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  1. #26
    Thailand Expat Slick's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Buckaroo Banzai View Post
    I am afraid that if something went wrong while I was asleep or away , it would drain the pond out. I guess a water level switch should be my next in my to do list..
    Unfortunately the way you have it setup, even with a float switch and a strong house pump, you'd still likely empty the tank and kill the fish. I actually had that happen once, but luckily I checked the pond every morning. Woke up one morning to find my pond only had about 3 inches of water left in it, the fish almost dead, my 1000l water tank empty, and my house pump was shut down by the thermostatic switch.

    I then changed everything around so that the pump sat in the pond and sprayed water vertically and back down into the pond.

  2. #27
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    Buckaroo Banzai's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Slick View Post
    Unfortunately the way you have it setup, even with a float switch and a strong house pump, you'd still likely empty the tank and kill the fish. I actually had that happen once, but luckily I checked the pond every morning. Woke up one morning to find my pond only had about 3 inches of water left in it, the fish almost dead, my 1000l water tank empty, and my house pump was shut down by the thermostatic switch.

    I then changed everything around so that the pump sat in the pond and sprayed water vertically and back down into the pond.
    My pump is in the pond , it pumps the water out of the pond in a mechanical filtration system
    Building a small koi pond waterfall.-pump-jpg
    The canister sits outside the pond, water from the pump inside the pond is delivered to the inlet side of the Oase canister and is returned to the pond from the outlet side , In my case, instead of directly returning the water yo the pond, I first pump it to the Bio-ball tank , from where it cascades down the waterfall to return to the pond.
    IMO a float switch connected to a shutoff switch would resolve the draining of the pond concern.
    The sooner you fall behind, the more time you have to catch up.

  3. #28
    Thailand Expat Slick's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Buckaroo Banzai View Post
    The canister sits outside the pond, water from the pump inside the pond is delivered to the inlet side of the Oase canister and is returned to the pond from the outlet side , In my case, instead of directly returning the water yo the pond, I first pump it to the Bio-ball tank , from where it cascades down the waterfall to return to the pond.
    Saw that, but if theres any piping leakage or bursting outside the pond, it'll empty quick. I originally had the pump in the pond and filtered through external enclosed filters and UV lights, then down a water feature like you've got, but one of the connections outside the pond came loose and drained it really fast. Then I hardlined the pump to the filters, and got a second smaller pump for aeration.

    Quote Originally Posted by Buckaroo Banzai View Post
    IMO a float switch connected to a shutoff switch would resolve the draining of the pond concern.
    As long as you have an unlimited supply of water and whatever leak you have doesn't outlast your pump.

    You could use a mechanical float valve too and not need any electrical switching.

  4. #29
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    Shutree's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Buckaroo Banzai View Post
    I noticed that there was a train track running on the side and the embankment was lined with large chunks of granite so I decided to use that.
    Waiting now for Misskit's news report of a tragic train derailment attributed to track subsidence.

  5. #30
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    I showed here once how it works in my fish pond. Actually, not very fashie, it was made without my ingenious planning by gardening people, so I had to establish a proper filtering circulation without kicking the 20+ kois out.

    However it works, no casualties over years.

    Building a small koi pond waterfall.-fishpool-jpg



    Building a small koi pond waterfall.-1313-jpg


    Not shown on the upper picture another sand filter - backwashable - the backwashing every 1 -2 weeks is good for the garden around.

    Building a small koi pond waterfall.-img_1924-jpg



    Building a small koi pond waterfall.-2017011003-jpg

  6. #31
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    Quote Originally Posted by Buckaroo Banzai View Post
    I am running the water trough a UV lamp that kills algae,
    I would not think there is a need to kill the algae, that's a food and vitamins for the fish.

  7. #32
    Thailand Expat Slick's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Klondyke View Post
    I would not think there is a need to kill the algae, that's a food and vitamins for the fish.
    If the pond is in direct sunlight it'll bloom REALLY badly, at least mind did. Nothing I did could stop it until I built a little roof over it.

