Hot tub pond in progress

Last year I built a 150 gal pond using an old water bed liner. A few issues later and my goldies spent the rest of the summer in a kiddie pool.

A winter spent planning and random ideas later = a 6 person hot tub picked up for free on craigslist.
It measures out to be 62"x72" and 3' deep in the center 2' around the sides. Fun!

I've so far stripped the motors, siding, some of the frame and most of the awful spray foam insulation away from the shell. I will need to find a way to plug all the jets and drains still. So far I'm thinking some of that black pond foam and straight up silicone will do the job.

I hope not to have to use a liner, my pockets would not appreciate it. And the tub already is this lovely gray mottled pattern I think is lovely.

 

The biggest question that comes to mind is how you're going to get all traces of chlorine, cleaning agents and whatever else may be present completely out of the internal plumbing and off of the plastic. I'm curious to see how this progresses...

*Edit: I know you're plugging the internal plumbing, but I have a tough time believing that there will be a perfect seal all around. I've worked on those things before; I know how many little inflow and outflow spots there are.

 

So, I'm not sure how difficult it's going to be for you to remove all the trace chemicals, etc. But when you do, I definitely have to admit it's a unique idea and a great way to recycle!

 

I can't wait until the final product. I think it is going to look great. Are you going to keep the existing lights?

 

The hot tub hasnt been used in over 6 months. It went through a flood last year hence why I got it for free.
When I finish stripping the frame off of it and can acess all the hose I'm going to fluh them all clean with the hose then an air compressor to dry them out. I have some pond dechlorinaror that's fairly concentrated that ill scrub it down alternatively with vinegar to help clean it.
I'm actually not too worried about the traces in the hose. I plan on capping them from the interior with spray foam so that they look like stones. should prevent any trace leaching or leaks.

I can't wait until the final product. I think it is going to look great. Are you going to keep the existing lights?

Theres only one light and sadly it did not survive the tear down Add in that it will be at least patially buried I don't really want any electronics in an unaccesable spot. I might by some stand alone solar ones to use though.

 

I have a friend that made his hot tub into a greenhouse but I like your idea far better! Can't wait to see your progress!!

 

Sounds like you've got it all figured out then! So, you're just going to use the shell and bury it, like it was a pre-formed pond?

 

Yup. That's the plan. I'll probably line the hole with sand and may re spray the top half with spray foam as extra precausion during winter. I really don't want it to freeze solid. That would be bad.

 

Yup. That's the plan. I'll probably line the hole with sand and may re spray the top half with spray foam as extra precausion during winter. I really don't want it to freeze solid. That would be bad.

Awww, you should keep it as an elevated petting pond!

Sent from my less-than-stable Galaxy on the FishLore app

 

Last year I built a 150 gal pond using an old water bed liner. A few issues later and my goldies spent the rest of the summer in a kiddie pool.

A winter spent planning and random ideas later = a 6 person hot tub picked up for free on craigslist.
It measures out to be 62"x72" and 3' deep in the center 2' around the sides. Fun!

I've so far stripped the motors, siding, some of the frame and most of the awful spray foam insulation away from the shell. I will need to find a way to plug all the jets and drains still. So far I'm thinking some of that black pond foam and straight up silicone will do the job.

I hope not to have to use a liner, my pockets would not appreciate it. And the tub already is this lovely gray mottled pattern I think is lovely.

View attachment 138933

I would get a cheap marine fiberglass repair kit and just use some duct tape as backing from the outside and patch the inside using the fiberglass matting and resin to plug up all those holes.

 

That sounds like an Excellent Idea Rivieraneo! Probably much safer to seal the large holes with that then to stuff them with foam You wouldn't happen to know where I could find some would you?

This is what a Hot tub looks like when you tear out its frame and motors.



And this is what the frame and insulation look like of a hot tub that went through a flood.


:shock: Ewwww.

 

They sell smaller kits at Wallmart or Auto supply stores and it can get a little expensive. Auto body supply or industrial supply stores sell larger kits reasonably priced.

 

Fiberglass marine supplies can be found at any Marine store. It's sold for boats.

 

So It took quite a long while to get this going. But I've finally got all the jets pulled off, the lines are all filled with foam I've just got to wait for that to dry. Then I can use a fiberglass repair kit to completely seal up the ports.

I left the drain port clear so I can drain it after a water test before it goes in the ground. And I found an adapter for the port so I can plug my pump into there and run the hose for my waterfall outside the pond. It'll look much better then trying to hide a hose coming up the sides

Here's to hoping I can get this going before summer hits

 

Where are the pictures LOL

Lovely project!

 

Ask and Ye shall receive




Can I say how much I like this new uploader!

 

I really like this idea! The reason I asked for pictures is I'm very curious how this project develops, I think your idea is awesome and unique!

 

I got tired of dealing with leaks in my liner. Of course it was a cobb job so the liner was actually a waterbed liner but I'm a scrounge *shruggs* So I figured a free hot tub was the next best thing. Only issue with it is the sheer size. Even with all the pumps and frame work gone it takes 3 people to maneuver it safely.

