I got permission from my wife to build a 7'x15' conservatory/solarium/sun room. I plan on putting 3'x 4 1/2' x30" deep ponds on each side, one for turtles and one for Koi. I will have a filter in between them with a spillway going to each pond. I have a brother-in-law that has done a lot of foundation work, so I have help with the concrete. I will use plastic grates to keep the koi and turtles from swimming into each others tanks through the spill way and will block off the basking area to prevent the turtles from getting at the koi. I am in the planning stages, this will probably happen next spring.
My questions are:
1. Will 6" concrete walls and floors be thick enough? The ponds will be part of the foundation wall on 2 sides. I haven't talked with the in-law yet, but he's done house flat work and may not know what is needed for a pond.
2. The drains will be 37"s deep and depending on location need to travel 5' to 8' horizontal and then 40" vertical to go into the filter area. Do I need to put a pump in the pond or can I get a pump in the filter that will siphon the water that distance? Will I need one pump for each pond or will a big enough pump in the filter area work for both ponds? I thought about an exterior pump on the outside of each pond, but at the depth i need it would be hard to work on them or I would need to leave a large part of the floor open with a deck like flooring to get to the pumps.
3. At 30" how much will a light in each pond help and is it worth the cost? I will have one wall attached to the house, the hose bib will be inside the solarium for water, but I will need to run electricity to the room. I will insulate it and the house will have 2 windows that I could leave open, but I think that will raise my utility bill a lot using house heat to heat the sun room. The only wall I can put this room on only gets afternoon sun, so I can't count on greenhouse effect for heat. I don't want to add two pumps, lighting and heating if I can help it and if the pond lights wont help that much.
I have a sketch that would help explain what I'm doing, but I don't know how to post it.
