat pump though. Similar technology and efficient C.O.P. conversion.