A pond update.. oh the years

[Brutal_Dreamer]

Very Nice Bruce! Hasn't changed a lot other than all the greenery around it has grown and blended in nicely.

A couple of questions due to curiosity:

1). Are the sides and the bottom cemented in or you just dug a hole in the ground?
2). How many gallons does it hold?
3). What size centrifugal pump do you use, and what's electricity bill like. My Electric bill in CA. was around $400.00 a month with a 1 hp (AFTER I switch from a 2 hp) pump.
4). Do you filter and if so what kind of filtration system do you use? ie: upflow, downflow, mechanical?
5). What size is this pond Length and width ... Not including the waterfall area.

Wish I could build one here but the cost is prohibitive.

Hello. Let me see if I can answer your questions:
1. The actual waterfall part is cemented in. The sheer amount of water that the pump pushes through there would have eroded the earth away a long time ago otherwise. The rocks around the back of the waterfall are also cemented in on the back sides. We also piped a smaller pipe up through the rocks and drilled small holes into that pipe to allow water to drip and spray down the rock wall when the fountain is running. Here is a pic to show the concrete bowl.


2. The pond is huge, so I'm not sure how many gallons it holds. It wraps around the side of our house in a big "L" shape. It was originally a cattle pond when we purchased the property. We built the waterfall onto the existing pond and did the rock work. I was cleaning some brush off beside the house and near the pump few weeks ago and slipped into the water. The pond is very deep and steep. There isn't a gradual drop-off or slope like in most ponds. I was only a couple feet into the pond and it was up to my waist and I was sinking fast. I luckily grabbed hold of a branch that I had just pushed into the water and was able to pull myself back out quick! lol.




3. The pump is huge. It moves 1500 gallons of water a minute. We only run it for a short time, not all the time. It costs about as much as running our air conditioner. Here are some photos:

The pump house: Eight feet long and four feet wide and about three feet tall on the tall side sloping down to two feet tall on the front side.


And here is the pump:

4. No, we do not filter.
5. The pond, as I mentioned is pretty large.

I love it.how deep for the pond.can I jump in there? Remind me for the river next to my village

hahaha... I would not recommend jumping in there. We have huge catfish that we have been feeding for 20 years. LOL

cheers,
BD

[Kauaiguy]

Thanks Bruce! I would venture to say that it's at least 4' deep and that's why you have some fairly large catfish in there. Cool! And that's a good size pump and I don't blame you for not pumping 24/7 because it can get costly.

With the kind of Koi I was keeping (Nishikigoi) and the cost of each, I had no choice but to run the pump 24/7. I was into a lot of KOI shows and even became a judge. Whether it's fish, horses, dogs, orchids or whatever ... when you get into competing them, you have to spend money getting good quality stuff ... or else you're not even in the ball game.

Koi or should I say "Nishikigoi" shows especially in Japan is a very big deal and they raise the best Koi North east of there called "Niigata" where the soil seems to be special for raising these things. Many breeders try to duplicate the same in the U.S. but never can come close.

I know what you mean about sinking in the mud and finding a tree branch to pull yourself out. Happened to me here in Hawaii while I was kayaking one of the rivers. I was using a very small kayak when someone in a motor boat flew by and dumped me into the river. Although the water is only about 8' deep, the bottom was silth and muddy. I came close to drowning, because every time I tried pulling myself back up on the kayak, it would roll over.

Tired as I was, I manged to use the kayak to swim where there were hanging branches and pulled myself back up. That happened about 8 years ago and I was already 66 years old! I guess my time wasn't up yet! LOL!