Steve's Pond
Building The Pond
Building My
Second Pond
(large file)
Enlarging
Smaller Pond
1999
My Plants
Pumps & Filters
Lessons Learned
My Fish
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ENLARGING FIRST POND
First Pond
August 1996
By the winter of 1999, I decided to enlarge my first pond. I had already added a second pond in 1997 and other than adding a veggie filter in 1998, I didn't do much to the ponds. I wanted to make this pond larger, I wanted to add a bog area and I wanted it to be easier for viewing fish.
Day Laborer Digging
April 1999
My wife and I dug out the first pond. This is not an easy task. Denver area soil is heavy clay and everything sticks to the shovels and picks. We hired day laborers to dig pond two and also to enlarge this pond.
August 14, 1999
In March, 2000, I redid the rock ledge for the lower pond. I also took out the preformed veggie filter and enlarged this area using .045 epdm rubber. I redid the waterfalls. I also added one more layer of 2" fiber mat to my biofilter.
I began with a 1800 Mag Drive Supreme placed in a perforated container. Though the pump worked fine, it needed frequent cleaning. The small intake causes clogs to occur frequently. I switched to an Altita 2850 gph pump. This pump has a vortex design that allows solids over 1" to pass without going through the impellars. No more cleaning headaches. I have a skimmer attached to a 1200 gph Mag Drive Pump. This pump also runs the fountain and venturi. In the bog area, I have buried black rubber tubing. It is drilled with holes and I have a Becket 325 gph pump powering this. Causes water to filter through the bog before re-entering the pond. The Becket pump sits in a perforated container with fiber batting and coarse mat material.