Uncertain times in this world for a pond makeover, but still the pond looked brilliant, it's always a pleasure watching your artistic flair & handy work ...I have two ponds 12x15 with the liner showing, wasn't sure I would stay in this house with unstable times. Cheers
Thanks for your kind words and for watching. Indeed the world can seem like a scary place at the mo. I keep my head very much submersed in my pond work (figuratively and sometimes literally!) and try not to let it get to me. Best, Ed
Beautiful makeover. I bit too formal looking for what I want. I want mine to look like something you'd see in the woods. Just a personal preference. Nice work and video.
Thanks for watching and commenting! If you have a browse through other videos in my channel you’ll see a few more naturalistic style ponds I’ve built! Best regards, Ed
Thanks for watching and your comment Pete- everyone has different tastes and you cant please everyone! In this instance my client was unhappy with his original pond and wanted to focus on re-designing the edging. Once completed he was very happy! The pond has settled nicely and looks much more established since this video! Best, Ed
Love your videos! I am hoping to make a low set retention pond that gravity floods into a dry well, but it needs to be low set so I was thinking of doing pavers under the liner to deal with hydrostatic pressure that might build up and the sides accepting and releasing drainage to dry well. Would that work or will water seep under it and float my liner away? Lol
Hi there, depends really on the extent of the hydrostatic pressures your potentially dealing with, but short of creating a fully water tight and solid shell beneath the pond liner (and if you did you’d almost not need the pond liner!) then I suspect water ingress could be an issue... Best, Ed
It's not my preferred design. It was a nice recovery. I enjoyed watching with a little help from the ff button. I tapped the thumbs up 👍 button to feed the algorithm monsters.
Thanks Craig-I’m not sure Dave would say the same-I can be a right miserable so and so when I’m hungry when working on a job! As long as I’m well fed I’m ok though 😂😂
Thanks. Any more videos on edges like This? I'm getting ready for a rec pond build with formal straight walls and I don't have a lot of room around and no Boulder or rocks just bricks and pebbles. I want to know how to build up some bricks on an interior ledge around the edge inside the pool for that formal look and put down a walkway to ho around the pond the issue is if water is ground level and I don't want a birm all the way around how do I do that.
Hi there! If you check out my channel you’ll see that most of the ponds I build follow a similar template to this- the following link is a more formal design and you could adopt this theme comfortably with suitable brinks also : Formal pond re-design & construction Part 1 th-cam.com/video/y4Y2KMaymDA/w-d-xo.html there are three parts to this-again if you look on my channel and click on ‘videos’ you’ll see them! Thanks for watching! Best, Ed
They’re called ‘easy tanks’ and were designed for the swimming pool trade. Sadly I’ve not seen any for sale online and purchase mine through a company called Home Counties pools. They’re very handy!
That are a god sent- but quite expensive... £200 ish for the smaller 500 gallon tank and just over £1000 for the larger 3000 gallon tank, but well worth the money if looked after. Not really any good for holding fish- I’ve tried and they’re a pain to try and catch them from the tanks again as once draining the tanks obviously collapse! But for general storage of water they’re fantastic. Speak to Mark from Home Counties in Horsham and tell him you’re after the easy spa tanks that crystal clear aquatics purchases. They should be happy to send them out to you where ever you are.
Hi Ed, Are you using any special concrete to fix all the rocks together inside of the pond? Or any regular mix? I'm planning to attempt a similar project on one of my ponds but I'm unsure what kind of fish safe concrete should I use.. Great videos, always! Take care, Luigi
Hi there! I’m not using a special mix; simply a standard Portland cement/sand mortar mix. This will need to sit and ‘cure’ in the pond water for a little while to allow much of the lime and other harmful toxins from the cement to leach out, before adding livestock. Best, Ed
I know you said to leave the mix a while to cure etc but how long would you leave it before adding fish? Or could you use a pond sealer on the mix to avoid this problem altogether. Great videos by the way.
