New project, will take a long time

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
Tequila;2236417; said:
So should I ship the fourty four billion sea monkey's yet?, :WHOA: so that the one inch koi will have something to eat when it gets there.
:popcorn:
What are you going on about:confused:

basslover34;2236614; said:
I give you props for being able to get this project done as fast as you have actually.... having spent some time in your country... I felt like I needed a raft most of the first week I was there LOL... and forget getting a reliable weather forcast there!!!! Good god it was like playing darts blindfolded... every so often you get lucky but for the most part it's about as far off as your going to get LOL.

Nice Progress though... I guess you really made the most of that week of nice weather I brought with me ;) :ROFL:
Thanks, yes last week was quite nice

Good holiday?

zennzzo;2236724; said:
Still holding water, I bet...
This is gonna be one sweet setting spot when he gets it done...
Hopefully

Pharaoh;2237022; said:
I am on pins and needles!
Me too

mike dunagan;2237249; said:
All this progress and now we wait...lol at least fill our heads with the plants that you are going to put in it...
No plants, just water and fish

zennzzo;2237501; said:
First day back from leave,
I used to hate going back to work, after vacation...
stuff is not how you left it, for sure...:nilly:
Yes not the best, but nothing really happened why I was away

ericifish;2237525; said:
monster project. gonna be tight when its finished
Thanks

Red Devil;2237604; said:
so worth waiting for now... this is the final episode... let it last.... i want to see the gardens and fish and BBQ...:)
The final episode? Good weather, a couple of weeks and a huge slice of luck needed;)
 
Yanbbrox;2238147; said:
What are you going on about:confused:


Thanks, yes last week was quite nice

Good holiday?


Hopefully


Me too


No plants, just water and fish


Yes not the best, but nothing really happened why I was away


Thanks


The final episode? Good weather, a couple of weeks and a huge slice of luck needed;)

its on the way..........................:D
 
I started to PM you but decided to post in case it can help some other people too. Everything so far looks good, I just had a couple thoughts from mistakes I recently made.

I asked about the air pump because I have been researching them for my pond. I am going to be adding air to the Bd and also the bottom of each of my bio barrels. I have read that adding air in static biochambers does a good job of increasing water movement within the chamber, and adds some air which really improves the overall performance. You may have enough air from your 50l pump to add a diffuser in the bottom of your bio chambers .

For your pump putting it in the bottom of your last biochamber should work for now. Its how I have both mine set up in a down flow barrel and they seem to circulate the water pretty well, I am fairly happy with it. You can add some piping to make it down flow if necessary. I am going to change to external pumps though. I bought my water pumps because I saw a deal on ebay, $50 for laguna 3,000gph, so I picked up two, it was a bit of a mistake though. I thought 2 would be way overkill, but not the case. I am also running another 1200gph pump pulling through the line for a UV that I just added because the water eventually did green. Anyway I thought the BD would have great suction with an actual flow of about 2500gph, its barely noticeable though, which is why I am thinking of air. I have read not to run too much less with a 4" bd for risk of settling and clogging in the line. This winter I am going to change my pumps to external for several reasons, out of the water, much greater output and less head loss than my current pumps, longer life, and cheaper to run. I posted elsewhere about pump power usage. Lagunas are supposed to be very efficient 3,000gph for 130w, but they use 230w, my chinese 1200gph is supposed to be 100w, its 290w. I measured some of my other mag drive pumps and they all use about double the power listed. I have read a lot about these externals
http://www.unitedpondsupply.com/servlet/the-317/Energy-Saver-2500-GPH/Detail and they use a little more power than claimed but are a decent alternative to submersible. If you can swing it now I would recommend an external and you could avoid your pump placement issue.

Keep up the good work, attention to detail now really pays off in the end.
 
mrunlucky07;2239986; said:
I started to PM you but decided to post in case it can help some other people too. Everything so far looks good, I just had a couple thoughts from mistakes I recently made.

I asked about the air pump because I have been researching them for my pond. I am going to be adding air to the Bd and also the bottom of each of my bio barrels. I have read that adding air in static biochambers does a good job of increasing water movement within the chamber, and adds some air which really improves the overall performance. You may have enough air from your 50l pump to add a diffuser in the bottom of your bio chambers .

For your pump putting it in the bottom of your last biochamber should work for now. Its how I have both mine set up in a down flow barrel and they seem to circulate the water pretty well, I am fairly happy with it. You can add some piping to make it down flow if necessary. I am going to change to external pumps though. I bought my water pumps because I saw a deal on ebay, $50 for laguna 3,000gph, so I picked up two, it was a bit of a mistake though. I thought 2 would be way overkill, but not the case. I am also running another 1200gph pump pulling through the line for a UV that I just added because the water eventually did green. Anyway I thought the BD would have great suction with an actual flow of about 2500gph, its barely noticeable though, which is why I am thinking of air. I have read not to run too much less with a 4" bd for risk of settling and clogging in the line. This winter I am going to change my pumps to external for several reasons, out of the water, much greater output and less head loss than my current pumps, longer life, and cheaper to run. I posted elsewhere about pump power usage. Lagunas are supposed to be very efficient 3,000gph for 130w, but they use 230w, my chinese 1200gph is supposed to be 100w, its 290w. I measured some of my other mag drive pumps and they all use about double the power listed. I have read a lot about these externals
http://www.unitedpondsupply.com/servlet/the-317/Energy-Saver-2500-GPH/Detail and they use a little more power than claimed but are a decent alternative to submersible. If you can swing it now I would recommend an external and you could avoid your pump placement issue.

