It was in February 1991 that Peter
decided to build a small pond to keep a few goldfish. After seeing
the pond of another member Peter & Janet decided that the small
pond had to go. This was done and some koi were purchased. After
having problems with these fish Peter, who had since joined the
British Koi-keepers Society, and the South Wales Section, started
looking at other members' ponds and he decided his pond was still
not big enough, and so the present pond, No. 3 was started in
1992, and completed in January 1993.
The pond is constructed of 18" x
9" x 9" hollow concrete blocks, which were then rendered, and
fibreglassed in black. The divisions between the filter bays
were of 18" x 9" x 4" concrete blocks which were positioned the
normal way up so as to give a 4" thick wall. This was also treated
in the same way as the pond, but completed slightly later. The
pond and filter takes up almost the whole length of the garden,
and is situated alongside the next door neighbour. Incidentally
the next door neighbour is their own daughter and her husband.
As can be seen in the photographs
the filters are quite large for the size of the pond, and the
water quality is good with clear water.
The settlement chamber consists of a Vortex chamber made in concrete
which allows most of the heavy debris to settle out before entering
the filter.
The water then passes into bay No.1 which is mainly empty with
only two pieces of matting at the end which collects the smaller
debris which has passed over fron the vortex chamber. If Peter
wishes to expand the capacity of his filter later on then he will
put some media in this bay. Bay No.2 has filter matting, but instead
of having it in a honeycomb module as usually recommended the eight
sheets are laid vertically acrross the filter bay so that the water
actually has to pass through the sheets. Each sheet is seperated
from the previous one by brushes which keep the sheets apart. The
third bay has Canterbury Spar.
The water is then pumped from this bay by two Grundfoss
15/60 central heating pumps. One pumps directly into the pond via
a venturi, and the other pumps the water through a 30 watt UV lamp,
and then through a venturi that is situated at the far end of the
pond.
Peter could not find any main drain near to the pond, so he has
a Dab submersible pump complete with cutout switch in his drains
bay so that this automatically transfers water to the main drains.
Pond
details
Gallonage
Dimensions
Construction
Shape
Bottom drains
Filter feed
Year completed
Time to complete
2,500 total.
16ft x7ft x 4ft deep.
Concrete block, rendered, and fibreglass.
Rectangular.
One with 4" piping..
Bottom drain to vortex chamber.
January 1993.
6 months
Filter
details
Gallonage
Type
Media Bay 1
Media Bay 2
Media Bay 3
Settlement chamber
Aeration
1,000.
3 bay concrete block coated with fibreglass.
Matting.
Matting.
Canterbury Spar.
Vortex.
Hi-blow 40.
Pump details
Type, make, etc
Pumping capacity
Location
Water return
2 x Grundfoss 15/60
2 x 1,000 gals/hr.
Chamber after filters.
2 venturi.
Other equipment
Ultra violet lamp 1 x 30 watts.
Manual skimmer.
UPDATE 2004. This
pond has now been closed down.
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.
