I finaly got the hot tub in the ground. It was a task let me tell ya. You have to have the hole just perfect for it to fit.
I am going to post pics of the area we had last year and then the tub in place and then the way I am hoping it will look when all done.
Here is the hot tub pond in place, we are letting it settle a bit to make sure it wont leak where we had to plug the holes with frost plugs.
another pic
Now this one is how I am hoping it will look after it is all done. If you have any suggestions please post away on them.
Ooops , this pic wont post.. I will try again later
We are going to do something similar, except we are using a regular bathtub. We took it out of the bathroom to make the area into a shower. It's dark outside now, so I can't take a picture now. We have a pond already and we hope to make this tub part of what we are calling our pond system. The 4 x 8 pond we have now will drain into a stream that will empty into the tub and then eventually into a lower pond. When we did the first pond, we seem to have done a pretty good job. But whether we can pull this off or not - I don't know. I will try to post some pictures that I already have. Wish me luck. I'm new at this computer stuff.
Mary Lee
Well, my resident computer nerds are going to have to do some work, because the pond pictures are in my DH's folder. I'll have to wait for somebody to put them in my folder apparently.:(
Ok ,, I hope this works this time. This is what I am hoping it will look like when complete.
My DH posted that picture of the yellow iris. Don't know why. But since it is already there, does anybody know what kind it is? La iris or something else?
http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/666/index.html
That looks like yellow flag. If so, realize that it is considered an invasive species in most parts of the U.S. You'll want to keep it from going to seed. They are the prettiest color of yellow, though.
Pixydish, thanks for the warning. It must be a short cultivar because it's only about 2 feet tall. But it has multiplied voraciously. It didn't flower last year and now it seems the flowers are only around the outside of the clump. I will keep an eye on the flowers so they don't go to seed. I probably would rather not have this plant, but DH thinks it's really pretty, so I guess I'll have to humor him atleast for now.
That would make sense, except that we just planted it last spring I think. And it didn't bloom last year. Maybe there was something it needed to make it bloom that it couldn't get from the water. After it blooms, I'll divide it. I may have to sneak some into the compost pile, if nobody wants it.
Pixydish
I will be adding rocks around the edge but I have to be carefull because I cant lay to heavy of a thing on the edge itself, because of cracking or chipping it. I was thinking of planting some low growing around it.
vicki
No, we didn't fertilize. I've read conflicting advice about fertilizing. Some say if its a healthy pond with fish, the water has everything in it the plants need. Others say fertilize. I don't know. Is there an organic fertilizer you can use in the pond?
Silver,, I think Pixy was talking about the iris ,, if you fertilised it or not.
vicki
No we didn't fertilize it. It is not actually in the pond. The water comes into our pond from a spring like area we created (we didn't want a fountain or anything like that). The iris is growing in gravel in that spring.
Mary Lee
I'm trying to figure out how to post a picture. I thought I understood how to do this. Guess I was mistaken.
OK, if I'm real lucky the right picture will majically appear. Right?
I would rather have put all these plants in pots, but DH had other ideas. So it's in the gravel. When it multiplies so much that it crowds out the canna, maybe he'll understand.LOL
The bathtub we want to use is probably 3 ' x 4 1/2' and oval. We have figured out how to fix the water fall so that it falls into the bathtub (bathtub will be partially sunk in the dirt and the sides covered with rocks). We are trying now to figure out how to get the water from the tub to the lower pond. The question is whether to use the hole in the side where you are supposed to put the lever to raise and lower the drain plug. Or to plug that hole and figure out something else.
That's very pretty! I don't know of an organic fertilizer you can use for plants in the pond. I had many plants planted just in the gravel in the pond last year, but I have really good filtration, including a bog filter, so the actual water in the pond didn't have enough nutrients to keep the lilies blooming all season. I just stuck some pond plant pellets down into the gravel next to the roots. That worked for me. After all, people put them in the pots they sink into the pond.
Re your hot tub vwetzel, low growing plants would look nice. If you wanted to do a rock edge, you could just dig a small trench around the edge of the tub and pour cement into it, level with the top of the tub. That would give you something to attach the rocks to and they could just hang over the edge of the hot tub. You wouldn't have to attach them to the hot tub at all.
silverfluter, I'm trying to visualize what you mean, but it's not working for me. Do you have a photo of the waterfall so you could explain where the tub will be?
I'm not surprised that you're having trouble because I am too.:) I thought I had a picture of the waterfall, but somehow I missed it. It's not actually falling yet, because it's under construction. The water will fall into a stream from the pond we already have. From the stream it will fall into the tub and then fall again into the lower pond. DH wants to use the hole in the side of the tub somehow. I think it would be easier to plug it. We have to figure out how to get the water from the tub into the lower pond. I hope it makes more sense now.
Oh, yes it does, actually. Why can't you simply attach a water line to the hole in the tub and let gravity pull the water out of the tub and into the lower pond? The water line could go under the ground and then the water could bubble up, maybe through some rocks (like an underground spring), then spilling over into the pond? That would be cool!
Well, that's kind a what I thought he wanted to do, but he said he wants to keep it above ground. right after it comes out of the tub, we will have a sort of a bridge before it goes into the lower pond. It'll be just one huge rock I think supported on each side of the stream. It won't be sitting on the liner. I don't know why he wants to use that hole if he wants the water to be above ground. If we did it the way you described, would we have trouble with gunk building up in that water line? We have gunk that builds up in that spring area and makes the water back up so much that it winds up in the flower bed behind the spring. I think those irises are part of the problem, but he doesn't see that.
