New project, will take a long time

[Yanbbrox]

looking forward to update....

Just writing it up now, should be done in 30 mins or so

wow looks like it will hold

Wow! That's awesome! I believe it should hold, my friend.

yeah hold up the hoover damn... that thing is built TOUGH!!!

Thanks guys,

You all missed the flaw in the plan, no where for the inlets/outlets to go
but you get the idea of the brace, the plan is to assemble everything on land in the frame, piping etc and then lower the whole thing down, connect the bottom drain pipe, fit the air diffuser pipe and the return, and back fill with concrete when in.

Wow that rendering just for me? How thoughtful lol.

Its a shame this pond is going to be just for koi though. I'm not a huge fan of them, I would do channel catfish and depending on your climate you could maybe pull off shortnose gar.

But if you like koi then i suppose that would be cool to you.

You were the one who said, 'you couldn't get your head around the bracing'

 

[X24]

Just writing it up now, should be done in 30 mins or so






Thanks guys,

You all missed the flaw in the plan, no where for the inlets/outlets to go
but you get the idea of the brace, the plan is to assemble everything on land in the frame, piping etc and then lower the whole thing down, connect the bottom drain pipe, fit the air diffuser pipe and the return, and back fill with concrete when in.


You were the one who said, 'you couldn't get your head around the bracing'

I get the idea now. At first i thought you were going to brace the larger hole and i didn't really get it, but now that i see its just a box section supporting the smaller hole it makes a lot more sense.

Are you going to have this thing full of water before winter hits or are you going to get everything ready and just set it up next spring?

 

[mike dunagan]

I figured they would come between the bracing and have drilled holes in the plywood

 

[Yanbbrox]

I get the idea now. At first i thought you were going to brace the larger hole and i didn't really get it, but now that i see its just a box section supporting the smaller hole it makes a lot more sense.

Are you going to have this thing full of water before winter hits or are you going to get everything ready and just set it up next spring?

Here is what I've done today, hole 2 is now dug or so I thought, very hard work in the heat and digging in a small place doesn't help:


As you can tell from the following picture the plan has changed again:


The plan has changed because I needed to sit down with a face just to get my head back on track, yes the plan was fine but with ordering everything on line, but a 'buy now' button doesn't say anything back.
Over here the pond dealers generally can be broke down into 3 sections:
1. Large Garden centres, that happen to have a small water bit at the back
2. LFS that stock the odd goldfish or comet but sometimes have some koi in
also applies to large superstore like LFS
3. Specialist koi people who only deal in the latest way of doing things and are very expensive and sell only the top class of everything from a pipe to a fish.

I think I posted before about going to see a local dealer(falls under no. 3) anyway, I priced up all the pipe work and drain on line and went around for a chat with at the back of my mind, if it works out £20-30 dearer from there then so be it, I'd pick up enough advise to pay the extra.

Anyway, I explained the project etc. and what I needed, they explained that they were not cheap, online would cheaper but if I just wanted the advise that was fine and I could then go away and get it all online anyway

Got the quote and it turned out to be a massive £1.20 dearer, so I placed the order, 30minutes later they dropped the stuff off and had a look. Now they sell one filter, in three different sizes and the smallest costs a grand sterling, that's just under 2 grand USD which I'm sure is great but I explained from the outset I was doing this old school with a modern twist so there would be no discussion on filtration, however the parts of my plan I thought I'd get away with I can't really do without. I wanted to try and save as much as I could, so all the 'I could do with but may get away with's were highlighted again and hit home(none of this stuff they stock BTW)

Yes the two vortexes would do for 6-8 months but as fish grow the filtration needs to grow, I wanted to add to it later but common sense says it should go in from the start, so hole 2 needs to grow as well, as well as another tree to get out

The new plan:

Vortex one, main settling chamber heavy solid removal
Vortex two, jap matting
Vortex three, kaldnes bio only(four bags of it)which brings me to answer this question:

Are you going to have this thing full of water before winter hits or are you going to get everything ready and just set it up next spring?

