It took over one year to complete. Trevor Pearson and Ms.Pearson, deserves the majority of the credit for this glorious Koi pond.
I was only the poor guy with the shovel at the other end of the phone and the one who signed his name to all those cheques. My wife, also deserves much praise, as she allowed me to far over spend my original budget and to put up with all of my late night studies of pond construction and e-mail letters and phone calls 'around the world' to other Koi enthusiasts.
I am now only the 'guy' who gets up in the middle of the night to waddle down to his KOI pond to just stare in awe and delight at what 'we' all - with a whole lot of kind and generous people from the Koi and Water Garden Club of North Dallas (Judy Fender, the Andersons (Toni and Michael) and Steve Childers, Steve Cannon and others...), as well as,my friends from the Cayman Islands - and, particularly Stephen Scott who several times a week has been here to save my life), your own web site, and those also from NI BB site, as well as, Peter and Tim Waddington who added their words of wisdom when it was most needed, all privately working together and in unison to each other, to create...this wonderful and special 'joy' in my life.
Yes, I love this pond. And, I cannot even tell you how much. It is beyond words. It is something that I have immersed myself into wholeheartedly and which has become the only hobby, or interest outside of my family and work, I have ever had. (I don't play golf, tennis, gamble, ride horses, fish, etc...just work and family. And,now I have my Koi pond. And, I love it!)
The pond is just under 11,000 US gallons. It is quite well served by the Evolution Aqua 'stainless steel' four tank system, with the first tank, of course, holding their renown mechanical filtration with The Answer.
I also have a Hidroclean with flowage directly from a Olympic wide mouth surface skimmer...which seems to catch more trash than I thought possible.
The 2 ERK Bottom Drains (w/4" pipework) and 2 Spindrifter air diffusers work ideally also, and the 2 TMC Pro Clear 30 wt.UV units, 2 1/4 Sequence pumps, 2 air blowers by EcoAquatics, and far too many left over valves, 90, 45, T's and ABS connectors...and lengths of flexible hose (which seem just enough to next year begin pond #2) - also make up the other components.
The pond was all 100% hand dug. It was often back breaking and beyond my own ability. Over the months several helpers added a shovel or two. Or, more (see attached photo.)
Of course, the final foot or two of the excavation was made with the aid of an electric jack hammer to break up the coral rock much of which you can see now makes up the exterior walls of the pond...as Trevor kept demanding that the pond had to be deeper.
The pond itself has a double cement floor. The first floor was floated upon gravel with metal screen. The second floor was floated upon that floor, with inter-locked steel rods. The walls are also all locked to the floor, with steel rods all set into cement block and rendered. With a final coat of cement all steel floated and then final coated with Trevor's famed P1 (applied in three coats of dark British Racing green.)
I tried to copy some of Thom Blishoks water return ideas (from a visit to his home in Phoenix Arizona) who kindly allowed myself and my wife a tour of his pond when it was under construction - Thus,this pond does have a double reverse water return system.
It can either be 'valved' to go clockwise, or valved off and then set to flow in the opposite direction (reverse clock wise.) It can also be individually valved to reduce any of the seven water returns or even set to turn them off in singular sequence or one or more at a time. Either direction.
I also used a combination of 2" pipe and then a 1 1/2" at the very ends run of the returns (anticipating that I would get more pressure as the return water entered into the pond. I now wish I had ONLY used 1 1/2" through-out, in order to gain more pressure, however, I convinced myself from all that I read, that the 2" piping was the correct size. In fact, it wasn't. 1 1/2" would have given more push and flow...and, in retrospect that would have produced more push and pull 'flow' around the interior of the pond.
I've also been very fortunate to have been given some borrowed koi from fellow Koi hobbyist in the Cayman Islands Stephen Scott. Stephen also has been incredibly generous of his time, as well as, his patience with me, teaching me, helping me and even giving me sheets of well bacterialized Jap matting from his own ponds...with which to jump start my pond.
I added, a waterfall, out of pvc piping and seven standard brass faucet heads. Then had plugs drilled out at their ends to reduce the flow to a half inch in each, which seems now to have been the exact required size to permit the water to 'really' cast a beautiful flow onto the pond (ideal aeration, yes. And, the koi love to play under it!)
I recently added four lights around the pond. Three of which are timed to go on by a motion detector and are directed into the pond at night so I can watch the fish feeding. One is directed onto the waterfall.
I choose to use a motion detector, in order to frighten away any intruder, man, beast, cat, heron, etc...however, they are also timed to go on at dusk and off at bed time.
I have the waterfall on a timer also. It too goes off at bed time and on again at dawn.
Maybe, someday you shall have the opportunity of visiting our country and would stop by and see 'the ponds' that I shall have by then added.
Lee Aronfeld
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