tanksfishtank
Premium Member
WhaT A awesome idea! I am excited to see the progress!
10' Pond Build
- Thread starter moriarty
- Start date
cabinetman123
Member
Do a big algae scrubber.
Looks really good! Above my pond ive used every type of lighting you could think of in the past 5 or so years. The nicest look was two 175watt mh Hamilton bell pendants hung in opposite corners with Ushio bulbs, and some LED (Kessil) to brighten things up. Now im using 3x four foot dual bulb fluorescents and two Kessil LEDs, to conserve energy.
I really like the plumbing you did, definitely not bad at all!
I really like the plumbing you did, definitely not bad at all!
moriarty
New member
Definitely something I'm considering adding down the road!
moriarty
New member
I'm a huge fan of your system! Read your thread a couple times over when I was planning out my pond. I love the look of halides, but thought I'd go with LEDs to save a bit of energy too. I actually think yours looks the best (from the video anyway) with the flourescents/LEDs in one of your more recent posts (5/17/2014).
Mo- Thanks! It's always nice to hear that!
I think your pool is coming along great! I had originally used Intex pools before I built the wood frame about 5-6 years ago. I'm so glad to see you put down a pond liner!
I do miss the circular design sometimes as you can create a pretty good current that will follow the circumference, giving you a pretty good turnover of water through your filter. You will still need some random flow/laminar flow as well, of course. The issue of flow, in a 10 foot circle is something that caused me a bit of a conundrum.... I was faced with getting good water flow to all areas of the pool/pond, which created surface agitation and of the the lack of visibility that comes with it, or having water that, I felt atleast, was too stagnant.
LEDS along with your ambient lighting, or a few fluorescent bulbs would, not only look nice with a crisp 12 or 10k/14k look, but will keep ambient heat levels down too. I believe in the video you speak of, I was using just the Kessil LEDS. However on the June or 6/2014 video I had on 4 or 6 HO Fluorescents, which give off a bright daylight look, which isn't very esthetic but allows me to see the pond and plumbimg, as well as observe the sharks & fish for any signs aggression and whatnot.
Definitely plan for humidity. It may seem manageable at first, especially with Fall starting.
You'll soon be wondering how the pool lost an inch of water to evaporation in just a few days (which equates to more than 50 gallons) !
I think your pool is coming along great! I had originally used Intex pools before I built the wood frame about 5-6 years ago. I'm so glad to see you put down a pond liner!
I do miss the circular design sometimes as you can create a pretty good current that will follow the circumference, giving you a pretty good turnover of water through your filter. You will still need some random flow/laminar flow as well, of course. The issue of flow, in a 10 foot circle is something that caused me a bit of a conundrum.... I was faced with getting good water flow to all areas of the pool/pond, which created surface agitation and of the the lack of visibility that comes with it, or having water that, I felt atleast, was too stagnant.
LEDS along with your ambient lighting, or a few fluorescent bulbs would, not only look nice with a crisp 12 or 10k/14k look, but will keep ambient heat levels down too. I believe in the video you speak of, I was using just the Kessil LEDS. However on the June or 6/2014 video I had on 4 or 6 HO Fluorescents, which give off a bright daylight look, which isn't very esthetic but allows me to see the pond and plumbimg, as well as observe the sharks & fish for any signs aggression and whatnot.
Definitely plan for humidity. It may seem manageable at first, especially with Fall starting.
You'll soon be wondering how the pool lost an inch of water to evaporation in just a few days (which equates to more than 50 gallons) !
moriarty
New member
Still trying to work out the issue of flow vs surface agitation. As it is now, I do have a pretty good gyre from keeping one of the underwater ball valves attached to the PVC cross partially open (takes flake or floating pellets less than a minute to complete a circuit around the pool). However I plan to have a few species that do best in higher flow, and feel that this may not be enough. Did you ever come to a compromise with yours?
I installed a RAB Lighting 5100K floodlight over the weekend - well not quite installed, but mounted to the ceiling and pigtailed into an extension cord. I didn't want to commit to running conduit until I was sure I'd be happy with the look. The fixture has an angular design, so I was able to mount it off to the side of the pool. The entire pool gets a good amount of light, and because it's not mounted overhead, it doesn't add any glare/reflection.
Thanks for the tip on water loss! I'm going to start shopping around for a better RO unit and some sort of ATO.
Wow. Just checked out the RAB lighting site and they have some really innovative products! 400 watt LED flood lights! Wowsers... Shoot me a PM about which model and bulb type you went with, as I am now a bit interested myself!
As for the flow, now with the Square shaped pond, I've tried quite a few different arrangements, and I have a very large pump, the Reeflo Tiger Shark on hand that I will ultimately rework all of the plumbing with yet again.
But for now, I have 3 sets of 1" PVC at about 3 foot intervals on the left side, that are returns from the refugium tanks in the adjacent room. They are at about a 45 degree angle with that side of the square. Then on the perpendicular wall is where I have the intake for the filtration equipment, with a closed loop LR sump and a cryptic fuge, that return water directly straight down the parallel wall. (Parallel to the wall with the 3 sets of returns at a roughly 45 degree angle to the pond.) So if that makes any sense at all ( LOL ) I've tried to create a gyre, in a square, with what I've got....
I have all of the plumbing on hand, as well as the good intentions, of creating a closed loop inside the pond with a separate Panworld/Blueline 70HD. Haven't gotten to it yet
So with the current arrangment...
