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Hey hey folks, it's finally here! I'm so excited.
So the pond itself is the Laguna 1300 litre holding tank (thanks Graham!) like so
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And this is where it sits in relation to the rest of the room. The middle of the fireplace marks the approx middle of the room, so although it's huge it doesn't ruin the room. Also a sneaky pic of devil-eyed Dale, who supervised the whole operation. Ignore that big unit on the right hand side, that's gone.
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The basking/nesting area is 2 storage tubs sitting on a frame made of that 40mm white pipe used in plumbing (thanks Rom!). The 2 tubs were bolted to the frame. The back 4 legs were filled with sand, and the whole structure will be full of water now too. Like so
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With hindsight, OH says we perhaps should have made horizontal supports between the bottom of all 3 sets of legs, since the bottom of the pond was not completely flat. Although the weight of the water has probably sorted this by now. So far so good, but we may alter this later.
The access ramp was made using one of the lids off the tubs, and a Juwel background was bolted to this for grip and cos it looks quite natural and fits in.
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You can also see the filter in this pic, more on that later. But note our technical means of sitting the filter at the correct height. A pile of books! The ramp was supported by another small frame made of the white pipe, and the green lid was bolted to the tub.
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I lined the tubs with industrial strength black bags, to try and stop any water coming through where the bolts are. I decided against sealing these areas, as the very nature of the bolts and screws means I'd be very lucky to not still have tiny holes. So far, the sand is staying dry. I keep the right hand side slightly damp, so they can lay here if they want to. That was the plan behind using 2 separate tubs.
![]()
So then I removed the excess bag, got the light in place and decorated!
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So the filter. To make the filter, we used a 48 litre kitchen bin, drilled a 38mm hole through it and wiggled a piece of white pipe in. We sealed extra rubber seals (from unused T pieces) around the joins using aquarium sealant and basically sealed the whole thing up tight. After leaving it to cure we tested it in the bath using a garden hose, and all was well. So into place it went as per the pic above. We used an extra 90deg bend and down piece to direct the water so we didn't have excess noise (down piece not in this pic).
![]()
After discovering the flow through from the pump was really strong, we decided to add more pieces to direct the outflow, making a current. We also added a 90deg bend inside the filter, at approx a 45deg angle, as we were getting sucky noises with the plain pipe and they were irritating. So we have a silent running pond. This was pretty much essential, due to its position.
So once the filter was full of very well rinsed Alfagrog (almost an entire bag!), the moment of truth was upon us. We started filling it.
![]()
An hour later, here we were. Not the best pic, but you get the idea!
![]()
We then put the bamboo screening all around it, including the filter, and attached using heavy duty twisty wire. The black tubing from the pump was also brought up above the water and run aloong the side of the pond, attached to the bamboo using the twisty wire too. Like so
![]()
So all that was left to do was introduce the turtles, secure the last bit of bamboo and keep our fingers crossed! So far, everything is as it should be, and nothing has been knocked fatally out of place!
You can see Murtle peeking out in this pic, as well as a bit more of the filter outlet creation
![]()
And here's Morvern and Daisy, Molly was hiding under the basking area, bless her.
![]()
Still to do is put a big terracotta plant pot in there as a hidey hole, and I'm also toying with putting my lucky bamboo stalks in there.
So that's that. Huge thanks to everyone who has previously posted their pond builds, their ideas, and helped me on my home made filter thread. It's all been so useful. Will include a full price breakdown in a following post, cos I know how much cost can matter. I will probably also add some more pics, as we took a bunch on the OH's phone, and I forgot to email them to myself!
So the pond itself is the Laguna 1300 litre holding tank (thanks Graham!) like so
And this is where it sits in relation to the rest of the room. The middle of the fireplace marks the approx middle of the room, so although it's huge it doesn't ruin the room. Also a sneaky pic of devil-eyed Dale, who supervised the whole operation. Ignore that big unit on the right hand side, that's gone.
The basking/nesting area is 2 storage tubs sitting on a frame made of that 40mm white pipe used in plumbing (thanks Rom!). The 2 tubs were bolted to the frame. The back 4 legs were filled with sand, and the whole structure will be full of water now too. Like so
With hindsight, OH says we perhaps should have made horizontal supports between the bottom of all 3 sets of legs, since the bottom of the pond was not completely flat. Although the weight of the water has probably sorted this by now. So far so good, but we may alter this later.
The access ramp was made using one of the lids off the tubs, and a Juwel background was bolted to this for grip and cos it looks quite natural and fits in.
You can also see the filter in this pic, more on that later. But note our technical means of sitting the filter at the correct height. A pile of books! The ramp was supported by another small frame made of the white pipe, and the green lid was bolted to the tub.
I lined the tubs with industrial strength black bags, to try and stop any water coming through where the bolts are. I decided against sealing these areas, as the very nature of the bolts and screws means I'd be very lucky to not still have tiny holes. So far, the sand is staying dry. I keep the right hand side slightly damp, so they can lay here if they want to. That was the plan behind using 2 separate tubs.
So then I removed the excess bag, got the light in place and decorated!
So the filter. To make the filter, we used a 48 litre kitchen bin, drilled a 38mm hole through it and wiggled a piece of white pipe in. We sealed extra rubber seals (from unused T pieces) around the joins using aquarium sealant and basically sealed the whole thing up tight. After leaving it to cure we tested it in the bath using a garden hose, and all was well. So into place it went as per the pic above. We used an extra 90deg bend and down piece to direct the water so we didn't have excess noise (down piece not in this pic).
After discovering the flow through from the pump was really strong, we decided to add more pieces to direct the outflow, making a current. We also added a 90deg bend inside the filter, at approx a 45deg angle, as we were getting sucky noises with the plain pipe and they were irritating. So we have a silent running pond. This was pretty much essential, due to its position.
So once the filter was full of very well rinsed Alfagrog (almost an entire bag!), the moment of truth was upon us. We started filling it.
An hour later, here we were. Not the best pic, but you get the idea!
We then put the bamboo screening all around it, including the filter, and attached using heavy duty twisty wire. The black tubing from the pump was also brought up above the water and run aloong the side of the pond, attached to the bamboo using the twisty wire too. Like so
So all that was left to do was introduce the turtles, secure the last bit of bamboo and keep our fingers crossed! So far, everything is as it should be, and nothing has been knocked fatally out of place!
You can see Murtle peeking out in this pic, as well as a bit more of the filter outlet creation
And here's Morvern and Daisy, Molly was hiding under the basking area, bless her.
Still to do is put a big terracotta plant pot in there as a hidey hole, and I'm also toying with putting my lucky bamboo stalks in there.
So that's that. Huge thanks to everyone who has previously posted their pond builds, their ideas, and helped me on my home made filter thread. It's all been so useful. Will include a full price breakdown in a following post, cos I know how much cost can matter. I will probably also add some more pics, as we took a bunch on the OH's phone, and I forgot to email them to myself!
Was a bit more in the end than I anticipated (but I did get 10% off everything bought in Focus), but we did buy everything new and off the shelf, and I still think less than £400 for a 1300 litre setup is pretty damn hunky dory.
