It's warm weather now, the cherry trees are blossoming and
unfortunately I was supposed to start digging tomorrow but it will
rain as it has been for the past few days. It's likely going to
continue to rain through next week which is problematic because I
need sunlight for the cement to cure and it can't be raining while
I'm digging. At this time of year we get 3 days of rain, 3 days of
sun and sometimes non-stop rain.
The three concepts for the pond are...
1: Half-half no roof or anything pond
If the pond is planned to be 4ft deep, then 2 1/2ft will be
underground and 1 1/2ft will be overground. Personally I would
probably prefer slightly more overground so there isn't much
bending while watching them / feeding them. This is easy to build
and I would use the pond liner approach until it needs to be
over-ground, in which case cinder blocks, rebar, and cement. Of
course, plenty of sealant and fish-safe coating.
ETA: a full weekend or 3 days tops.
2: Half-half with aquaponics roof with or without
glass panel
It would be the same as #1 except a little bit more elaborate.
It would have a staircase roof with an aquaponic system. This means
it would grow a lot of crops while filtering the water.
Version 1 would have a glass panel at the
front. Well, plexiglass to be exact. This would make it possible to
just watch the fish from the front and the top, but not so much the
top because there wouldn't be much room due to the aquaponics
setup.
Version 2 would be the same but there
wouldn't be a plexiglass panel at the front and would be taller.
This method would be more annoying to build but I could elevate it
using bricks, rebar and cement.
Version 3 would be Version 1 but taller like
version 2.
ETA: 3-4 full days of work, about 60-90 days for the curing
process. Pretty expensive too.
3: Just make it using pond liners
This method is simple. Dig hole as big as I want. Tamp it down
and put in liners. Place stones around it, secure the tarp and seal
everything. DONE.
ETA: 2 days (spread through a week to cure and treat
everything)
I REALLY don't want to build this. I'm terrible at building
things since I never do it but I have an obligation since I have 3
koi to take care of. I COULD throw the koi in someone's pond (that
would appreciate them) but I won't because I like my koi. I took on
this hobby, now I have to own up to it. LOL
At least the pond will be much bigger than what the koi will
need even at full size. This means I only need to do maintenance on
it every 3 months or so. Meaning, 3 times a year instead of once a
week right now (they're in an aquarium for winter). Last year I was
experimenting the water conditions with gold fish and they are
poopers. Like serious poopers. If you ever wanted to know what
living creature eats and immediately poops it out and seemingly
poops out more than it eats, it's a gold fish. The experiment was
pretty interesting and I found that there's very little that needs
to be done given that there's reasonable shade and you have a good
pump and plants. The koi will have fun uprooting plants and stuff
so you have to watch out how you design it.
I figure if I spread my time out an hour here, an hour
there... It should be done by the end of April regardless which
option I pick. I just don't wanna! lol
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