AS Promised to Jackie

[TASSAJARA]

Hello to all from the new guys on the block. I am posting some pixs of our pond and pets as promised. Look forward to meeting all.
tks, michael and sandy

[Terri]

Glad you fulfilled your promise :-) Very nice. What's the pooch's name? You've got some nice sized koi there, the Chagoi(?) looks good! Love the water fall.

Can you tell us a bit more about your system? How many gallons? Filter used? Etc... I'm nosey ;-)

Welcome tpo the board Michael and Sandy, look forward to getting to know you too! :grin:

[Jackie Ramo]

:lol: Hello Michael and Sandy. Glad to see you and the promised pics. Beautiful all of them. Happy pooch and lovely yard and pond. I'd love to see a couple of views of the waterfalls.

[TASSAJARA]

Good morning and thank you Terri and Jackie.

The pooch's name is Levi, he is a 6 year old Golden Retriever, he owns the house and lets us live there as long as we keep feeding and petting him.

We have had our pond 2 years now. It is a little over 5k gallons, 50" deep and about 12X17 with 2 bottom drains and 1 skimmer. 1 return to the falls and 1 return to the pond that is hidden under the spitter you see in the pixs so I can control the falls and keep the return volume up.
The pond is filtered by a Challenger 60 and pumped by a 1.5hp Aqua-flo XP2, 2 speed, rated at 4400/8200gpm. There is also an 80 watt AQUA uv.

Five of the fish are 2.5 years old and between 24" and 20" to include the Chagoi you mentioned who is a girl and our largest. Of the 2.5 year olds we started with the Chagoi, a Kohaku Gin Rin who has changed to a platinum Ogon Gin and looks like a male. An Ochiba that was a beautiful brown and black but now is solid gray and looks like a male. Kojaku Doitsu with lateral scales female and a Yamabuk Ogon that also looks female.The other four are 1.5 years old between 14" and 16" long and are an orange gin rin Ogon long fins, a mini me of the large Kojaku with long fins, a Kumonryu and a long fin mutt.

I have attached some close-ups of the falls but I am using a first generation digital that is of poor quality. I will also load some pixs of a pond and fall much larger than mine that I built for a friend. He has about 12K gals with a diamond finish concrete pond.

Well hoped you aren't sorry you asked for all this, I don't mind at all.
michael

[Jackie Ramo]

Michael, I really like your falls. They are one of the nicest I have seen and just the type I am hoping to put in for our small, soon to be built watergarden, so I'll be bugging you for design details soon.

Levi has the same idea as my two have... they own the house and me, I am the slave.

[Busy B]

I think all ponds are beautiful in their own right, but your surroundings and waterfall really make yours stand out...so pretty.

The other that you built is wonderful too...did you use concrete for the falls? That's not free standing, dry stacked like yours right?

[TASSAJARA]

Thank you for all the kind comments,

I would be glade to share what little I have, it will only take a couple of minutes to cover it all. Jackie, just let me know when your ready, it's not hard at all. Just build it with block first and then back fill it to the depth you want each weirs to be. Then I covered it with 45mil EPDM and then mortared the stone right on top.

My fall and the larger one are built up with 16" blocks. Mine is mortared on the caps or top side and then I did dry stack the ones inside the weirs where you see the face to cover the EPDM. However, all the ones that look dry stacked on the pond are mortared.

The larger fall is all mortared, due to the size, it is the only way it could be done. There is a foundation underneath then about 100 blocks, and then covered with stone. The insides of the weirs are finished the same as the pond and pool with diamond bright except colored in black replacing the use of EPDM.

tks, michael

[Jackie Ramo]

WHAT??? That sounds like work to me :lol: First load the heavy blocks and carry them down the hill, across the yard and then dig out the hill to accomodate them... Yours looks so lovely I was sure it appeared by majic!!!

I'll post some pics in another thread of my little hill I'd like to utilize. :lol:

[Terri]

I want your water fall.... yup, I really like that!

The pooch's name is Levi, he is a 6 year old Golden Retriever, he owns the house and lets us live there as long as we keep feeding and petting him.
!rofl well I have two canines that are just the same, you shoul dhear the telling off I get when dinners late! :grin:

[marla]

I love the ponds, the landscaping, everything. Now what's that floating in there are those glass gazing balls or something else (looks like big bubbles)

[TASSAJARA]

Hi Marla, yep, there glass gazing balls or KOI TOYS as we call them. They especially like them during the final four period. No, they have not broken any of them yet, they are hand blown and very thick. Thank you for all the nice coments also,
michael

[Jackie Ramo]

I was looking at some gazing balls last year but decided they'd only end up in front of the skimmer. I did give the fish a solar light to play with, it floats. Forgot to take it out and it jammed the skimmer opening and shut down the system.... now it sits on the table instead of candles

[TASSAJARA]

The solar light sounded cool, shame it caused you trouble.

I keep the water level toped off so I never had any problem with the balls getting in the skimmer, only the water lettuce I have to take out every other day or so. But even if they went into the skimmer, it has plenty of room. The leaf basket is about 16"X8" and 10" deep and then there is a slide filter for smaller objects. Until the other day when I mentioned about the frog in the 2" pipe I sucked up, I've been OK.

michael

[Jackie Ramo]

The solar light was the perfect size to jam the opening... the floatingplants do that in summer as well until they get a certain mass then they are less problems.

Got a closer shot of the glass balls?

[marla]

we laid a bamboo plant stake across the two upper plant tiers infront of the skimmer to keep ours from going in, also did it to the biofalls to keep them from floating out. Worked real good, jus had to trim the roots occassionaly. I'll have to look into the gazing balls that is really neat looking.

[TASSAJARA]

I will take a shot of the glass balls tomorrow and post. My wife Sandy got them at an art show, they had diferant sizes. Jackie, with your art talent you can probably make your own.

[Jackie Ramo]

:lol: Actually one of the aritists at the studio does kid's money banks of clay using balloons, maybe I should play with that idea.

[Cinnamon]

Michael your pond is gorgeous! I love it. Welcome to the board! Sorry I been not keeping up much the last few days. So !welcome