Have recently discovered your channel, I think the way you explain everything is great and your work is top notch , so at the moment I am catching up on previous videos.
Beautiful work Ed, I wish I would’ve come across your channel earlier. I’m just doing my pond now. I would rather have a pro to do the work! Best wishes!
@@CrystalClearAquatics would love to work on some projects with you if i get some larger projects come my way which are too large for me to manage on my own i was wondering would lymington and christchurch be too far away from you ?
Apologies for the slow response-tied up Finishing off this job! I’m flattered-thank you and in principle would happily team up. You’re a little out of my travel zone I’m afraid but I’d never say never...feel free to get in touch if you ever need to. Best, Ed
Excellent! I’m getting very inspired by your work! Any idea of the volume of the pond (if possible in litres)? It seems to be quite a bit, is this Oase enough for such volume? Or will it be a fishless pond? And what’s the wattage of the UV you chose? I have to change a liner on a 80m3 pond. Before knowing the volume of the project I was considering the Screenmatic 140000 but I’ve decided to go with Aquaworld Eskada 6 XL, I think it should be more appropriate Can’t wait for the next video! Take care!
Thanks for your kind words! Pond volume is approx 20000 gallons/90000 Ltrs and is currently free of livestock. It will however have an introduction of some golden Rudd later in the year/next year, which although will be low demand to the pond will obviously add additional demand to the life support. My personal preference would have been to double up on the kit but my client wasn’t intent on a ‘crystal clear’ pond but simply a ‘healthy and cleaner then it once was’ pond. Uvc is taken care of with an Oase bitron eco 240w uvc. Again my personal recommendation for clarification would be to double up here, but we have the possibility of upgrading next season if needs be and deliberately left provisions to do So retrospectively. Long term the goal will be to increase planting/plant cover dramatically to take further strain off of the filtration and will be looking for perhaps 1/3 coverage eventually. Good luck with your LG pond re-line! Liners of this size are rather heavy to manoeuvre!!!
Any tips on what to look for with spill stones...? And more importantly, where to find them... and lastly, is it possible to create a small pool..? Would this effect the flow of water and would direction of flow become a problem...?
Hi there- great question! It’s obviously a slightly subjective answer- but in my opinion I like looking for stones that are flat(ish) which will allow a nice even spread of water, and stones that are large enough to overhang slightly (either as the final spill into the pond, in which case overhanging into the pond, or as a series of steps, again overhanging slightly) what ever the spill stone is pouring into/on to. Sand stone like York stone and West Sussex/Horsham stone) naturally splits into nice flat pieces and makes for great spill stones. So too does Purbeck limestone and slate. Personally I like to try and create a curtain or veil of water for every drop- aesthetically I find this appealing, but its not necessarily natural- in nature of course a water course will run over a series of flat or blocky, smooth or riven, level or slanted spills, so definitely don’t restrict yourself to how I like to build mine! As for creating a small pool- did you mean within the cascade or as the final pool that the cascade spills into? Best, Ed
Hello, thank you for your very nice videos and thorough explanations. Apologies, I need to ask you this question: I am in the "think-about-it" phase of building my own pond and I am very confused about what pump I should install. It's going to be a 5 m³ pond, with a bog (wetland) filter where the water will go from above, spilling out of a big blue ceramic vessel I already have, 35 cm diameter, 50 cm high. I am thinking of a 3000/4000 liters per hour pump that will effectively deliver some 1500-2000 liters per hour given the head pressure for the height, piping and gravel I will put in the vessel. Do you think it will be enough? Not sure I made myself clear enough of course, and I am sure this is more of an hassle than a comment. Sorry for the trouble, I felt like trying asking this question given the passion you put into your descriptions in your videos. You do a fantastic job! Ciao
