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  • Page 3 of 12 FirstFirst 123456 ... LastLast
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    Thread: Austin TX New Pond Build

    1. #41
      icu2's Avatar
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    2. #42
      berkokid is offline Senior Member
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      So I’ve gotten enough feedback from my Dexpan specific thread that I’m going to try to use it. https://www.koiphen.com/forums/showt...anite-Feedback

      Today’s progress was on two other fronts.

      First, I got the topper complete on the filtration pad. It should be pretty smooth come evening tomorrow.

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      Second, I started laying out the basic shape of the upper pond. It’s going to be about 8” higher than the lower pond and have a weir creating a sheen waterfall. This layout is roughly 12x8x3. It’s meant as a Goldie and plant pond. I’m not positive I want it this long, it may need to be a bit shorter to look pleasing, maybe 10x8.

      Here’s the basic shape I’m looking at, although rounded corners with symmetrical radius’s-es-es-es. I intend to place the shower filter on the end farthest away from the lower pond. It will effectively feed the upper pond, I’ll make a nice straight wall back there and talk with Zac and Steve J. to get some feedback on dimensions for the shower. Either 3 or 4 foot trays. I’d like lower profile, we will see.

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      Speaking of weirs, can someone help me understand how the liner is attached to the back of this rock-like weir? This is the basic style I’m going for.

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      Last edited by berkokid; 01-26-2019 at 10:26 PM.
      - Jonathan
      - aka "Berko"

    3. #43
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      I didn't realize there was going to be another pond above the other one... does it have a bottom drain too?
      I don't imagine in Austin it gets cold for long enough to worry about bypassing the water fall in the winter?

      I'm not sure how the one in the picture was done, but I've done a couple and both were a challenge!
      I used natural rock as opposed to a man made weir so I ran my liner under the rock and flush with the pond
      wall and then tried to "seal" the space under and along the edge of the rock. Here's a crude drawing and a
      couple of the posts when I was working on each of them:

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      Upper pond:

      https://www.koiphen.com/forums/showt...32#post1596532

      Lower pond:

      https://www.koiphen.com/forums/showt...09#post2064709

      The lower pond rock actually was redone a 3rd time due to it settling and tilting. I must not have done a thread when
      I redid it the last time but I used more hydraulic cement and mortar as the foam that I used initially got water logged and
      mostly failed after a few years. Someone in the first upper pond thread suggested fiberglass and in hindsight, that might
      have worked really well and I wished I had tried it before.
      --Steve



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    4. #44
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      Reading through those old threads I forgot you'd sold me the Performance Pro pump I used on the lower pond... 8 years later it's
      still going strong so just wanted to say thanks again!!
      --Steve



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    5. #45
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      I also didn't realize you were planning on an upper pond. Have you considered excavating the upper pond before trying to lower the bottom pond? If the rock is laying flat than the upper pond will be deeper 8" deeper, if it is sloping, than it may be a foot or so deeper, than again it may be more shallow.

      You may want to do some test holes to see if you want to change your plans in making the upper pond have the koi, and the lower pond for the goldfish and plants. I am trying to avoid as much of that drilling and rock removal as possible.

    6. #46
      berkokid is offline Senior Member
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      Quote Originally Posted by Grumpy View Post
      I also didn't realize you were planning on an upper pond. Have you considered excavating the upper pond before trying to lower the bottom pond? If the rock is laying flat than the upper pond will be deeper 8" deeper, if it is sloping, than it may be a foot or so deeper, than again it may be more shallow.

      You may want to do some test holes to see if you want to change your plans in making the upper pond have the koi, and the lower pond for the goldfish and plants. I am trying to avoid as much of that drilling and rock removal as possible.


      I had the same thought. I did exactly that. The rock is closer to the surface up there. I just rented the largest rotary drill I could and a monster 1.5” bit. The guy at the store laughed at me when I told him what I was trying to do. He said “you better be a hell of a lot stronger than you look.”

      Hmmm I know at 43 years old my little mans complex should be gone. However, it’s not. Dislocated my clavicle on Thursday, punked by the tool rental guy. ... I have three Red Bull’s, three ice bags and a freaking 50lbs drill - what could go wrong?!?!?
      - Jonathan
      - aka "Berko"

    7. #47
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      I feel your pain. I had to jackhammer through rock for my BD and skimmer and came through it like a champ. Then last week threw my back out helping my wife move furniture...go figure. I'm still trying to get back to the pond but the back won't let me.