Can you advise the mortar mix for use on the semi submersed walling please. I am using a Yorkshire sandstone to a similar design as this pond. Currently considering a 4:1 or 6:1 yellow soft sand:OPC. Thanks
Hi there, thanks for watching and commenting! I get asked this question A LOT!! (And mention it on pretty much every video involving the use of mortar😂) my regular mix (which I use for all internal pond edging/walling, slab laying etc) is a 4/1 ratio. Two sharp, two soft and one cement with some added plasticiser. Hope that helps and good luck with your build! Best, Ed
Depends what fish/quantity of fish I’m required to hold for the duration of the job. Small pond drains with only a few small (12” ish) koi or up to perhaps 100 small ish goldfish I’ll use a rigid koi inspection tub which is Approx 3’ dia and 30” deep. If hot I’ll aerate. For longer duration such as when building a pond, or if housing temporarily more fish I use a frame style swimming pool (intex or bestway) whivh is 12’ diameter and 30” deep and will rig up a temporary filtration system. Hope this helps and thanks for watching and your question! Best, Ed
I have a few things to say first of all I like your videos keep up the good work. The concrete pebble surround was horrible what was they thinking. My main criticism is the use of cement around the pond not a good idea. I would have said gravel would have been a better alternative. It would also work better for drainage I also thought a over flow would have been a easy install just run a pipe through the liner sealed with a off cut of liner and silicone. You said it was off brief to do a cascade I would have convinced the owner to install a small stream. AS for the rock work seemed a good job but I wanted to say don't rely on cement and concrete or mortar to much. Remember a stone wall built with no cement will outlast a stone wall with cement. I think a dry stacked wall would have been better. I do think using larger rocks is a better look than many small flat rocks. I appreciate moving massive rocks is very hard work but it can be worth the look. I used massive rocks in my small pond for the waterfall dont get me wrong its back breaking work and some times you need a jcb to move them.
Hi there! Thanks for your constructive criticisms always good to hear other peoples opinions and experiences on matters pond related and I see you have your own experience with aquatics in general! I have to disagree with you on a few points however; re the overflow; simply passing some hose through the pond liner and sealing with an off cut and silicon is, I’m afraid to say, a very cowboy way of doing what should be a proper ‘though liner’ tank connection, utilising a purpose made fitting, which is glued and screwed into place (or clamped closed with a seal and locknut). The amount of repairs I’ve made over the years to such improper installations I’ve lost count of! Oase make a great fitting called a tradux which does this job very well and I regularly use them for overflow systems in ponds. However once one installs an overflow consideration needs to be made regarding where the water will be directed to; either to suitable drainage, to a lower part of the garden or into a soak away. This garden was very level- no where practical for the water to be drained to and no convenient drainage for some distance without major work. A soak away could have been created, but my client had been used to periodically draining the water from the pond if it had become an issue via the filtration system and then only during extreme rain- most of the time the surrounding boarders and lawn made for an ample natural overflow soak away. I agree a lovely stream or a well constructed cascade would look great here- but one cannot simply “convince” a client into paying for extra work that they don’t agree on. Although I will always explain the benefits of certain things when undertaking a job non essential ‘cosmetics’ will come down to budget and a clients opinion and for me the clients desire (if practical and possible) will always come first over my personal opinion. In this instance life support/filtration is essential, how the water returns back to the pond is then subjective and down to a clients discretion/budget. Re rock work; over the years I’ve made many a pond ‘dry stone’ and created some lovely features in this way, but there’s no getting away from the fact that from a durability point of view fixing stones will make for a more permanent and strong structure, particularly for a pond surround and particularly if such a surround will be trodden on/kneeled on during garden maintenance. Fixing using foam is a good option in certain situations- but really the use of foam is simply to ‘fix’ a stone into a semi permanent position, but is not as strong as a more permanent cement based mortar. Obviously cement carries its own associated risks to aquatic environments but as long as you are aware of these and know how to deal with these risks cement is a very good and durable product to use to fix certain materials. Incidentally- a stone wall built without mortar won’t outlast a like for like wall that has been correctly constructed with the addition of mortar!! Dry stone walls (predominantly the typical low drystone wall we’re all used to seeing in fields etc) are all constructed low and wide for obvious structural reasons hence their longevity! In certain instances I agree- large rocks/boulders can look amazing in a garden/pond setting and again I do dabble in such ponds now and again, but I guess everyone has a signature style and mine is with thinner pieces of stone and a more formal(ish) appearance. Again though, this is purely subjective and I’ll offer alternative edging/pond themes to clients and allow them to chose their own preference. I would say that scale however is very important and large rocks can look out of place if not used carefully and with a mix of rock sizes. One of my videos posted this year (frog pond construction) is a small pond made with some larger boulder/naturalistic rockery pieces and looks all the better for it I think! Thanks for watching and for your comments and every best wish, Ed