Keep up the good work, attention to detail now really pays off in the end.

Let me take the time to introduce mrunlucky07 to the thread, avid reader and supporter for sometime now, first time poster in this thread(I think). If your interested check of the following thread:

http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=135516

It journals the progress from a rather ugly looking hole;) to kick ass pond over many months, including constant weather problems, neighbor disputes and battles with the local authorities, and he's got a skimmer:irked: the one thing so far I would have really changed without hesitation(retro fitting one is going to be such a pain).

Pm or post it's all fine by me, thanks for the support:)

Air:

The plan is to add another pump purely for the chambers, this is on next years list but I've been told that the pump is good enough to run a T piece from and use the supplementary air for the bio chamber and mechanical chambers, but make provisions to add another as stocks rise. To be honest I'm not too concerned about the air for the mechanical although I'm sure it will help but for now I've got the off cuts in between the matting plus there is a ton of air going into the pond via the bottom drain. As for the bio/kaldnes although I'm fairly sure that using the pump directly in that chamber will work for now I still can't get my head around a chamber that rises from the bottom, then is pumped from underneath the kaldnes doing a really good job, I only know of one person that has used it before and he got it by the pallet load so I'll guess I'll have to pm him for advise to if it acutally would be doing it another way. The vortex effect would circulate the water and the media but again how effective it would be I have no idea.

Just curious here, mrunlcuky07 does your bottom drain have provsion for air or are you going to have to retro fit one? Yes I'm lazy and tired as I'm about to go to bed so I don't want to go through the thread again for the picture;)

Pumps:

Again an external is on the list for next year as is the UV. The pump I've got is rated at about 2000gph and did a pretty good job on the old pond but it's simply that I have it now so I don't want to shell out for another just now as I've got one. The UV I think I'll be alright without until next spring providing the filters are up and running soon, heading into autum the sun is low and we don't get too much of it as you've all read, plus the pond doesn't get that much direct sunlight anyway. If I'm wrong then I'll just have to deal with it at the time and get one(and clean everything, again and again:irked:) I'm more worried about floating plants that already seem to be there and multiply like crazy, why did I not plan a skimmer this year?:nilly:

Thanks for taking the time to post:)

Just to clear up the this year/next year thing:

This:
Get it done and working
Cover the filters with whatever(weighed down liner off cuts if favourtie)
Finish the flagging
Stop the leaks
Get some temp return sorted out
Brace up some more once everything has stopped leaking(still keeping me awake at night, heard it collapse 3 times last night and it's still there:nilly:)

Next:
Retro fit skimmer and skimmer filtration system
Deck above the filter and instal hydrolic rams to lift the deck for access(I know;))
Add another air pump for the filter bays
Add external pump and proper returns(skimmer return on opposite side of main return so the pond becomes a vortex)
Install waterfall, and second feeds from both systems

You can insert 'add fish' anwhere that's apropiate :ROFL:

 
zennzzo;2242574; said:
Wow good intro Bro...
Still hoping all is well, and you make some steady progress...

:popcorn::popcorn::popcorn::popcorn::popcorn:
I thought it was best as regular posters would like 'huh' where's this guy come from when we've been pming for a while:)

Davey_8313;2242593; said:
That looks nice man...
Thanks
 
Thanks for the kind intro.

Next:
Retro fit skimmer and skimmer filtration system
Deck above the filter and instal hydrolic rams to lift the deck for access(I know;))
Add another air pump for the filter bays
Add external pump and proper returns(skimmer return on opposite side of main return so the pond becomes a vortex)
Install waterfall, and second feeds from both systems

You can insert 'add fish' anwhere that's apropiate :ROFL:

The next list looks great, right on track. As does the realistic now list. Where do you think the add fish stage will be?


Not to beat a dead horse with the air idea, but if you have enough air pushing the k1 up and the pump pulling it back down it may boil OK.

For a temp return to get it up an running how about just a flexible pool hose for the return? Bury the pvc return when you are able and have a waterfall/return plan worked out. I buried my 3" before I had a final plan and have a few regrets.

does your bottom drain have provsion for air or are you going to have to retro fit one?

Retro...on my to do list, about #5 on the list.
 
hey i was wondering if anyone knows what kind of rocks there r for freshwater aquariums and what rock is good for a jack dempsey tank and i dont want fake rocks i would like to find a rock that looks nice and has alot of hiding areas or hole in it for good water flow but at the same time is at a good price
 
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