    8. #48
      berkokid is offline Senior Member
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      Ok so ... three learnings:

      1) it’s not possible to drill with a standard bit. It does get through it, but it packs the sediment so tightly in there that it takes forever to keep removing it. I need a core bit.

      2) Muriatic acid works well to dissolve the sediment in the holes ... it’s not a sustainable strategy, but it did simplify my experiment.

      3) I returned the monster drill and bit because I’ll need to buy the core bit this week. The tool rental guy was still there, I showed him the holes I did successfully drill and he relented and admitted that in fact, I do not suck.

      Each one of these is 12” deep and took about 10 minutes. Again, need core bit.

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      So I did 10 total and mixed up some material and poured it in. That was about two hours ago .... now we wait and see what this stuff does.

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      - Jonathan
      - aka "Berko"

    9. #49
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      Man that stuff you’re drilling through looks like cement

    10. #50
      berkokid is offline Senior Member
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      Quote Originally Posted by Nguyen365 View Post
      Man that stuff you’re drilling through looks like cement
      Worse. It’s granite.

      Here are the holes after two hours .... the stuff is starting to expand. No cracking yet.

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      - Jonathan
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    11. #51
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      Hopefully it breaks the granite up. You might need one of those tunnel boring machine
      Attached Images Attached Images  

    12. #52
      berkokid is offline Senior Member
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      We are at about 4 hours now. Is that a crack emerging? Not sure. The stuff appears to just be expanding up and out of the holes. Which makes me think 20,000 psi isn’t enough. But, will wait patiently and continue to monitor.

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      - Jonathan
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    13. #53
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    14. #54
      berkokid is offline Senior Member
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      Well - it’s been 8 hours. Nothing has happened. I am supposed to be optimistic for 24 hours, however, it really looks like the stuff is just oozing out the top as it expands
      - Jonathan
      - aka "Berko"

    15. #55
      Zac Penn is offline Supporting Member
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      I think a lot to this strategy is to make the proper drilling pattern in the ground before you pour any of the expanding agent into the holes. The granite cannot crack unless it has somewhere to go. That is the point of the specific grid system. When the rock breaks it is able to twist a little bit into each hole. If there is nowhere for the rock to twist into then it won't break properly. At least that is my theory. Drill a ton of holes spaced out the way they recommend and then fill all the holes at once.
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    16. #56
      berkokid is offline Senior Member
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      Quote Originally Posted by Zac Penn View Post
      I think a lot to this strategy is to make the proper drilling pattern in the ground before you pour any of the expanding agent into the holes. The granite cannot crack unless it has somewhere to go. That is the point of the specific grid system. When the rock breaks it is able to twist a little bit into each hole. If there is nowhere for the rock to twist into then it won't break properly. At least that is my theory. Drill a ton of holes spaced out the way they recommend and then fill all the holes at once.
      So I did space them the way they suggested and followed their instructions. I just drilled fewer holes in a smaller area to test. Maybe I didn’t drill enough to weaken it enough .... hmmm.

      So - anyone have a particular 1.5” core bit they’d recommend? After researching I think I’m going to wet drill, as it’s a better match than dry ...
      - Jonathan
      - aka "Berko"

    17. #57
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      Have you made any test holes as if the existing pond is the upper pond? If the rock is sloping more shallow uphill, perhaps it is going deeper downhill?

    18. #58
      berkokid is offline Senior Member
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      Quote Originally Posted by Grumpy View Post
      Have you made any test holes as if the existing pond is the upper pond? If the rock is sloping more shallow uphill, perhaps it is going deeper downhill?
      It does go deeper downhill yep. I got to 30” I one corner with just a shovel and breaker bar. However, going too much lower would require taking out some trees we are quite fond of. So unfortunately, That dog doesn’t hunt, although I get where you’re coming from.
      - Jonathan
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    19. #59
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      I drill 1/4” hole through granite 1” thick with a Hilti drill for less than 2 seconds
      But the brand could be very costly with a hole saw and larger drill

      I wonder how do you remove the granite core once the bit is max down at 12”?
      Last edited by OCkoiFan; 01-29-2019 at 12:47 AM.
      M.Nguyen


    20. #60
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      If all fails, lets go with an above ground pond and build a raise wooden deck.. you have a lot of timber around your property I see

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