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    Thread: Pickerel's New Pond Build

    1. #1
      pickerel's Avatar
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      Pickerel's New Pond Build

      My new pond will be about 8' x 11-12' x 4' deep...about 2000 gallons, and mostly DIY. Over the past few months, I have built a skimmer (copy of a Helix) and aerated bottom drain which will feed through separate lines to a DIY vacuum sieve pre-filter. As Steve (icu2) suggested in one of my first posts, I will be pumping about 4000 gph and sending half of it to a S/G filter which will flow to a MB waterfall which is basically a 55 gallon barrel version of the Helix. The other 2000 gallons will go to TPRs with the option of sending part of it directly to the waterfall bypassing the S/G filter.

      I don't have room for a filter pit, so I'm going to try burying the filter in the yard in the waterfall hill. The pump and sieve will be hidden behind the bushes in front of the house. There's not much room there, but I think I can make it work. They will be somewhat protected from weather by the eve of the house, and I will build some kind of a frame around them for complete protection.

      Here are some pictures of the front yard to show the current pond and what I'm working with. The new pond will be in the same place extending out more towards the driveway. Although it's in the front yard, it's not like it has any traffic or passersby. The driveway turns off of a small country road and goes through the woods for 300 feet, then another 300 feet to the house...completely secluded except for friends, UPS, FedEx, etc.

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      Last edited by pickerel; 09-06-2018 at 09:53 PM.

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    2. #2
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      Skimmer

      Here is my skimmer. It's got two different levels because I was originally planning to put a blue Matala pad in the bottom like the Helix skimmers have. The larger removable plate around the weir would make removing the pad easier.

      Since I decided to make the vacuum sieve, I don't think there is really any need for the extra filter pad. It will just be something else to clean, and whatever it would catch will end up on the sieve screen anyway.

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    3. #3
      tbullard is offline Senior Member
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      Let's see some pics and info on the DIY skimmer and BD.

      Edit: beat me to it

    4. #4
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      Bottom Drain

      I made the bottom drain from instructions MCAsan posted on this forum (thanks MCAsan!). I bored out a piece of corian counter top material to fit the top of the 6" PVC fitting. This forms the bottom flange. I made a top flange that will capture the liner, and tapped holes in the bottom flange to accept 1/4 x 20 flat head screws. I still need to fill the bottom of the PVC fitting with concrete. I also have not yet glued the pipes and check valve that extend up to the air diffuser.

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      Last edited by pickerel; 09-06-2018 at 09:58 PM.

    5. #5
      tbullard is offline Senior Member
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      Do you have a link to the Mcasan thread? How are you going to seal the bottom of the tee?

    6. #6
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      I am going to fill the bottom with concrete. Here is a link to the thread. See post number 2.
      https://www.koiphen.com/forums/showth...fuser-Material

    7. #7
      OCkoiFan's Avatar
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      Nice lawn is it a lake in the back?
      Can’t wait to see the new improve pond
      Last edited by OCkoiFan; 09-07-2018 at 01:02 AM.
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    8. #8
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      Great work! That's one of the nicest diy skimmers I've ever seen.
      --Steve



      Koiphen 2021 Koi Person of the Year!

    9. #9
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      Last edited by IAmHolland; 09-20-2018 at 01:05 AM.

    10. #10
      pickerel's Avatar
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      Quote Originally Posted by OCkoiFan View Post
      Nice lawn is it a lake in the back?
      Can’t wait to see the new improve pond
      Thanks. Yes it is, but around here they call water this size a pond. This picture from our deck is the bottom 1/3 of it. It's 15 acres and 16 ft. deep in the middle. This is why my little pond is in the front yard. Our back yard is actually the runaround for the dam. About every 5-6 years we get a hard enough rain that the pond flows around the dam through our yard. It doesn't cause any problem; it just is what it is. It's fun to watch. I could have found a place for the little pond on the upper part of the back yard, but there is a lot of solid granite back there, and besides that I wanted to be able to look at water where there wasn't any already. It's nice, because the back deck is shady in the late afternoon, and the front porch is shady in the early morning.

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    11. #11
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      Quote Originally Posted by icu2 View Post
      Great work! That's one of the nicest diy skimmers I've ever seen.
      Thanks Steve! Coming from you that means a lot. I am still in awe of your pond build. I'm not getting any younger either. Every morning when I wake up, I think "Do I really want to start digging?" Then about half way through my coffee, I can't wait to start digging.

    12. #12
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      Quote Originally Posted by IAmHolland View Post
      Looking good. Nice construction! It will be interesting to see how you do the sieve as well.
      Thanks, I'm working on that.

