North Wales Koi Club Forum

Hi guys and girls,

I just wanted to say thanks to Dave for all his advice today. I popped around to his house this afternoon and very short notice and we spent ages talking through the basics. Back to the drawing board for me I'm afraid.

I am very impressed with Dave as he has offered to dig my pond out for me whilst I'm at work. I told him to wait till the evenings when I'm available to help, but he insisted on doing it while I'm at work. What a top guy

Cheers Dave

Paul

Hi Paul,
Nice to meet you, please come back to us with your plans,we are here to help. I hope you were not put off by all the technical stuff
I don't seem to remember the digging bit

Dave.

Hi Dave,

You don't remeber the digging bit hey.........

Just looking into bottom drains on the net, do you have to use special 4" pipe from aquatic stores or would your average pipe from B&Q do?

Cheers

Hi Paul,
You can use the brown under ground pipe for the BD, but I would recommend using the grey pressure pipe. It does cost a little more, but when fitting a BD the joints and the pipe have to be totally secure, the last thing that you want is to complete your pond, fill it with water and discover that overnight the level drops because you have a leak or the pipe has split because of the pressure.
The brown pipe is designed for water flow through it, not a standing head of water. 220gallons of water weighs 1tonne
3M of pressure pipe is approx £33.

Dave.

Hi Paul,
Bottom Drains ! a definite MUST for a good koi pond .
If you can afford it, go for an aerated one. The best ones (and most expensive ) have the air pipe built in (click on link below)
http://www.richdon-koi.com/shop/?prodid=234
With these you can use the small bore Pressure pipework (1" I think) to run the air to the BD, as well as the 4" pressure pipe for the drain itself. The pipes are hidden under the pond, perhaps set into a concrete base.
You can buy adapters to uprate an ordinary BD.
http://www.richdon-koi.com/shop/?prodid=565
I have one of these on my pond and it works fine. The only down side is you then need to run the wide bore flexible air line down into the pond and along the bottom of the pond to the BD. If you want to see this in opertaion just PM me and arrange to pop over (off the A5 near Corwen).
Glad Dave managed to help you out so far. He's damn good at digging too
Martin

Hi Dave,

I called the shop in Rowen and the cloverleaf they have is the small one. I called Tony regarding his filter but his wife said he has sold one, but not sure which one. He's away until tom night so I'll call again. I've been checking prices out and I cannot believe how expensive filters are!!! Having second thoughts now!

Paul

Paul,
Do not despair, there is always a second hand filter system out there.
They are expensive when purchased new from a dealership, I will ask around and see if I can find one. Please keep in touch.

Dave.

Morning,

I found a filter last night on ebay and I've PM'd you the link. Could you have a quick look at it for me? The guy said he was running a 3000G pond through it.

Cheers
Paul

Paul,
The Club will have a Cyprio Gravity feed Filter, inc UV & pump for sale in about 1 week. Price will be V Low !!
It should cope with about 2-3000 gallons.

Do not Despair!
None of us start with top notch set ups. It is possible to start with a modest system and gradually improve as you go along. As long as you get the basics like a Bottom drain in first of all, everything else can come latter as the Bank balance allows

Martin

Hi guys,

Another post from mr "knows nothing and may be starting to annoy everyone"!

I know when we met (Dave) you said it would work out the same price to buy as to build.

However, I've found some 150L/34Gal plastic drums on ebay for £8.81 each. How much would it cost to build a filter using these? How many would you need for a 3000Gal pond?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/RECYCLED-PLASTIC- ... dZViewItem

Cheers