Re: buildinng a solid base pond?
#4
You dont need a sealant over GF, it is water tight if done correctly and it gets a gel coat which is also water tight.
Personally I would be inclined to slope the ramp the other way, so that the pipe work is as short as possible. That may also permit you to fit a bottom drain and an external pump rather than a submersible pump. Externals are generally more efficient than submersibles. The suggested layout would also avoid over the side cabling which is a personal hate of mine.
Re construction techniques, browse this site
http://www.koicymru.co.uk/construct.htm ]
Re GF see
http://www.yorkshirekoi.co.uk/ there are two supposedly good glassers on there.
BTW when browsing those or other sites dont get sucked into the latest super doper filtration rat race
Are you sure the base is solid and how thick is the concrete, if 4" or under I would be inclined to not use it and break up the slab and dig for depth as well as build up.
What fish are you thinking of, I think that's a bit on the small side for more than 1 or 2 koi and personally I would stick with goldfish and or comets etc.
2.5ft isnt a bad depth but I assume that's at the deep end, what will the shall end be? Anything under 2ft is probably heron wadeable.
Are you thinking of plants?
In your situation if you are thinking of plants I would either put them in baskets hung from the side or supported of plastic pipe frame works, such an approach keeps your volume up, gives the fish cover and gives your a variety of planting depths.
Somethings to think about,
how you will cap the wall,
provision for an overflow,
how will you return the filtered water to the pond,
power supply to the site,
how you will clean the filter and where will you dump the sludge, its excellent fertiliser,
how will you deal with surface debris, eg leaves
Animal access and more importantly escape for those that fall in, drowned birds and mice are not nice finds. With regard to the latter especially if you are using gf you have the opportunity to include a shallow shelf in the actual wall or a semi submerged sloping shore line over the top of the wall. I did the latter in my pond but in my case the shoreline is cement cast on top of the sheet liner, cement was used because its rough surface gives grip. With GF you could embed sand etc in the gel coat
The following are photos showing the shoreline of my pond and the waterlevel etc
This is the shore line being cast over the proper liner which is black, the blue is a temporary plastic liner being used to hold the white hardbaord shuttering in place
http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/s ... age/images/4-picture2.jpgThis is the pond full and frozen, note that the water extends partially over the top of the wall
http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/s ... age/images/1-picture1.jpgAfter a while I found the barren shoreline unattractive and I cast porous walls for plant bays on top of the shore line, this shows the first which was a trial after the walls had been cast
http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/s ... age/images/6-picture1.jpgThis shows some more being cast
http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/s ... ge3/images/2-picture3.jpgThis shows the bays planted and the electric heron fence
http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/s ... ge3/images/5-picture3.jpg