Pond Supplies in Buriram or surrounds

[Somnat]

Looking at that picture Rabbi, I am assuming you are doing the work 

The LEVEL gave it away ......... 

[Rabbi]

I am the designer & supervisor believe it or not the F-I-L is the worker and without prompting he uses the level.

We may start tiling tomorrow.

Spent the morning in Buriram but could not find anyone with pond & aquarium supplies. They are mainly pet shops that stock basic domestic tank stuff. Looks as though I am going to have to go to Bangkok or take a chance on buying online.

[gotlost]

Suggestion.. Contact ATB he has built a few serious nice homes resonantly, Buriram and Surin that incorporated fish ponds of your design. He does post on BE.
http://www.alanthebuilder.com/

[Rabbi]

Thanks Maaate!! I have emailed him. I'll wait for him to contact me.

[finnomick]

If you are in Pattaya, there is a really good pond equipment supplier on third road at the back of where Carrefour used to be. Basic directions are if you turn down Pattaya Klang from Sukhumvit, turn right at the lights onto third road. About 2 to 300 metres on your right hand side is where the shop is. If you pass the rear entrance to Homepro/Carrefour or what I think is now BigC you've missed it.

Have you been to the koi carp shop in Buriram yet ? If you are driving towards the town centre on the road where Macro etc are, there is a road on the left hand side immediately before the new Mazda showroom. The shop's about 50 metres after you turn on the left hand side at the side of Mazda.

[Rabbi]

Thanks....yes I know of several in Pattaya but I don't want to make a special trip. I will try the one near Mazda in Burriram.

At present ATB's suggestion in Surin was successful in that I was able to buy the pump & filter but they were an equipment/machinery shop and didn't have any other aquarium type products [fish, chemicals etc.]. Excellent service and a nice Thai guy Khun Gung with good English

[finnomick]

I guess it's just the way they are used to doing it, but all filter systems in Thailand that I have seen have the pump actually in the filter thus drawing the water from the pond. Back home, I was more used to fitting a submersible pump into the pond. Depending on the size of the pond and the volume and size of the fish, we'd pump the water to a vortex via a UV tube. The vortex circulates the water from the bottom and the large particles of crap sink to the bottom. The water flows upwards into a pipe which then goes into the main filter chamber, usually 4 sections. First brushes, then volcanic rock or similar with dense plastic matting on top where the water fleas/nymphs live ( every good filter system should have a thriving colony of them ) then the somewhat cleaner water falling back to the pond. Remember to place the pump and water outlet at opposite ends of the pond to create a ' flow ' which naturally brings the crap to the pump. I'd give my pump a shake every few weeks and was always surprised at just how much extra crap fed through ( can't do this with an in-filter pump ). As mentioned, the pump fed the water firstly through a UV filter which kills off most of the algae. New UV tube housings have a chrome sleeve which increases the performance but you must change the UV tubes every 6 months or possibly even more frequently here. The vortex and the main filter chamber had sluice valves fitted so when needed, you could open them up and the dense crap would flow out into a nearby drain.

For your fish, the shop I mentioned near Mazda Buriram has some very large koi but at very large prices. There is a fish shop near the railway station who has more reasonably priced fish -- directions: back to the station, go forward to the clock roundabout. Turn left onto the dual carriageway. Just after the dual carriageway goes down to two lanes, there is a fish shop on the left hand side. I've had a look at Chatuchak market on a Thursday morning. Lots of fish from tiddlers up to 50 and 60 cms. There's a Dutch guy who has an enormous koi farm just outside Bangkok in Phatumthani. I've not been yet but the farm looks exceptionally good from his website: thaieuropeankoifarm.com and when I get my ornamental pond up and running I'll be paying him a visit ( my koi are currently sharing a pond with pla nin ).

[Rabbi]

Thanks Finnomick very informative. I was trying to find the shop near the station but finished up at an ordinary pet shop without any fish. Next time I go up to Buriram [probably early next week] I'll try again using your directions. I was looking in the same street as CAT.

I think I may have a problem in that one of my inlets is on the same side as the submersible pump but the other is around the front creating the aeration. The filter is an external cartridge. At this stage I haven't got a UV but I can add later. I am having goldfish not Koi [Carp] so the amount of excreta is lower but I will still have to clean the filter regularly.

This photo taken last night after I set up the plumbing to establish the "holes in the walls" will give you an idea. Since then and you comments I am planning to take a Tee off the aeration outlets to branch the water into the pond around to the left hand side so I now should have the flow as you suggest. I have ball valves to control the flow into the top aeration tank and now the left hand outlet.

Thanks for your advice & assistance.




[attachment deleted by admin]

[finnomick]

Rabbi, I'm not that familiar with Buriram, but I think the CAT office would be in the wrong direction i.e. you would have to turn right at the clock roundabout to get to the CAT office so you want to be going in the opposite direction. I'm going there myself on Monday and I'll detour that way and double check though I know my directions to the fish shop from the station are correct ( assuming it hasn't closed of course ). There is one other ornamental fish market which I believe is just south-west of Bangkok. It's called Korana market somewhere near Ratchaburi but I've yet to speak to anyone who can give me more precise directions and info as to how good it is. I've a feeling the guy at the fish shop mentioned above told us about it.