Mary Lee
Mary Lee
Do you have clay ground?
There is some clay in spots. There is a lot of variety because the former owner used most of the yard for a vege garden.
Down under the topsoil is what my DH calls sandy clay.
If he used the hole in the tub to allow the water to flow to the next level, wouldn't that lower the surface level in the tub? Where as, if he tilts the tub just slightly, it would allow it to spill over the edge and keep the water level high in the tub. I may be completly off base and not understanding what his concept is.
We do have a mechanical filtration, but it's possible that it doesn't get cleaned often enough. Where it overflows is behind the spring area. Pretty much right behind where those irises are growing. The gunk I'm talking about is actually string algae. He keeps scooping it out, but I think he needs to use more hydrogen peroxide. Is that string algae something that takes over every spring? We just set this pond up last spring, so we have alot to learn.:)
Sheila, you're right. If we used that hole, it would keep the water level lower in that part of the pond. I hadn't thought of that advantage.
As far as getting the water from the tub into the lower pond, would it be easier to make a water tight seal around that hole, or attach the liner to the top of the tub, and start the water fall there?
Mary Lee,
I re-read some of the posts, and if I were you, I would want to use the hole as Pixydish mentioned. You could have the liner over the entire tub area. Punch a hole in the drain lever area and use a bulkhead fitting, seal it and attach the hose. The diameter of the hose would be large, and the distance very short to get it over the edge of the next liner, so the water pressure would keep the debris from sticking there. And you could always position a plant for it to filter through. Sounds like your DH plans to have a flat stone bridge over the transition area before it goes into the next pond? I guess you could think of it like a culvert carring water from one side of the road to another. Sounds like a nice concept!
The string algea does take over every year. and in my pond, it still grows during the winter. It's green and everything! Only thing about adding the hydrogen peroxide, which I do as well, is that you really should clean out as much of the algea as possible by hand because all the dead plant material adds to the bioload of your filter. I think your dh already knows this, though, because he and I have posted on the same threads before.
shiela's idea of using a bulkhead fitting is a good one.
You are correct about the flat bridge/culvert concept. I mentioned once that I thought that would be a neat idea, but for some reason he didn't agree then. I think he doesn't like hauling big rocks.:) Not sure what changed his mind, but I'd sure like to know what button I pushed.:) What should be the minimum diameter of the bulkhead pipe? We might be pushing 2500 to 3000gph after we finish the lower pond.
Thanks for your advice, Mary Lee
Mary Lee,
The overflow hole in the tub would determine the size of the bulkhead fitting not necessarily the tubing. My DH says that the tubing taking our water from our skimmer pump back up 3 foot through the biofalls to make our waterfall is 2". Our pump is at least a 3,000gph pump. He also mentioned that since you are using gravity to go to the lower pond, it shouldn't matter. Your pump would be in the lower pond and carry water up hill to the top waterfall, then gravity takes over.
The bulkhead fitting has pieces that tighten down on both sides against the area around the hole. They are expensive, but is the only thing that does the job. We got on on the web. You use the waterfall black fish-safe adhesive foam to give the connection a watertight seal.
DH here.... the problem, or concern, since it is only gravity "pulling" the water thru the drain hole, will gravity pull 3000 gph thru a hole 2 inches in diameter. That is the technical question!!! I can cut the hole larger to accept a larger bulkhead fitting. We just want to be sure the pipe or tubing will gravity feed enough water. My idea originally was to cut the hole wide and flat, maybe 2 inches tall by 7 inches wide, to be sure enough water will be able to feed thru. We would attach the lower pond liner to the outside of the tub, just below the cut, no pipes or tubing involved. I was thinking of using two-sided tape to attach the liner and then covering over the outside with black foam to be sure to get a good tight seal. The outside of the tub is rather smooth,no voids, just not polished like the inside, so the tape should adhere rather well.
As far as the exposed part of the tub that will be above the water line, we will "black foam" attach rocks to the tub down to the waterline. We had to do something similar with the preformed fiberglass liner we are using for the upper pond. See attached pic
Pixydish, Yes I believe that is their pump's max capacity.
Silver DH, My DH went online to an engineering site and got the info here:
2" pipe will discharge 60 gpm. That converts to 3600 gph.
3" pipe will discharge 93 gpm or 5580 gph
4" pipe will discharge 188 gpm or 11,280 gph
So I don't think you would have a worry.
Pixie... the current pump is only 500 gph, but when we do the lower pond, we will increase to around 3,000 gph.
Sheila, I think that is the information we are looking for. I only know enough about physics and engineering to be dangerous. It seems in order to arrive at the figures you have there, there must be some kind of "pressure constant" in the formula. For example, if you have a tank of water that is 10 feet tall, and a 2 inch drain at the bottom side, you open the drain, the water will come out much faster if the tank is full because of the bressure of 10 feet of water pushing the water out. When there is only 1 foot of water left in the tank, the water will come out more slowly, there is only one foot of water pressure to push out the water.
In our situation, there will be little if any water above the top of the drain, so there will be little water pressure to push the water out the drain. Just want to be sure our situation is fully understood, I know it is difficult when corresponding like this. Thanks again, if you could just confirm with the DH that we are understanding everything.... Tom