@@CrystalClearAquatics I thought I would reply since your reply was what shall I say epic. I have spend a long time researching different method's of pond building in particular the aquascape method. So as you can see I know more than your average pond builder. I agree with you cement can fix stone in a permeant fashion. In fact I experienced this when trying to seal a concrete made pond. What a disaster that was I like your style of pond building it feels down to earth rather than aquascapes method of we are the best so you how to pay through the noise for our artistry. I do feel using cement is a easy fix and do think many people use it far to much. watching this video was a shocker though I bet you could not stop cursing when you found out this pond was lined on top of a concrete pond. Cutting stone with a stone cutter is not fun at all in fact its a horrible job I found this out when cutting down a breeze block pond. My pond I built last year was built largely with black landscaping foam I even made a fish cave out of stone and then put a bog filter with plants on top of it. I will put link below if you like to see it, its only small but I want to rebuild the waterfall not looking forward to moving these massive rocks. The reason I say use large rocks is to try and simulate what mother nature has created you hardly ever see a natural pond just made of small rocks is always a mixture of some small rocks with some very big and its best to try and replicate what mother nature has created to try to make a pond look like its been their for a long time. As for a soakaway yes these are nightmares to build my water table is very high so I can not dig to deep. As for the overflow comment you made yes you can use bulkheads and tank connectors for sure and they give a better seal but its not impossible to seal a pipe yourself using some liner and sealant. Again keep up the good work it really makes me angry seeing good youtubers like yourself only having a small amount of views. link - th-cam.com/video/Y3rZ_3cOG3Y/w-d-xo.html
Sorry! What did you want more detail on? I’ll try and explain it for you-or may be able to direct you to another video that may explain your query in more detail!
buddy ive been watching US vids on natural streams and waterfalls for a long time now. Do you do anything like that? Atlantis water gardens is one channel!
Sorry- not sure I understand your questions- predictive text can be a pain sometimes! If you’re referring to the pond liner then yes-an overlap of liner would be tucked underneath any edging stones/slabs all around the perimeter of the pond.
@@CrystalClearAquatics he listens to your plans for a little bit and then hops off towards the camera. Lovely pond by the way. I’ve just resized and reshaped my wildlife pond in my garden.
Hello I like your ideal can you send me some photos and contact me private for your advice. I live in Illinois U.S.A making my KOI Pond larger and want to use your ideal please
Uncertain times in this world for a pond makeover, but still the pond looked brilliant, it's always a pleasure watching your artistic flair & handy work ...I have two ponds 12x15 with the liner showing, wasn't sure I would stay in this house with unstable times. Cheers
Thanks for your kind words and for watching. Indeed the world can seem like a scary place at the mo. I keep my head very much submersed in my pond work (figuratively and sometimes literally!) and try not to let it get to me.
Best,
Ed
Beautiful makeover. I bit too formal looking for what I want. I want mine to look like something you'd see in the woods. Just a personal preference. Nice work and video.
Thanks for watching and commenting! If you have a browse through other videos in my channel you’ll see a few more naturalistic style ponds I’ve built!
Best regards,
Ed
The clearest and most concise pond video yet , and that includes all the USA ones !!
Thanks very much for your lovely comment!
Another cracking video. Great work
This is brilliant, we have a new pond but with a lot of liner showing so this has really helped.
Thanks for watching and commenting and glad you found the video useful!
Best,
Ed
U r a perfectionist for sure. Finished product looks beautiful. Totally worth your hard work. Hope u like it.
Thanks for your lovely comment!
You think of everything eventuality! Very professional.
Thanks for your kind words!
Great job Ed that looks brilliant 🖒
Thanks for saying so Jason!
Best,
Ed
Wish you were here in California! I'd have you redo our pond! This one looks amazing!!
Ha! I wish I was there in California too!! Thanks for your kind words!
Best,
Ed
loved the video very professional, please make more.
thanks very much! more content on its way!
fantastic video my friend! really informative.
thank you
Thanks for your kind words!
