Question for those with pools ...

[DamonH]

Heat the entire pool so it is like a huge hot tub, then swim year round!

My parents bought the kids wetsuits for Christmas - no need to heat it! I'll stay in the spa. The only realistic thing to use the heater for is to extend the swimming year by a few weeks either direction of the swimming season. Luckily in Texas we already have a pretty long season.

[svauto-erotic855]

An alternative, turn it into a fish pond. Far less maintenance than a pool, and pretty to look at. You can even run a filter system that is a lot like a bacteria/sewage treater, and the water will be completely clear.

I tried that on a pool located on Hillcrest just south of Alpha. It did not work very well. The pool was huge and bio filters are not made for something that size so I had to use 6 of them. It still took an unreal amount of work to keep it going. I charged them for 15 hours per week when I was taking care of it. The home owner died and I haven't been there in about 6 years and can only guess what it looks like now.

Edit: I just finished a big koi pond a few month ago on Spring Valley just a block or two east of Hillcrest and it looks outstanding but it is a more managable size; about 13,000 gallons.

[Gasser64]

Maybe a pool could be "shallowed up" or something to make it less demanding on the bio filter needs. I used to have one, they do take some work but I've also watched friends and family deal with pools. I'd take the fish pond any day vs all that jazz.

Saw a really cool one one time, where the fish could even come inside the house, under the floor which you could see through. Need to find that pic again.

[kingjason]

Or have both.

My pond has been running smooth for 7 years. I clean it about once every three months or so and use lava rock, 4 filters, and a UV light. Autofill lines and 3200 GPM keeps it hands off. Looks cool when it freezes. Last year my pump froze on my pool, I turned it on and it proceeded to blow off the top hard line that night emptying the pool down to the skimmers.. A little advice from SVO and I was back in business. Really not that difficult to maintain and I love having a pool in Texas. Any further north and maybe not. I just went out and flipped into run cycle. I just wasn't paying attention last year and it got could for a week or so.

[Gasser64]

Nice pond, I used to use a UV light but at Whiz Q Stone they told me its either

1. You got the algae you can't see through, but its eating/digesting all the fish poo

or

2. You got those bio filters that will eat all that unwanted stuff, and the water is clear.

So basically if all you do is use a UV light to kill the algae, you're robbing the fish of something they need in the ecosystem to dispose of their crap for them. And the water can become pretty bad and they can get diseases. Have you made sure that your bio filter is rated for the number of gallons in the pond?

[svauto-erotic855]

Nice pond, I used to use a UV light but at Whiz Q Stone they told me its either

1. You got the algae you can't see through, but its eating/digesting all the fish poo

or

2. You got those bio filters that will eat all that unwanted stuff, and the water is clear.

So basically if all you do is use a UV light to kill the algae, you're robbing the fish of something they need in the ecosystem to dispose of their crap for them. And the water can become pretty bad and they can get diseases. Have you made sure that your bio filter is rated for the number of gallons in the pond?

When I build a pond or replace the equipment on one I use a HUGE UV system designed for commercial pools. I also use Pentair tr140c sand filters filled with bio balls and use 1 filter per 7,500 gallons. There is a bio powder you put into the water that will grow what you need inside of the filter/filters to get it going. If I am maintaining the pond I with keep a barrel of white vinegar onsite for PH control or a large barrel that I keep a mixture of HCI and water in.

There is a dentist in Plano that is a salt water fish freak and basically built his house around an elaborate salt tank system that flows through the walls of the entire house. I maintain the equipment and can not count how many 2am emergency service calls I have made to his house. Fish people are all fucking nuts IMHO.

[Gasser64]

I don't know about having pipes for that in the walls but, I never had much trouble out of my pond. I spent a lot more time enjoying it than I ever did working on it. Though yeah, they are going to need some work put into them. It was roughly the size of kingjason's pond, though its hard to tell from that pic. Maybe somewhat deeper. I did not clean it nearly as often as he cleans his. Maybe once per year. But I had a lot of plants, and they grew really fast when their roots got into that nasty stuff on the bottom. But I left it there on purpose for the plants, they loved it.

The only thing I thought that it could really use that I couldn't find, was some kind of sucker fish that would survive winter in texas. To help keep it cleaner. Got snails but I couldn't ever tell how long they lived. They'd be visible for a month, maybe two. Then never seen again. Maybe they were down there, blending in too well.

As for the powder, is that the same as that powder you flush down the toilet? I'd guess that it is. I never put any in, but the bio filter seemed to eventually just develop it on its own. Cause it worked as intended. Ate up all the nutrients the algae would need, so no algae. Except for the kind that sort of clings to stuff, but doesn't suspend in the water so you can't see. I don't like that shit, defeats the purpose of the pond imo which is to be able to see the fish.

