DIY 200,000 Litre Pond

[stevenchia]

think you are missing a roof top currently. It has started filling up water for u before u complete.

[xnsdvd]

That's true, NSW costs about $1.80/litre whereas ours costs about $2.10/litre.

But the salinity of NSW tends to be in the 17ppt to 27ppt range so in terms of salt content, the price is almost the same.

Then there's the problem of heavy metals like lead and cadmium that can be found in minute amounts(parts per billion) in NSW because of the shipyards in the area

Then there's the strange copper/hyposalinity resistant strains of ICH and Velvet you get from the straits of Johor that you have to kill before you can safely use the water.

And the logistic nightmare of the truck being able to only move 5000 litres per trip. This 200,000 litre pond would take a minimum of 80 trips back and forth between the beach and my house, I ran the numbers and it would've taken 8 days to fill it.

Much easier to just dump 7 tons of salt and let the rain do the work for you, it's monsoon season and the pond's already filled up half way from just 2 days of rain. I can fill the entire pond in just a day if I direct the rainfall off my roof. Parasite and heavy metal free too.

As for people who want to visit, you're all welcome! Watch for details on my company's facebook page;

http://www.facebook....267990176567810

Joseph! I called you for Kopi last month and you said you weren't free! Bring your kids over for a swim this time!

[Firestarter]

Just a thought. You could install underwater lights at the sides like those condominium swimming pools. So that you can observe the pond at night.

If you've been to a kelong you will know what I'm talking about.

[ryanlio]

How about a separate Jacuzzi section next to this.. then can "zim Zui" whilst enjoying your creation.. haaha

Sent from my GT-N7000 using Tapatalk 2

[Jameshong]

That's true, NSW costs about $1.80/litre whereas ours costs about $2.10/litre.

But the salinity of NSW tends to be in the 17ppt to 27ppt range so in terms of salt content, the price is almost the same.

Then there's the problem of heavy metals like lead and cadmium that can be found in minute amounts(parts per billion) in NSW because of the shipyards in the area

Then there's the strange copper/hyposalinity resistant strains of ICH and Velvet you get from the straits of Johor that you have to kill before you can safely use the water.

And the logistic nightmare of the truck being able to only move 5000 litres per trip. This 200,000 litre pond would take a minimum of 80 trips back and forth between the beach and my house, I ran the numbers and it would've taken 8 days to fill it.

Much easier to just dump 7 tons of salt and let the rain do the work for you, it's monsoon season and the pond's already filled up half way from just 2 days of rain. I can fill the entire pond in just a day if I direct the rainfall off my roof. Parasite and heavy metal free too.

As for people who want to visit, you're all welcome! Watch for details on my company's facebook page;

http://www.facebook....267990176567810

Joseph! I called you for Kopi last month and you said you weren't free! Bring your kids over for a swim this time!

Rain water is normally acidic so you might need chemical to balance the pH..

[sunny03]

Are you going to put any pond lining?

Cos cement pond will leach phosphate..

You can diy some sort of tidal gate to make waves .. Look up other forum they have some diy there

[Eniram]

Also w just raw concrete you'll need to cure the pond. There are chemicals that will affect your fishes.

Another question is, during dry mths how are you going to do water top up?

[Gouldian]

That's true, NSW costs about $1.80/litre whereas ours costs about $2.10/litre.

But the salinity of NSW tends to be in the 17ppt to 27ppt range so in terms of salt content, the price is almost the same.

Then there's the problem of heavy metals like lead and cadmium that can be found in minute amounts(parts per billion) in NSW because of the shipyards in the area

Then there's the strange copper/hyposalinity resistant strains of ICH and Velvet you get from the straits of Johor that you have to kill before you can safely use the water.

And the logistic nightmare of the truck being able to only move 5000 litres per trip. This 200,000 litre pond would take a minimum of 80 trips back and forth between the beach and my house, I ran the numbers and it would've taken 8 days to fill it.

Much easier to just dump 7 tons of salt and let the rain do the work for you, it's monsoon season and the pond's already filled up half way from just 2 days of rain. I can fill the entire pond in just a day if I direct the rainfall off my roof. Parasite and heavy metal free too.

As for people who want to visit, you're all welcome! Watch for details on my company's facebook page;

http://www.facebook....267990176567810

Joseph! I called you for Kopi last month and you said you weren't free! Bring your kids over for a swim this time!

Ya, very sorry was busy preparing MASS projects, now left with 2 more in Dec.

Shanon, any reasons why you did not consider using liners? I know of a few concrete ponds that struggle with heat during sunny days.

