Arapaima Pond Build

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
Went to the shop today. 1 pump at home. 12k liter per hour, half of what I need. Paid 2200 baht for it, about 70 USD.
Found that wire frame around the pond is less expensive than I thought, 50x200cm for 290 baht befor discount. So might get it to 250 which is about 8 USD.
Need 40 of them, sides and front total 20 meter.
If I'd go with horizontal, 50cm high jump protection...would save a lot except peace of mind.
The other cheaper one we found is the sunshade, 30baht or 1 USD p/meter at 2 meters wide. I need 10x5 meter square, so 5 5x2 meter pieces will do, total cost for 70% UV block is then only 750 baht or 15 USD.
Only thing to decide is color...green, black or blue...think I'll go for blue with the white liner.

Still struggling to find stones, no luck yet to find it cheap.
 
Yesterday on the news they showed some arapaimas caught. Did not see it myself, don't watch tv, but seems they where bought on the cheap by some ppl to resell in the weekend market.
Still, from what I understood from it, 3000 USD for a 1.5 to 2 meter fish...not bad...gotta put Mr. T in my accounts as an asset...lol
 
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Ha...came in this morning, water level dropped maybe 1 to 2 mm. That's sure evaporation and some shifting in the liner that is still rolled up on one side. Given that it's very hot and windy, I'm sure there's no other reason for it.
So drain is solid. Great...

Cheers,
Luc
 
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Grrr....it's going to be a long 2 weeks, nothing much we can do...everything is fully booked for customers and ISO-audits next week.
But after that, we should be ok to get working and hopefully finish the basic pond with water circulating but no bog or any other filter yet.
Need the old pond's liner to create the bog, so that's still a bit after the transfer itself.

Contractor will only come next week, still busy with other jobs, to finish 2 holes for skimmer and mid-level drain and rail for the sunshade.
Once done, make the shades and hook them up. Move Mr.T. to one side and dig enough space to drop his liner in that part of the hole. From there, it's a last all out effort to dig out the remaining sand, roll out the liner and start pumping in water around Mr. T. inside his liner 'bag' which will slowly flatten out his liner until we can start pulling that out.

Sigh, 2 weeks....
Cheers,
Luc
 
Checked some more for the wiremesh at the sides.
Yesterday's price is for 75x150cm White plastified wiremesh frames. THB 250 after discount.
Today we checked for different sizes, found a 60x120cm white plastified wiremesh. THB 100
So I think it's pretty easy now, 60x120cm around the pond. High enough for jump-protection and easy to hang a lot of plants.
2 or 3 of these frames will be empty with a hinge so we can open it and feed/look at the fish.
With all these nets around the pond and the sunshade on top, there's no fear for birds/cats and other animals to cause trouble.
And if ever there would be a flooding again, Mr. T is nicely locked in with a free flow of water around him and enough space to breathe.
 
Still got about 10 meters of flex pipe. Just tried on a short piece, with a torch it's very easy to make 3/4" holes in it and it remains very rigid.
Ideal for the bog, can put a spiral shape on the bottom, connect with elbow and 1" hose to the pump.
Couple of valves to reverse the flow every now and then to clear debris...perfect, no need to buy PVC pipe. Saving some there... Hehee
 
It's really fun to use scrap, which there is plenty of in my factory...lol
Imagination makes many things useful and I am pushing it to keep the cost down.
Once the transfer of the fish is done, I will be racing to get the bog running at least with a couple of plants. Then just hope to get crystal clear water that I need for proper under water videos...lol.
Over time, can fill it up more, same for orchids and other plants around the pond.
 
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Went fast for the under-gravel water-pipe. Got a 3 meter flex-pipe with holes 45' downwards.
Will lay that in a circle on the bottom of the bog and then need to get gravel on top.
I've figured to have the outlet from the pump connect to a T.
Each outlet from the T will get a valve and connect to one end of the flex-pipe with holes.
Effectively it will be a circle, but with one valve closed, I can regulate direction and reversing it to flush rubbish from one end to the other.
If I make an extra T again on each side with a valve, I can flush water from both directions out of the bog, taking out rubbish that's still in there.
Can't imagine stuff staying in there with the pressure from the pond and the large openings, but ok, we'll see it first.

Saturday will be a day of patching up small stuff. Need to make the skimmer and mid-level drain as well.
For the skimmer I got some reading and checking to do. See how I can make it most effective.
The mid-level drain will be a straight through opening in the liner, 3" size.
Similar to the bottom-drain, with aluminium-backing plate and aluminium ring over the liner to keep it in place.
Silicone, screws and for this one I'll use a dinner plate as cover with 1" clearance to take water in.
Just a PVC screw-fittings male/female so it's easy to take out for cleaning.

Found some great epoxy which can be applied under water. Not sticky on your fingers, you just cut it from a roll, then mix by kneading it thoroughly in your hands. Great to fill or fix any holes. Just push it in the place to fix and hardens out very fast.
 
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