12,000 GALLON POND INSTALLED JUNE 2010!

One of our NEWEST completed projects began about 2 months ago during the end of April, beginning of May 2010. Our client and pond owner, Jules, had dreamed of owning his own backyard of bliss filled with childhood toys such as his very own koi inhabited pond surrounded by trains crossing the water via their own private bridge.

The original pond in place began as a hobby taken up by the Jules. As most older re-fabbed ponds this one had a concrete base on half of the piano shaped pond and a pond liner covering the remainder of the pond. There was one existing skimmer box, which we reused within the new pond,  and added an additional skimmer box to accomodate for the NEW larger sized pond.

To begin this project the original pond in place had to be removed. (*Keep in mind the train tracks were not removed and the entire pond was done with physical hand labor due to the inability of bringing in large construction equipment for this special project.*)This required moving between 5 and 10 tons of shale river stone (Red and grey) to get to the remaining liner and concrete work on the existing pond. The original pond was only approximately 2 feet deep at the deepest point, and the NEW pond had to drop to approximately 3 to 4 feet deep to accomodate for the koi being added to the pond. After the rock was removed the original liner had to be removed and concrete chiseled. Once the concrete was jackhammered and removed the new pond dig could begin. The digging went slowly as the dirt had to be removed wheel barrel by wheel barrel. Finally the watershed was hit! At the shallowest point of the pond approximately 3 feet the watershed was hit and digging could not proceed further. The deepest point of the pond (near the waterfall) is approximately 3.5 to 4 feet deep (on average).

The next step of the project was to bring in the new underlay and liner. The new liner before being trimmed had an approximate weight between 400 and 600 lbs! It took about 6-8 guys to carry in and lay down the liner. Once the liner was in place the next step of the project was to bring in about 15 TONS of 10" to 16" Riverjack Boulders! This was the grueling part of the project.

After about 4 to 5 days of wheelbarreling rocks and setting boulders strategically into the hole, the pond began to take shape. The first 10 tons of boulders were layed and the pond began to fill. Before we began to add water we made sure the liner was safely layed and the waterfall was built. Both skimmer boxes were installed, in place, trimmed the liner and safely attached to front of each skimmer box. The area around the boxes and plumbing was then backfilled with dirt as necessary.
Five more tons to go. These were layed throughout 1 weekend and finally the ponds shape has taken form. The final step of the project for Creative Aquariums was now to get the shelfs planted with marginal plants, at least 1 lily safely planted, as well as a few "floaters" (in this case we used water hyacinthes). Approximately 23 to 25 Koi fish were then added to begin to cycle the pond.

Equipment Used:

• (2) Skimmer Boxes (Approximate Dimensions 2 Ft. (L) x 1.5 Ft. (W) x 2 to 2.5 Ft. (Depth)
• (1) NEW 1 H.P. external Hayward Superpump

• (1) NEW 72 Watt UV Sterilizer (Split from Lifeguard system with a PVC reducing T and Ball Valve to adjust flow of water through UV.
• (1) NEW Waterfall box (handles up to 5,100 GPH)
• (1) NEW EPDM Waterproof Pond Liner (~500 LB. Weight!)
• (15 Tons) Large Riverjack Stone 12" to 16" Boulders
• (85) Bags of Pea Gravel

• (1) USED 3/4 H.P. external Pool Pump
• (1) USED Pool Filter for 1 H.P. Pump - (Currently No Filter Material, will add Custom Bioballs in Container for Near Future)
• (1) USED Lifeguard System for 3/4 H.P. Pump
• (1) Lg. Lily Pot Strainer
• (1) Package of Fertilizer Tabs
• (2) Bottles of Accurel E (Pond Clarifier)
• (2) Water Hycinths Circular Placers (Made with 5/8" Black Vinyl Tubing and Double 5/8" Male Plumbing Part)
• (16 oz) Microbelift PL
• (16 oz) Pond Care AlgaeFix
• (16 oz) Pond Care Ecofix
• (24) 3" to 6" Koi Fish
• (Approximately 6) Pond Lighting Sets (3 Lights and Transformer included in each set)

Plants Used:

• (1) Hardy Water Lily
• (24) Water Hyacinths
• (15) Marginal Plants (Different Iris, Grasses, Bog Plants, Lilies, Floaters, Marginals (small to tall heights). These plants ranged from variagated grasses, lilis, hyacinths, hoarsetail reeds, variagated yellow iris, arum arrow, canna, umbrella palm, creeping jenny, water lettuce, etc.