# Automated Pond(Previously titiled "Vacation plan")



## Treasure chest (Apr 21, 2010)

Will be away for a couple of months this summer. I have configured my outdoor nano barrel pond to be self sustaining. It has been running for a week and everything is so far so good. 

Here is my pond









Armed with electric fence









I added an automatic feeder. Twice a day.









Add fresh water daily when my garden drip watering system turns on.









Water level is measured by a float switch.









Power head controlled by the float switch and a timer purges extra water once a day.


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## eternity302 (Apr 22, 2010)

WOW! Creative.. and looks expensive! Can we also see what's inside?


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## plantedinvertz (Apr 21, 2010)

WOw....Definitely creattive!


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## Treasure chest (Apr 21, 2010)

Thanks for the kind words. I have a couple of fancy in there. I know it may be easier just moving them indoor but the project is fun by itself.


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## Smiladon (Apr 23, 2010)

very interesting. I hope you dont have any small kids in your place...you dont want them touching those electric fence...lol

This actually is very interesting indeed. Maybe I can use this idea for a BIG pond (whenever I get a house...); not the electric fence though. lol

I am actually thinking of a big green house in the backyard and have a nice Japanese style garden with a big koi pond


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## Treasure chest (Apr 21, 2010)

The electric fence is reserved for the raccoons. One of them wiped out my entire stock a few years ago and kept coming back for more The electric fence only gives a very low current but high voltage pulse per second. I touched a couple of times by accident. Yes it is painful. It is like the pain from a static charge shock times 10.


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## eternity302 (Apr 22, 2010)

Treasure chest said:


> The electric fence is reserved for the raccoons. One of them wiped out my entire stock a few years ago and kept coming back for more The electric fence only gives a very low current but high voltage pulse per second. I touched a couple of times by accident. Yes it is painful. It is like the pain from a static charge shock times 10.


=) i dun blame you! I had a raccoon that killed over 50 of my dad's outdoor pond goldfish 10 years back... from then on.. he given up!


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## Morainy (Apr 21, 2010)

Wow! It's fun to look at the mechanics of that pond, nevermind the pond life. If you're not an engineer, you might want to give that career some consideration!


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## Treasure chest (Apr 21, 2010)

I am no engineer, however I did put lots of thoughts into this pond during the years and I am happy on what have worked out so far. I build most of structures using PVC and PEX pipe. Most of them are hold by tension. I did not drill a single hole or modify anything on the Chinese Goldfish pot.


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## cow (Apr 25, 2010)

im curious

while you are gone for that long what do the fish eat


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## Sandy Landau (Jun 4, 2010)

How did your pond do while you were away?


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## Treasure chest (Apr 21, 2010)

Just came back from the long trip. The pond is doing very well. Everything has been working according to the plan. There are still half container of pallets left in the feeder. The 2 fantails have doubled their size while I was away. The plant grew like crazy. I just did a water change and vacuum plus plant trimming, I am very happy about the result. I was going to use this set up just when I was away but I am thinking about keeping it running until winter.


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## Treasure chest (Apr 21, 2010)

Just an update. I forgot to plug in the heater and the float switch was frozen overnight. When the timer turned on the circuit this morning, the water pump kept purging the water because the switch was stuck. Lucky that I did not locate the pump at the bottom of the tank otherwise it would drain the whole thing. I hung the pump just below the surface so all it could purge was about 1 quarter of tank water. Outdoor is tough, but a bit of planning may save the day.


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## Smiladon (Apr 23, 2010)

Treasure chest said:


> Just an update. I forgot to plug in the heater and the float switch was frozen overnight. When the timer turned on the circuit this morning, the water pump kept purging the water because the switch was stuck. Lucky that I did not locate the pump at the bottom of the tank otherwise it would drain the whole thing. I hung the pump just below the surface so all it could purge was about 1 quarter of tank water. Outdoor is tough, but a bit of planning may save the day.


Thats called smart thinking ahead of time 

You have any updated pictures to share with us?


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## TomC (Apr 21, 2010)

Where did you get the electric fence?


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## Treasure chest (Apr 21, 2010)

I bought the fence energizer from Ebay. I made the fence myself.


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## Treasure chest (Apr 21, 2010)

New addition to the set up. I rigged some PVC pipes so I can use my UV unit temporary outdoor. It is used when new fishes are introduced or there is green water problem.

















Spring is here and the plant is growing back.


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## Kei (May 4, 2010)

very nice.


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## Treasure chest (Apr 21, 2010)

Made a new box for electrical stuff. I used to have 2 small boxes for them, it looks much cleaner now.


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## Treasure chest (Apr 21, 2010)

Resetting my pond, made a plant holder from PVC pipe. Hopefully this will make my maintenance job easier. 



























Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2


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## MEDHBSI (Sep 4, 2011)

very cool! and since its outdoors its ok if it floods out haha


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## JTang (Apr 21, 2010)

Some great ideas u have. Someone can use these ideas towards a bigger pond.


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