The one corner where the water flows out straight down the right side wall towards the back wall.
As well as having the intake another pump that powers the protein skimmer, and the skimmers returnin that corner
...has the created one corner/quarter of the pond with the most turbulence & splash.
As for the flow, now with the Square shaped pond, I've tried quite a few different arrangements, and I have a very large pump, the Reeflo Tiger Shark on hand that I will ultimately rework all of the plumbing with yet again.
But for now, I have 3 sets of 1" PVC at about 3 foot intervals on the left side, that are returns from the refugium tanks in the adjacent room. They are at about a 45 degree angle with that side of the square. Then on the perpendicular wall is where I have the intake for the filtration equipment, with a closed loop LR sump and a cryptic fuge, that return water directly straight down the parallel wall. (Parallel to the wall with the 3 sets of returns at a roughly 45 degree angle to the pond.) So if that makes any sense at all ( LOL ) I've tried to create a gyre, in a square, with what I've got....
I have all of the plumbing on hand, as well as the good intentions, of creating a closed loop inside the pond with a separate Panworld/Blueline 70HD. Haven't gotten to it yet
So with the current arrangment...
The one corner where the water flows out straight down the right side wall towards the back wall.
As well as having the intake another pump that powers the protein skimmer, and the skimmers returnin that corner
...has the created one corner/quarter of the pond with the most turbulence & splash.
moriarty
New member
Wow. Just checked out the RAB lighting site and they have some really innovative products! 400 watt LED flood lights! Wowsers... Shoot me a PM about which model and bulb type you went with, as I am now a bit interested myself!
As for the flow, now with the Square shaped pond, I've tried quite a few different arrangements, and I have a very large pump, the Reeflo Tiger Shark on hand that I will ultimately rework all of the plumbing with yet again.
But for now, I have 3 sets of 1" PVC at about 3 foot intervals on the left side, that are returns from the refugium tanks in the adjacent room. They are at about a 45 degree angle with that side of the square. Then on the perpendicular wall is where I have the intake for the filtration equipment, with a closed loop LR sump and a cryptic fuge, that return water directly straight down the parallel wall. (Parallel to the wall with the 3 sets of returns at a roughly 45 degree angle to the pond.) So if that makes any sense at all ( LOL ) I've tried to create a gyre, in a square, with what I've got....
I have all of the plumbing on hand, as well as the good intentions, of creating a closed loop inside the pond with a separate Panworld/Blueline 70HD. Haven't gotten to it yet
So with the current arrangment...
The one corner where the water flows out straight down the right side wall towards the back wall.
As well as having the intake another pump that powers the protein skimmer, and the skimmers returnin that corner
...has the created one corner/quarter of the pond with the most turbulence & splash.
PM Sent.
Makes perfect sense actually... Some visual aids from your thread helped clarify a bit too!
moriarty
New member
The pond has finally gotten to a point where I feel that I can safely start adding a few fish (Ammonia - 0, Nitrite - 0, Nitrate - between 5 and 10 PPM according to my Salifert test kits).
I decided to add my Cheilinus oxycephalus first to give him a bit of time to get accustomed to the pond/stake out a territory as he is one of my less rambunctious fish.
I decided to add my Cheilinus oxycephalus first to give him a bit of time to get accustomed to the pond/stake out a territory as he is one of my less rambunctious fish.
Been Mired
New member
Yay! First fish is always so exciting. :clap:
moriarty
New member
Yeah, for sure!
Will probably transfer a few more over this weekend provided all continues to go well with the Maori wrasse. He's been very active didn't skip a beat when it came to food. So far so good!
moriarty
New member
I would estimate that I have between $3600 and $4000 invested in equipment up to this point (intex pool, liner, pump, tubs/sump, salt, misc. plumbing, temporary skimmer, insulation, sand, base rock, mechanical/biological filtration, lighting, and dehumidifiers). There is still a lot that I plan to do (add to the filtration, more LR/base rock, lighting and skimmer upgrades/additions, and building some sort of frame). This is likely going to be an ongoing work in progress, which I am completely okay with
Tough to estimate monthly running costs accurately as I have been in my home for under a year and really have no previous energy consumption data to compare with. The most significant energy use definitely comes from the almost continuous use of the dehumidifier(s), but cutting down on lighting costs (natural sunlight & LEDs versus metal halides) should make things more manageable.
moriarty
New member
Haven't made any progress here, but I'm leaning towards using some sort of tile for a ledge. Still going back and forth about how I want to do this. I think a mosaic tile pattern (beach glass look) would be pretty cool.
kegogut
Active member
I would estimate that I have between $3600 and $4000 invested in equipment up to this point (intex pool, liner, pump, tubs/sump, salt, misc. plumbing, temporary skimmer, insulation, sand, base rock, mechanical/biological filtration, lighting, and dehumidifiers). There is still a lot that I plan to do (add to the filtration, more LR/base rock, lighting and skimmer upgrades/additions, and building some sort of frame). This is likely going to be an ongoing work in progress, which I am completely okay with
Tough to estimate monthly running costs accurately as I have been in my home for under a year and really have no previous energy consumption data to compare with. The most significant energy use definitely comes from the almost continuous use of the dehumidifier(s), but cutting down on lighting costs (natural sunlight & LEDs versus metal halides) should make things more manageable.
Thats not bad considering the set up. This hobby is always an ongoing work in progress no matter what size tank you have IMO.
