Meeting Synopsis

We had another great turnout of 15-20 people for GWAPA's April 2007 meeting at Kris Weinhold's house in Columbia, MD. Two brand new members showed up to this meeting, so welcome to them!

Kris' 75G tank in the basement.

The topic for this meeting consisted of Kris talking the group through how he built his small raised brick pond in his backyard. He described how he couldn't find any other similar plans on the Internet, so he merged the construction directions from a number of sites for raised-brick flower beds and small garden ponds. Concisely, his step-by-step guide consists of the following:

• Lay cement foundation.
• Build wooden frame out of 2x4s as the main supporting feature for the pond.
• Fill in the frame with plywood, being careful to not have any sharp edges that could rip the pond liner.
• Lay sand in the bottom of the pond. Cover with pond liner.
• Around the wood frame, lay the brick fascade.
• At the top, finish off using 1x6 or 1x8 board to cover the top.
• Kris uses a solar-powered fountain pump to circulate the water in the pond.

Finally, the meeting ended with another huge "mini" auction. The club had purchased a box of manzanita wood, which completely sold out, so we will probably order more sometime this year. Additionally, more folks signed up for our 2.5G aquascaping contest, which will begin immediately after next month's May meeting. See ya then!

Looking at Kris' raised-brick pond

Everyone gathers in Kris' backyard to hear how he constructed his pond.

Overhead view of the pond.

Kris is pointing out something in the pond.

Kris pulls out the solar fountain/pump used to circulate the water.

Everyone gathers downstairs for the auction.

Rob explains the intricacies of Kris' tank.

Kris' 40G tank.

Kris' 20L tank.

Kris' corner 54G tank.