Pond Rebuild
Series:Pond Rebuild
Date:June 2004 - October 2004 
Photographer:ECY Foo / JR Mortimer 


Pond rebuild; June to October 2004:

P0010143 - Pond Rebuild - ECY Foo / JR Mortimer - June 2004 - October 2004  P0010148 - Pond Rebuild - ECY Foo / JR Mortimer - June 2004 - October 2004  P0010155 - Pond Rebuild - ECY Foo / JR Mortimer - June 2004 - October 2004

June 2004: Diasaster!! A leaky sewer was supposed to be repaired, and I managed to get a day off to get some specialists out to clear the drains, only to find that the information provided by the Water Corporation was incorrect, and the pond was next to a uncapped sewer outlet. When the specialists cleared the drain, they pumped enough sewerage out to go up three metres and into my pond. Most of the Koi failed to survive this ordeal and died, apart from two which were in a bucket. Another of these died later.

P0010158 - Pond Rebuild - ECY Foo / JR Mortimer - June 2004 - October 2004  P0010160 - Pond Rebuild - ECY Foo / JR Mortimer - June 2004 - October 2004  P0010164 - Pond Rebuild - ECY Foo / JR Mortimer - June 2004 - October 2004

June 2004: The extra sewerage outlet was discovered, unfortunately too late to save any fish. A plastic cover with a screw top was cemented in place to stop this happening again.

P0010169 - Pond Rebuild - ECY Foo / JR Mortimer - June 2004 - October 2004  P0010336 - Pond Rebuild - ECY Foo / JR Mortimer - June 2004 - October 2004  P0010343 - Pond Rebuild - ECY Foo / JR Mortimer - June 2004 - October 2004  P0010344 - Pond Rebuild - ECY Foo / JR Mortimer - June 2004 - October 2004

June 2004: The casualties from the pond, the Koi had grown to a reasonable size over the past couple of years, as shown in the picture with the ruler (this was taken for insurance purposes, but I was told that my insurance doesn't cover "fish or pets" under the current act). Plus a few more photos of the general carnage caused by the sewer water.

P0010520 - Pond Rebuild - ECY Foo / JR Mortimer - June 2004 - October 2004

July 2004: After visiting my local Bunnings to buy a new pond and a spill-over, I roughed out some plans and threw these in for a quick photo to see how close the end product was to the plan. I also purchased a book on how to build ponds for some inspiration. It quickly became apparent that some brick work would need to form the basis of the second pond, to provide it with enough elevation to flow into the original pond.

P0010754 - Pond Rebuild - ECY Foo / JR Mortimer - June 2004 - October 2004  P0010778 - Pond Rebuild - ECY Foo / JR Mortimer - June 2004 - October 2004  P0010805 - Pond Rebuild - ECY Foo / JR Mortimer - June 2004 - October 2004
 P0010810 - Pond Rebuild - ECY Foo / JR Mortimer - June 2004 - October 2004  P0010803 - Pond Rebuild - ECY Foo / JR Mortimer - June 2004 - October 2004

July 2004: Dan came over to help with the foundations and give me a quick lesson in how to make nice sludgy concrete which would turn into the base for the split pond - I dug a trench around the perimeter deep enough to bury a single layer of bricks, and filled this with bricks and cement. A bit of persuasion was required to let the concrete settle into a flat layer for the base, and Eunice snapped a pic of me resting after the work was done!!!!

P0011907 - Pond Rebuild - ECY Foo / JR Mortimer - June 2004 - October 2004  P0011910 - Pond Rebuild - ECY Foo / JR Mortimer - June 2004 - October 2004  P0011912 - Pond Rebuild - ECY Foo / JR Mortimer - June 2004 - October 2004
P0011918 - Pond Rebuild - ECY Foo / JR Mortimer - June 2004 - October 2004  P0011923 - Pond Rebuild - ECY Foo / JR Mortimer - June 2004 - October 2004  P0011925 - Pond Rebuild - ECY Foo / JR Mortimer - June 2004 - October 2004

July 2004: Continuing to build the wall on top of the foundation ended up being a pretty easy job; include the fact that it would all be covereed in rocks and sand, so I didn't have to do a very "pretty" job of it - my first attempt at brick work seemed to go quite well. Nothing like getting the old hands dirty in the midst of it all!!! The resulting wall looks good for a first attempt.

P0012025 - Pond Rebuild - ECY Foo / JR Mortimer - June 2004 - October 2004  P0012027 - Pond Rebuild - ECY Foo / JR Mortimer - June 2004 - October 2004

August 2004: Meanwhile we received a few fish which were transfered into the original pond. As you can see from these pictures, a few flushes of the water were required to bring the pond back to life; before the fish were added the plants were put back in to oxygenate the water, and a couple of the plants didn't look too healthy until the pond was flushed a few more times.

