Lynn has been interested in keeping
pond fish for some time, and had a moulded fibreglass pond in
the garden. It was when she visited an old friend, who is also
a member of the section , and has a 9,000 gallon koi pond that
Lynn decided that she wanted a large koi pond in their garden.
Alan did not share her enthusiasm at that time, but after Lynn
dug out the hole then he also started to share in the hobby,
and took over the design and construction
The internal dimensions of the
pond are 12ft x 7ft and it is 5ft deep. After the pond was dug
out a concrete collar with reinforcing iron was put around the
top of the ground. A wall was then built up using two rows of
18" x 9" x 4" concrete blocks. The outside of the wall is lined
with 1" thick Jabolite and half round wood cladding. The excavation
was lined with old carpets, and a butyl rubber liner was fitted.
The outside of the 4" bottom drain was also installed at the
same time, and a 4" mid-water feed was also fitted.
The filters are also constructed of concrete blocks, and the
23" diameter vortex chamber is also cast in concrete instead of
the fibreglass units that most members use. The surface of the
blocks were not rendered in the normal way, but were coated with Brushcrete as
Alan was one of first in South Wales to use this material, and
it has worked well.
The first chamber has household pot scourers, the
second bay has granite chippings, and the third bay has Canterbury
Spar.The suction from the last chamber to the two Grundfoss 15/60
pumps is a 4" pipe and this is buried in the concrete base of the
filters. The 1.5 ins suction to each pump has a 15 watt ultra violet
lamp installed and this connects to the 4" pipework. Each pump
then discharges a venturi.
A swimming pool skimmer has been fitted and
connects into the mid-water suction and this has a 4" gate valve.
Alan has found that using the skimmer has greatly improved the
appearance of the surface water as it removes all the floating
debris. He has also found it is not necessary to use the mid
water suction as this is now blanked off.
Alan is quite happy with the water quality of his pond, but feels that as
the fish grow and more are added then he will probably increase the size of
his filters, and this can easily be done as he has room for an extra couple
of bays. Another option that he is looking at is the fitting of a sand filter
but this will also require the fitting of a swimming pool pump and so incur
higher electricity bills.
Pond
details
Gallonage
Dimensions
Construction
Shape
Bottom drains
Filter feed
Year completed
Time to complete
4,800 total.
12ft x 7ft x 5ft deep.
Excavation, concrete collar, and liner.
Rectangular.
1 x 4ins.
Bottom drain or mid water.
1992.
4 months
Filter
details
Gallonage
Type
Media Bay 1
Media Bay 2
Media Bay 3
Settlement chamber
Aeration
Type, make, etc
Pumping capacity
Location
Water return
2 x Grundfoss 15/60
approx 1,000 gals/hr each.
Chamber alongside filter.
Venturi x 2.
Other equipment
Ultra violet lamp
Other
2 x 15 watt.
Power skimmer.
UPDATE 2004. Alan & Margaret have now moved house
and intend to build a smaller pond.
This website started with a
booklet which I made up originally for the help of those members of the BKKS
- South Wales Section who were intending to start building a koi pond, and as the website has expanded more information and articles from other people have been included. This
is for general guidance only, and we do not take any responsibility for problems
that might occur by following these ideas. It is important
that you check out everything in your area, and check on local laws and rules
that may apply.
