Pond design

[RobF]

If your talking bottom drains then http://www.koikichi.com/da/87425 or Waddy's article in Koi Nations Magazine would be a good place to start.

[ZEBRA]

Well the base is done just waiting on 3 bottom drains to arrive. Pond volume is 17,942.4 Canadian gallons or 21,548.8 us gallons so there will be 4 pumps running the system to turn it over every 2.5 hours each pump should be 1,794 to 2,000 gph, one for each bottom drain and one for skimmer is that the correct way to divide them up?. Is 2,000 gph sufficient for each 4'' bottom drain?

[schildkoi]

Well the base is done just waiting on 3 bottom drains to arrive. Pond volume is 17,942.4 Canadian gallons or 21,548.8 us gallons so there will be 4 pumps running the system to turn it over every 2.5 hours each pump should be 1,794 to 2,000 gph, one for each bottom drain and one for skimmer is that the correct way to divide them up?. Is 2,000 gph sufficient for each 4'' bottom drain?

Depending on your filters and pumps, you would be better off at around 2500 r0 2900 gph (UK) (3000 to 3500 US). Add air lines to each drain. At 9' of depth you would most likely want 3, 80 liter air pmps, diaphram style (verses linear piston).

Steve

[ZEBRA]

Got my koitoilets today and other plumbing $$$$.$$ let the fun begin. I'm going to have 3 bottom toilets with 1'' air lines running 30'-20'-10'. Each with 1- 90 elbow running upwards to the filtration plant. Still waiting on 8 lengths and 6 couplings of 4'' schedule 40 hopefully will be in tomorrow ..Can any one recommend good quality pumps 230v approx 2500-3000 gph I need [4] Thanks

[ZEBRA]

Well after 9 days of rain I'm ready to place the blocks. The floor is in and its 9-10'' thick. I'm wondering on the location of the TPR's, in the picture I'm thinking to put 6 TPR's in and wondering if this would be the best locations for them?. One 10' from each corner of the 30' walls, and one 3' from each corner of the 12' walls. Two skimmers on the opposite corners of the 12' walls, 2' from the corner. What do you think? is this the best placement for them and what is the best depth to place them?.
Thanks Zebra

[MCA]

I would always plan to do 3500-4000 gph on any 4" bottom drain circult. The faster the turnover, provided the filters can handle the flow properly, the better. So depending on the head pressure of the return circuit, look for pumps that can do at least 4000gph at the given head backpressure. Always oversize the pumps and put a ball valve on the pump output to finetune the flow rate.

[ZEBRA]

The rain makes it tough so I had to tarp the pond because its also getting colder every day. Every morning now the hose is frozen and after working it over I have to wait to 10 o'clock till it thaws out and the water flows. Well it was a tough week 8'' split face block are very heavy and draining but its done finally . The forecast for the next 3 days are going to be great if you like 12 to 14 Celsius or 53 to 57 Fahrenheit Ill take it, so now its time for the filtration plant with all this nice weather to come

Mark

[vincent]

that was huge dude...
nice pond.........
what kind of filtration will you use?

[Eugeneg]

Hi I'm building a new pond soon and would like your opinion the size is 36'x14' with 3 - 4" bottom drains. 7' deep and made of 8"cement blocks filled with concrete and reinforced with re bar. I'm posting a drawing I did of the new Koi pond and any improvements you can think of would be greatly appreciated. Also some pictures of the location, and of our old pond and our mutts. My last pond as I understand now was a water-garden this one will have no plants or mung hiding rocks
Some questions I have are, and there will be more.

1] Should the block on the dirt side be sealed & waterproofed?

2] The distance of pipe from bottom drains, is there a rule the shorter the better because were I would like to put the filtration is far away and the least amount of bends as possible?

3] Is it better to have the drains angle up to the filter or run them on a smaller slope like 5 degrees then straight up?

The blocks should be sealed and you need socked big O covered with gravel around the walls same as a house. Then top 4ft all blocks should
\be filled in as that is most pressure between each layer you should have steel mesh. Top 2 ft on outside of block use 2in rigid foam insulation.When the pipes come through wall or meet I put in 2in tees for flushing so prefer to have drains level. I never use just 90 prefer to use 4 in Electrical PVC pipe as they have a large sweep. you will not loose much on long runs it is the turns that do the restricting
Regards
Eugene

[ZEBRA]

The blocks should be sealed and you need socked big O covered with gravel around the walls same as a house. Then top 4ft all blocks should
\be filled in as that is most pressure between each layer you should have steel mesh. Top 2 ft on outside of block use 2in rigid foam insulation.When the pipes come through wall or meet I put in 2in tees for flushing so prefer to have drains level. I never use just 90 prefer to use 4 in Electrical PVC pipe as they have a large sweep. you will not loose much on long runs it is the turns that do the restricting
Regards
Eugene

Eugene I'm using schedule 40 PVC and did the total friction head for all 6 returns and they are very low the highest return line is 4.54' total friction head at 60 GPM with 2'' lines. So a low RPM 1/8 Hp pump using 230 volts will be very efficient to run. There will be 3 pumps that size for each bottom drain and 2- 1/4 Hp for the skimmers. Well here is some more pic's first is were i Had to dig up the bottom drain and air line pipes to attach the elbows to come straight up to the filtration plant then fill with sand. Next pic is my very good friend Dave, that has helped me so much he's filling the blocks with cement while i would be mixing it up and bringing it to him thanks Dave! Hopefully I will be paging the walls this week.