Do it yourself

April 1st, 2019 at 4:15:18 PM permalink
Face
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 61
Posts: 3941
Lol @ this thread. Would you know someone new moved into the neighborhood and he's a master carpenter? Can I tell you how possible it is (totally) and excited he is (extremely) about doing a huge indoor aquarium? XD

But I digress... I was sitting on my porch last summer in such bliss; my pond had become something that was truly "perfect". Lot of problems in Apr / May, but by Jul/Aug it was a thing of beauty. A real bastion of serenity, somewhere life couldn't get atcha. And now, having reached the pinnacle that is perfection, there's only one thing to do. It must be destroyed.

Coming soon: Mega Pond V7.0!





Hard to believe this all started with a 75gal plastic insert placed in a hole in the ground =)

So what's the plan? While the old design was awesome, it got good enough that the exposed liner looked really, really tacky and out of place. And when that got covered, the rest of the garden just couldn't compete. No matter what I did from raw worm bed to gone to seed wilderness to manicured hosta patch to all rocks everywhere, it just looked stupid. Not Good Enough. And lastly, I just remodeled the house including swapping carpet for hardwood floor, and these f#$%ing aquarium filters are driving me absolutely bats#$% now that everything's so GD loud and echo-y lol. So, not only are we going to make it pretty, we're gonna make it permanent. 365 thru the winter with no deaths. Here we go...

The Vision:
The majority of the liner issue is just that it's too big, resulting in an excess of folded material which, being thick rubber, doesn't take many folds to get really thick. And since the other biggest issue is not being able to control the earth surrounding it, the obvious solution is to get rid of the earth and make the pond bigger.

The sidewalk side is only a paver high, as opposed to most of the rest of the garden which is at two. I'm gonna paver the whole thing to 2 high. Next, we're gonna widen the pond and lower the land on the driveway side, leaving only a small (~30sq/ft?) patch of dirt for the vinca (and force Snacks to move her portable tomato garden out of my pond =p). All that dirt will backfill the newly added pavers, bringing that side up. Those two stump looking things are trimmed sawgrass; they will stay as they bloom into a huge wispy ball that is crucial to keeping my water shaded, but most of all of the land on the sidewalk side of the pond is going. Essentially, it should look like a small creek / river comes off my now 20% bigger pond along the porch, with another returning from the sidewalk between the plants and back into the pond.

The fun-for-EB part is that last part. I'll make another kick ass pond, no doubt. But extending rivers requires the fusion of liners without leak, and I am planning an actual river. One that flows, like in real life. Only... in a loop.

We've got to beat perfection, yes? I did say "Mega Pond", yes? Well...DID I STUTTER? #OfficeStanley =)

My completely ridiculous plan that everyone is deriding is to dig a simple ditch by the porch and between the plants and line it, making "the river". In that pile of rocks behind the plants, dig a Big Ass Hole™. Into the BAH™, drop two totes. The totes, in theory, will perform similar to pool filters. They'll be just an inch or two above ground with a notch cut below the water line. Drape liner from the river into it, water falls in and fills totes up to ground level but not spilling out. Savvy?

My pump is submersible and is in the first tote. It's on the bottom of the tote covered in layer after layer of filter medium. Water falls in, is filtered, fills up. In the side bottom I've drilled a hole. I've got those...I still don't know what they're called...they're like thru-hulls, bulkheads, those things that allow for the passage of gas or liquid through a sealed container. I got those. Bit of mix and match and a lot of 60grit to make things fit and I made a male to male one. Pump hose attaches to male on the inside, male sticks out on the outside, filter sealed and done.

Short hose outside goes into same set up in another tote right next to it. Hose to male, pump fills this second tote up. Same buried-but-above-ground, same notch below water line, same liner drapes in. When this tote "overflows", it pushes into the river and back into the pond.

