HenryC's Pond Construction

[HenryC]

After seeing MikeM's new pond being built, I could not hold off any more. Construction of my new pond has now started in earnest. My old pond was a 3500 gallon gunite shell, very well filtered, crystal clear water that kept my Grand Champions in very good shape. But any true Koi Kichi would not be satisfied with that size of pond, so out it goes. Below is a photo taken last year:

[HenryC]

The new pond will be ~12,000 gallons, 10’ wide by 22’ long and 8’ deep. It will have 3 bottom drains. One bottom drain will gravity feed to the current pond's vortexes (1 with Answer followed by another with fluid bed Kaldnes). The other 2 bottom drains will flow to 2 Nexus 300 filters. I originally was going to use Answers in those as well, but Carl Forss talked me into trying out the EAzy. Can't argue too much when the dealer believes the cheaper option is better. Carl Forss and his team will do the construction. They will saw out the 6" thick gunite pond and dig down deeper and larger. The pond walls will be concrete block then plastered smooth. The pond will be sprayed with black polyurea.

There will be 2 skimmers that will feed an Aquadyne bead filter. A mid-level pickup will feed a bakki shower. The bakki shower will not be next to the pond so two 4" pipes will gravity feed the water back to the pond.

My original design used the Rhino II diffuser bottom drains. Since the pond will be in a swimming pool enclosure, I have no concern about leaves in the pond. Carl presented a new option that you can only use on an enclosed pond like this. The pond will have 3 custom made bottom drains that have no projections into the pond. Even the mid-level pickup is custom so that it provides no projections for the Koi to flash on. The entire inside of the pond will be completely smooth providing nothing for the Koi to scrape against. Below are a few design drawings of the pond and filter pit area:

[HenryC]

This next part was what took a little convincing for me. I have loved the diffuser type bottom drains since I first retrofitted my existing drains. The new pond will not have diffusers on top of the drains. Instead, there will be 2 air pits in-between the 3 bottom drains. Once again, these will provide no projections into the pond. Inside the air pits will be large air stones. At 8ft depth some people have reported problems with super saturation caused by the pressure required to force air through the rubber diffuser membranes at that depth. Hopefully, these air stones will not cause the same effect. Below is a shot of one of the air pits. It still needs some more work to smooth out the top and counter sink any SS screws. The air stones have not been installed yet either.

[HenryC]

First the Koi needed a temporary home during the construction. My normal quarantine system is not large enough to keep all the Koi healthy, so I used a ring type pool along with most of the filtration from my current pond. A retro bottom drain and no-niche skimmer feeds a pump which goes to a bead filter and then to a tank full of fluid Kaldnes.

[HenryC]

With the Koi happy in their temporary home, I drained the pond, removed the existing screen enclosure and pulled up the brick pavers from around the pond. I also dug up the landscaping that was just outside the screen area. Notice all the pavers stacked up in the second photo (that is how an anal retentive engineer does things). Those pavers along with some new pavers will be laid back down after the pond is completed.

[HenryC]

This morning (Jan 12th), the real demolition began. John and Bob did not hesitate to start ripping up what I took so much care to create. My feelings about this part of the transition are mixed. On one hand I am excited about the new pond, but watching all my hard work being torn apart is a bit rough. More demolition photos when I get home tonight.

[KoiCop]

impressive operation you've got going on there. Very much enjoyed viewing your plans and pix and look forward to frequent updates!

[dick benbow]

Mr magoo....you've done it again!



Great new pond plans Henry. I'm excited for you because having had a chance to spend time together, this new pond will help you accomplish your plans to
obtain better and better koi. AND treat them right!

Thanks for the extra effort to post and keeping us informed.

(good thing I don't live too close to Mike, or he'd have me doing it also!) LOL!

[dinh]

Great plan for your new pond. Thanks for sharing pix and info.

Now, this makes me want to see MikeM's pond and the setup as well.

thx,
-Dinh

[GazKoi]

What a great looking systems and it looks like a busy weekend for you