7'x12' 1400 Gallon Plywood Stingray Pond

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
Ratman2050 said:
How exactly do you apply the epoxy layers and pond armor? Do you start at the top and the frame then work your way through the bottom base? How long does applying all those layers take?

Nice work anyways, wish I could come see it in person!
Click to expand...

I do the layers by first going around and doing all the walls except for 1 window frame, at that time the windows aren't in yet. I then start on the floor and back my way over to the window which I use to escape, and then finish the floor and the window frame from the outside. I apply both the pond armor and epoxy with sponge paint rollers. Sponge rollers are a must when doing ponds, regular rollers leave lint behind which turns into sharp little edges all over, the sponges leave nothing behind to give me a nice smooth finish.

It takes around an hour per layer, then I have to wait a day or two till it hardens enough for me to get back in there and do another layer.
 
Hi Johnny, when you were laying down your layers of epoxy did you use any mat at all?
 
JohnG said:
Could always climate control the room to for the winters. I had a real battle keeping the 2 tanks in my garage warm with the -16 degree days we had this last winter. In the end I had 3 1000W heaters running in my 1200G pond and 2 1000W and a 300W on my 6x6 tank to keep them warm. The AC unit i got also works as a heater so I can keep it warm in there next winter.

Sounds like a nice setup you got planned.
Click to expand...

Your pond looks awesome!

I have heard that rates up in Washington are some of the lowest in the country, but you are still pulling a lot of juice...5.3KW to heat your 1200G and your 6x6?! You must use well over 2,000KWhrs in the winter.

What are you using to heat the new pond? Any recommendations? I'm in the market for 1,500 to 2,000 watts of heater and I'm not sure what I should get. I'm considering the following:

1. 2- 1,000 watt JBJ TruTemp- http://www.aquacave.com/jbj-true-temp-1000w-brdigital-titanium-heater-system-2732.html
2. 6 or 7- 300 watt Ebo-Jagers- http://www.petmountain.com/show_pro...gle&utm_medium=datafeed&utm_term=11442-523721
3. Innovative Heat Concepts: http://www.heatingyourpond.com/submersible-heaters.html
4. Elecro In line Heaters 1.5KW or 2KW- http://www.koienterprise.com/Pond-Heaters/Elecro-Heaters-p-523.html
5. Coates In Line 1.5KW- http://poolsupplyproducts.com/p319-Coates-In-Line-1.5-kW-Electric-Pool-Heater.html
 
aldiaz33 said:
Your pond looks awesome!

I have heard that rates up in Washington are some of the lowest in the country, but you are still pulling a lot of juice...5.3KW to heat your 1200G and your 6x6?! You must use well over 2,000KWhrs in the winter.

What are you using to heat the new pond? Any recommendations? I'm in the market for 1,500 to 2,000 watts of heater and I'm not sure what I should get. I'm considering the following:

1. 2- 1,000 watt JBJ TruTemp- http://www.aquacave.com/jbj-true-temp-1000w-brdigital-titanium-heater-system-2732.html
2. 6 or 7- 300 watt Ebo-Jagers- http://www.petmountain.com/show_pro...gle&utm_medium=datafeed&utm_term=11442-523721
3. Innovative Heat Concepts: http://www.heatingyourpond.com/submersible-heaters.html
4. Elecro In line Heaters 1.5KW or 2KW- http://www.koienterprise.com/Pond-Heaters/Elecro-Heaters-p-523.html
5. Coates In Line 1.5KW- http://poolsupplyproducts.com/p319-Coates-In-Line-1.5-kW-Electric-Pool-Heater.html
Click to expand...

Electricity here is only 3.4 cents a kwh, which is good because in the winter I am using around 10,000 kwhs a month. Thats not all tanks, I also have about 20 computers running. This winter should be easier, I got sick of dealing with the cheap rolling AC units and installed a mini split system in the garage that heats and cools.