In theory the plan was to do the garden for Mrs Y's 30th a month or so away and I can get it done for then but the cost is killing me, as you can tell from above vortex three, I havn't got one = cost, I was advised to install a skimmer to a small seperate system, it would be a nightmare to retro fit but = cost, the liner I'd forgot due to the digging = cost, and I'd completly forgot about a uv filter which is more cost. All that's before I get the flags to out line it and then there is the planned waterfall, so no it won't be all done this winter, but if I can get it almost there, ie full and filters up and running that will do for me.

Thread title should be 'newproject will take a long time to find the cash, hole digging is free'

I don't like disscussing actual costs in public so if anyone needs to know how much something costs pm me.

I do however get paid a silly ammount if I do any overtime at work but the problem is it would be easier to dig a hole to actually get any but I have put my name down for August(all of it) if a get even a couple of days then that will help.

Last word on cost, I've seen the things that Johnptc just does and with all the pipework he has espcially the valves that I'm buying at the moment he truly has my upmost respect, if the hole is a pond by this time next year I may even fly over to next years meet just to shake the guys hand

 

[X24]

I think you need to relax a little. Remember projects like this are about fun, not about all out work.

Its always awesome to see a project come together, but rarely do they come together smoothly and if they do chances are you've forgotten something.

Take a break from the physical aspects of this and think through the system and what you want it to turn out like. Since you are getting to the point where money is the only thing holding you back look for some cheaper alternatives. Maybe instead of a 3rd vortex unit you could go for a plastic drum for cheaper. It would hold more media and be a lot cheaper.

Are you worried that a decent rain might cause some cave-ins with the hole right now?

Also get prioritized with your money. Wifey = first priority, if he keep her happy she won't mind you spending more time on your pond.

I'm fresh out of advice now haha.

EDIT: 2 1/2 K of posts invested in this website.

 

[mike dunagan]

instead of three, why not add plants to help instead? They will look great and help with the filtration?

 

[Yanbbrox]

I think you need to relax a little. Remember projects like this are about fun, not about all out work.

Its always awesome to see a project come together, but rarely do they come together smoothly and if they do chances are you've forgotten something.

Take a break from the physical aspects of this and think through the system and what you want it to turn out like. Since you are getting to the point where money is the only thing holding you back look for some cheaper alternatives. Maybe instead of a 3rd vortex unit you could go for a plastic drum for cheaper. It would hold more media and be a lot cheaper.

Are you worried that a decent rain might cause some cave-ins with the hole right now?

Also get prioritized with your money. Wifey = first priority, if he keep her happy she won't mind you spending more time on your pond.

I'm fresh out of advice now haha.

EDIT: 2 1/2 K of posts invested in this website.

You are so right of course, any project can cost as much as it needs to cost, my good friend loulou emailed me yesterday and told me too chill out about updates and stuff due to cost and stuff, I have put too much pressure on myself by trying to get this done in time for Mrs Y's b'day and maybe this should have been posted as an article once complete but I'm out there now in public so I need to update even if from now on it goes slow. I've subscribed to many an unfishished thread and I've stared some as well.

As for the drum idea, the cost is about the same, pm me if you want to konw the acutal costs.

Yes rain is a big concern, pumped 3000 litres out on the last big downpour so I really want the system and liner in before winter

Wifey, Mrs Y is behind the project, when it comes to fish the cost doesn't matter, our eegg gets more fuss and treats then me the dog and cats combined and now she has the new oscars to play with

2500 posts is a reflection on my sig? I'm catching up, if only I had a sticker to wind loulou up

 

[Yanbbrox]

instead of three, why not add plants to help instead? They will look great and help with the filtration?

I wanted some water lilies in there but Mrs Y wasn't keen so I left it out, She's gone all hardcore koi keeper plants=bad

As long as she can hand feed them nothing else matters

 

[Yanbbrox]

Between the rain, the thunder and lightening I got some more done, I would have had this thing done today if it weren't for the weather
Hole 2 that is




The tree was a real pain, took forever to get out

 

[X24]

Is it just me or do i see room to widen the main hole lol