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Journal Pond on a slope

Yeah that's what I had planned, shuttering. There's a lot of stones, some quite large. I thought if I did the collar first it would most likely move/crack when I dug out around it. Can you see any problems with the stone wall in the actual pond?
 
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Deeper is always better. Don't forget that what ever brand of liner you use, you should either use the same brand of underlay or 2 inches of soft sand, either way you will lose depth so digging out more depth now is a better idea.:)

I would NEVER suggest the use of carpet in or near a pond. I have several reasons why you shouldn't
1) The lounge will be cold once you have taken the carpet for your pond.
2) Over the course of time carpet rots / compresses giving little or no support.
3) Carpets are not easy to fold.

Thickest liner is not necessarily the best. It did used to be, but with "modern technology" you can get liners that have longer guarantees the butyl rubber has.
 
I would NOT suggest the stones in your pond, although they do look nice, they can be "troublesome" You need to lay them and then cover them with a waterproof sealant such as G4. Its to stop the stones from "wicking" the water (They shouldn't but they might) also the G4 seals in the cement as the lime in it will affect the ph of the water.

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Its too late now, but the idea of a collar is you construct the collar first, then when it has set (couple of weeks) you dig the inside of it out.
 
You can get pumps with external flow adjusters. Oase is very good kit, but its also expensive. I think the "rep" is trying to get you to buy things you neither want or need.

When buying a pump you should decide what you want it to operate, how high it will have to pump to, THEN, you look for a pump that matches your criteria. (or is slightly bigger)
 
To be honest, and please don't take this the wrong way :nailbiting: but I think you are rushing things too fast.
I can understand you want a pond, but since you should only build a pond once, you should take your time and get it right, if you rush and get it wrong it will be loads :greedy: wasted.
But don't just take my opinion, see what others say.:shh:
 
As an aside:cigar:, I would suggest you have 2 pumps, here is why.

When you have a pond you will often want to have livestock (Fish) Fish, like any other living creature eat and so create waste. This waste (Ok, fish poop) has to go somewhere. it does, the water they are living in. Over time this will kill the fish :nailbiting: But fear not, there are a couple of ways round it. :happy:

1) You add the correct amount of the right plants and these will absorb the fish waste and grow readily due to the added nutrients.

2) Install a UV light and biological filter.

Option 1, does work but it is very hit and miss, where as option 2 works every time providing you get the right size of everything first, but it does need a pump. (There is your first pump) The returning water from the filter is often used as a waterfall.
Most people will at some time like to have a fountain, a true filter pump can not run a fountain, so you should buy another pump to operate just the fountain.(There is your second pump)
Having two pumps also means that you have a big choice of fountain jet (according to which pump you have, but that is for another time) but you instantly have the option to be able to turn the fountain off at night so reducing the noise / when you are not there to enjoy it.:photogenic:
 
Thanks again for the advice. Just to clear a few things up.
I had planned to make it a dry stone wall, no cement.
The carpet, I had planned to put under the liner not in the pond.
I only ever plan on it being a wildlife pond - no fish.
No fountain required, as I have the waterfall :)
 
To be honest I do not think you' ll need to add the wall all the way to the bottom, 30cm (12") below the water surface is far more than ample.
I know the whereabouts of a photo of one pond I constructed back in the 80's I'll scan it & if I find any of the others I'll scan & post them.
All built with liner & a collar including wildlife & koi ponds.
 
I figured the carpet was to under the liner, but what I said still stands. (Unlike the carpet)
After some time the carpet will collapse / crush giving no support what so ever. This can put more stress on the liner since it has to stretch more as it is no longer supported where it was, this in turn can tear the liner.
Also most makers of pond liner will only guarantee it IF you use what ever they say as an underlay, some insist you use their own make of underlay, some say x amount of soft sand. I have yet to see one that says use carpet as an underlay.
 
Dry stone wall :rolleyes: have you ever made one before? They have to be perfect and last. You only need one rock to fall at the wrong angle hit the liner at the wrong angle and puncture the liner.
Yes, its your pond, at the end of the day its your choice what you do, I am just suggesting you remove any potential problems before you start. :)
 
Ok I found & scanned these all from around the mid 80's.
All very much the same but hope they show what can be achieved with the collar & liner method.

The first is a wildlife pond built for friends. Ponds were a hobby.

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Pond 2 again for a friend
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This is my Koi pond

1) Construction just about done
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2) The night the fish were added

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After the garden was finished about a year?? Taken from the bedroom window. The pond was 2600 gallons with the filters under the gratings.