[tropic]

Really wonder how things gona turn out. This one must have planning and research done a lot.. filtration, skimmer must be super huge, waves, top ups... List go one..cant imagine.

Looks good for a koi pond though..

[xnsdvd]

I'll attempt to answer the questions so far:

Rain Water Acidity

Definitely a big concern. But I'll be dumping a few tons of fine aragonite sand as well as allowing a 12.8m3 artificial live rock wall to cure in the water. Should settle the pH. And even if it doesn't the fish, coral, invertibrates and plants I'm throwing in are all intertidal organisms so they can handle the fluctuations with little problem.

Pond Liners

Aside from not being able to find a supplier, I just prefer using epoxy. In this case I have 70 litres of Jotun's "Penguard HB" excellent, fish safe product. And I got it in white to help reduce the IR absorbtion. This will also take care of the minerals leeching out of the concrete.

Filtration

I actually built a 12,000 litre prototype that I've been running for about 2 years now. Haven't had a single water change in all that time because of the 4000 litre sump that's full of Caulerpa and seagrass and mangrove trees. But I do have to add Mg, Ca, K, Fe, etc on a regular basis to keep everything healthy. Even with 2000+ fish averaging 200g each, my nitrates are holding steady at 12ppm and ammonia at 0.25ppm. Nowhere near as clean as the average reef tank of course, but I'll be implementing improvements on the 200,000 litre tank.

Skimmer

This'll actually be a DIY project all on it's own. Fortunately I have a friend that wholesales acrylic. If anyone wants his contact, let me know. Not sure if I'm allowed to advertise for him

Top Up

Got a 2000 litre storage tank for rainwater collection. I doubt it'll be enough, but we'll just have to wait and see.

Roof

This will come up AFTER the pond is built. I actually had to sacrifice my BBQ pit for the pond, so I'll be building a trellis strong enough to support a party and BBQ on top of the pond. That way if anyone falls through, the sharks will get rid of the evidence...

[Admiraltian]

Very impressive DIY!!

[sunny03]

If you are going to have shelter. Maybe you can include solar tube ... Or better a auto retractable roof when rains

[tropic]

If you are going to have shelter. Maybe you can include solar tube ... Or better a auto retractable roof when rains

Yeah. Like solar panel to power up things if feasible or backup power

[xnsdvd]

Yeah. Like solar panel to power up things if feasible or backup power

Heh heh, I love how we're all on the same page. I'm actually going to be installing PV panels, batteries and an inverter over the next year all off-grid so I don't have to get permission from PUB.

[allantang]

put a walking transparent panel as pool cover..^^ reduce evaporation.

[KELVINx3]

SRC most awesome tread ever. 200k litres of water. *salute*

[xnsdvd]

In case anyone was confused by the scale of the pond...

I'm 1.8m tall by the way.

[Firestarter]

What is the depth of the pond?

[HappyReef]

Hi bro, as shanon mentioned b4: the pond will be about 2.2m deep with 10 Tsurumi 50 TM 2.45(S)s moving 200,000 litres of water through 12.8m3 of crushed coral every hour for filtration.

Very interesting thread. *like* Cheers

[kaykay]

W.O.W.

Never envisaged a tank of this scale will ever be built here. This is hardcore stuff man..

Eagerly awaiting updates.

Thanks for sharing this project here.

[reefer guy]

seems more like its gonna be more of 1.2m deep, correct me if i'm wrong.... worrying factor on such open system is rain water -- with unpredictable rainfalls that causes "ponding" in parts of Singapore, it might be a big issue to keep the salinity levels stable. Nonetheless this is a very good project and it would be good to see it in person.... is this gonna be a fowl or full reef tank?

[xnsdvd]

@#$%!! One of the walls just broke while I was backfilling! Pictures of the disaster to come!

Reefer guy:

- The walls aren't fully built yet. So they've got about 1.6m to go. We'll finish that part after we've finished work on the floor. Or else there's no way to get equipment into the pond.

- As for the lack of a roof.. same problem, I can't get my heavy machinery in with the roof in the way, and I need a way to cure the pond first, so letting the monsoon rains do the work for me is really the best thing.

- FOWLR with seagrass to start, but once it's more stable I'll start throwing in the giant clams and corals. No worthwhile experience with corals though.

[xnsdvd]

10cm thick wall snapped like a @#$%ing biscuit. Fortunately it'll be cheap to fix =) so it's just a 1 day setback.

[ashaegyee]

just a word "AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

[xnsdvd]

I'm quite happy with the quality of the work we did.. I know it's butt ugly and uneven, but hey! they fish don't care! I'll upload more photos when I can, for now, here's a shot from the balcony!