Some issues came up in the project so far. I had planed to flush the lines free of water with my air compressor, But somehow when I went to go grab the darn thing it had vanished! As far as I can tell someone stole it off my porch in the last month or so. Gotta Love my neighbors huh?
Ended up having to make a run up to my dads to borrow his and its Heavy! but it did the job. On to the next problem.

 

Such a project is always full of surprises but once finished you'll enjoy it even better because you were able to solve the problems.
I used to have a water bed and when it was about ten years old it started leaking. When I decided to tear it down I found cat litter under the mattress! Probably I walked it into the bed room and after years some little stones from the litter made it under the mattress. When I bought the water bed I was told they last about ten years and then the material hardens and is vulnerable for leaks - and they were right. The little grains from the cat litter caused pin point holes.
I can imagine that when this plastic is exposed to changing temperatures and UV-C it deteriorates even faster.

I'm sorry to hear it might be one of my neighbors that stole that compressor. One of my neighbors stole once 4 (four!) rolls of toiletpaper that I left next to the front door when I allowed the dogs to pee in front of the house. I literally turned my back and it was gone. LOL


Back on topic. Do you have to drain the tub during winter? How many gallons? What is your idea about stocking?

 

I'm hoping the depth and residual insulation will protect the pond enough so that it dosen't freeze over. The plan is to make it so that my goldies don't spend another winter in a 55 gal tote in the basement.

The pond will be to small for koi aproximately 500 gal. So I'm planing on sticking with goldfish. Maybe I'll add a school of rosies, and I'd like to try some flagfish but I don't know how well they'd over winter.

 

Add a heater made for ponds.

 

Glad to see you are progressing - what a great idea you had!

 

So if you couldn't tell by the long wait of no pictures.The pond is not yet in the ground. We had a fair bit of rain before I left for vacation. And 4 days rain straight since I've been back. It's a little difficult to use epoxy/fiberglass in the rain. Another set back is that all of this rain has filled the hole back in

I've got a few days off this upcoming week where I hope I can make some progress. The original plan was to have the pond, the patio and my flower beds all complete and pretty looking for 4th of july. We'll see how that goes.

 

Sounds like a sump pump might be needed. Hope your original plan comes through☺

 

It's in the ground!! arty0049:arty0049:

Took more then a few hours a few extra set of hands and a LOT of shoveling, but it's in the ground. Not as deep as I wanted it tho. Somehow even though we measured twice, the hole still needed to be 6" deeper. But I was not going to lift it back out just to dig it down a little farther. I'll fill it up tomorrow or monday, Hopefully the fish can go in sometime next week

 

Some plants and rocks and you'll never know.

 

I can only hope!

 

Good job any excuse for more rocks and plants works for me! Congratulations!

 

The fish are in! I filled and treated the water this morning. The sun was hot enough that the water temp rose fast enough for me to transfer my goldies tonight. Their filter/waterfall feature is not yet complete so I've got the cobb job filter I used all winter running. Hopefully the cycle will keep. I'll post some pics tomorrow when it's light enough to take some.

 

Looking forward to pictures too! Looks like a super cool project

 

woooohooooooo!!!!

 

Sorry pics will have to come tomorrow
I forgot I we were open late tonight. Bonus though You'll get to see the first pics of my new shubukins. They just came in today at my lfs. I'll be sneaking out of work tomorrow for a few min to go pick them up

 

This is such a fun post to follow ......

 

Ok so as promised here are a few pics. It's nowhere near done yet but it is Progress!






And here is a shot of my very non-photogenic shubunkins

 

Are the sides of the hottub clear?

 

That is going to be so cool! l

 

Lol! That would be awesome but no. The goldies are in quarantine at the moment. I've got 7-8 in the pond now that made it through the winter with me and I don't want to have to treat the whole pond if they're carrying something.

 

Here's a small update. I'm on the process of adding slate around the top so that it looks a little more natural, but it is rather slow going.
I did receive a new pump in the mail the other day so that will help a LOT with keeping the water clearer. There's a big difference between a 200gph pump and a 700gph mag-drive in a 500 gal piond. ^_^
I'm only having one issue right now and that is with the filter. I have a per-filter with sponge on the intake but for biological filtration I've always used a sand/gravel bed with plenty of bog plants. With the larger pump I wanted to use a larger/heavier base in the filter of lava rock but I can't seem to find any locally. Everyone is out of stock for the season.
Can anyone advise me to an alternative? I was thinking maybe some terracotta shards but that might not be as effective. I'm trying to find material that with involve the least amount of maintenance possible.

 

Seachem Matrix would work wonders for you. They have a "Pond" variety that I think is a bit larger. Here is a link to a 4 liter size for $30.....

 

That would probably work very well If I wouldn't need 2 of those to fill the filter properly to where I can add the sand/gravel cap. And I'm a cheap diy type person