The first pond. Lovely. Leave the damn thing alone!
Thanks for watching and your comment Pete- everyone has different tastes and you cant please everyone! In this instance my client was unhappy with his original pond and wanted to focus on re-designing the edging. Once completed he was very happy! The pond has settled nicely and looks much more established since this video!
Best,
Ed
great info thx buddy
You’re welcome! Thanks for watching and commenting!
Best,
Ed
Love your videos! I am hoping to make a low set retention pond that gravity floods into a dry well, but it needs to be low set so I was thinking of doing pavers under the liner to deal with hydrostatic pressure that might build up and the sides accepting and releasing drainage to dry well. Would that work or will water seep under it and float my liner away? Lol
Hi there, depends really on the extent of the hydrostatic pressures your potentially dealing with, but short of creating a fully water tight and solid shell beneath the pond liner (and if you did you’d almost not need the pond liner!) then I suspect water ingress could be an issue...
Best,
Ed
Nice job Ed 👍🚒
Thanks Jonesy!
Best,
Ed
It's not my preferred design. It was a nice recovery. I enjoyed watching with a little help from the ff button.
I tapped the thumbs up 👍 button to feed the algorithm monsters.
Thank you Francus!
Best,
Ed
Very good pond!
Thanks for your kind words!
Best,
Ed
Nice presentation. You seem like you'd be awesome to work with and learn from.
Thanks Craig-I’m not sure Dave would say the same-I can be a right miserable so and so when I’m hungry when working on a job! As long as I’m well fed I’m ok though 😂😂
Really nice job on this
Thanks very much!
nice pond and jump!
Thanks Joan! I’ll admit to being a bit miffed as to what you meant when you said ‘nice jump’ and then it clicked!!
Best,
Ed
Thanks. Any more videos on edges like
This? I'm getting ready for a rec pond build with formal straight walls and I don't have a lot of room around and no Boulder or rocks just bricks and pebbles. I want to know how to build up some bricks on an interior ledge around the edge inside the pool for that formal look and put down a walkway to ho around the pond the issue is if water is ground level and I don't want a birm all the way around how do I do that.
Hi there! If you check out my channel you’ll see that most of the ponds I build follow a similar template to this- the following link is a more formal design and you could adopt this theme comfortably with suitable brinks also : Formal pond re-design & construction Part 1
th-cam.com/video/y4Y2KMaymDA/w-d-xo.html there are three parts to this-again if you look on my channel and click on ‘videos’ you’ll see them!
Thanks for watching!
Best,
Ed
Very nice work 👍
Thank you sir!
I love people who don't have to, but they do a little extra just because they are nice.
Thank you! Always worth going the extra mile what ever you do in life😁
Hi bud what water storage bags do you use see them in background look more space saving than the solid I been using . Cheers
They’re called ‘easy tanks’ and were designed for the swimming pool trade. Sadly I’ve not seen any for sale online and purchase mine through a company called Home Counties pools. They’re very handy!
@@CrystalClearAquatics cheers bud ive looked allover cant find anything like them would save so.much set up time of the framed pools
That are a god sent- but quite expensive... £200 ish for the smaller 500 gallon tank and just over £1000 for the larger 3000 gallon tank, but well worth the money if looked after. Not really any good for holding fish- I’ve tried and they’re a pain to try and catch them from the tanks again as once draining the tanks obviously collapse! But for general storage of water they’re fantastic. Speak to Mark from Home Counties in Horsham and tell him you’re after the easy spa tanks that crystal clear aquatics purchases. They should be happy to send them out to you where ever you are.
Looks great. Anyone know what stone he’s used.
Hey there, thanks for watching and commenting! The stone used for this job was Horsham stone, also called West Sussex sandstone.
Best,
Ed
Hi Ed,
Are you using any special concrete to fix all the rocks together inside of the pond? Or any regular mix?
I'm planning to attempt a similar project on one of my ponds but I'm unsure what kind of fish safe concrete should I use..
Great videos, always! Take care, Luigi
Hi there!
I’m not using a special mix; simply a standard Portland cement/sand mortar mix. This will need to sit and ‘cure’ in the pond water for a little while to allow much of the lime and other harmful toxins from the cement to leach out, before adding livestock.