    Not talking about algae on the walls of the pond & stuff, but full-on bright green water. Once that starts, its a biiiiiiiiiitch to stop.

  8. #33
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    Buckaroo Banzai's Avatar
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    Nice work on your pond and filter systems, your fish look nice also.
    Previously to our recent return to Thailand , I was still working , which meant a couple of months here between projects, then back to work, so I did not do anything much with the pond that will require much maintenance while I was away. This is my first time here in Thailand fully retired. So the pond is a work in progress. I will study your system and see what of your filtering innovations I can incorporate into mine.
    Thank you for the detailed post.

    The pond is one third under the stair case , two thirds out on the west side of the house. The expose two thirds get hit by the sun for about three hours in the afternoon. A roof would obstruct it's view from the balcony where I like to drink my coffee in the morning . My thinking is to plant a Mango, or a lime Tree in the yard in front of it , to abstract the afternoon sun. It gets very hot at the front in the afternoon.
    Building a small koi pond waterfall.-balcony-jpg
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Building a small koi pond waterfall.-balcony-jpg  

  9. #34
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    Looks very cool Buck.

  10. #35
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    Buck you mentioned that you left for a couple years and your fish lived. I'm not ready to build a sophisticated fish tank yet, but I like to keep water at the back wall for the birds to drink. Is there a low maintenance fish that will eat the mosquito larva ?

  11. #36
    Thailand Expat Saint Willy's Avatar
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    Nice view for a morning coffee.

  12. #37
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    Quote Originally Posted by TheRealKW View Post
    Nice view for a morning coffee.
    Seconded - well done, BB

  13. #38
    CCBW Stumpy's Avatar
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    Great info posted. I clearly need to re think my plans. The location I have my current rectangle pond gets full sun from sun up until noon. I never do anything to it. The pump is solar so it just runs until the sun goes over the roof. The plants do well, the fish do well and my crawdads live and walk all over. So all the filtration updates posted makes it seem like high maintenance. Now I am not intending on Koi fish. This is more a water feature with a water fall, some lotus plants and will have those skeeter eating guppies. As Tunk said, I like having water all over our property as the birds are always around, especially the big doves. I have solar powered fountains in almost all of them to keep the water moving and the lotus plants do very well.

  14. #39
    Thailand Expat Slick's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by JPPR2 View Post
    Now I am not intending on Koi fish.
    We had Koi for a few years. Started with little tiny fish, and when we gave them away to my wifes uncle, they were almost a foot and a half and completely outgrew the pond we had. Way too big and way too much filtration and maintenance needed to keep them healthy.

    We then switched to various kinds of goldfish - the goofier and sillier looking the better:

    The Best Types Of Goldfish You Can Raise - Fish Life Today

    And it was a great decision. They get pretty big, almost tame, look goofy and bug-eyed, eat right out of your hand. You can almost pick them up.

    Quite tough little fish and cheap too.

  15. #40
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    Quote Originally Posted by Buckaroo Banzai View Post
    The pond is one third under the stair case , two thirds out on the west side of the house. The expose two thirds get hit by the sun for about three hours in the afternoon. A roof would obstruct it's view from the balcony where I like to drink my coffee in the morning . My thinking is to plant a Mango, or a lime Tree in the yard in front of it , to abstract the afternoon sun. It gets very hot at the front in the afternoon.
    Nice spot there, BB.

    It might be worth taking some time in finding a good shade tree. I have planted various things to make shade and they are all unsatisfactory in one way or another. Some grow too tall too quickly, some drop a lot of leaves which you might not want in your pond while mangoes can grow quite large and drop fruit which you also might not want in your pond. I grew some flame trees from seed, I have the space and I like their flowers, but in dry season they lose all their leaves. I have tried avocadoes along the western boundary, which are broad-leaved evergreen and can grow very tall, but so far I have had ten failures.

