Ok so everyone knows how crazy I am already lol. Just wanted to get that out of the way before I started. So yeah I was creeping around the house I am renting the other day trying to come up with some ideas for a new build. I was thinking should I see if the landlord would be ok for me to build a large insulated/heated outdoor pond??? or what. So then it struck me. I never been under this house. I was looking around the outside for how to get under and it seemed to me that there must be a crawl space just didn't know how large. I looked all through the house and couldn't find anything. lol. THen I noticed beside the washing machine there is a handle on the floor! Jackpot!!!!
So I went down and found the light and turned it on. There is a crawl space!!! It is 4.5' deep and runs the full size of the house. The floor is dirt with a black plastic liner and a sump pump in the very center. There is also the heater for the house right in the center (mystery no 2 solved). Now for me this is a huge deal. I can now utilize this unused space without any fear of destroying anything or not having enough room lol. Another thing I realized is the floors are pretty much un braced under this house as well. That explains the sagging. I might as well throw in a few upright 2x4s to increase the integrity of the floor while I'm at it also.
So my main issues are that the opening to get down there is pretty small. I measured and should be able to get full length 2x4s or 4x4s down there. My biggest challenge is that the floor is severely uneven. The way I see it I have two options, but I am open to hearing other ideas as well.
Idea no. 1
Use sandbags to even out an area where the pond will be.
This would be very time intensive and a pita!!! In theory it should work. WHen I was in the military it worked fine for our projects lol. Also if you wet them when they dry out it is almost like cement.
Idea no. 2
Since this is more of a slope towards the center sump pump I could in theory just drive some rebar (or other material???) into the ground through the 4x4s to add integrity to the sides and keep the pond in place. This will be a liner pond and my fear is that it may slide being uneven from one side to the other. Or like a balloon full of water on a hill roll down cause disaster.
I don't have much exp. with re-bar though. If I interlocked the 4x4s and had a hole going through them I could possibly get 1.5' of rebar into the ground. WOuld this provide very much stability?
Ideas on dimensions
My first thoughts are to maximize space and go 16' x 8' x 2(maybe 2.5' max) for clearance issues on the small height. I know deeper is more ideal but I'm just working with what I have lol. I haven't done the math on it yet but should be between 2-3k gals. I am also hoping that the re-bar supports through the wood into the ground will allow for me not to use center braces across it. I really just hope it would counter the down hill forces with that much water and not pull the re-bar out of the ground.
So basically the walls will be built out of interlocked 4x4s or landscape timbers. I will then lay down foam insulation sheets across the bottom and sides for insulation. I have proven in two different builds now that this cuts down on heater run time saving $$$ on heating the water. I don't plan on keeping the water extremely warm anyway this year as it will mostly house a Sperata aor, and a flathead catfish which can handle very cold water both. I may just make this a sub tropical pond anyway. This way if I get another wels it can go in there also.
Will be checking out what other colder climate monster catfish I could get as well. When next summer hits I will need to use it for some tropical residents though. Temps down there right now are 70s with outside temps in the 90s. So no worries about over heating. My concern is the heater also in the winter. It's a huge furnace and I bet it stays pretty warm even in winter. Which may or may not be a good thing. Will have to play it by ear.
I will use a firestone liner, probably 45 mils. I will also have a top of some sort on it to help with evaporation and moisture issues down there. Plumbing could be very simple. I could possibly run a continuous drip by just tapping into the water lines down there. THis would pretty much eliminate water changes.
Filtration.
I will probably go very ghetto on filtration. At first I will scavenge one of the two 5 gal buckets from my 400 gal pond. This way the fish can go in instantly. Next I will make a filter from a plastic tub. Whatever size I can fit down the hole and maybe two eventually but one to start with. lol. So yeah I will get down by tues to get some pics of the space. Plan to buy something to start this weekend.