Best,
Ed
I know you said to leave the mix a while to cure etc but how long would you leave it before adding fish? Or could you use a pond sealer on the mix to avoid this problem altogether. Great videos by the way.
Can you advise the mortar mix for use on the semi submersed walling please. I am using a Yorkshire sandstone to a similar design as this pond. Currently considering a 4:1 or 6:1 yellow soft sand:OPC.
Thanks
Hi there, thanks for watching and commenting! I get asked this question A LOT!! (And mention it on pretty much every video involving the use of mortar😂) my regular mix (which I use for all internal pond edging/walling, slab laying etc) is a 4/1 ratio. Two sharp, two soft and one cement with some added plasticiser.
Hope that helps and good luck with your build!
Best,
Ed
You need a microphone my good sir and the pond looks great by the way.
Ha ha! Completely agree!! I’ve invested in a wire-less mic for some of my more recent content. Thanks very much for watching!
@@CrystalClearAquatics You're welcome. Keep the videos coming, you do great work! 👌🏾👍🏾🏆
Hi There,
Can you tell me what size of a holding tank you used for the fish?
Depends what fish/quantity of fish I’m required to hold for the duration of the job. Small pond drains with only a few small (12” ish) koi or up to perhaps 100 small ish goldfish I’ll use a rigid koi inspection tub which is Approx 3’ dia and 30” deep. If hot I’ll aerate. For longer duration such as when building a pond, or if housing temporarily more fish I use a frame style swimming pool (intex or bestway) whivh is 12’ diameter and 30” deep and will rig up a temporary filtration system.
Hope this helps and thanks for watching and your question!
Best,
Ed
I have a few things to say first of all I like your videos keep up the good work. The concrete pebble surround was horrible what was they thinking. My main criticism is the use of cement around the pond not a good idea. I would have said gravel would have been a better alternative. It would also work better for drainage I also thought a over flow would have been a easy install just run a pipe through the liner sealed with a off cut of liner and silicone. You said it was off brief to do a cascade I would have convinced the owner to install a small stream. AS for the rock work seemed a good job but I wanted to say don't rely on cement and concrete or mortar to much.
Remember a stone wall built with no cement will outlast a stone wall with cement. I think a dry stacked wall would have been better. I do think using larger rocks is a better look than many small flat rocks. I appreciate moving massive rocks is very hard work but it can be worth the look. I used massive rocks in my small pond for the waterfall dont get me wrong its back breaking work and some times you need a jcb to move them.
Hi there! Thanks for your constructive criticisms always good to hear other peoples opinions and experiences on matters pond related and I see you have your own experience with aquatics in general!
I have to disagree with you on a few points however; re the overflow; simply passing some hose through the pond liner and sealing with an off cut and silicon is, I’m afraid to say, a very cowboy way of doing what should be a proper ‘though liner’ tank connection, utilising a purpose made fitting, which is glued and screwed into place (or clamped closed with a seal and locknut). The amount of repairs I’ve made over the years to such improper installations I’ve lost count of! Oase make a great fitting called a tradux which does this job very well and I regularly use them for overflow systems in ponds.
However once one installs an overflow consideration needs to be made regarding where the water will be directed to; either to suitable drainage, to a lower part of the garden or into a soak away. This garden was very level- no where practical for the water to be drained to and no convenient drainage for some distance without major work. A soak away could have been created, but my client had been used to periodically draining the water from the pond if it had become an issue via the filtration system and then only during extreme rain- most of the time the surrounding boarders and lawn made for an ample natural overflow soak away.
I agree a lovely stream or a well constructed cascade would look great here- but one cannot simply “convince” a client into paying for extra work that they don’t agree on. Although I will always explain the benefits of certain things when undertaking a job non essential ‘cosmetics’ will come down to budget and a clients opinion and for me the clients desire (if practical and possible) will always come first over my personal opinion. In this instance life support/filtration is essential, how the water returns back to the pond is then subjective and down to a clients discretion/budget.