P0012034 - Pond Rebuild - ECY Foo / JR Mortimer - June 2004 - October 2004  P0012043 - Pond Rebuild - ECY Foo / JR Mortimer - June 2004 - October 2004

August 2004: Looking at the problem of how to get the water from the higher pond into the lower pond with the minimum of fuss, I deceided to make a half-shaft from some old 90mm PVC pipe that my mum had given me. Cutting a ridge into the edge of the pond where it was going to sit, adding a bracket, a bit of water sealing and a lot of hope, it turned out to be quite a good answer to the problem. This was inspired from the book that I bought.

P0012949 - Pond Rebuild - ECY Foo / JR Mortimer - June 2004 - October 2004  P0012952 - Pond Rebuild - ECY Foo / JR Mortimer - June 2004 - October 2004  P0012955 - Pond Rebuild - ECY Foo / JR Mortimer - June 2004 - October 2004

September 2004: This "Turkish Pot" was bought from Bunnings for the grand sum of $au3, add to that some sparkly rocks bought from a $au2 shop. A big drill bit was used to allow a small hose to be run into the back and made a nifty water feature for a bargain price! The overflow drain, it was painted black to keep it somewhat consistant with the rest of the new pond area. And one picture of the two of them together to see how it all sits.

P0012959 - Pond Rebuild - ECY Foo / JR Mortimer - June 2004 - October 2004  P0012992 - Pond Rebuild - ECY Foo / JR Mortimer - June 2004 - October 2004  P0012996 - Pond Rebuild - ECY Foo / JR Mortimer - June 2004 - October 2004

September 2004: A trip down to "Watergarden World" on a Saturday morning saw the purchase of 5 new Koi; we ended up getting the $au7 Koi, after the initial shock of being transferred, they seemed to like the new environment.

P0013009 - Pond Rebuild - ECY Foo / JR Mortimer - June 2004 - October 2004  P0013055 - Pond Rebuild - ECY Foo / JR Mortimer - June 2004 - October 2004  P0013059 - Pond Rebuild - ECY Foo / JR Mortimer - June 2004 - October 2004  P0013061 - Pond Rebuild - ECY Foo / JR Mortimer - June 2004 - October 2004

October 2004: A few general shots at night-time of the way the pond ended up. You may notice the new "underwater" lights that give the pond a bit more of a tropical feel to it.

P0013068 - Pond Rebuild - ECY Foo / JR Mortimer - June 2004 - October 2004  P0013078 - Pond Rebuild - ECY Foo / JR Mortimer - June 2004 - October 2004  P0013082 - Pond Rebuild - ECY Foo / JR Mortimer - June 2004 - October 2004
P0013083 - Pond Rebuild - ECY Foo / JR Mortimer - June 2004 - October 2004  P0013095 - Pond Rebuild - ECY Foo / JR Mortimer - June 2004 - October 2004  P0013104 - Pond Rebuild - ECY Foo / JR Mortimer - June 2004 - October 2004

October 2004: The fish all seem to get on quite well, these shots show them in their environment. The water looks a lot cleaner than in those first few shots!

P0013105 - Pond Rebuild - ECY Foo / JR Mortimer - June 2004 - October 2004  P0013449 - Pond Rebuild - ECY Foo / JR Mortimer - June 2004 - October 2004  P0014789 - Pond Rebuild - ECY Foo / JR Mortimer - June 2004 - October 2004  P0014790 - Pond Rebuild - ECY Foo / JR Mortimer - June 2004 - October 2004

October 2004: Adding a few rocks to the area and filling up the rest with some of the left over builders sand provided the final parts to this rebuild. Buddha is back in the corner being cool with his sunglasses, the Chinese money god watches over the fish, and a Japanese lantern provides light to the way (thanks to a bit of engineering with a spare light fitting for the 12 volt system). Finally it looks great again and is somewhere to relax in the evenings and listen to the sound of running water.

Please feel free to leave comments!!




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P R E V I O U S     C O M M E N T S
Denise Friday, November 05, 2004 at 13:22:08
IP Logged:203.134.17.228
Nice Job.....pitty about the fish!!

Bridget Friday, November 05, 2004 at 13:23:34
IP Logged:203.9.54.4
It certainly is a wonderful place to relax and contemplate life. Great job with the rebuild!

linda Friday, November 05, 2004 at 17:19:21
IP Logged:
220.235.43.148
the bricks give it that rustic touch..lol

Alan Burke Monday, November 08, 2004 at 12:21:49
IP Logged: 163.232.30.43
Richard,

Great job. You should start your own reality TV show. Looks impressive.

The wheelbarrow doesn't look too comfortable though.

Jacqui Tuesday, November 09, 2004 at 18:48:26
IP Logged: 62.254.64.13
Awww poor fish! Looks like you have been busy. Good job - it looks nice. Have u got over doing some real work yet or are you still in the wheelbarrow lol



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