This is a post at the end of my build, but I still wanted to put it here instead of in the main forum because this is where I spent all my time reading and learning. I don't post a lot, but, after completing the easiest pond filter clean of my life, I felt that it is time.
Thank you SO much Koiphen.com
My pond is 100% functional, 100% what I wanted and 100% amazing thanks to all of you.
I want to thank a few people in particular starting with Ramzy Andrawos and his incredible crew. I had so many people come look at my pond and try to sell me on their way to build it "right". Ramzy knows the koiphen way and built it the way I wanted it. I had Takara Koi (Ramzy's company) plumb and install all my filtration, make my filter pit, and set all the rock around the pond. They did a fantastic job that worked the way it was supposed to from the moment I plugged in the pump. I am very particular and high maintenance (sorry Ramzy) and they delivered beyond my expectations. I am hoping to meet up with him again soon to stock the pond as well.
Also thanks to Steve (Birdman) for setting me up with my equipment and helping me to troubleshoot it along the way. His customer service is incredible and he knows what he's doing.
Many other KP members have allowed me to PM them and contributed their wisdom on various threads that I have posted, thanks to you all.
This was my original build thread that I did not keep up with
https://www.koiphen.com/forums/showth...ies&highlight=
This is what we came up with for my pond:
12x9x4 3000 gallons
1 4" aerated BD
1 Pool skimmer w/o basket
Direct to Ultrasieve III
ESM85000
Evo 55w UV
1 55g MB
2 55g S/G (One is actually offline at the moment)
2 TPRs
1 Waterfall
Water is crystal clear, backwashing is incredibly easy, and the few koi I have so far seem thrilled.
Just a short clip so far (before the water went clear), I'll post the filter pit and more photos tomorrow!
Some very humble things I would like to give back to the community:
The google "site:koiphen.com [search phrase]" feature is amazing. It is way better than the built in forum search, and pretty much every question you have has already been answered.
I built my pond with a cinder block collar on very solid clay soil, rather than a poured concrete collar. It is not time tested yet, but I think that it is a very good cost compromise if you don't want to deal with bringing in a cement trunk.
I had a hard time finding a ton of information on building a nice, natural, not formal, waterfall, I will make a separate thread on how I dealt with this.
Thanks again, I think it is time for me to become a member, and I look forward to many years of posting beautiful koi photos thanks to this community.