owen Posted December 4, 2006 Report Share Posted December 4, 2006 I wanted a raised pond that was big enough to keep a few goldfish in, that was lightweight , yet robust enough to be drained and moved with ease as Im a renter and I tend to move around a bit. Heres a few pics of what I built its 1200mm x 750mm x 450mm so roughly 400ltr I made it out of a single sheet of 2400x1200mm 12mm H3 ply, 11m of 50x25mm H3 timber and 4m of 75x25mm H3 timber. It is glued together with epoxy glue and screwed with 30mm and 40mm screws. I fiberglassed the inside edges and the outside side edges. Its pretty robust and its light enough for me to be able to lift it up and put it in the back of the stationwagon on my own. I painted the inside with two coats of pond sealer to waterproof it and I painted the outside ply with exterior acrylic and i painted the bottom ply with undercoat to seal it. Im pretty happy with the finished pond and it didnt cost much for the materials- about $70 for the timber, $44 for the pond sealer, $8 for the drain and the glue, glass, screws and outside paint I had laying around. next I will post pics of the pond with water and plants and of the ingenious diy filter i came up with.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishboi Posted December 4, 2006 Report Share Posted December 4, 2006 that is a stunning idea and looks great. got any pics of the process? how long have u had it set up? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richms Posted December 4, 2006 Report Share Posted December 4, 2006 When I see that I think of a place to put ice and beer, not a pond Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
owen Posted December 4, 2006 Author Report Share Posted December 4, 2006 I wish I had taken pictures of the build as it was quite tricky because the ply was warped which made it alot more difficult to construct. I basically had to to drill and screw it together, bending it into shape one screw at a time and then unscrew one side at a time glue it and rescrew it back together again. the design was very simple though, I just cut out a piece of cardboard that was 1:50 scale of a 1200x1200mm ply board and cut it up and glued it together to get this and then went out got the wood and made the same thing only bigger. its been running a couple of weeks now and iv stocked it with 2 fans a black moor and 5 wcmm's Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
owen Posted December 11, 2006 Author Report Share Posted December 11, 2006 This is the filter setup minus the prefilter that is attached to the pump. Its a simple setup of a couple baskets filled with hydroponic pumice(not in pic) sitting in terracota pots with holes drilled in the sides which water is pumped through and then overflows over the top. It sits inside the pond and will be planted with watercress when i can get my hands on some. Here is pond filled with water its still looking very new. hopefully it'l look better as it ages and the plants in the vegie filters grow bigger. and yes that is a real frog Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
farmchick Posted December 11, 2006 Report Share Posted December 11, 2006 It sits inside the pond and will be planted with watercress when i can get my hands on some. Hey, Im not sure where abouts in Auckland you are but we have watercress growing in all the waterways around our area, Kumeu. Theres a vege shop on SH16 which has a stream running alongside the road. We always get watercress from there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aquagold Posted December 11, 2006 Report Share Posted December 11, 2006 Good to see inventive Kiwis using aquaponics ie veggie filters..... A great looking pond too. Hope you find some nice fish to put in there. Rob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Posted December 11, 2006 Report Share Posted December 11, 2006 Great job owen that pond looks brilliant. I built one out of brick much the same size as yours then used a aquarium under gravel filter and air pump to keep the water clear, worked well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishboi Posted December 12, 2006 Report Share Posted December 12, 2006 that looks stunning. whats the black tubes coming from the top left hand corner? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antwan Posted December 12, 2006 Report Share Posted December 12, 2006 that looks stunning. whats the black tubes coming from the top left hand corner? Looks like the cord for the powerhead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishboi Posted December 12, 2006 Report Share Posted December 12, 2006 Looks like the cord for the powerhead. opps i mean the top Right hand side of the tub. there is two black tube sticking out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
owen Posted December 12, 2006 Author Report Share Posted December 12, 2006 that looks stunning. whats the black tubes coming from the top left hand corner? thats for the overflow, i used a couple of irrigation elbows but they tended to dribble down the side of the pond so i stuck some lengths of tube on them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oliver Posted December 19, 2006 Report Share Posted December 19, 2006 wow i like the frog he looks awsome Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxglove Posted December 23, 2006 Report Share Posted December 23, 2006 Wow, that looks great! What are the plants with the long strappy leaves? Looks like val. My raised bed pond doesn't look as good - it is 2m sq, and no filter, but the wcmms have bred in it, so it isn't all bad! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hazzard Posted December 24, 2006 Report Share Posted December 24, 2006 Looks great! It would pay to keep an eye on the fibreglass on the inside edges. Resins do not like bonding to plywood over a longer period of time and can peel off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
owen Posted December 24, 2006 Author Report Share Posted December 24, 2006 Looks great! It would pay to keep an eye on the fibreglass on the inside edges. Resins do not like bonding to plywood over a longer period of time and can peel off. I havent heard that before. I got advice from a boat builder who said that its important to paint the glass so that the resin doesnt go brittle. Iv got no idea what the strappy plant is, I got it years ago and its been living in a water filled pot outside. could it be a noxious weed? heres a pic of my fish. They are such cute little guys, the blackmore comes to the top and opens his mouth when he sees me and i can drop his food straight into it!! thanks for the frog compliment Oliver. I got her as an adult back in 1989! and shes doesnt seemed to have aged a bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hazzard Posted December 25, 2006 Report Share Posted December 25, 2006 Yes the resin is uv sensitive so the painting is important. The problem with partial glassing is that the corners become strong and the edges of the glass start to lose adhesion from the ply and start to peel. To overcome the problem glass the whole tank so that there are no inside edges to come loose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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