After you have rendered your pond will you be sealing it or leaving it raw so-to-speak ? If you are leaving it just rendered, you'll have to reduce the amount of lime in the water by leaving it full and changing the water over a period of about 4 weeks. Chopped up banana trees help to soak up the lime too which is something we have done. Sorry if I am telling you what you already know.

Back home we regard goldfish as ' dirty ' fish. They'll turn most clear water ponds into brown water. One of my ponds at the front of the house is a similar size to yours and we have 15 koi in it, plus 1 goldfish, 1 albino catfish and several platties and guppies. The pond is exposed to the sun, so the water has algae in it but we don't even have a filter in it or aeration. If we change the water every 3 months or so, it stays reasonably clear. Fish love algae and the fish growers in Thailand create algae in their ponds ( by adding fertilizer ). Every time the fish opens it's mouth, it's feeding and a lot of the guys don't even have to add pellet feed in order for the fish to grow. As an ornamental pond, you'll be wanting to see your fish every time you look at it, so may I suggest growing something around the pond to give it shade or even screen it from the sun. Not that it looks that nice, but when I construct my main ornamental pond, I'm going to shade the whole area with that black plastic sun-screen. It'll also help keep bird eating fish away. We are inundated with white ibis, herons and some eagles plus several pesky but beautiful kingfishers.

[Rabbi]

Good Morning Finnomick and thanks for your interest and comments.

I am sort of playing this project by ear even though I have been involved in aquatic fish for 40 years or so, this is the 1st time I have built a large pond. I had a small one in my bar in Pattaya and it is these fish that I will be transporting up to our house in Chumphon Buri in about 4 weeks after the pond is finished and been running for 3 weeks. It should be operational in a day or two.

The walls have been rendered with water proofing additive then ceramic tiled - mainly to seal for leakage and appearance. I will be building a thatched shade roof over the area.

Just looked at "thaieuropeankoifarm.com" very professional operation but I am more interested in Goldfish at present and finding fish suppliers without having to go to BKK. I will follow up your leads and yes if you can check on that Buriram shop I'd appreciate it. I drove all around the station back & front streets and only found pet stores no dedicated fish ones.

If you're "..not that familiar with Buriram.." may I ask where you are? I have to drive 90 kms each way to get to Buriram from the NE

anyway time for brekkie then out to the "project.....Regards

[davu]

well I'll try again. The market in Buriram, not the one in the town center, is where we bought goldfish and Koi,  Saturdays and Tuesdays, near Jintana resort, go over the railway lines. They also sell goldfish at Lamplaimatt market, 6, 16 and 26 of the month. I never saw Farang at either of these markets.
I don't know where there is a fish shop near the railway station either.

[Rabbi]

Thanks Davu. I am thinking of driving down on Tuesday or Wednesday.

[finnomick]

Wrong day to go to Buriram ( or anywhere else ) -- most shops closed because of the public holiday and everyone and their aunty doing the shopping. Just how many people does it take to push a shopping trolley ? About 10 if you are here.

The directions for the fish shop near the station are accurate. At the end of the dual carriageway, there's a row of about 8 ( or so ) small shops just before the road does an ' S ' bend. Trouble was, they were ALL closed today so I can't say if this business still exists. The shop at the side of Mazda was open.

Rabbi, I live about 60kms due south of Buiram.

Davu, I know a guy who sells fish at the markets. He buys all his fish from Chatuchak on a Thursday. He goes down every fortnight, and the in between weeks, they send the fish up via bus. We have a fishing shop, well, that is the wife has a fishing shop, We ( done it again ), she also used to sell tropical fish which she bought once a week from the market guy. Can't believe how cheap fish are here especially as at least two ' hands ' had taken a profit out before she got them. Never really had an issue with the quality of the fish either. If you go to Chatuchak, one can buy a bag of 100 platys or guppies for 250 baht. Goldfish just a bit more, they started at 300 baht for 100.

[Rabbi]

Chatuchak is the main fish market out of BKK isn't it? I have heard about it so will try and get there on the way back from Pattaya around 20th.

I'll have to rethink my travelling to Buriram tomorrow if shops are closed.

I have to go to BKK on Friday then Pattaya for a week and am hopeful the pond will be operational Wednesday so it can run for about 3 weeks pending the arrival of the fish from Pattaya.

[finnomick]

Yes Rabbi, it is the main fish market in Bangkok. It does a special ornamental fish market on Thursday mornings as in from about 2am. We arrived at 7am to find most people already spent up and gone although there were plenty of fish still available. Nearest BTS is Morchit. It also does fish at the weekend, but the rest of the market is also open with thousands of people milling around so Thursday is best when the rest of the market is closed. You have to be careful where you park too. There is one road where everyone parks or there is a multi-storey car park in the market though you have to walk back down the ramp to get to the market. The lifts only start operating when the indoor shopping/mall area opens. Don't park on any other perimeter roads as you will be towed although there are no restricted parking red and white kerbs. Crazy.

You should be OK with the shops in Buriram from tomorrow -- the public holiday is only today.