The totes are ~20gal each and the rivers will be a good 2' wide by at least 1' deep, so I suspect I will have no issue of the pump outrunning the flow. And since everything will be "level" and the "flow" only produced by work, I will (should) have no flooding / droughting if and when the pump is ever turned off. It should just go from river to canal depending on power. Totes + buried + lids mean I have decorating options to hide the filter nonsense, while still having all the maintenance bits about as accessible as they can be. And having half drained the pond (a large frog and several minnows survived!) and bought everything needed sans the river liner / sealer, I just can't see how it's not going to work out =D

So there it is. Point out my folly or just enjoy the struggle. I got this, a wheeler to assemble from scratch, and a boat to put together all before surgery. 50 day countdown starts tomorrow.
Be bold and risk defeat, or be cautious and encourage it.
April 2nd, 2019 at 3:45:35 PM permalink
rxwine
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 188
Posts: 18633
Thousands of personal pond images on google, if you need a look at what other people (below the line of ads)

https://www.google.com/search?q=backyard+pond&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjpxfWPvbLhAhVHXKwKHTiqCyoQ_AUIDigB&biw=1536&bih=791


Not sure how well this one works but certainly is unique
You believe in an invisible god, and dismiss people who say they are trans? Really?
April 2nd, 2019 at 3:47:48 PM permalink
rxwine
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 188
Posts: 18633
You believe in an invisible god, and dismiss people who say they are trans? Really?
April 2nd, 2019 at 4:14:24 PM permalink
Face
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 61
Posts: 3941
I've hemmed and hawed about that vacuum tank all winter long. I just can't see it. It'd be one thing if I went suburban style with sun bathing carp and UV filters, but I'm aiming more towards natural. I just can't see how I'd keep it clear. I've let my aquarium go to seed in prep for hatching frogs for just a month, and the algae line is as defined as the shadow cast on the tank. If it gets light, it goes green, and anything I could put in there to eat it clean would get eaten by something else =/

It's awesome and I wanna, I just don't think I can make it work.

That bottom pic represent pretty much my intention with plumbing, just arranged differently. You can see the intake box on the front left, hidden by a potted plant. It's buried and the water just falls in, where it's then pumped to the other side and up into an overflow box for the waterfall. Mine should be the same, except my boxes are back to back, both buried away from the pond in the middle of what should look like a river / moat. It can't not work =)

In DIY news, that whole pump and filter set up is done.



Wasn't much to it, 'cept for cutting the hole with a razor (dunno where hole saws are) and stretching the PVC way further than it was ever meant to go lol. What can I say, I just guessed the size, and then didn't check to see that the help gave me a second one a full quarter bigger than the already too big 1st one. Ah well. We'll make do.

Checked for leaks and everything is 5-by so far. I suppose I'll have to get the pressure of a full box to be completely sure, but any adjustment to correct a leak is completely elementary. Didna even have to use silicone.

All it needs to be complete is the small connector hose between the two boxes, which is currently being stretched. And this is why you should just go for things. Specialized tools are fun, make the job easier by far and are sometimes deemed "necessary", but if you're ever in a pinch but NEED something accomplished, you'll always find a way to get it done...



Boat went to the shop today, wheeler is now a roller,.... find someone to dig me a hole and my 50 day list is already half done =)
Be bold and risk defeat, or be cautious and encourage it.
April 5th, 2019 at 12:06:51 AM permalink
Face
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 61
Posts: 3941
Easy game.

Draining the pond was easy, but it appears I'm gonna need a net. Must've been 30lbs of leaves on the bottom. Once drained it was easily enough dragged to the drive for cleaning and the felt hung to dry. Had a number of survivors with the crayfish fairing the worst. Must've been 7 corpses with only one survivor, though that could've happened by predation / combat and not necessarily the weather. 6 or 7 small minnows made it as well, as did 2 pumpkinseed and a green sunfish. One pretty big frog was dead, but I found a monster hiding in my reeds (caulk gun tube for scale). I managed to snag em all and all are currently chillin in my tanks (or in bluegill stomachs)









I didn't realize how many rocks it takes to makes a rock garden; that was a lot of dumb BS to move. Fortunately, underneath was my old worm bed, which was all rock free, recently turned soil. After commandeering some pavers from other garden, digging out the first tote and backfilling began easy. The start of the rivers, seeing as that I could stand in the pond and dig at knee level, went even easier, and a nearby low spot in a side yard gave me quick turnaround for dumping material. I've no idea how long each step or the whole job took. I just know I started when it got warm and stopped when it got dark. Started with a muddy puddle and we're just about there...