[svauto-erotic855]

I don't know about having pipes for that in the walls but, I never had much trouble out of my pond. I spent a lot more time enjoying it than I ever did working on it. Though yeah, they are going to need some work put into them. It was roughly the size of kingjason's pond, though its hard to tell from that pic. Maybe somewhat deeper. I did not clean it nearly as often as he cleans his. Maybe once per year. But I had a lot of plants, and they grew really fast when their roots got into that nasty stuff on the bottom. But I left it there on purpose for the plants, they loved it.

The only thing I thought that it could really use that I couldn't find, was some kind of sucker fish that would survive winter in Texas. To help keep it cleaner. Got snails but I couldn't ever tell how long they lived. They'd be visible for a month, maybe two. Then never seen again. Maybe they were down there, blending in too well.

As for the powder, is that the same as that powder you flush down the toilet? I'd guess that it is. I never put any in, but the bio filter seemed to eventually just develop it on its own. Cause it worked as intended. Ate up all the nutrients the algae would need, so no algae. Except for the kind that sort of clings to stuff, but doesn't suspend in the water so you can't see. I don't like that shit, defeats the purpose of the pond IMO which is to be able to see the fish.

There is more aquarium in the walls than pipe. You can see into most rooms from the adjacent room by looking through the aquariums. The pipes between them are large enough for the fish to swim through and they tend to follow the current and travel in large circles through the house.

If you stick a normal catfish in your pond I believe it will eat the muck. Plants will also do some of the same. I make a point of having a bottom suction that can be isolated and using it to remove the muck when I set the backwash valve on the waste setting and run the pump for a few minutes.

I do not remember the name brand of the powder; it just jump starts what is going to grow in the filter anyway. I use it because people get really antsy about getting livestock into their pond after watching it being built for a few months.

Edit: If you need a hand I will hook you up with the equipment. I normally get it for about 1/3 to 1/2 of what Dickson Brothers sells it for.

[kingjason]

I say every three months but it just depends on what my water looks like. That is usually just the filters as the pond itself does fairly well other than a little algae on the bottom. I used to have big ass aquariums but when I bought this place it had a ole busted pond on the back. I just pulled it apart and and re arranged it when I dropped in the new liner. I need to re stack my falls eventually but it has been working fine. Guy that helped me didn't put enough angle on them and I was losing water before re sealing it. He wanted to dig it out a little deeper but I was like nawww. I should have let him. It is like 10x19 2.5 deep by the falls, right out my back door. Only problem with fish I have is when my lily pads die off, the ravens think it is a sushi bar. I put a net in this year.

[JC316]

Off the topic of freezing, but if you have a pool, this is hands down the best thing you can buy for the summer. By July, my pool is usually more like a hot tub, but after I got one of these, it's downright COLD. I can get it into the low 80s all summer. 70's if we get some cool nights.

https://www.glacierpoolcoolers.com/residential-units1.html

[kingjason]

Off the topic of freezing, but if you have a pool, this is hands down the best thing you can buy for the summer. By July, my pool is usually more like a hot tub, but after I got one of these, it's downright COLD. I can get it into the low 80s all summer. 70's if we get some cool nights.

https://www.glacierpoolcoolers.com/r...al-units1.html

Not sure why but my pool never gets warm like my moms did. Not sure if it is all the damn rock it is surrounded by or if it was just poured a little thicker.

[JC316]

Not sure why but my pool never gets warm like my moms did. Not sure if it is all the damn rock it is surrounded by or if it was just poured a little thicker.

I don't know. Mine is an above ground, redneck style, and it's hot as hell without the cooler. My uncle has an in ground pool, and his gets up into the 90's in the summer.

[svauto-erotic855]

Not sure why but my pool never gets warm like my moms did. Not sure if it is all the damn rock it is surrounded by or if it was just poured a little thicker.

Pool temp in the summer is all about surface to depth ratio and how much sunlight it gets. I used to take care of a pool in Bluff View that would hardly hit the mid 70s in the summer. The first time I stuck my hand in it I recoiled from complete shock. Because of the house on one side and some very mature crepe myrtles that are larger then most oak trees on the other side the pool only gets about 4 to 5 hours per day of direct sunlight.

[kingjason]

Mine is 38 foot long, deep end is like 9 feet but it has a 22 foot wide ball section shallow end. Looks like a giant dick. Appropriate for my line of work ehh!!! LOL

[svauto-erotic855]

^^^^ Older diving pools like yours tend to stay a touch cooler than a pool with a shallower deep end.