Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

My grand daughter Rachael while one of our dags Andrew-looks-on-pre-boardwalk-pond

Spent the day with Rachel Saturday. Rachel pointed out that my pond was like a castle and the kiwi planters surrounding the pond is a moat. This prompted a fun little game of shining Knight saving the lovely Princess. After the castle game we installed the first of the treated boards for the walls. I’ll stuff mortar from the rocks to the boards. There are still a couple issues I think will be easier to deal with before I get the walls up, namely adding the dirt to the kiwi beds as they are on the far side of the pond.

Jason and I fired up Jackson’s Alaskan Chainsaw Mill and made planks out of the last piece of the big tree in the road called Montoya Pass.

My wife Nell gets the credit for these photos of the installation of the gigantic slab.

Hehe, this one is a little out of focus, but I put it anyway, because it shows the effort needed to move this monster slab across the pond.

(I'm the 60 year old with the blue sweatshirt)
I feel amazingly good this morning. I must be doing something correctly. I woke up a few times last night, one time I realized I put the wrong end over by the kiwi planter. Oh well it is where it is, and unless it loses four hundred pounds after it dries out, it is perfect.

It is a bit low on the north side. I’ll fix that as I finish doing the rock work over there.

Yesterday I ordered the two part spray foam. The product I ordered from http://www.sprayfoamkit.com, is designed specifically for outdoors and has the hardest shell. Once the rock work is finished I’ll spray foam strategic surfaces depending on whether I want to hold heat in or keep it out. I’ll have more on this as I progress.

I’m scheduled for a “rotor rooter job,” as Jason called it, next week so I’ve got to take it easy for a week after that. I’ve got three more days to get what I can done to cover the greenhouse.

The weather has been warm during the day, and frigid at night. I’m happy with the progress. I also know a good snow with put the Kibosh on this project if I don’t get it covered.

I’m not worried, I’ve got Global Warming on my side.

Brian Walk the Plank Rodgers

That plank is AWESOME. Looking forward to seeing more progress

thanks Devin

I didnt realise the pond was so deep. great project.

Now that's what I call a pond

Looks great. I'd still see myself going for a swim after a beer or two.

I can't wait to see it all completed!

thanks everyone. I too want to get the water in and do a little wading. I've bought the plexiglass window. It is 12'X24"X 3/4" thick sorry about the 'Merican measures it's too early here to convert that to metric. Anyway, I'm thinking of hiring a carpenter buddy to build a water-proof window-frame out of oak out local hardwood. The idea is to increase the the portal size so the window doesn't feel like it is in the middle of a tunnel with the thick rock walls of the pond. Also bought a simple changing color under water LED light system. I'll take advantage of the spray foam application and sink the biofilter inlet into the floor in the form of a long 1 1/2" diameter PVC pipe lying along the bottom so the debris sliding down the natural slope of the pond leads to the pipe. I'm thinking I'll drill the pipe after the foam sets. In my mind I see the floor fairly smooth with inlet holes at floor level. A lot depends on how well I can apply the spray foam.

Spray foam?

Is that the sprayable concrete? Shootcrete (from bad memory)?

That's one hell of a chunky bit of timber! Great stuff, looking forward to seeing the end result.

I’ve purchased the outdoor variety as it has the hardest shell

I spoke with tech support at Hecht Rubber Supply and they say their product will cover spray foam perfectly.

I hope so, because it is ordered

November 12th 2014



Brian Rodgers over and out

Having the boardwalk not only returns floor space to the human members of the ecosystem, it provides shade for the fish, and provides a way to get to the other side of the pond where I'm thinking I'll build the second and maybe third grow beds
Brian Rodgers

With the pond setting, it can take up to a month for the concrete to set properly, and you're supposed to keep it wet during that time.

I found it was easier to fill my whole tank and let it sit that way for a while.

I'd be very wary about using the spray insulation inside the fish tank, extremely wary. The fire retardants you don't want in the water for one, and the anti-microbial stuff is a double no no, plus whatever chemicals are in it. It's also not designed to be left submerged. And fish are delicate creatures, it doesn't take much to kill them, and random dead fish are annoying to figure out what kills them (which is a strong possibility if it slowly leeches into the system). And getting the foam out will be a true nightmare of a job later.

The paintable pond liner are good, and flexible, but that's only to a point. Too much movement and they'll split, so if the foam compresses from the water pressure (or a number of other possibilities), it can crack, water will get behind it, lift it off and you'll be in for a nightmare.

Just do it all with concrete. Look up ferrocrete (ferrocement) if you want to shape it, you just mix it into a thicker mixture, and you can shape it into anything you'd like.

thanks Colum yes thanks for that discussion and those are all things that I should have thought of. Adding potential issues that'll kill my fish mysteriously isn't something I want to do. A friend has been wanting me to use papercrete since I first broached the idea of a pond. I'm not even certain the pond needs insulating. The whole greenhouse is an earth-sheltered design. Good food for thought. The foam is on its way, but there are many places around the greenhouse and foundations that can use foam that'll be away from my plants and fish

Most of my victims would have felt in the lap of luxury if that was the plank I had them walk! Impressive work.

Also, I noticed the foam you picked has no fire retardants, one less thing to worry about!