Hi there! What sort of fish-if any-will you be housing in your new pond? For a no fish stock or low fish stock (smaller fish such as goldfish, Rudd etc etc) then the pump rate you’ve mentioned is perfect and will deliver a flow rate that equates to moving approx half the total volume of your pond per hour-which is spot on! This would also be fine with some small koi/a sparse collection of koi but ideally with larger messier fish it would be better to look to turning over 75%/100% total pond volumes through the filtration system per hour, ie something that delivers in the region of 7500/8000lph-although you haven’t specified any figures relating to head height (max height the water will be pumped to) or pipe work diameter that will be used etc, which does have a bearing on pump size. Personally I would err on the side of caution and go with a pump that is slightly more powerful then your needs-it can always be turned down slightly if needs be! But this will provide you with more flexibility. Good luck with your new pond! Ed
@@CrystalClearAquatics hey there, thanks a lot for your answer. Pond will be without fish, or just very small things (I am thinking of medaka). Head height will be around one meter. And pipe will be 1". What I am not really sure about is the drop in pressure due to the gravel into the big blue vase that the water will need to go through... That is why I am considering a higher pressure drop of the whole system. Hopefully it will work fine. Anyway the pond will have lots of plants in it. The whole idea of the vessel and bog filtration is more to create nice spots and hideouts for small amphibians and larvae than to actually clean the water. At the moment I only have a ~300 liters minipond full of plants with no pump or filter whatsoever and the water is really clear despite being in full sun for about 80% of the time. Thanks again for the answer, you gave me some very needed extra confidence. Cheers
The filter tanks is Concealed in some undergrowth a little way from the pond-the videos do Depict its position and installation configuration. Thanks for watching!
Hi there! The re-claimed stonework from the original build that was used looks to be fittleworth stone, a once common locally sourced material to the West Sussex area. All of the new stone incorporated into the project, including the edging, the cascade and the natural paved area was built using York stone. Hope this helps! Best, Ed
@@CrystalClearAquatics hey thanks Ed. It’s a stunning pond! I’m currently building mine and want to use stone work. I’m in Sussex - where do you source your stone from (I believe you are down this way too?)
Thank you! I was pretty pleased with it..! I’m based on the outskirts of Farnham not far from Guildford and for much of my stonework I use a great family run company called Lindsey Clark brothers who are based in Churt. They were the suppliers for this particular job also and delivered to the Horsham area. Local to you you also have Horsham stone on the outskirts of Horsham- a lovely stone and for many years my stone of choice, but the York is a little cheaper and in my opinion works a little better with paving areas as its a little flatter/more uniform. Good luck with your build and send in some pics of the end result! Cheers, Ed
@@CrystalClearAquatics Thats awesome thank you so much. Last question (promise lol) ill be using cement do fix them in place much as you do in your video. But what about the fish, do you seal the concrete before you put the fish back in or wait some time? I read that the concrete can effect the water?
No problem! No I don’t seal the render- although possible it would be incredibly laborious and very difficult to do. Much better to naturally allow the bulk of the lime and other chemicals from the cement to naturally leach out: once I’ve finished a build I would usually completely fill the pond and leave it to stand and soak for a couple of weeks, during which time a lot of the nasty stuff will have come out of the render and rock and into the water. A tell tale sign is if the water turn a blueish hue- this is as a result of the cement, but doesn’t always happen- it depend on the quantity of cement vs the total volume of pond water. After a couple of weeks I would fully drain and clean the pond, rinsing all stonework/render with a light jet wash and then re-fill. Again leave to settle for ideally a month more before adding livestock, although I tend to get a little impatient and add some after two weeks without issue! Obviously add livestock in small quantities and not overload the pond too quickly. Keep and eye on the fish and their behaviour and the colour of the water- any hint of blue/grey then perform a partial water change, if the fish behave erratically also perform a small (20%) water change. I have the luxury when building ponds of holding large volumes of water in tanks for the duration of the build so once complete the first fill is water that’s already had a period of time to rest and naturally establish. I’ve stuck by this method for many years without issue. Obviously it will take any new pond a good year to really establish, you’ll find that during this infancy period good water clarity may be harder to achieve, blanket weed may be more of an issue due to the more alkali ph and buffering from the new stonework and render, but it will all settle and once into its second year you should find that the pond is much more stable and easier to maintain trouble free! Good luck! Ed
