Hi Everyone,
Please go easy on me as this is my first pond and I'm on a budget.....
So I decided to dry stack 2 layers of cinder block without filling them. This picture is from before I expanded it another foot and made it a perfect oval. Not sure how this will hold up in NY, but my soil is pure sand. Hoping this will last for at least 5 years.... Concrete in the ground is more expensive, lots of work and would require a permit (my neighbors are already asking questions about permits...)
I installed a 4" Koi toilet 1 in concrete and connected the drain to a 3" flex pvc and air to a 1" flex pvc that will run to my future pump house. I bridged that gap between the pipes outside of the concrete with a fernco so that if I ever decide I need a 4" pipe, I can do so (with some excavation).
I also installed 3 tpr's in the bottom layer of cinder blocks that are currently capped off for future installation.
I have a 100 gallon stock tank and a 55 gallon barrel. Was planning to make it a gravity fed settling tank and bio filter. For now I will just use a 1200 gph pump I currently have to pump the water back to the pond until I purchase a larger pump and hook it up to my tpr's.
I also will use an old alita 20L air pump to hopefully drive the aeration.
For now, a skimmer is out of the budget, but would someday be hooked up in a separate circuit.
Would love to have 6-8 koi to grow out and enjoy!
Any feedback? Will my walls collapse? Air pump too small? Recommendations on return pump? I'll take better pictures tomorrow.