Flow thru watercourse with lined ponds without Filtration

[Rowly]

Good Morning All:

New member and this site was recommended to me for the knowledgeable people on pond construction and filtration. In spring 2006 I will be starting to build a "U" shaped watercourse moving water up near our house and patio area. I live on a 20 acre clear gravel pit lake some 125 feet from our home. My goal is to pump up some 5000 gph @ 12' of head into the top 10' x 10' overflow pond. This will fall into a large 12' x 25' lined koi pond, flow out thru a 18" to 24" streambed and into 2-3 more lined ponds along the way before returning to the natural lake for recycle. The lake is a warm water lake mostly 6' or less but a few acres 0f 12' or more in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. I will use 4" bottom drains with slide valves to flush sediment out from each pond at its lowest points and return this water to the lake thru discharge lines. The lined ponds will be 5-6' deep. I'm hoping the 15000 total gals of lined ponds being recyled with fresh water every 3 hours or so will be enough to keep the koi healthy. The game fish lake has a few million gallons of fresh clear water and this will be my natural filtration if possible? In total I will have 3-4 lined ponds and some 200' of streambeds......and a potential variety of different fish in each pond...Thanks for your thoughts and commends.

Rowly

[gregbickal]

My neighbor pumps water from his mudpond to a waterfall and stream up by his house. The only problem is it settles out gunk from the pond. His stream is lined with rubber.

[Rowly]

Gregbikal:



Thx for your reply. The pump I will use will sit in about 4' of water some 5' out into the water. The lake bottom is mostly sand and gravel with about 20% weed growth...so the water is fairly clear at 6-8' of visibility and little debris to create problems in the ponds. The water will pump up some 12' of head height some 50-60' away and gravity will flow thru the water back to the lake for recycle of fish waste, etc. The lake water I'm hoping will be great for the koi fish in the larger lined pond without any type of filters or skimmers, etc. I will have multiple bottom drains to remove sediment weekly with slide valves and "T" handles for ease of opening and closing some 4' into the ground within a protected column from the dirt. This flow thru system will allow me a number of opportunities to raise and enjoy fish I'm hoping? One of the smaller ponds could be used for raising YOY koi etc....... My only concern is the lack of mechanical filtration...but that multi-million gallon natural lake could be as natural an environment as you can get and as good or better than mechanical filtration systems???????
Thanks for your thoughts, comments and experiences.....


Rowly

[dick benbow]

Try And Keep Your Stocking Rates Low Initially... Pls Don't Put Gravel In The Stream Bed, It'll Look Nice But Will Collect Organics And Go South On You Compromising Your Water Quality

[Rowly]

Hello Dick:

The 200' of streambeds flowing the 5000 gph of water back to the lake would be only 18-24" wide. My thoughts were with this flow it would wash the sediment past the streambeds and into the next pond and BD's to remove the sediment. I have a great deal of various size stone to line the streambeds and creating the right noise throughout. Would you not use any stones at all even with this flow rate????? I was also thinking of lining the ponds as well with rock and stones to help with the helpful bacteria growth and the beauty of rock as in a natural lake?????? I'm I wrong with this thought????? Thx for the comments....

Rowly

[PapaBear]

It is a very good thing to get lots of experienced input for your project. (but I'm still jealous of your situation )
Hope you get lots of good feedback.
Larz
PS... I'd be happy with decent sized stones in the streams, but be careful of sharp edges in the ponds. Koi get rambunctios and can injure themselves.

[Rowly]

Hey Larz1 :

Is that you.......thanks Larry for your comments......I'm like a kid in a candy store here with all the discharge round rock from the screening from the gravel pit.....free access to tonnes of discarded stones and small rocks......I agree no sharp rocks for the fish or liners but will the bacteria grow in this environment with all this flow thru water in the ponds and streams.....Kiofishgirl passed this site onto me....great site and lookin forward to comments from the experts before I start this big project....take the best ideas and blend together for the best results possible!!!!


Rowly

[B.Scott]

Call me weird, but I would AVOID putting stone in the water. If you want rock put it outside of the pond. If you are flowing large amounts of new water into the system you have no need of bacterial filtration You do nee to keep the liner clean of crap, hence the bottom drains. The only real down side I can think of is not being able to treat the pond should you develop a parasite problem. Mind you at low stocking densities and with lots of clean water being constantly refreshed, parasites shouldn't be much of a problem.
Another question... Ontario you say? What will you be doing with the fish come winter?

B.Scott

[PapaBear]

Bio in the streams is not needed, but strategically placed stones will give you some great aeration along the way from pool to pool with all that splashing going on . A question I don't think you ever answered (on the other forum). Did you ever test the ph and hardness of your lake water? That kind of info can be very valuable when making your preferred fish selections as some types perform much better with lower ph/gh while others may benefit if it is a bit higher. In closed systems we can at least attempt to manupulate those numbers to our advantage but in your situation you will be at the mercy of nature at work in the lake. Is the gravel more limestone type or high iron content?

[Rowly]

B.Scott:

Hello, if I don't use rounded and weathered rock or stones then how will I cover the sides of the 45 mil liner below the water line against the UV rays from the sun, etc..........why are rocks a problem.....other than cracks for sediment to gather??????? Disease or parasites could be a problem if one pond is infected then all would have the same water flow thru them back to the lake....Yes, southern Ontario near Detroit. Winter is approx. 90 days or less of ice on the water.......I will build all the lined ponds at least 5-6' deep with the frost line less than 2' at most.... for my location near Lake Erie. I may use a de-icizer in shallow water making sure I don't mix the warmer deeper water with the shallower cooler water.....What do you think about this process of over-wintering????? I don't want to run the pump year round only from April thru October or early November depending on the weather......Regards

Rowly