    13. #13
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      Sieve Build

      I think the Zakki Sieve is one of the great innovations in modern pond keeping (congratulations Zac!), and it was my inspiration for this build. The sieve had more unknowns than any other part of the project so far. First of all, it seems unnatural to make a sieve out of wood, and I have never filled any woodworking project with water. I have seen wooden aquarium builds that were sealed successfully, so I figured it was worth a try. After all, I am set up to work with wood, and thick sheets of PVC are very expensive. I used marine epoxy to seal the sieve...three coats on the inside and two on the outside. I still plan to put a coat of spar varnish on the outside as well. I also used fiberglass cloth on the inside joints for the 2nd coat. It's pretty much like glass on the inside.

      The biggest unknown was how much vacuum it needs to withstand. According to the Artesian 2 flow chart, 5' of head produces 2psi. Maybe I'm wrong, but here's my thinking: one side of my sieve is 17" x 26"= 442 sq. in. At 2psi, that's like an 884 pound gorilla sitting on each side of the sieve while it is running. The Zakki sieve is round which helps it to withstand this vacuum. I wasn't sure how my flat sides and top would fare.

      To test it, I hooked it up to my vacuum pump (pic 7). 2psi is equal to approximately 4 inHg. I slowly ran the vacuum up to 12 inHg figuring this is 3 times the vacuum my sieve will ever see. I could have gone higher, but hey, why crack something unnecessarily. Then I closed off the valve and let it sit for a full minute. I couldn't detect any problem with deflection, and I couldn't hear any air leaking. When I opened the valve a lot of air rushed in, so I'm pretty convinced that it has no leaks, holds a vacuum well, and can withstand the vacuum it will have to endure. The inside weir and waste shelf provide a lot of reinforcement for the sides.

      Here are some pictures showing from initial layout through vacuum testing.

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      Last edited by pickerel; 09-07-2018 at 11:34 AM.

    14. #14
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      First Sieve Water Test

      I learned a few things with my first water test. The first was that I didn't need 55 gallons of water.
      A 5 gallon bucket would have done just fine. But I did learn that our well pumps 55 gallons of water in 6.5 minutes...over 500 gph!
      None of my pipes were glued, so there was a little air getting sucked in. But I think most of the air was from water splashing into the pool in the bottom of the sieve. Bubbles were created that got sucked into the pump. I am going to rig up some kind of baffle over the outlet to hopefully keep the bubbles out. Maybe a Matala pad under the screen and on top of the water would keep bubbles from forming? I'm open to suggestions. The Zakki Sieve is taller and there is more water above the outlet. Now I think I know why. Because I wasn't sure how my box would withstand the vacuum, I wanted to make it as small as possible. I think another six inches of height would have helped with this air bubble issue.

      Below are pictures of my very crude testing setup, and a video of the sieve in operation.

      1st water test video: https://youtu.be/GCZm-hE7Q8o

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    15. #15
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      Last edited by IAmHolland; 09-20-2018 at 01:05 AM.

    16. #16
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      Quote Originally Posted by IAmHolland View Post
      Wow, looks good. It makes me wish I was skilled and had a large workshop. My wife insists on parking cars in our garage. Can you believe that? Geez.

      I keep ping ponging on the idea of a Zakki Sieve, only because it's expensive and I don't know what's coming next....which most likely won't need one or a bigger one than one I would use now. A great invention, indeed.

      Great work, that looks really good. Do you think you'd need some baffles on the input?
      Thanks. Yes I do think I need something on the input to cut down on some of the splashing. However what you are seeing is only one Inlet. In operation I will have one from the skimmer and one from the bottom drain, so hopefully that might reduce some of the turbulence... at least the pressure from each will be cut in half. At any rate, it shouldn't be too hard to rig up something that will subdue the splashing. I guess cutting down on the output is also an option.

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      Last edited by IAmHolland; 09-20-2018 at 01:03 AM.

    18. #18
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      Quote Originally Posted by IAmHolland View Post
      Do you think more height would help? A deeper well for the inlet side. It looks like vacuum surging. Perhaps it's the leaky pipes?
      Obviously more height would help, but it's a little late for that.

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      I like your work.

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      The Zacci reservoir is about 14’’ deep , and the pump inlet has a 90 on it that picks up water from about an inch off the bottom . They are also very sensitive to vacuum leaks . A vac leak will definitely lower the water level as it is displaced by air. How many GPH is that pump ? The turbulence on the inlet causing the water splashing against the top , is exactly what a Zacci does when you flow more than 5000GPH . There is also one small critical detail that I don’t see , that I will PM You about

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