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[Colyn]

From the day that I moved into my new Study and looked through the window I knew that I wanted a Koipond. The lawn are was just way to big and during Winter it looks like a semi desert. The half dead grass is depressing to say the least and I wanted to reduce that dramatically.

The large open lawn is visible here and it is obvious that there is a lot of maintenance involved in this area. We have problems during the hot summers to keep the grass wet due to the gravel nature of our soil plus we have huge problems with ants. To me it was obvious, the grass must go.

Early October 2006 was the day things started happening. Unaware of the snags that lies ahead I set the ponds out.

Work is standing because some Kingfishers made nests in the dam walls.


The baby birds left the nest and I started the job again.


Good progress now ... all three floors are in plus two dams sides is done too.






Floors and walls done.


Doing the spillways and groundwork.

I am now putting more energy into the project and would like to get it done by the end of May 2008.

[avon]

2008/03/06 - that a Rottie I see inspecting the progress??

Very nice Colyn

[Colyn]

Yep it is a Rottie.

[roan]

Looking forward to have a sundowner next to those dams of yours when the project is finished.

Just worried about the impact on the water reserves of the Mpumalanga province when you have to fill them...

[Colyn]

Thanks for the comments guys ... yes the single skin is surely because there will be no "bommies" ... I have seen many single skin reservoirs on the mines in Natal and on many farms ... the keyword stays "NO BOMMIES" Smiley

I am very anxious now to complete because I am sure it is going to be stunning once done. The breeding kingfishers stopped all work for the whole summer.

Some background on the pools ...

Pool 1 = 56,000 litres
Pool 2 = 67,000 litres
Pool 3 = 42,000 litres

Pool two is the really deep one ... over 2 metres.

All pools have straight down edges with no wading opportunities for big wader birds.

I did get quotes initially and the cheapest one came in at just under R190,000.00 ... after a loud fart and two beers I said F---k that. I started to phone some of my friends in the construction business and made my calculations.

Up to this stage I am still under R15,000.00 and that includes the little mixer I bought. My estimates makes me believe the ponds will come in under R30,000.00 and that will include two pums that will work in tandem and in shifts.

Fish will be no problem because I have some friends that breeds them for export and has vast dams ... I will get their rejects Wink

The pond furthest away is the smallest and is also quite shallow ... less than hip deep ... this whole pond will be turned into a marshland vegetation pond and I will stick it well with guppies and small kurpers. I expect this pond to be a paradise for birds.

I will also include some kurpers in the other ponds to help with the algae and at the same time will be a good source for some fish for the table.

Tips and tricks on kois are welcome.

[Colyn]

Yep ... I spent a long time reading and talking about filtration and the options offered ranged from easy to expensive Wink ... my advantage is that I do not have a space problem and that is why I built the vegetation pond as big as I did. 45,000 litre capacity and this is where I see my major filtration will take place. One huge bio filter in a sense. From this the water will overflow through a fitration chamber filled with normal shade cloth and then into the pump sump. Theoretically the sump will receive very clean and clear water. From here I will pump the water into two 1000 liter plastic tanks that is connected in serie. This is where I expect to sort the bacterial part of the filtration out because these tanks will contain bio balls. From here the water returns to the pond.

I am confident that the veggie pond will do the job because I have seen a few koi ponds with veggie filters 10% the size of what I am building.

Swimming pool filters were offered but they are expensive and takes a lot of maintenance and the fish water tend to clog the sand up rapidly.

My option is to have as much as possible bio filtration.

Yes all the ponds have a 110mm bottom drain. I cast the floors to have a sloped "sump" towards the drains.

Thanks for the comments and I will post more images ... I posted these first because they form a nice series.

[avon]

Roan, I like your way of thinking Let's wait till he's done and then invite ourself for a sundowner.
I have allways wanted a phodie of a Kingfisher that strikes the water at just the right moment - koi, kurper, whatever, I really don't care

Looking forward to meeting you guys at the ABBG

[Colyn]

Here are some shots of the Vegetation pond ...

The first chamber will contain shade netting and the second one is the sump for the pumps.




This shows the cascading chute from the middle pond to the Veggie pond.
This where I will try and get as much aeration as possible.

[Colyn]

We are now seriously into the finishing stages. Here are some shots of Pond #3 ... this will be mainly a vegetation filter/pond and I am banking on this pond to do the bulk of my water quality control.

[Barbyw]

Wonderful progress on these, Colyn. Are you going to update the BSC thread?

[RippleJet]

Wonderful progress on these, Colyn. Are you going to update the BSC thread?

He's been hiding these pics from us, hasn't he?

[Colyn]

I will update ... just short of time right now ... I am leaving for Kuwait on Friday and have tonnes to do still for the  trip.

Barby you are welcome to copy the posts of the ponds to BSC.

[Colyn]

Here are a few more shots. Dam #3 has been full of water for 9 days now and I do not see any leaking. There is a problem with flow volume and that will be sorted out.

[Colyn RK21]

Today is very special day on the farm ... Pond #2 is almost full. Here is a small time line ...

The original view from my office. On this day I had the "vision."




Construction was delayed because untimely rains in April 2007 made the Lowveld think it was Spring
and some Kingfisher started making nests in the wall of Pond #2. We only proceeded again in
December 2007 after the second clutch of chicks left the nest.




One day before my birthday and I am a happy man. This shot is the image I had in my mind way back
in 2007 when I decided to do the Koi ponds.

[Colyn RK21]

What a day ... I was standing at the window looking at the ponds and thinking about the landscaping that needs to be done when this happened. A Bee Eater swooped down and settled in a nearby tree. The next moment it glided to the pond, closed it's wings and fell into the water. For a few moments I was stunned and then I grabbed my camera.

Everything was against me ... the sun is high and behind the pond, the bird is damn fast, I am not in a comfortable position and I had no idea what the light metering setting was on the camera ... but when it did it again I fired.

Technically not the best of shots but if this was and indication of what was in store then the effort I put into the ponds will be all worth while.

I am sharing these with you just for the significance of the moment and not for the image quality.

Thank you all for your patience over the past months as I posted more about ponds than birds here ... but now the good times seems to be rolling in. In my wildest dreams did I not imagine this bird to be the first to be shot at the ponds.