The Pond at Grizzly Acres
 

Alrighty then peeps, if I didnt have enough to do the wife asked if we or should I say "I" could build a pond at the end of the driveway by the house, oh boy here we go again!!

A little back ground info back to where it all started.....

Last yr we had to move the gas meter from the most rediculas spot it could have even been put to a more out of the way location. SO....I started digging by had right at the meter to see how far the lines where buried. After a couple hrs. and almost 4' down I still had not found the where the pipe bends & heads south, enough was enough so I had to rent a mini backho.

http://i765.photobucket.com/albums/x...ps7b953853.jpg
http://i765.photobucket.com/albums/x...ps9713356f.jpg

We got it all dug out and the meter moved fairly fast & I still had time left on the hr meter to use so I figured now is as good a time as any to stat the pond. I had to remove the Allen Block wall as it was all crooked and just plain wacked & started digging.

http://i765.photobucket.com/albums/x...ps1c332e48.jpg
http://i765.photobucket.com/albums/x...ps7f6c0e7e.jpg


Move forward to this yr. when the weather cooperated.......


Once the wall was put back up nice straight & level I started to form ledges all the way around the perimeter to have some where to set plants on once the pond was full.
http://i765.photobucket.com/albums/x...ps084730f5.jpg

So, what's next? Looks like this is going to be pretty stellar, where are you at now?

Was at a garden store today and my daughter saw the koi pond, said we should have one..... They are so pretty! Can't wait to see this one completed! (I am no way doing this btw!)

Set that big tank in the picture background up on a raised platform and have an infinity overflow tank draining into the pond below.Then build a nice cedar pergola over it to keep the sun off of it.Then do a zen garden around that.There,that should keep you busy for a day or two.LOL!

more updates coming right up Sheena.

That was the old 165 gal tank that need some polishing before it can be sold & I have enough to do right now as we are now working on the 760 sq ft. concrete patio in that area where the tank is sitting in that pic.

Framed in the shelfs with some 3/4" plywood & filled them with dirt then capped them with more plywood.

http://i765.photobucket.com/albums/x...psaa27db29.jpg

Next came the liner, all one piece. Used the wall caps to hold it down at the top & some of the old patio block to hold it tight on the shelf.

http://i765.photobucket.com/albums/x...ps66367da8.jpg

Started to fill the pond with water to assist me in getting the liner stretched and tight in the bottom sections.

http://i765.photobucket.com/albums/x...ps7a9e7423.jpg

Continued to fill the pond above the shelf's to again stretch the liner tight in the top section.

http://i765.photobucket.com/albums/x...ps08d2ac6b.jpg

Once the liner was all formed in place I had to drain it in order to start building the water features, first waterfall.

http://i765.photobucket.com/albums/x...psffd48139.jpg

Center fountain, set the fountain on a concrete block & started to bond rocks to it to conceal the block.

http://i765.photobucket.com/albums/x...ps0b0382df.jpg

http://i765.photobucket.com/albums/x...ps194020ce.jpg

Worked my way to the top of the block & base of the fountain over a few days, several days that is.

http://i765.photobucket.com/albums/x...ps982aaae8.jpg

Started the second waterfall & finished that one off pretty quick.

http://i765.photobucket.com/albums/x...ps7647c431.jpg

Finished off the first waterfall, took a little longer to complete this one with the 2" kootney granite.

http://i765.photobucket.com/albums/x...ps6b9d4ff7.jpg

Added 1/2 cubic yd of 3/4" washed Alberta Rainbow rock to the bottom & on top of the shelf's.

http://i765.photobucket.com/albums/x...ps8bb5ae38.jpg

Are you kidding me?! Nice rock work... and the grizzlies are a fitting touch!!

Time came to finally get this sucker filled up so I hooked up the hose to the big fountain, just cause :biggrin:.

http://i765.photobucket.com/albums/x...ps204f2d2e.jpg

Once the pond was full enough to flow through the skimmer boxes I hooked up the pumps.

http://i765.photobucket.com/albums/x...ps4e3deec5.jpg

http://i765.photobucket.com/albums/x...ps83e3c5b2.jpg

http://i765.photobucket.com/albums/x...psf9a9b789.jpg

Thanks WarDog, it was a ton of work but worth it. We are still looking for more bears to add to the collection.