I calculate this will be an extremely cheap build for the size. No viewing windows but will probably come up with some kind of idea for lights to make it easier to view when I go down there. let me know what you guys think and any ideas. Remember though I am not rich so don't expect anything to spectacular as far as this pond goes. I will make it look as nice as I can for sure, but will mostly be worried about getting it going so that I can get back into monster catfish the way I want to. 
So I went down and found the light and turned it on. There is a crawl space!!! It is 4.5' deep and runs the full size of the house. The floor is dirt with a black plastic liner and a sump pump in the very center. There is also the heater for the house right in the center (mystery no 2 solved). Now for me this is a huge deal. I can now utilize this unused space without any fear of destroying anything or not having enough room lol. Another thing I realized is the floors are pretty much un braced under this house as well. That explains the sagging. I might as well throw in a few upright 2x4s to increase the integrity of the floor while I'm at it also.
So my main issues are that the opening to get down there is pretty small. I measured and should be able to get full length 2x4s or 4x4s down there. My biggest challenge is that the floor is severely uneven. The way I see it I have two options, but I am open to hearing other ideas as well.
Idea no. 1
Use sandbags to even out an area where the pond will be.
This would be very time intensive and a pita!!! In theory it should work. WHen I was in the military it worked fine for our projects lol. Also if you wet them when they dry out it is almost like cement.
Idea no. 2
Since this is more of a slope towards the center sump pump I could in theory just drive some rebar (or other material???) into the ground through the 4x4s to add integrity to the sides and keep the pond in place. This will be a liner pond and my fear is that it may slide being uneven from one side to the other. Or like a balloon full of water on a hill roll down cause disaster.
I don't have much exp. with re-bar though. If I interlocked the 4x4s and had a hole going through them I could possibly get 1.5' of rebar into the ground. WOuld this provide very much stability?
Ideas on dimensions
My first thoughts are to maximize space and go 16' x 8' x 2(maybe 2.5' max) for clearance issues on the small height. I know deeper is more ideal but I'm just working with what I have lol. I haven't done the math on it yet but should be between 2-3k gals. I am also hoping that the re-bar supports through the wood into the ground will allow for me not to use center braces across it. I really just hope it would counter the down hill forces with that much water and not pull the re-bar out of the ground.
So basically the walls will be built out of interlocked 4x4s or landscape timbers. I will then lay down foam insulation sheets across the bottom and sides for insulation. I have proven in two different builds now that this cuts down on heater run time saving $$$ on heating the water. I don't plan on keeping the water extremely warm anyway this year as it will mostly house a Sperata aor, and a flathead catfish which can handle very cold water both. I may just make this a sub tropical pond anyway. This way if I get another wels it can go in there also.
Will be checking out what other colder climate monster catfish I could get as well. When next summer hits I will need to use it for some tropical residents though. Temps down there right now are 70s with outside temps in the 90s. So no worries about over heating. My concern is the heater also in the winter. It's a huge furnace and I bet it stays pretty warm even in winter. Which may or may not be a good thing. Will have to play it by ear. I will use a firestone liner, probably 45 mils. I will also have a top of some sort on it to help with evaporation and moisture issues down there. Plumbing could be very simple. I could possibly run a continuous drip by just tapping into the water lines down there. THis would pretty much eliminate water changes.
Filtration.
I will probably go very ghetto on filtration. At first I will scavenge one of the two 5 gal buckets from my 400 gal pond. This way the fish can go in instantly. Next I will make a filter from a plastic tub. Whatever size I can fit down the hole and maybe two eventually but one to start with. lol. So yeah I will get down by tues to get some pics of the space. Plan to buy something to start this weekend.
I calculate this will be an extremely cheap build for the size. No viewing windows but will probably come up with some kind of idea for lights to make it easier to view when I go down there.
let me know what you guys think and any ideas. Remember though I am not rich so don't expect anything to spectacular as far as this pond goes. I will make it look as nice as I can for sure, but will mostly be worried about getting it going so that I can get back into monster catfish the way I want to. 
. So is there a side entrance to the crawlspace to get ur material down there or do u have to use the trap door? 
