I have looked at this forum for years, and I finally have my own house sitting on half of a acre. Also with no H.O.A. Being a fan of fish for many years. I have always wanted a Koi pond of my own.
I was wondering what would be the most simple pond possible for me to make. I am looking for around 2,000 Gallons. I think the main problem is simple, and easy plumbing/filtration. I have been looking
at the eazypod system. However it seems I could build one with k1 media myself easily. I am curious as to how I would plumb it as it would be 1-2 bottom drains. There is so much information on all of this. that it is totally staggering. I also live in virginia, and I wonder if 4 feet deep would be enough for the pond not to totally freeze over. I guess what I am asking is. What would really be the simplest pond one could build? Also is 2,000 gallons a good amount for a sizeable amount of koi. Say half a dozen? I have included a small drawing of my backyard. I do have access to 120v. Pleas help >.<.
I've never lived in Virginia but unless the winters are very severe, 4' deep should be fine
and especially with some sort of plastic winter cover to hold some heat and keep the wind
off the water. Many don't even see ice on the pond surface using a simple cover like this.
With an 8' floor you should only need a single 4" BD. Simple is not necessarily "cheap", but it can
be made to be very simple to maintain.
So with no budget I'd run my BD and and a skimmer to an Ultra III sieve and to a pump flowing
about 6k gph. I'd send 4k gph to a shower and return via a stream/falls and I'd send 2k gph to a sand and gravel filter and return 1k gph each to two different tpr's.
Enjoy your journey and thanks again for joining Koiphen
We are in northern Virginia and have a goldfish/water garden that is 3.5 feet deep at the deepest section. The first winter with our pond we didn't cover it and got a good 4" or more of ice on top. We had an air disk and a Pond Breather to keep holes open in the ice and the fish were fine. But clearing all the snow off the frozen surface to let in sunlight was a lot of work.
Every year since then, we have built a greenhouse cover for the pond and have never had even the slightest bit of ice on the water surface, even when temperatures drop below zero on the few nights that it gets that low. Also we can keep everything running year round with the pond covered and the water temperature rarely goes below 45 degrees.
My main problem deals with plumbing in that. The entire yard is level, and so the pond for simplicity would be ground level, and not go above ground. I am having a hard time thinking about how I would feed a bd to a filter via gravity. Also that sieve is 1600. Jeez >.<. I plant to dig the entire thing by hand to mitigate cost. I have no idea what I would do with the extra dirt. It was a possibly idea. That I line the outside with cinder blocks, and fill them with the dirt. to make it larger. I plan to build this over the course of a year or so. If I were to use cinder blocks filled with dirt I could add gallons and height for cheap.
Hey hey northern va. I am from manassas :D. I currently live in locust grove though. Were I live it may be possible to do a mud pond. as the soil should all be clay.
This may be possible to due. As I may build upwards with cinderblocks filled with earth. I can easily gain more gallons that way. However I plan to dig the pond by hand >,<