Long distance question about making a large concrete pond

[massi]

I am wondering if you can advise us with respect to installing a filtration and air /water circulation system for a large concrete pond we are building. We leave in a small village in Iran and do not have access to experts in the field of pond building. We are not sure what systems we can use and how big they should be to provide adequate circulation and filtration for our pond.  I appreciate greatly if you can advise us what to use. Below is some relevant information.

Pond 75 square meters (870 square ft), depth of 140 centimeters (15 square ft) with capacity of 100 cubic meters (26417 US gal) with plants and fish.


Three 4 inch bottom drains in the middle and one 3 inch bottom drain connected to the machine room.



Pollutants include fish and plant waste in floating and sedentary state and algae resulting in greenish color water. Very small algae will also bypass the filtration system. Other pollutants include leaves from nearby trees and dust particles blown by seasonal winds.



We figure we need a filtration system using gravity and with low speed that can filter pond water every 3 or 4 hours and is able to keep water in the mechanical filter in at let 10 minute cycles. Also what other pumps air or water we may need?



The system in biological filtration section should be cleaned easily without loosing good bacteria.



This system should be able to control pathogens, algae and bad smell.





Best regards

Massoume Price

[Carl]

Welcome to Everything Aquatic!


I would suggest making a grate to cover the drains, in particular the one to the machine room where I would assume that there is a pump


On top of the grate I would cover 10-20 cm deep with volcanic rock of about 2-3 cm in diameter

In the water return, I would fashion some sort of gravity fed barrel filter or water-fall filter where more rock and poly fiber pads are added.
An alternative would be building a large pressurized filter out of an industrial barrel that could be sealed and re-opened. Bulk heads with valves could be installed both top and bottom to be the inlet and outlet as well as drains. In this filter could be more volcanic rock for bio and coarse mechanical filtration and cut polyester pads for more fine mechanical filtration.


Reference:
www.americanaquariumproducts.com/ClearPond.html

I would also suggest a UV Sterilizer/Clarifier on the outlet from the main pump, probably about 440 watts worth of UVC would be needed


Most importantly, I would strongly urge the building of a plant/bog/veggie filter of some type in the pond. These are excellent for removing nutrients that foul the water.
This could be a separate outside pond that gravity feeds back into the main pond or built into a corner of the existing pond.

These "Veggie" filters take about one growing season to mature, so best results are observed the next spring

For further information:
www.aquarium-pond-answers.com/2007/03/pond-veggie-filters.html

Carl

[devonjohnsgard]

Massi,

Welcome to the forum! Carl did a great job answering your questions, so I wont add anything. Is this a personal pond or used for something else. Amazing where you are from. I would be nice to get an understand of the culture of aquariums and ponds from your area. Care to share any pictures?

I'm going to follow this thread

[massi]

Many thanks for all the information. This is a personal pond in our garden. We are very new at this and need to learn step by step. I will post more questions once we have progressed more. Right now we have a huge hole. With respect to the culture of aquariums and ponds I have just started researching the subject. I assume we need freshwater fish for the pond. I have a list of most freshwater fish here, but I need to find out which ones will do well in a pond. Here is the link to the list: fish.mongabay.com/data/Iran.htm. I will post some pictures of the big hole we have soon. Many thanks again, I will digest all the information sent by Carl and I am sure I will have many more questions.

Massi

[Carl]

I am not familiar with all of the fish on this list


Be careful as many are predatory of others on this list, such as Perch

I generally have kept fish from the carp family including Goldfish and Koi in my clients ponds

Carl

[massi]

Good to know about the fish Carl. Also the filtration system you have recommended in your suggestions, would it be enough for the volume of water we have around 100 cubic meters?
Many thanks

[Carl]

Jan 12, 2015 1:51:13 GMT -5 massi said:

Also the filtration system you have recommended in your suggestions, would it be enough for the volume of water we have around 100 cubic meters?
Many thanks

Yes, just make sure you make a Veggie Filter that is equal to 5-15% of the surface volume of your pond surface volume

Carl

[massi]

Thanks

[massi]

I had another question. As mentioned earlier our pond had the capacity of 100 cubic meters, we are realizing now that this volume of water is too much considering we live in an arid area. We have already dug up the hole and placed the pipes. However, we are thinking of reducing the volume to around 40cubic meters. We are also thinking maybe the depth is too much as well. It is 1.65 meters. Do you think we should reduce this depth and if yes how much? I have a plan of the pond, but do not know how to upload it here. Also I have read that the bottom of the pond needs to be at different depths and I have looked at many different designs. We will go with Goldfish, Koi and water Iris, so what would be the best design for the bottom? I have step like, angled and other similar designs, which would be the best.