The rivers need be dug deeper and Porch River specifically needs to be wider. That sawgrass is comma shaped, as mama took a chunk and then the dogs went at it digging the hell out of it. I'll snap the tail off that comma and transplant it elsewhere, giving some room to widen Porch River. Grass River needs be finished and Grass Tote needs be started, as soon I figure out how to align it. Once I start banging on that, I'll be able to level the whole garden. Then just dig out further into the vinca on the driveway side and widen it that way (elementary but labor intensive), pack down and enforce the backfill, tidy up and level the edges, and plant the liner for what is hopefully the final time.

I got 2 - 5' x 10' 45mil EDPM sheets for my river liners (same as current liner) and even spent for some proper joining materials (tape/primer/glue). Joiners should be here Tues, liners however long it takes FedEx to bring me 100lbs of rubber the cheapest way (assuming I can keep all 5 dogs rustled). Assuming 3-5 days, I plan to have this thing full of life in one week.

And since this...


...turned into this...



...so easy it almost felt accidental, I had plenty of giddyup to pile into that project as well...



Take away paycheck worries and the stresses of having to deal with people you're not allowed to stab, and life ain't too GD bad =D I just wanna get all this done before I get cut, if only so I can then fish my balls off. Speaking of...

Bah, nvm. This should go in the other thread. It'll be long and trigger petro lol.

MEGA POND!

ETA: Oh, and searching for parts and pieces found me meandering into actual pond and pumps stores. That tote setup I made is an actual thing you can just go out and buy, if you don't want spend two hours on the floor faffing around. But, this is the DIY thread. Mine was a $200 pond pump + $40 of BS from Lowes and $20 of foam from some random online store. A proper filter / pump combo of the same performance / capacity at the pond store went $830.

I'm gonna hafta pond my whole yard. I can't afford not to.
Be bold and risk defeat, or be cautious and encourage it.
April 5th, 2019 at 7:16:31 AM permalink
Fleastiff
Member since: Oct 27, 2012
Threads: 62
Posts: 7831
you is doing great, Face. You still delivering mail for the post office?
April 5th, 2019 at 7:40:15 AM permalink
DRich
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 51
Posts: 4944
Quote: Fleastiff
you is doing great, Face. You still delivering mail for the post office?


I think Face has become a liberal and is now living off the government tit collecting disability and giving the middle finger to the system. I can respect that.
At my age a Life In Prison sentence is not much of a detrrent.
April 5th, 2019 at 4:44:17 PM permalink
Face
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 61
Posts: 3941
Quote: Fleastiff
you is doing great, Face. You still delivering mail for the post office?


Quote: DRich
I think Face has become a liberal and is now living off the government tit collecting disability and giving the middle finger to the system. I can respect that.


Thanks, Flea.

Still employed, just injured. Off until Jul/Aug, gonna make the most of it.
Be bold and risk defeat, or be cautious and encourage it.
April 5th, 2019 at 5:30:12 PM permalink
rxwine
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 188
Posts: 18633
Looks like an archeological site. Hope you don't find any human bones. Except ancient ones.
You believe in an invisible god, and dismiss people who say they are trans? Really?
April 6th, 2019 at 7:52:37 PM permalink
Face
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 61
Posts: 3941
Quote: rxwine
Looks like an archeological site. Hope you don't find any human bones. Except ancient ones.


That's part of the entertainment.