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One thing I forgot:
Because of the English weather it is best to add an overflow hidden in the plants.
You will be surprised how much evaporation you get from a waterfall, you'll swear you have a leak!
If you do not have the pump on all the time every time you start the waterfall your pond level will drop due to the water incorporated in the fall.
 
martin-green said:
Dry stone wall :rolleyes: have you ever made one before? They have to be perfect and last. You only need one rock to fall at the wrong angle hit the liner at the wrong angle and puncture the liner.
Yes, its your pond, at the end of the day its your choice what you do, I am just suggesting you remove any potential problems before you start. :)
Click to expand...

Good point made here. Might be worth the cost of siliconing the walling together if you use cement ensure to use a waterproofer in the mix.
The 3 ponds I've shown the rocks & walling are all laid onto underlay, that way the liner is protected by underlay top & bottom, liner is sandwiched between 2 layers for safety.
Any underlay showing soon silts up.
Here's a great use for your carpet, lay it over the liner as you work that way you protect the liner from mishaps & if you lay the liner as I described the water in the pond will soften the fall.
 
Lovely work, top tips too.
So the ponds you've done there, they have rocks going down inside the pond like I'm planning? How far down below the surface did you go, bit hard to tell from the pics. Then the liner goes underneath and up behind the wall. In your opinion whats the best way of adhering the stones together waterproofing cement or silicone?
Would you say, just cement the back half of each stone. To keep it in place and make it look more natural?
 
Everything goes below the water surface by no more than 6" then it's liner about 4" into the water normally.
All the ponds I built I used waterproof mortar, even my Koi pond the wall is built from concrete blocks there is only a small amount in the water if I remember the only treatment I carried out was to vinegar wash all the cement work. G4 was out of my pocket range in those days but as yours is a wildlife pond I wouldn't be to bothered.
The Silicone idea was just a though, an inert bedding compound, dependent on size you would need quite a bit & the rocks would need to be clean & dry, the Silicone would act as a bedding medium rather than a glue.
The hardest part is selecting the right rock each time, they need to flow "look natural" build in terraces, if a rock doesn't fit leave it, use another it'll fit elsewhere.
If you decide to make your own rock for the waterfall after the cement is mix some peat in it & a couple of colours I suppose a cook would say fold them in if you mix to much all they do is alter the colour whereas you want subtle colour layers / streaks.

A thought if you use G4 or some sort of resin, to be honest I suppose it's the best, make a distinct lime so it looks like a "Tide mark" above the water.
When you fire up the water fall don'y get upset if the fall is not right have a collection of small rocks no bigger than 6" you can have hours of fun, days even! just placing them the lips of the drops to see how they alter the flow.
Many times I left families playing & still at it when i returned.
Now having hijacked your thread one last thing, not happy with the way the water falls?
Collect up all your little rocks & start again from the top!!
OK 2 last things then o_O
A piece of rope or a twig can also alter your water fall, that is unless it's "Mosi-oa-Tunya" ;) I'll leave you to work that one out!! :lol:
 
I have no disrespect for KipperSarnie but I would never suggest putting anything in the flow path of a waterfall (Other than the rocks to build it) there are several reasons why its not a good idea:
If you add say a small twig, when the twig moves (and it will) there is a high chance it will fall outside of the watercourse, water will follow this and so reduce the water level.
The other thing to watch for is at this time of year leaves falling can easily get caught on a twig, and soon build up, this can then soon become a "bridge" and water will flow over this, again lowering the over all water level.
 
Yeah kipper absolutely brilliant . great looking ponds. you know your stuff kipper
Wish i had known you when mine was built. some great tips there pal.
 
KipperSarnie said:
One thing I forgot:
Because of the English weather it is best to add an overflow hidden in the plants.
You will be surprised how much evaporation you get from a waterfall, you'll swear you have a leak!
If you do not have the pump on all the time every time you start the waterfall your pond level will drop due to the water incorporated in the fall.
Click to expand...

you quote overflow.kipper .i have trickle in and out system my overflow run s to waste drain. and i put my trickle in on a drip test with bucket timer test. i have a 3 pod chlorinater. but there not one hundred percent trust worthy
so i put ST in once a week. and it works a treat. i like your pond mate, and you have some very nice fish there mate. also what type of filters do you have . are they all bio. or do you have mechanical filter before the bio filter
love the way you have hidden them
 
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