Birdmans Patio Pond, condensed version

[birdman]

Last week I bought a new computer and have been cleaning house with the old one and moving data from the old to the new. In doing so I found I had over 400 photos of my "Indoor Pond Build". So I deleted the not needed ones and condensed them for a new thread. I will probably never enclose this pond so Indoor Pond is not a good name. I guess I'll just call it our Patio Pond.

So here's the condensed version of the build, enjoy.

[birdman]

This pond was all done by me, over the course of a couple of years. The filtration has been re done several times but here's the finished pond.

It's basicly 9 by 16 feet, 7 feet deep, with a shallow end added on for a fountain. 6700 gallons. It's concrete bottom with two 4" bottom drains, then block construction. Blocks are filled with concrete, skim coated, then covered with Pond Shield.

These 1st pictures are of the old pond that this replaced, the excavation, BDs, rebar, concrete bottom, and block work.

[birdman]

The next series of pictures are of the skimmer placement. And of the extension for the fountain.

[birdman]

After I finished the block work I used a diamond wheel to round off all the sharp edges. Then I added mortar to round off the joint between the wall and the floor, then rendered a skim coat.

[birdman]

Next step was applying the pond shield. I found the easiest way was with a sheet rock trowel. it was hard work, I had to apply allot of pressure to smooth it out right but it really turned out nice.

[birdman]

These pictures show when we poured the concrete around the outside of the pond, between it and the edge of the patio.

[birdman]

When filling I used a meter and the pond metered out to 6725 gallons. I fired the pumps up with a low water level to check TPR flows 1st, then filled it the rest of the way.

[birdman]

Just last summer I finally got the flag stone finished.

[birdman]

Filtration has been an on going process for me. My filter pit/house is 10 by 20 feet so I have plenty room. For my two 4" bottom drains I started out with a 500 gallon DIY Vortex, static prefilter, then four 85 gallon moving bed filters, then an ES 5500 pump to a DIY bead filter. This returned via three 2" TPRs. The skimmer went to a 4 tray stack shower, then returned to the waterfall.

One of the 1st changes I made was removing the DIY bead filter and replacing it with three 85 gallon DIY Sand/Gravel filters. Two of them have DIY Savio UV adapters each with a 50 watt Savio UV. The third has a Coates 5.5 KW heater.

Next change was removing the static prefilter in the Vortex and adding a DIY Microscreen.

This past fall I made my last change which I'll show here. Basically I removed the vortex, replaced it with two Cetus Sieves, which now feed a new shower with my fiberglass shower trays, then a foam extractor, then to the waterfall.

The skimmer now feeds the three Sand/Gravel filters then they feed the three TPRs.

Heres some pictures of the concrete bases.

[birdman]

Next are the two Cetus Sieves fed by my two 4" BDs. Each Cetus Sieve has an Evolution ES 8500 pump which feeds my shower. The white 3" line is the waste line from the Sieves, which ties into my waste header that runs the full length of the building.

[birdman]

The Sieve pumps feed a 4 tray shower. Each tray has 5 cubic feet of feather rock. I am flowing close to 10,000 gph through it. The sieves are almost bottomed out, screaming for mercy! The exit of the shower goes through a 6" foam extractor, then returns to the pond via my waterfall. The extra tank after the foam extractor can be used as an additional FF. it has a high capacity 12" air diffuser in it, but as you can see by my extractor pictures I don't think I will need it.

[birdman]

The Skimmer feeds another Evolution ES 8500 which feeds my three Sand/Gravel filters. Two of them have 50 watt Savio UVs, and the 3rd has a Coates 5.5 KW heater. The three S/G filters feed the three TPRs.

[birdman]

I use cattle trough float valves for auto fill on most of my ponds. In the past this was mounted in the Vortex. Now with out a vortex I needed a new location.

I made a 4" stand pipe off one of my BD lines and bushed that out to 6". Just big enough to house the float valve. The 4" stand pipe has a rubber coupling in it which allows height adjustment to fine tune the pond water level.

This auto fill works two ways. It replaces the water I dump when flushing the S/G filters. And for flow through, I just open the waste valve on the Cetus Sieves and a little water will continuously drain to waste from the sieves, and the auto fill will keep the pond level up. This really works great.

[birdman]

This picture just shows the finished filter house.

[birdman]

I couldn't be happier with this filtration. Maintenance is next to nothing. Every morning I just open the sieve's waste valve and leave it open all day. This gives me a small continuous water change all day long. Then every night I add Gene's Koi Clay and close the waste valve.

Every Sunday I wash out the skimmer basket and flush one of the three S/G filters. Which means each S/G filter goes 3 weeks between flushing. This only takes about 10 minutes.

My water temp stays with in 2 degrees of set point (55) and my water parameters are great. PH 7.8 to 8.0, TDS 70, and ORP close to 300.

Life is great! And our fish are happy.

[birdman]

What did you do finally on the where the fountain outlet is ?

The origional line has been capped off. We have a flower pot fountain we are using. I'll get it set up today and take a pic.

[birdman]

I got Linda's fountain going this afternoon. It really looks much better in person than in the pictures.

[TracenBec]

Steve,

Awesome work as always, I don't think I can say much more than what has already been said. I am sure people have asked you before, but was the pond shield coverage about what they stated on the instructions? Have you had any notable issues with the pond shield?

Thanks
T

[birdman]

Steve,

Awesome work as always, I don't think I can say much more than what has already been said. I am sure people have asked you before, but was the pond shield coverage about what they stated on the instructions? Have you had any notable issues with the pond shield?

Thanks
T

I don't remember the coverage I got, but it was a lot harder to apply than I thought. Once I got the hang of it all went well, and yes, it has held up very well.

[TracenBec]

I don't remember the coverage I got, but it was a lot harder to apply than I thought. Once I got the hang of it all went well, and yes, it has held up very well.

Thanks for the information sir. It is appreciated.