Qu: re Water Pressure Against Walls of its Container

[Julles]

The latest in my serie of questions about enlarging my pond   


I think I will enlarge it to the largest size I can, and that means a LOT of digging.  So I will probably have to hire a couple of laborers to do the hard part.  But I cn'at have them dig the entire thing, because I would have to stop at some point and drive them back home, and I can't do that when my fish need to get out of the temporary 5 gallon pots and back into their pond.

So I would have the guys dig most of the extension of the pond, and leave a wall of dirt between the existing pond and the new area.  Then once I take the diggers back home, I will drain my pond and remove the remaining dirt myself, to connect the two ponds.

Question:  How thick does that wall of dirt need to be, to hold 550 gallons back and keep it from breaking into the newly dug extension of the pond?  It will be a wall 3' wide by 30" deep.  How thick does it need to be?

If I'm paying those guys to dig, I want to get all the work out of them I can.  But I don't want to risk having that wall crash, and all my fish jeaporidized.

[Johns]

Julles,

The force of the water is very high. The 3 feet will likely be ok unless you have a rain, which would weaken the wall's capability to hold back the water.  Best bet: don't gamble.  Make arrangements for your fish to survive in temporary quarters for a week or more and go ahead and dig out the whole pond.   Always use existing pond water for temporary fish quarters to minimize ph shock and once the new pond is filled, be sure the new water is ph compatible (and chlorine absent) with the old pond water before reintroducing your fish.

Question:  Once the new area is dug out, are you going to install a whole new liner or are you planning on extending your old liner into a new one? While it is possible to seam two liners together, I recommend against it, since if any roots can reach the seam, they WILL breach it (Been there, Done that, Do have the T-Shirt {Complements of  Kayak Kid} personal experience over the last 36 years). IMHO, you will be much happier in the long run if you replace the entire liner and save your old liner for another smaller pond in another location.

Tip: have your new liner on hand before beginning the dig. You never know if there could be a shipping delay.


Regarding temporary abodes for your fish:  How big and how many?  Consider getting some 100 gallon wading pools at Walmart and filling them with water from your pond and putting your fish in them temporarily.  You will need  to cover them with some sort of net (Bird netting or chicken wire) to keep them from jumping out (They will) and to protect them from predators.  Additionally, your fish will require aeration in the pools with an airstone.  If kept in the temporary pools longer than 24 hours, some sort of  biofiltration (using some media from your regular biofilter) may be necessary.  You could accomplish this with 6 gallon buckets and a submersible pump, but be careful about plumbing leaks, etc. ( A rule of thumb: One 6 bucket filter container with media for each 100 gallon container.).

Please check out my website http://www.gardenendeavors.com/  Click on the beagles, then select Water Gardens  and there are some useful pages for your consideration, all 100 percent free, and worth what you paid for them!  LOL!

[tranquility]

Yep those pop up pools at  Wal-mart work great for holding fish in....And when you are thru with it...use it to keep lilies in 
Lawanna

[Julles]

Hmmm,,, Maybe Destiny is telling me something... just a week or so ago, a neighbor threw out one of those pre-fab peanut shaped ponds - and, of course, I nabbed it.

That's big enough that I could set up the filter on it.  If I kept the smaller fish in other tubs (with pumps and air stones), I could maybe get away with keeping the koi in the peanut pond ...don't like the idea of keeping them out overnight, but with the pump an filter, it should be OK for a day or two.

And, yes, it will be one liner, no seaming.  The reason I'm making the extension this big is because I already have the liner, and I'm making the pond to fit the liner.

Thanks for the tips.

Now, off to check John's site......

[Ky Kim]

When you put the Koi into a holding spot, be sure to put a net over it.  They will jump!  This happened to me, when I was starting to add some of my koi to the bigger pond.  I was going to put two in and wait a bit, then a couple more.  It was a 10 incher, luckly I checked on the pond before going to get my kids at the bus stop.  My dog was looking at me, and looking down.  Sure enough, there covered in dry dirt was my Koi.  I flopped in back into the water, he was really dried out.  Netted him and checked him out, and he was fine.  This was about 4 years ago, and I still have him.

Kim