Many thanks

[Deleted]

Greetings Massi,

Welcome to Everything Aquatic Forum. I don't know anything about setting up a pond -- but left a personal message for you. You will find it up in the Messages tab at the top of the page (there will be a little "1" showing). My message is off topic, so I sent it to you personally.

Wishing you success in your pond build.

Judy

[Carl]

Your depth will be fine, as this makes it more difficult for predatory bird to spot and catch your fish, which is often much more of a problem with shallow ponds.

As for different depths, I too have usually preferred ponds of varied depths, over one basic depth, however I cannot say that I observed any better pond function with the ponds of varied depths versus a single depth.

You can add an attachment using the "Add Attachment" button in the right corner of your tools when using the Reply (not quick reply)

See the screenshot below:



Carl

[parker002]

As long as you have access to your filtration and anything else sitting on the bottom (like sick fish or debris), it's kind of hard to make your pond too deep. My pond is 1400 or so gallons and still about 1.5m deep. The prevents birds and mammals from catching my fish and eating them. It also provides ample room for freezing in winter since we are not far from central Canada as far as weather goes.

For the design, I prefer the step method. It provides good depth in the middle but also has shallow spots to place potted plants. I much prefer potted plants, particularly since you mentioned Water Iris, which will spread like a weed very quickly. Pots allow you to keep it contained and maintain your pondscape.

Here is a picture of my pond so you have a frame of reference. If you have more questions, please let us know.

[massi]

Thank you so much for the advise. I was just wondering how much time you spent on your pond cleaning and maintaining? Also if the water Iris spreads so quickly like a weed, what are other options?

[parker002]

The thing is, water iris is a very good filtering plant. Most of the best filtering plants are either fast-growing bog plants or floating plants (anacharis is a great example) that also multiply very quickly.

Rather than plant something else that might not be as effective, just make sure you can limit the growth of the plant, either by potting it or by somehow limiting growth through other means (I have mine planted in a small overflow area away from the main pond - you can see an example of this on the right side of my picture. Those are cattails and they grow at an alarming rate).

Honestly, I don't spend much time at all maintaining my pond. Maybe 2-3 hours a month in the summer time and not at all in the winter since the fish are brumating during that time (plus it's far too cold to work on anything in the pond anyway). That's not much investment time-wise, especially considering I have a high fish load. We have over a dozen Koi, some of which weigh over 10kg.

[angelminx]

Welcome, Massi!

I am just returning after being away from the computer for a while, so only just now got to read your thread. I always wanted a pond, but I live in an apartment (with a "yard") and they are not allowed--not even a tub pond (or even kiddie pools)--because they are considered a drowning hazard.

I wish you luck. However, I was just reading up in some of my old Aquarium Fish International magazines (the company quit producing the fish mag a few years ago), and one of the pond articles mentioned that Koi and Goldfish will inter-breed (something I never thought about before), so I would go with one or the other. Koi are meant to be seen from above, as in a pond situation, but are generally much bigger than goldfish (assuming you get the "fancy" and not the "common" goldfish). With goldfish, you need to be aware that those with fancy tails (as well as the Celestial Eyes--which look cute in a pond setting--and others with eye deformities) can't compete very well against those with the common fork-tail. Those with with dorsal fins are at a SLIGHT advantage over those without--think Oranda vs. Lionhead. Also, the colors on goldfish (especially Black Moors) are more spectacular when kept outside in ponds.

Of course it's a matter of taste, and I love Koi, but I would stick to goldfish (for one thing you can keep more). I love Orandas, Lionheads/Ranchus, and Black Moors, but I think I myself would get the Celestial Eyes (especially if I could only have a tub pond) because they look sooo cute staring up at you, especially from the edge of floating plants! The only thing is, I have never heard if they come in a variety of colors like other goldfish. I've just never seen much written about them, and have only seen photos of orange ones.

Another thing that I have seen, but probably not like you are building, is ponds that have viewing windows. Those are usually raised ponds, but some have been built on ground that has some degree of slope to all or part of the area where the pond is built, allowing for viewing from one or two sides. Of course you have to be able to keep the window clean, but then you get another view of you fishy pets. Also, some people keep and/or raise tropical fish in their ponds, and this type allows viewing of them from the side as well.

Good luck in your endeavor.

Angelminx