New member-New Questions

[mrsonid9]

Hi Everyone,

My name is Karen & I live in PA.

I've had my current pond for 10 years now, and the time has come to upgrade to a larger pond.

I am by no means a professional, but a learn as I go type.

The reason for the upgrade is of course bigger is better. I want to be able to keep koi healthy and have them grow as large as possible.

I have the room for a very large pond, but don't have the finances to do that and do it correctly so I was thinking of a pond 12 x 12 x 5 or 12 x 20 x5.

Would koi grow nice a big in a pond this size?

I have many many more questions, but this will be my starting point.

Thank you in advance for any and all input into helping me build my dream pond.

[kntry]

To grow koi large and healthy involves more than just the size of the pond. It also involves having excellent filtration.

12x20x5 would give you approximately 9000 gallons. That's a great start. Deeper is better if you can go deeper.

Be sure to put aerated bottom drains, skimmer and TPR's.

This is a start.

[mrsonid9]

Go easy on this newbie with the lingo LOL

What is TPRs?

As for the size would it benefit koi to go deeper and smaller?
Say 10 x 12 x 6?

[kntry]

Sorry. LOL

TPR - Tangential Pond Return - These are pipes that enter the pond about mid level at a 45* angle returning water from the filters. This gives a "toilet bowl" rotation to help carry debris to the bottom drains and also gives a current to exercise the koi.

I don't know much about cold weather, I'm La. But you need depth during the winter so the koi can have a place to get out of the colder water.

I forgot to mention earlier that stocking levels also plays a huge role. If you want females, 1 female per 1000 gallons, males would be ok at 1 per 500 gallons.

[mrsonid9]

Thanks for the explanations. I learned something new today LOL.

I'm beginning to get a little overwhelmed with trying to do this the right way.

If you don't mind-can we go step by step so I get it all right?

I've got the location
I've got the pond size 12 x 20 x 5

Now the hard part-Filtration system

Let's start with the bottom drain and work from there.

Do I need an airated bottom drain?

PVC pipe from the bottom drain to a DIY vortex chamber-Correct?

Newbie dumb question here-will gravity feed the water into the vortex or is a pumb needed here?

Will stop here until I'm sure I've comprehended this much for my little brain.

Thank You Again

[CarolinaGirl]

For a 20' long pond, you will need two drains, each going to their own settling tank or vortex tank. By all means....get aerated drains. There is a brand on the market now called "Koi Toilets". They are very nice drains for the money!! The purpose of aeration on the drains is not just to provide air to the pond. The air column rising from the bottom drain dome creates all sorts of wonderful currents that draw water and debris towards the drain.

Run 4" PVC pipe to the SC or vortex. Or let me stop here and make another suggestion. Go to this link and check out the static and fluidized kaldnes filter I made. It works fantastic!! I have one one of these filtering half the water in my 9000 gallon pond. New Static And Fluid Kaldnes Filter (diy) - KoiShack

The water will gravity flow from your drain thru the 4" plumbing into the vortex. Put a valve in the line near the vortex to you can stop the flow for filter cleaning. If you don't understand how gravity flow works, basically the filters are positioned in such a way that the water level in the pond is the same as the water level in the filters. Since water seeks it's own level, and the pond is connected to the filter via a 4" pipe, the water level will be the same in both. As the filtered water is pumped out of the last chamber of your filter and back to the pond, the forces of gravity refill the vortex thru the 4" pipe.

[kntry]

Originally Posted by mrsonid9

Thanks for the explanations. I learned something new today LOL. Great!

I'm beginning to get a little overwhelmed with trying to do this the right way. The best thing for you to do is go to the Pond Construction Forum and start reading.

If you don't mind-can we go step by step so I get it all right?

I've got the location Is it in a place where runoff can't get in the pond? What about leaves?
I've got the pond size 12 x 20 x 5 Good, if 5' won't freeze in your area.

Now the hard part-Filtration system

Let's start with the bottom drain and work from there.

Do I need an airated bottom drain? For this size pond, you'll need 2 aerated bottom drains. They only cover about an 8' area.

PVC pipe from the bottom drain to a DIY vortex chamber-Correct? Yes or you can build a Settling Chamber with a static bed or brushes or use a sieve.

Newbie dumb question hereNo questions are ever dumb. That's how you learn.-will gravity feed the water into the vortex or is a pumb needed here? Yep, gravity feed to the vortex/settling chamber, then pump to moving bed..

Will stop here until I'm sure I've comprehended this much for my little brain.

Thank You Again

You can also go here and get a wealth of info. KoiShack -> Pond Construction

[mrsonid9]

Ok I think I've digested that much with just a few questions.

I was outside today surveying my location choice (in the bitter cold I might add) and something occured to me. We have a 12' deck on the back of our house and I would like the pond to begin as close to the side of the deck as possible for awesome pond views while on the deck. But I wonder if the roof will cause any runoff to go into the pond by putting it that close to the deck. The roof slants forward and the pond would be on the side of the roof. Do you see any problems with this plan and roof runoff going that way?

Any suggestions for good SIMPLE directions for a DIY vortex chamber?

Before moving on to the next step one more question.

Where do you position the vortex chamber in correlation to the pond? Must it be water level? If it can be buried how do you access the shut off valve for cleaning?

[mstrseed]

If the roof will not have run off fall directly into the pond and just fall close to it you may want to strongly consider having part of the pond go above ground. This will also help keep grass clippings and any fertilizers out of the pond.
There are many different simple vortexes. One would be a 150 gallon Rubbermaid stock tank, old 55 gallon carwash soap barrels ect...........
My sediment basin is as high as the pond so if I have a pump failure I will not loose water. I have a 4" bottom drain in my sediment basin and will have a 2 HP pump on it to reuse the water on the lawn.................................

[mrsonid9]

I have a 55 gal carwash barrel that I was going to use for the vortex chamber.

So now that that is settled-how do I DIY? LOL