Dana's Ecosystem Pond is Big Enough to Swim In!
When Dana saw a picture of Greg Wittstock, 'The Pond Guy' swimming in his pond, surrounded by his big beautiful Koi, she wanted the same experience. We started by building the constructed wetlands filter to keep the water clean, clear, and healthy. Then we used soil excavated from the pond to create the berm around our giant filter. The pond is 20'x30' and 5' deep, and features a natural stone staircase going down to the bottom levels of the pond.
A Snorkel vault, AquaBlox, and 2 Centipede units by Aquascape are used to create the constructed wetlands filter, along with tons of various-sized gravel and marginal aquatic plants. There are two pumps. One feeds both the filter and the hidden underwater jets at the deepest level of the pond. The filter empties itself into the pond via the middle waterfall. The underwater jets make sure we have circulation at all levels of the pond, preventing stratification. The second pump feeds both of the side waterfalls. It can be turned off, but she usually just lets 'em both run. It looks and sounds better that way.
A Snorkel vault, AquaBlox, and 2 Centipede units by Aquascape are used to create the constructed wetlands filter, along with tons of various-sized gravel and marginal aquatic plants. There are two pumps. One feeds both the filter and the hidden underwater jets at the deepest level of the pond. The filter empties itself into the pond via the middle waterfall. The underwater jets make sure we have circulation at all levels of the pond, preventing stratification. The second pump feeds both of the side waterfalls. It can be turned off, but she usually just lets 'em both run. It looks and sounds better that way.
Matt tries out the pond before giving the owner the keys!
Juan inspects the liner. It was massive, and weighed over 500 lbs, but we managed to spread it with only four of us.
The rocks have been hand-placed along the vertical shelves of the pond for structural stability. Gravel covers the horzontal shelves of the pond to protect the liner from UV rays and to give beneficial bacteria lots of surface area.
The pond has been rocked and is filling with rainwater. Now the fun part--building the waterfall. We only had a machine with a bucket, so we had to be careful. If we set a heavy boulder in the wrong place, we couldn't move it later!
After she had sidewalks installed, we came back to fix the leaks caused by the concrete guys and to add plants to the constructed wetlands filter. You can see the stone staircase leading into the clear water. Next spring--big fish!
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So very awesome, I love this! How fun!
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Thank you!
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