Arapaima Pond Build

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
Lol, cant wait til i have the finances for something like that. Of course may need to move to a country like yours just so i can have a tropical pond
 
Start with a storm drain and some floods...hahaha

I was determined to get out of cold county years ago, never looked back.
Having a supporting and understanding wife sure helps. For the fish I mean, met her years ago in hot county, not cold...lol
 
Lol. My wife say staying at home with the fish is better than me going out to bars with friends
 
Today another long day without any people available.
My plan is to prepare metal-racks to support the temporary pond on the concrete pavement before Saturday.
If I build those to about 60cm, then have sandbags on the outside to support them, I will have no worries on it.
Main issue will be to pump out water, hook the tent to the forklift and make sure it keeps a horizontal bottom when lifting it.
Then lift it over the concrete wall to the other side and leave it up until the metal rack supports are around it.
After that, slowly lowering it and filling it at the same time.
Once all ready, put the filter drum back on and start working on the pond.
 
Got a small airpump yesterday... Try at 60 L/m first...see how that goes.
If not, then we'll step it up. But guess it will be ok for now..
Oxygen is not a major concern anyway...that will come from the bog and flow of water.
Light load at first, it's mainly to improve the bottom-drain flow.
Will try it somewhere next week for connection, need to make some fittings for it.
Location for the air-pump will be under the roof for water-mains pump.
Dry, out of the sun and electric already there.
 
While i was building ponds (at my old job), we would dig the pond out by hand or cat, compact walls and floor, lay stone down, then lay sand down. Over the sand we put rubber liner (1/8th i think it was), then build a rock wall all around the edges of the pond. Biggest pond that ive done like this was 30'x20' koi pond, and it lasted 8 years before the place went out of business.

I really dont think you need rebar'd concrete for a pond at all, especially in a tropical climate. Most pools are not built with rebar'd concrete even in regions that do freeze.

Also if you are building a pond that big, why not a fountain instead of an air pump?
 
Rome said:
While i was building ponds (at my old job), we would dig the pond out by hand or cat, compact walls and floor, lay stone down, then lay sand down. Over the sand we put rubber liner (1/8th i think it was), then build a rock wall all around the edges of the pond. Biggest pond that ive done like this was 30'x20' koi pond, and it lasted 8 years before the place went out of business.

I really dont think you need rebar'd concrete for a pond at all, especially in a tropical climate. Most pools are not built with rebar'd concrete even in regions that do freeze.

Also if you are building a pond that big, why not a fountain instead of an air pump?
Click to expand...

Thanks for the comment Rome...
To answer on your questions:
- Dig out by hand. No concrete floor for the pond. (That was the plan for the pond at home..had to change to low-budget at work)...

- Compacting the floor...not necessary, with floods and subsequent dry season now, the bed of the pond is hard as rock.
Just in case, I do leave enough 'slack' in the liner on all sides to allow for some sinking of the floor, but I don't expect it.
The temporary pond has not subsided a single inch over the last 3 months.
Walls I 'compact' by draining them with water and topping up with sand after they dry out again until they are high enough.
This will be a job once the pond is at least 3/4 full with water.

- I don't use rebar in the concrete wall, only the 6 pillars/wall supports have rebar in them. Rest is all concrete block filled with cement. I am sure water pressure is not enough to even dent it. Looking at my 99 gallon tank at home, 150x50x50cm with only 4mm glass or so, I'm very sure that a 15cm thick, 80cm high, concrete block wall has no problems with the water pressure, especially with the concrete pillar-supports that also support the wall at 150cm intervals and the liner creating a perfectly even pressure everywhere.

- Well, the reason I am using the airpump is to create upwards movement over the bottom-drain, so there's more horizontal flow over the bottom towards the drain.
I've also noticed the terrible noice a water pump would make under water if placed directly in the pond. (check the videos I posted)..
Even though fish don't hear sound, they sure notice vibration in the water. That was one reason for me to keep the pumps out of the pond.
And not even talking about aesthetics, to me a pond or tank has to be as bare, in terms of equipment, as possible.

Overall, not using rebar is not so much a matter of tropical climate I think...more a matter of your underground condition.
Where I stay, everything is piled. Old riverbed underground. A normal 2 story house typically gets piling to about 7-8 meters deep and concrete skeleton built on top and then walls filled in with brick&mortar...So you'd definitely need to rebar your concrete over here if you'd build a concrete base for your pond or be at risk of it breaking under pressure when the ground subsides unevenly.

That said, I think part of what you meant to say is that many ponds, especially koy-ponds, are way way overbuild...which I totally agree with, but that's a decision not mine to make. You build a pond, better be comfortable with the build or not build it at all.

Cheers,
Luc
 
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