The following are pictures of the construction of our
2000 gallon, 3-chambered pond, as well as some shots after
construction to show how it has changed and the upgrades
I made long after it was completed in 2004.
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When we moved to our new home, the backyard had a pool with
a raised tile wall and walkway. On the South side of the back yard
was a loose brick patio. It was this location that I wanted to have our new pond built.
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I wanted the pond to match the design elements of the swimming pool.
It would require the same blue stained tile on a rear wall
as well as brick caps.
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My original design had a retreat under the entire wall perimeter, but was changed to just flagstone to save money. Rounded brick caps were replaced with 45° cuts. The inside was also changed to 90° to add more patio space (and easier construction)
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The loose bricks were removed and given to my neighbor, who used them
to build an extension to his driveway. About 2 feet of Earth was removed
to allow the bottom of the pond to be deeper than the patio level.
The 2" PVC on the left is the intake line that will lead to to the pump.
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The pipeworks are done. From left to right: Intake line (to pump),
Pond access port (in pond), Pond access (in equipment chamber),
filtered line (in equipment chamber), filtered line (in plant chamber).
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The intake line will be on the farthest corner of the pond.
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Concrete floor has been poured. First 2 layers of blocks
are reinforced with rebar and filled with concrete for strength.
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Third layer complete. Really taking shape now. You can see the size
of the equipment chamber to the left of the plant chamber.
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Cap blocks are added and filled. Note the pass-through separating the
tanks. This is designed to be plugged with bricks or left open to
allow turtles and fish to travel between the tanks. We usually leave it plugged
since the Koi, Shubunkins and Goldfish compete with the turtles for food
and the turtles eat the larger plants we keep in the smaller tank. So, Turtle tank
is the large side. Fish and plants occupy the small side.
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Brick caps added to the top and brick paneling on the sides to hide the cinder
blocks and to make it appear to be constructed completely of bricks. Brick caps
around the perimeter are cut in half. The inside caps are cut at a 45° angle to
prevent any turtle escape.
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Gunite and tile added. Waterfall paths for both small and large tanks have tile
tops and no brick caps. Equipment chamber is wired for power.
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The intake was teed with 2" PVC and 2" ABS extended in both directions and capped.
The ABS had 3/8" holes drilled into the bottom side, and was designed to be covered
with fabric and then buried under lava rock. This design would end up being a bad
choice, as it restricted flow and collected a LOT of waste. Note the messy patio
and temporary housing for fish and turtles in the back. Two kiddie pools were bolted
together with ventilation cut in the top to allow air and sunlight in.
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The equipment chamber back then looks nothing like it does today. Everything about
what you see here was an epic failure. One fatal flaw is that this equipment chamber
has no drainage (a mistake I won't make again). The pond access port was also
lower than the waterline on a number of occasions, so when it flooded, it destroyed
the pumps. Another expensive lesson learned. Since the design of the pond has the
floor below ground level, it is susceptible to flooding. The filter was only intended
for use with the vacuum, and that hose was too strong for a vacuum and the bottom
pickup wasn't capable of doing the job anyway. (More on the chamber below)
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Water added! Plants added. Weak basking logs (eventually replaced), etc.
Walls and bottom starting to turn green as life takes hold. This was
before we contacted the San Diego Turtle and Tortoise Society to adopt
all of their RES needing a home. The Koi were all adopted from neighbors
and friends that could not keep them, and the Goldfish were all 10¢ feeders.
The plant chamber had a LOT of lava rock. Again, it collected a lot of waste
and was a very dirty job to clean. I have since removed a significant amount of it.
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This shot shows the 1000W submersible heater we had from our old pond. It
is now only used during quarantine and recovery outside of the pool. It works
GREAT but is damn expensive to run all the time. Also note the lava rock
over the intake chamber. Loose cinder blocks are supporting two large pieces of
flagstone. The turtles LOVE this! They feel very secure under it.
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The patio area is very large, which will still allow for lounging in the sun after
a swim. Sometimes, I wish I had converted the entire area into a pond, and not left
so much deck space.
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You certainly get your money's worth with Water Hyacinth. I managed to get a single bulb
at $2.99 last 2 years.
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Hollow oak tree trunks split in half made for good basking logs. This is
the water before I added the UV sterilizer. A larger piece of oak tree
was added later.
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I set up a wireless webcam to watch the turtles from work. It was a crappy Linksys
camera that was only meant for indoors. The sun would overheat it, and it
would stop working during the hottest part of the day. So, I put it in a
birdhouse we built in Cub Scouts and it worked like a champ after that!
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So, this is what the equipment chamber looks like today. The weak 1/8 horsepower Sequence 750
Pump was replaced with a 3/4 horsepower Jacuzzi pump. Intake added a 2" ball valve and a 2"
3-way valve to allow a vacuum hose to be plugged in easily. The pond access pipe was
raised above water level. An AquaUV Ultima II 2000 was added to replace the need
for lava rock to do all of the filtering. Ball valve on the return line to the
plant chamber, a transparent check valve and finally, an AquaUV 57W 2" UV Sterilizer.
Both the pump and the UV sterilizer and plugged into AC power by way of outdoor timers.
The UV light is so intense that when it was cleaning the green algae, it glowed
at night (30 second exposure).
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I also upgraded the webcam to a Panasonic BB-HCE481A.
It even has a mobile interface, so I can view and control the camera from my phone in real time.
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I removed the lava rock from the intake chamber and added both a bottom drain and no-niche
skimmer. Boy, am I dumb for not getting this sooner. It pulls all the turtle poop and
debris from the surface in a matter of seconds and helps keep the strainer in the pump
cleaner too. I don't have to clean the pump strainer as often as I used to, and emptying
this thing is very very easy. Too small for turtles to get inside, and in the unlikely
event that they would, the suction isn't strong enough to hold them since it is split between
two endpoints.
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So, that's it! Here is what it looks like today. I am currently working on ideas to add a sandy beach
for the females to lay their eggs. Unfortunately, a beach was not part of the original design. I am also
working on using the pond access port to add both a submersible LED light fixture and an underwater
webcam.