I mentioned in FishingWF that I enjoyed the geology aspect of it. While never a branch I had a ton of passion for, it's science. All science is fun =) Especially as I must do the rougher labor intoxicated, I spend the majority of time just weirding out to it all. These rocks are but 2'-3' down... when's the last time they saw the sun? What did it look like then and how did this stuff get here? I think my property was a short lived crick bed, as the shelf my neighborhood sits on resembles pretty much every other place near a crick around here. The rocks too all have evidence of being polished, though not to the severity of the older stuff you see in the crick now. Maybe this stuff got here before people.

Then again, I unearthed a slab of slate a foot down that had a 4in "HI" etched into it. So who's to say lol

Beautiful day today so I banged as long as I could. Which... wasn't terribly long. All the kids were here so couldn't get tore up, so I gimped and grunted through an 8hr day. I set one child upon the task of cleaning the leaves from the porch which was met with much enthusiasm. 3 handfuls later I began the solo portion of the project =p First step - there is no first step. I jumped from one job to the other, leaving none finished and just piecemealing it all together. I trimmed all the vinca back and stripped the first layer of dirt, dumping that in the side yard. 3 or 4 cycles of that and I began rebuilding one of the pond edges. Get that half done and cut the tail off the comma. Push that into the pond and start backfilling pavers. I had ~35 jobs all in 200sq/ft, so just worked on one until that body part quit and then moved to something that didn't use it at all. Round and round we go.

By the end, the hole is all but done. The vinca extension is all banged down adding a good 40sq/ft of pond space, but it's only banged down to "water plant level". Instead of doing a foot+ like the rest of the shallow end, I did the whole thing to the level of the shelves, not only allowing the cattail to grow and leave room for other possibilities (lilies?), but hopefully giving a high cover, high heat place for small things to flourish. Perhaps that's one more step towards getting things to breed, which is one of the main goals. Or it'll fill with zika and I'll be back for more digging next year lol. Won't know until you try, right?

Almost all of the sides are built. I did more of a step-slope this time around, hoping to make strides on hiding the liner. As opposed to the straight wall of the steps I had made that time, I'm hoping the slope will allow for partial flooding of the topmost layer of stones. With the stones sloped into the water, the face of the step should be submerged and not visible. There were two places it was already like this accidentally, and I loved the look. I just gotta hope the slope is sufficient to hold the rocks; ice is positively sticky compared to an algae covered liner, and I pulled 24 rocks out of the bottom due to the dogs from last year. Nothing to do with this but wing it and see.

The rivers are done. Didn't take much more than... lol, I bought this Sawzall blade a hundred years ago. On a lark, you see. The damn thing is as big as the tool itself, I thought it'd be funny. The reason I still have it a hundred years later is that it's my favorite freaking blade in the world that solves almost every single problem I have. That "stump" is naught but a hopelessly compacted ball of grass roots, so compacted it may as well be wood. That leg length Sawzall went through it like butter. Cut the roots, the dirt, the rocks lol. Jam a shovel in the crack, leever it around a bit, sumbish popped right out the ground. Once that was out of the way, a few passes of the Mantis was the only real work left. All scuffed up soil went right outside the river, backfilling the pavers. Pack it in, shape it up, smoke dance it down, and done. Other than a quick tidying after the freeze and rain suspected between now and delivery day, both rivers are all done.

Filter went easy, too. Just hold the Mantis, scoop that dirt. Spill the wine, take that pearl. 2 rounds of that, a bit of hand packing to make it perfect and they both slotted right in. Those I left open until they're plumbed. Don't want to backfill, remove, and have the fill collapse.

That's pretty much it. The totes need backfilling and I'll go around one last time for a precise leveling and sloping of the edges, but the BAH™ is complete. Nothing to do now but wait for the courier.





In the words of Adam Sandler in Mr Deeds, "MY BACK HURTS!"
Be bold and risk defeat, or be cautious and encourage it.