10' Pond Build

Made a little progress. I decided to fill the pool with FW before placing any equipment to be sure that the size/shape didn't change once filled. Because of the fiberglass insulation, I had a lot of wrinkles at the bottom as the weight of the water compacted the insulation creating air pockets beneath the liner. I was able to sort this out with a rolling pin once the pool filled to about 5" and the water pressure was enough to keep it flat.


picture.php


I also built a stand for the main (150g) sump using 2X4's, concrete blocks, and rigid insulation that I had left over from underneath the pool. Next step is to drill the holes for 2" bulkheads which will be my return.

picture.php


I plan on adding 800 lbs of aragonite sand (fine). Any thoughts on whether I should drain the pool and add the sand first, or add it to a filled pool and leave the equipment off for a few days until it clears up a litte? I'm not quite to this step yet, just trying to plan ahead...
 
I don't know why you couldn't add it while it's full of water - it might be a little messier but it's going to cloud up regardless.
 
moriarty said:
I plan on adding 800 lbs of aragonite sand (fine). Any thoughts on whether I should drain the pool and add the sand first, or add it to a filled pool and leave the equipment off for a few days until it clears up a litte? I'm not quite to this step yet, just trying to plan ahead...
Click to expand...

It depends on your situation. Are you going to use FW or RO once its ready for the salt? When do you plan on mixing the salt? Has the sand been rinsed? If the sand hasn't been rinsed, it will turn everything milky white. If using the FW for the initial setup, I would mix the salt in the water first getting it to the right salinity/temp. In the meantime, I would be rinsing the sand to minimize the white chalky mess that most un-rinsed sand leave behind. Once the
temp/salinity is spot on, then I would add the sand.
 
anbosu said:
I don't know why you couldn't add it while it's full of water - it might be a little messier but it's going to cloud up regardless.
Click to expand...

I would prefer to go this route, and would rather not have to drain/re-fill. Might use an old powerhead or two just to keep the water moving and avoid having a pool of standing water in the basement for a few days/weeks until it clears up. I don't plan on making any holes in the liner or the pool it's self to run pipe/filtration, so there is really no other reason that I'd have to empty it.
 
Butchhe said:
It depends on your situation. Are you going to use FW or RO once its ready for the salt? When do you plan on mixing the salt? Has the sand been rinsed? If the sand hasn't been rinsed, it will turn everything milky white. If using the FW for the initial setup, I would mix the salt in the water first getting it to the right salinity/temp. In the meantime, I would be rinsing the sand to minimize the white chalky mess that most un-rinsed sand leave behind. Once the
temp/salinity is spot on, then I would add the sand.
Click to expand...

Thanks! Yeah, I'm just going to use FW for the initial fill. I use RO water for top offs on my FO/FOWLR tanks, but just FW when I do water changes. Probably different from most people's methods, but It's been working out well for me for years. The sand does say "pre-rinsed" on the packaging, but from past experience, that doesn't mean too much. I'm probably underestimating the amount of time it's going to take me to rinse all 800 lbs of the stuff, so I'll need to get started on that sooner rather than later! I appreciate the reminder!
 
I know how much of a pita rinsing 100 lbs of sand is especially when it is real dirty. I can only imagine how long it will take for 800 lbs. Hopefully it is pre-rinsed like the bag says.
 
Made a little more progress this week. I drilled some holes in the bottom of the bio-ball filled trash can, and a 3" hole in the lid. I decided to put the can in the sump on top of 2 stacked milk crates. Water flows from the pond through the can/bio balls, into the sump, and back to the pond via 2 2" bulkheads.

Bottom of the trash can
picture.php


This isn't pretty!
picture.php


Not the clearest pics of the plumbing, but I put a cross on the outlet (ball valves on the top and sides so that I can control the flow. Water can flow from the pump into the can/sump as well as from each side. To create a gyre in the pond, one of the side valves will be partially open and the other one closed. I can change the direction/strength of the gyre by adjusting the valves. The top valve will always be fully open unless I need to take the sump offline.

picture.php


I also put threaded 90's at the end of the return piping so that I can rotate them to be consistent with the direction of the gyre.

picture.php
 
Looks really good. Have you added the salt yet? I hope not as I would hate to see you waste it once you start to add the sand and the water flows over the edge of the pool.
 
Butchhe said:
Looks really good. Have you added the salt yet? I hope not as I would hate to see you waste it once you start to add the sand and the water flows over the edge of the pool.
Click to expand...

No salt yet. Going to let it run for a bit with FW and see how things go. I also need to keep track of the water level to get an idea of evaporation rates, which I suspect will be pretty high. Looking into an ATO, but am not sure how I want to go about it just yet.

As for the sand... 800 pounds isn't nearly enough to displace so much water that it will overflow the pool (filled to 8" from the top). I guess it sounds like a lot, but the area of the pool is 78.5 square feet (1 X 40 pound bag covers about 5 square feet at 1" depth). So even if I do use all of it, the sand will only be about 1 1/4" deep. I'm probably going to start with half of this and add more if needed. I just want to use enough to fully cover the bottom of the pool without having a lot of exposed liner.
 
I am slowly accumulating equipment for my saltwater pool, now all I need is one of my roomates to leave so I have a place to put it. What pump/gph will you be running through the filter?
 
chr154k said:
I am slowly accumulating equipment for my saltwater pool, now all I need is one of my roomates to leave so I have a place to put it. What pump/gph will you be running through the filter?
Click to expand...

I'm using a mag drive 2400 for the main filter/sump. It moves a lot of water for using only 255 watts. I've always been a fan of mag drive pumps and use them on all of my other systems, so I figured it would be a good starting point for this one as well.

What type of pool are you planning on setting up?
 
You say it's not pretty, but that plumbing looks great to me. Matching lines, no excess piping all over. I like it.
 
This is a very nice idea there was a thread a while back on something of this sort except he had sharks and such and it was probably bigger given what the pool looks like. Following along here nice thread.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

T
Pond!
2
Replies
20
Views
783
wvned
wvned
P
Tropical Fish Pond
Replies
4
Views
457
Misled
Misled
U
New build
Replies
3
Views
303
griss
griss
T
Octo Various 10 Pump
Replies
1
Views
82
Tanksanyway
T
Coral Dilema
Using an old new tank?
Replies
2
Views
173
Reefing102
Reefing102
Back
Top