As far as heaters I prefer the JBJ TruTemp ones. My only complaint with them is the controllers have a 2 degree temp swing, turns off 1 degree over set point and starts 1 degree below it. I am planning on replacing the controllers with a reefkeeper controller I got, once I figure out how the damn thing works. The heating elements themselves work great though, and come with shields.

I also have the Elecro 3kw heater on my 10x14 pond, I am not a big fan of it. Does an ok job of keeping it warm, but the thermostat is VERY untrustworthy during water changes. When the pond is full it seems to do ok, however when I am doing a water change it has no idea what the temp is. I got other thermometers in the pond to monitor it, they will be saying its 77 meanwhile the elecro thinks its 79 or 80 and isn't turning on because of it. If I recalibrate it so its correct then when the water change is over it will be 2 or 3 degrees to high. I don't do rapid water changes either, just what comes out of a 1/4" float valve. Would definitely avoid the Elecro unless you plan to wire in another controller to it.
 
Holy smokes! 3.4 cents? That is awesome. My utility company just dropped our rates on our highest tier from 40 cents down to 34 cents a kwh, as if that was something we should be excited about. This highest tier kicks in after using only 660 kwh/month. If I used 10,000 kwh per month my electric bill would be well over $3,000! You are definitely lucky to have such low rates.

Thanks for the tips on the heaters. I'm leaning towards the JBJ True Temps at this point...I like the idea of a submersible vs having to hard plumb the inlines.

But I find it odd that JBJ rates the 1,000W heater for 200-300G yet the 300W Ebo-Jagers are rated for 159-264 gallons. Any idea how the Ebo's would be so much more efficient using only 300W or is it possibly an apples to oranges comparison in that each company is using different parameters for their recommendations?

I think I'm going to try out those LED's you have there. Have you had any problems with them? Sorry for all the questions...I appreciate your help!
 
Yeah cheap power is great, my power bill in florida used to be upwards of $800 a month, and I didn't even have any fish.

I don't pay attention anymore to what these companies rate there heaters for. If I am remembering right a 1000W heater should heat 1000 Gallons 10 degrees above room temp, thats what I go off of. Right now I am running 2 of the 1000W true temps in this pond, about 1500G, and they are keeping it around 80 without any trouble. Room temps range from 65 to 75.

LEDs have been working great. One of them has about half the bulbs out, but that might have something do with all the water I spilled ontop of it. The rest are still working fine.
 
Been some big changes since my last update. As I put more rays in I started noticing issues with getting there waste into the filters, the problem was I had 2 bio ball towers and 10 airstones on the same side of the tank as the intake pumps. Despite all the flow I had directed to push waste to the intakes there was just to much of a current being caused by the towers and airstones. I disconnected the 10 airstones and replaced them with 6 18" LED air bars and placed them on the opposite side of the tank as the intakes. Then I attached pipes to the bottom of the bio ball towers and directed the flow from them against the rear wall of the pond, minimizing the current they where causing. Things are flowing much better now.

Another big change you'll notice right away, the rays now have sand. I put in 400lbs of torpedo beach last week, after watching my mantilla hybrid being harassed for hours by the mantilla males I decided I better give them some sand.

The last change is the addition of a duckweed filter. For those who don't know duckweed is a green aquatic plant that floats on the surface of the water, it also happens to eat both ammonia and nitrates. I took the 65G tank I have sitting on top of the pond and installed a piece of lexani across the top of it just before the overflow, lexani sheet comes down about 6" below the water level. I then put the duckweed behind the lexani sheet, since it floats the lexani sheet keeps it from getting to the overflow and into the main pond. I have some LED Grow lights on top of the 65G for the duckweed. I did this about 2 weeks ago. Last week I did a water test, low level traces of ammonia, maybe .1ppm, no nitrite, and about 10-15ppm nitrate. Today I did a test, no ammonia, no nitrite, and only about 5ppm of nitrate, and I didn't do any water changes between the two tests. Currently there are 12 rays in the pond, smallest being about 10".

[YT]bZqbst1vb0M[/YT]
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
MonsterFishKeepers.com
Top Bottom