Indianapolis IN, Pond Build with a Blue Eco RDF

[Russell Peters]

The Blu-eco pump is not working, and I am waiting to hear from Paul or Blu-eco on what might be the cause. The controller powers up, but even when set for 100 RPM on a dedicated 20 amp circuit, the pump starts to turn and there is a nice "swish" as the pump starts to move, then the breaker pops.

So I am going to get a cover in place to connect one of my sequence pumps so if there are any issue with the filter Russ will still be in town to help me figure it out! That means I need to get the pit shelter built. Pretty simple construction- 4x4s in the corners and 2x6 boards for the sides. A 2x10 is connected to the cement of the pond, which will support the lid, is supported by two of the 4x4s. I connected the filter drain to a floor drain in the pit area with a short run of drain pipe to the neighbor's yard where water drains from the rest of my yard. I will be covering the floor with gravel. In order to shorten the filter pit , I buried the valves for the skimmers in a box outside the pit. This lets me get around the end of the pond a little bit easier.

[Russell Peters]

Giddy- That is how you feel when Paul Hayt reminds you that a regular GFI breaker will not work with a DC motor. So after switching out the breaker, the pump fires up like a champ. It is so quiet that all you hear is the flow noise of the water through the pipes!

After watching everything work flawlessly through a few cycles (except the auto-fill which will go online this weekend), I shut her down until later in the week when I have more time to play. Next job will be putting up the shower and running the last couple feet of supply pipe. The shower should be working by Saturday (depending on how much time I use up at a Dog Show and the NMZNA koi show!)-when I will post more pictures!


Seems it has been a while since this was updated! So, the shower did get installed. The only problem was that with the water hitting the plenum it created an uneven flow as shown in the second picture along with a lot of froth. I fixed this my installing a 1X2 piece of PVC across the plenum. This fixed the problem and the flow is nicely spread across the plenum (picture three). I am only running about 8k gph through the shower at this point since there are no fish! Flow rate is a guess based upon the ability to keep the RDF supplied with only two bottom drains.

[Russell Peters]

The Birdman showers come with slotted 2 inch PVC as an end-fed manifold. I decided I wanted something that would work with a center feed (and the pump is a 3 inch discharge). Sheet metal was a bit expensive, so I found some stainless steel grill sheets at HD which I thought might work (picture 1). I bought a couple and made sure I could easily cut off the unwanted parts (picture 2) and fit the pieces together (picture 3). So I bought a few more and fit them all together (picture 4). I am only using three of the 4 trays, so I tested the complete assembly for fit (picture 4). I installed the assembly using a couple of the cut-off side pieces as center supports and the assembly fit very nicely.

Unfortunately, there is insufficient flow right now to force the water to the outer sides at the top tray, although it is reasonably well distributed by time it hits the bottom tray. I will end up putting a 3-inch distribution pipe on tip of the manifold later this week to get a more even distribution.

[Russell Peters]

We are also scheduled for installation of the rock veneer and limestone next week, so I needed to get the filter cladding done. Since we are a bit over budget (the real stone veneer is a bit more expensive than the manufactured stone I originally budgeted for) I decided to use the decking from the portion of the deck that was removed for the pond. It worked reasonably well, and will tie to the decking by the house. I made three doors since the composite decking is so heavy. This results in a single door over the RDF. Since I will typically only need access to the RDF to clean the inside of the drum, I will normally just need to open the middle section (last picture).

[Russell Peters]

Here is the 3 inch manifold I made to use over the stainless steel grill. The first hole density I tried did not include enough holes. So I had to just haphazardly make additional holes (right side) . The second pipe (left side) I drilled once I knew the density I needed, it looks much nicer! I used a lower density in the center "T" since the water pressure is greatest at the feed location. I bumped the flow up to about maximum for the current water level (I am letting the level fall since the masons want it a bit lower when the capstone is positioned). There is still some capacity for an increased flow once the water level returns to normal. Additionally, water is flowing pretty evenly over the entire stainless steel manifold, so this configuration looks like a success!

[JDWood]

I was going to wait till the capstone was on for an update- but I figured this would be a good way to test out this new forum! Since last we met, the veneer has been applied. We are thinking through the final shower configuration before putting the capstone on and building the enclosure for the showers- which will also be veneered. As a change from the original plan, the deck is going to be reduced a bit, and we will be removingthe privacy panel- but more on that later!

Just for fun- I added the sketch that I made in February 2015 when this was still a pipe-dream!

[Velvetbone]

This is going to be fun to watch!!
V

[JDWood]

looking good.I wish I would have bought birdmans molds for the shower. he just tossed them away lol

Well- I may have 4 of his trays available! Lesa Rae wants a shorter shower- so I am looking at building two lower profile showers which would hold the same amount of media- hence the delay on the capstone!

[Jojoartie]

JD, i have a question regarding the winterizing of this set up. Since i see that you flirt with below zero temps, are you shutting this system down for the winter? There is no other return to the pond other than the shower, correct? Are you planning on covering the pond? Will you leave your current aeratation set up running or will you change that up for the winter months? Thanks.

[JDWood]

The masons are running behind, and I had to drop the water level while they are working until the capstone is done. Since I had to drop the water level about 3 foot to install a goose neck on the water level sensing line, I simply left the water low and drained the skimmers and filtration this year. I did install insulation in the pit so I could see how much of an issue I would have with temperature during the winter. Yesterday when it was 7 degrees, the filter pit was 34, and that is with no running pump or other source of heat (I have a remote thermometer in the pit).

For the future, once the capstone is on, I will install a direct 3" return from the filter pit to the pond for a winter return-pictures next spring! I am also going to use a solar blanket and a plastic cover next year, so the system will run year round. I will likely move the air pump into the basement, and then run that during the winter as well. There will be no appreciable warming of the water by the bubbles, but it will create a warm blanket of air under the plastic cover which should help keep things "warm". I will also be running a buried water supply line from the basement next year.

The other system that Russ installed here in Indy has been running, I have not yet heard from him how things fared over the past week. I think he was going to let the surface ice over while keeping the RDF running.

FYI- for my old pond I ran the filtration year round while allowing the surface to ice over (it was gravity feed with 3 NEXUS filters). My thought is that by keeping the water moving, I won't loose pipes to a freeze!