Re rock work; over the years I’ve made many a pond ‘dry stone’ and created some lovely features in this way, but there’s no getting away from the fact that from a durability point of view fixing stones will make for a more permanent and strong structure, particularly for a pond surround and particularly if such a surround will be trodden on/kneeled on during garden maintenance. Fixing using foam is a good option in certain situations- but really the use of foam is simply to ‘fix’ a stone into a semi permanent position, but is not as strong as a more permanent cement based mortar. Obviously cement carries its own associated risks to aquatic environments but as long as you are aware of these and know how to deal with these risks cement is a very good and durable product to use to fix certain materials. Incidentally- a stone wall built without mortar won’t outlast a like for like wall that has been correctly constructed with the addition of mortar!! Dry stone walls (predominantly the typical low drystone wall we’re all used to seeing in fields etc) are all constructed low and wide for obvious structural reasons hence their longevity!
In certain instances I agree- large rocks/boulders can look amazing in a garden/pond setting and again I do dabble in such ponds now and again, but I guess everyone has a signature style and mine is with thinner pieces of stone and a more formal(ish) appearance. Again though, this is purely subjective and I’ll offer alternative edging/pond themes to clients and allow them to chose their own preference. I would say that scale however is very important and large rocks can look out of place if not used carefully and with a mix of rock sizes. One of my videos posted this year (frog pond construction) is a small pond made with some larger boulder/naturalistic rockery pieces and looks all the better for it I think!
Thanks for watching and for your comments and every best wish,
Ed
@@CrystalClearAquatics I thought I would reply since your reply was what shall I say epic. I have spend a long time researching different method's of pond building in particular the aquascape method. So as you can see I know more than your average pond builder. I agree with you cement can fix stone in a permeant fashion. In fact I experienced this when trying to seal a concrete made pond. What a disaster that was I like your style of pond building it feels down to earth rather than aquascapes method of we are the best so you how to pay through the noise for our artistry. I do feel using cement is a easy fix and do think many people use it far to much. watching this video was a shocker though I bet you could not stop cursing when you found out this pond was lined on top of a concrete pond. Cutting stone with a stone cutter is not fun at all in fact its a horrible job I found this out when cutting down a breeze block pond.
My pond I built last year was built largely with black landscaping foam I even made a fish cave out of stone and then put a bog filter with plants on top of it. I will put link below if you like to see it, its only small but I want to rebuild the waterfall not looking forward to moving these massive rocks. The reason I say use large rocks is to try and simulate what mother nature has created you hardly ever see a natural pond just made of small rocks is always a mixture of some small rocks with some very big and its best to try and replicate what mother nature has created to try to make a pond look like its been their for a long time. As for a soakaway yes these are nightmares to build my water table is very high so I can not dig to deep. As for the overflow comment you made yes you can use bulkheads and tank connectors for sure and they give a better seal but its not impossible to seal a pipe yourself using some liner and sealant. Again keep up the good work it really makes me angry seeing good youtubers like yourself only having a small amount of views. link - th-cam.com/video/Y3rZ_3cOG3Y/w-d-xo.html
I came here to see how you leveled out the edging to put the flagstone, but you blew thru that part :(
Sorry! What did you want more detail on? I’ll try and explain it for you-or may be able to direct you to another video that may explain your query in more detail!
buddy ive been watching US vids on natural streams and waterfalls for a long time now. Do you do anything like that?
Atlantis water gardens is one channel!
Will check out the channel-thanks for the heads up!
@@CrystalClearAquatics very professional work btw 👌🏽extremely well put together vids thanks 🙌🏽
Thanks for your kind words!
Is theiner next to the patio go under the patio?
Sorry- not sure I understand your questions- predictive text can be a pain sometimes! If you’re referring to the pond liner then yes-an overlap of liner would be tucked underneath any edging stones/slabs all around the perimeter of the pond.
💪🏼😎👍🏼
Thank you sir!
Best,
Ed
Anyone else see the frog at 4.20 hop out on the right and hide behind the brick?
Ha ha! Will be going back though my vid to check that now!!
@@CrystalClearAquatics he listens to your plans for a little bit and then hops off towards the camera. Lovely pond by the way. I’ve just resized and reshaped my wildlife pond in my garden.
Yep lol was just about to comment then I see that you had already spotted it lol
tip: remaster your sound
Apologies! Some of my later content does get a bit better, honest!
Cheers,
Ed
Hello I like your ideal can you send me some photos and contact me private for your advice. I live in Illinois U.S.A making my KOI Pond larger and want to use your ideal please