Its ok, I have no fish in the barrel, no intention of adding any, I am digging a pond that will house fish, the barrel is purely a garden feature wildlife haven.
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Half Barrel pond and new pond project.
- Thread starter RickB
- Start date
The pond has doubled in size, now measuring 6ft by 6ft, Im planning on using breeze blocks around the outer edge, probably 3 high with the liner going to the top of the second row giving me a depth of around 80cm.
Question regarding liner and breeze blocks, what is the best way to anchor the liner between rows of breeze blocks while protecting the liner as the edges of breeze blocks are not exactly smooth.
I was debating using sleepers but the price kept spiralling.
Question regarding liner and breeze blocks, what is the best way to anchor the liner between rows of breeze blocks while protecting the liner as the edges of breeze blocks are not exactly smooth.
I was debating using sleepers but the price kept spiralling.
Jorge O'Reilly
Member
I've read the whole thread. If you keep digging you'll end up like the Pixar short... But with water.
I'm curious about how you guys deal with waterfowl. Being by the Paraná Delta, having goldfish outside would essentially be a week-long buffet for herons
I'm curious about how you guys deal with waterfowl. Being by the Paraná Delta, having goldfish outside would essentially be a week-long buffet for herons
Jorge O'Reilly
Member
I had a pond growing up, really small, but we only had native characins, aphyocrarax rathbuni and the like. But goldfish... That'd be tougher.
martin-green
Member
- Joined
- 8 Aug 2011
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- 296
You could use off cuts of liner to go over the edges of the breeze block, then fold the pool liner over the offcuts, most folk rely on the weight of the breeze block above to secure the liner, but I would suggest the pool liner only covers half the breeze block width, so you can put cement on the liner and the block before you add the top layer of blocks.
martin-green
Member
- Joined
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I assume you mean "Outlet" as in somewhere to plug (Your lawn mower) into?
You will soon discover that one socket is never enough. I would suggest you need at least 4. One for a pump, a U.V. maybe some lights and one for the lawnmower.
If you go down that route I would suggest a few of these.
Unlike most external sockets, these you can shut the lid while something is plugged in. You will also need somewhere secure to mount them.
Also you will need an electrician to install them and check and test it as well as provide RCD protection and install a steel wire armoured cable to supply them. The size of the cable to supply your sockets depends on the expected load* and actual distance of cable run.
* Depends on your size of pump and U.V.
You will soon discover that one socket is never enough. I would suggest you need at least 4. One for a pump, a U.V. maybe some lights and one for the lawnmower.
If you go down that route I would suggest a few of these.
Unlike most external sockets, these you can shut the lid while something is plugged in. You will also need somewhere secure to mount them.
Also you will need an electrician to install them and check and test it as well as provide RCD protection and install a steel wire armoured cable to supply them. The size of the cable to supply your sockets depends on the expected load* and actual distance of cable run.
* Depends on your size of pump and U.V.
martin-green
Member
- Joined
- 8 Aug 2011
- Messages
- 296
If those are you actual dimensions of the hole, don't forget to add 2 feet to both sides of the actual liner and underlay. It allows for you to have "overhang" that you use to secure the liner with.
Last edited:
martin-green
Member
- Joined
- 8 Aug 2011
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- 296
Did you know you should stagger the blocks, or judging by the lack of cement, is this just a dry run? Might I also suggest you leave a gap or put an offcut of a hose under one block, so you can run the pump cable through it.
It's dry, only 2 high with only 1 row below water level, I plan to stagger them as I'm working around it.
Thx for the advice about the pump wire, got a blagdon 9000 for when the electrics are sorted, currently looking for a sparky.
We have power
Due to the distance the filter wires travel (10m) I could fit the socket on the side of the house and the filter/uvc cables reach it from the pond.
As I wasn't travelling far and not going along the floor I got a 2 gang ip66 socket extension that is plugged into the nearest kitchen socket using a rcd plug supplied with the socket, I also found out that all our sockets have individual rcd at the main fuse box.
Tested, working fine with no faults, now I need to set the filter up.
Due to the distance the filter wires travel (10m) I could fit the socket on the side of the house and the filter/uvc cables reach it from the pond.
As I wasn't travelling far and not going along the floor I got a 2 gang ip66 socket extension that is plugged into the nearest kitchen socket using a rcd plug supplied with the socket, I also found out that all our sockets have individual rcd at the main fuse box.
Tested, working fine with no faults, now I need to set the filter up.
Maf 2500
Member
Yes it is fine to cap the lily pot with gravel, just ensure the growing point is not covered. I don't know what size pot the lily came in but very likely to be inadequate and will need repotting very soon. 25cm diameter minimum, 30cm plus is better. Just ordinary garden soil, no compost or anything. For water lilys I prefer solid containers with no holes rather than the baskets you usually see for pond use - makes it orders of magnitude easier to remove for repotting every few years.
You may already know, but I will add for completeness, it is best to raise a new lily on bricks until it is a few inches below the surface and then gradually remove the bricks as the leaf stems become longer.
Also, keep the lily as far away from the fountain output as possible, they absolutely hate to have their leaves splashed by fountains and will grow poorly and hardly ever flower if the leaves are constantly splashed. I would suggest putting the fountain in one corner and the lily in the opposite corner. Good luck.