A friend of a friend had a few Koi then need to sell as well as a nice big Laguna filter so I snapped them up.

http://i765.photobucket.com/albums/x...ps3f541315.jpg

Here they are in there new home, all 58 of them.

http://i765.photobucket.com/albums/x...psbd7c6a89.jpg

Looking good....following along.

And finally here is where we stand today, still need to add some plants & a few finishing touches.

http://i765.photobucket.com/albums/x...psdc5f13b8.jpg
http://i765.photobucket.com/albums/x...ps28b2ec72.jpg
http://i765.photobucket.com/albums/x...ps1a3a81f4.jpg

Awesome! What's your wintering plan?

Its deep enough to keep the fish in the pond over winter just have to add a couple air diffusers, redirect the pumps to flow under 24' of water and add a couple electric floating heaters.

Looking pretty sweet Grizz.::biggrin:

Don't you think its a bit cruel to add a bear holding fish right where your poor fishies can see????

That is so awesome!!! How long did it actually take you as your pictures make it seem like only a weekend job..... Well done!

Looks awesome!

Looks amazing grizz :)

there do appear to be a lot of bears in that pond.. poor fish..

Thanks

Its catch and release :lol: & I am more worried about my brother in-law then the bears.

It took about 6 month between last fall and this spring to actually get it up and running. The weather didn't help one bit either.

Thank you.

And more to come as we can find the ones we want :biggrin:

24 feet?!!! Wow, that's a lot deeper than it looks in the pictures! Lol.

Silly fingers, should have been 24 " :lol:

Nice work as that is one sharp looking pond!

2' above ground is hard to say about winter.

Wow, havent been on here or out to your house in years! is this still up and running?

Very nice grizz!! I have a koi pond too and I think 24" May be a lil too shallow. 3-4 is more recommended for winter as they can just stay at the bottom n be warm without heaters. I have about 40 Kois ranging from 10"-30". As they get larger they will need the swimming room. From my experience I had to remove my center piece as the fishes would stress n dart into the center piece n ruin their face. I had many with scratches to facial deformation( mainly due to my neighbor tearing down the house n building new. The pounding on the ground rly startled them). As soon as I removed the centerpiece they absolutely loved the extra space. How do u manage without a net over the pond? Stupid raccoons always venture to my pond to either take baths on the waterfall n ruin the water or they try to go fishing. Man I rly love ur waterfall design and especially those Grizzlies haha. Just amazing work man!

Yes its been awhile there Josh, the pond isnt running right now cause its WINTER. I actually drained it in the fall cause I am redoing a few things in the spring. All the fish are enjoying a nice warm winter in a large water tub in my pool room.

Thanks for the compliments much appreciated. I went to a pond specialist here in Alberta and they showed me how to keep the pond from freezing up in the winter for 24" dee, just have to have the water circulating from bottom to just under water level, add in a couple big air diffusers and a couple floating heater to keep an open spot for gas exchange. We dont have to worry about critters in our yard as we have 6 Huskies that keep them away.

After I got the new patio poured last summer / fall I built some of the railings, there is going to be a railing along the back side and open end of the pond as well.

http://i765.photobucket.com/albums/x...psmeqmoeh4.jpg

http://i765.photobucket.com/albums/x...ps28hmsrh2.jpg

Oh man the entrance with the grizz is epic haha. 6 huskies would deff do a great job of protecting ur backyard. That very same night of me posting about the raccoons they actually came in n ripped out my hose connection to my filter(there was teeth marks) so my pump was basically pumping water outside to the ground. Lucky my sis works early n alerted us when she saw it. There was only less than 6" left of water in the pond. My pond has a total water volume of around 1100-1200 gal so that's a ton of water spilled out. Very lucky my pump was dirty so it wasn't pumping at full strength.