    Someone here will some more helpful suggestions.

  16. #41
    CCBW Stumpy's Avatar
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    BB,
    I have used these palm trees for shade all over our property. They do not drop any debris. However they will flower and when you see the big sprout just snap them off. One thing nice about these, they grow very well, are reasonably drought tolerant and you can buy them in virtually any size at your local nursery so if you are in a hurry, you can pick a size that suits your needs and are inexpensive. If you do go this route, try and buy in a cluster of 6 or 8 stalks of different sizes.


  17. #42
    CCBW Stumpy's Avatar
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    This is where I initially wanted to add the water feature / Pond as I have had that little one there against the wall for 3 or 4 years with plants. I think I may change the location to the right side of the car park area where it sees a bit less sun but still offers the relaxing sound of the water fall. I plan on having the water fall up against the wall and have it run down and then bring the pond out about 2 or so meters away from the wall making a shape of some sort. Again the idea was to have some fish species so the suggestion of goofy gold fish and other more robust fish sounds good but moreover we want to have a variety of lotus plants which require a lot of sun to flower. I always liked Koi fish but reading the maintenance here and on the internet I think I will scrap the idea. My intent is to have the entire pump and lighting system solar powered. My car park roof sees sun all day so mounting solar panels will be perfect and easy.

    Currently we have a variety 9 different lotus plants in pots all over the place (pics below). Initially I bought a bunch of round cement planters. My wife painted a few and put designs on them. The other we purchased and you can see the solar water fountain. They shoot up pretty high. They were $6 off Lazada. They really help aerate the water which helps the lotus plants grow healthy.






  18. #43
    Thailand Expat
    Buckaroo Banzai's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by tunk View Post
    Buck you mentioned that you left for a couple years and your fish lived. I'm not ready to build a sophisticated fish tank yet, but I like to keep water at the back wall for the birds to drink. Is there a low maintenance fish that will eat the mosquito larva ?
    The lowest maintenance fish IMO would be comet goldfish, you know the ones we use to feed large fish like Arowanas

    When I left I put 8 small guppies in the pond just for that purpose (eat mosquitoes) , when I came back there must have been a thousand of them in there. I have seen flower pots with some aquatic plants and guppies ,and they seem to be doing fine. So Try this, buy a flower pot without a hole in the bottom, fill it up with water and some aquatic plants, throe a few guppies in it, and see how it goes. Just keep it in a shaded area,

  19. #44
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    I will try the guppies. You sparked my interest is fish pond, but I will wait until the monsoons are over before I start. This is what I want. I will keep the pump and filter simple, I don't care to raise koi fish, I'm not a fish person I just want a waterfall and a place for birds to drink.Building a small koi pond waterfall.-504094da200f08d5160c42e8602623aa-jpg

  20. #45
    Hangin' Around cyrille's Avatar
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    Yeah, that looks great.

    Gotta be natural rocks/stones imo.

    Lumps of concrete just aint gonna cut it.

  21. #46
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    I agree, I'm not gonna try making any rocks. I have seen places around here selling rocks.

  22. #47
    Thailand Expat Slick's Avatar
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    Just about ever side of the road "nursery" sells river stones and slate and all that stuff.

  23. #48
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    Fifty years ago I lived on a farm in N.W. Ohio, some of our worst days were picking rocks out of the fields. If you had tried to sell those rocks people would have thought you were crazy. Now days even in Ohio you go to the rock store to buy rocks.

  24. #49
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    Buckaroo Banzai's Avatar
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    Hi Guys. Sorry I dropped out from this thread and others for a couple of days. My Brother in laws Grand Mom Passed away unexpectant. We were busy with funeral erangnents. She was like his mother since his mom abandoned him when he was a baby and GM raised him.
    I will try to catch up later today. My apologies to all for not replaying .

  25. #50
    Thailand Expat Saint Willy's Avatar
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    No need to apologise. Family is family and sorry for your loss.

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