Before you read this section, please see Water Garden Lessons Learned!

Did you read it? OK, let’s get started on turning an old dirty hot tub into a beautiful water garden.

BEFORE

–

–

Healthy Benefits Of A Water Garden!

The sound of flowing water, the sound of splashing water, the view of flowing and splashing water and the sight of fish swimming, all lower the heart rate and lower blood pressure. Bottom line, stress is greatly reduced reflecting on the health of the recipient now and into the future. We’re going to make a STRESS BUSTER that’s positively effects your health.

Did you notice when you’re outdoor’s you feel better – you feel good don’t you! You know why? Cause it’s because of negative ions! Negative ions are charged particles of oxygen.

According to Pierce J. Howard, Ph.D., author of The Owner’s Manual For The Brain, multitudes of negative ions can be found near beaches, mountains and moving bodies of water. When negative ions are inhaled, they produce a chemical reaction within our bodies boosting serotonin levels that are instrumental in lifting our mood, making us feel much better.

In October 2007, I moved into my new home and property. The paper I received from the realtor showed a hot tub built into the deck. And the itemized paperwork on all the amenities of the property stated ‘hot tub.’ False advertising in my book. After all the paperwork was done and I moved in, turns out the hot tub never worked. It would cost more than it’s worth to fix it.

I attempted 03-times to turn the hot tub into a water garden but there were multiple slow leaks I couldn’t stop. And I abandoned the idea of turning the hot tub into a water garden for years.

So this time (July – August 2019), I decided to give it another try. Here are my step-by-step instructions to turn an old dirty hot tub into a beautiful water garden with a home-made filter / aerator unit complimented with koi fish. OK, let’s get started.

–

INGREDIENTS:  To insure I didn’t miss anything, I itemized all these needed into bullets –

• Old non-working hot tub
• Cleaning tools of your choice (flat shovel, net & plastic container [capture debris & bail dirty water], broom, dust pan, 50 wash cloths, Lysol liquid cleaner,…)
• 01-gallon of outdoor paint (see Step 01)
• Paint Brush
• Package of Husky Plastic Drop Cloth (clear stuffing and wrap-over)
• Scissors
• Utility knife
• Gorilla Clear Heavy Duty Packing Tape (01)
• 01 Roll / Section of ‘Warp’s Carry-Home Coverall Plastic Sheeting’ –clear -20-feet by 25-feet plastic liner (04 mil thickness)
• 12 Decorator Bricks
• 02-Gallon Bucket
• Few hundred gallons of water
• Wayne Submersible Pump (WSP)
• Filter media (medium & fine) [cut-up in rectangle filter blocks,]
• 03-Foot section of old garden hose – female end
• Garden Shears
• Black Magic Marker
• 07 Medium size rocks
• Heavy duty extension cord
• At least 03 koi fish (male & female)

–

STEP 01: The wooden deck that supports the hot tub needed to be re-painted.  I painted it also to help water-proof that section of the deck. I may re-paint it again to insure the deck is water-proof.

–

STEP 02: Clean-out the hot tub of all debris, dirt, mildew,…

–

–

–

–

–

–

STEP 03: I measured the diameter of the hot tub. Triple the diameter and that is the approximate size of the section of thick plastic that you’ll need to cover the entire hot tub to include overlap on all sides. For example, the diameter of my hot tub is 07-feet and 02-inches. I’ll need a plastic section of 21 1/2-feet by 21 ½-feet. I went to the hardware store and couldn’t find anything like this or a custom cut. So I purchased a roll of ‘Warp’s Carry-Home Coverall Plastic Sheeting.’ It’s a clear plastic sheeting (I wanted black plastic sheeting), 4 mil thickness and the dimensions are 20-feet by 25-feet and the cost was $34 bucks. The package states ‘fully waterproof’, ‘moisture barrier’,…

IMPORTANT NOTE: I’m doing this project as cheap as I can, but still works. A good durable thick black liner that’s designed for water gardens with a bottom protective insulating liner would cost about $600 – $700 bucks. But for this project, I’m using 04 mil plastic sheeting.

–

STEP 04: Before doing this next step, I took off my shoes and worked in my socks to insure I didn’t cut or tear the plastic sheeting. To insure the 20-feet by 25-feet plastic sheeting I purchased is enough to cover the entire hot tub, I spread the entire sheet over the entire hot tub to include covering the bottom, the sides, the steps, and over the sides. As you can see by the photo, I hand PLENTY of plastic and a bunch left-over but not nearly enough to cover it twice over.

–

WARNING: Walking on the plastic sheeting in socks, the plastic sheeting is very slippery.

–

STEP 05: I pulled the plastic sheeting out of the hot tub and now I have to prepare the hot tub for possible leaks:

• Bottom Drainage Holes
• 04 Jets
• Rectangle Control Box

The rectangle control box in the hot tub, I took some plastic sheeting and wadded it up and stuffed inner part, closed the handle and stuffed the outer part of the rectangle box. I secured the entire rectangle control box with folded plastic and secured everything with a few strips of the clear Gorilla tape. Once the plastic sheeting is placed in the hot tub and the hot tub is filled with water, the rectangle well must be plugged-up because the great water pressure pressing against it. If it wasn’t plugged-up, the water pressure would eventually break through the plastic sheeting causing a huge leak.

STEP 06: The water jets or anything that sticks out, I stuffed some wadded-up plastic into the wells. I then placed some folded-up plastic over the entire jet and secured everything with a few strips of clear Gorilla tape. I did this to all the protruding 04 water jets. This smoothes-out the water jets and helps to avoid breaking the plastic because of the heavy water pressure once the hot tub is filled with water. Plus, if there are any future leaks, the water jets are plugged-up and shouldn’t take any leaking water.

STEP 07: I used a section of folded plastic sheeting and took a measured cut of the bottom of the hot tub where the drainage holes are located. This bottom section will help cushion the bottom of the hot tub and slow down or stop and future water leaks. I secured this section of plastic sheeting with the clear Gorilla tape.

STEP 08: I spread the plastic sheeting over the hot tub and got inside the hot tub and carefully spread it out over the very bottom, the sides, the steps and the top with overlap. I placed the garden hose in the hot tub and started filling the hot tub paying attention to the very bottom of the hot tub. I’ll cut-off all the excess plastic sheeting in STEP 24.

STEP 09: I took my garden hose and started filling the hot tub with water. In the meantime, I took the decorator bricks and wrapped them in a section of plastic, took the ends, tied them in a knot and secured the knot and the whole decorator brick with clear Gorilla tape. The weighted bricks are being used to hold the plastic sheeting in place throughout the hot tub. The decorator bricks are wrapped in plastic to prevent the decorator bricks from cutting into the plastic sheeting.

Note: You can see several of the decorator bricks around the 03-levels of the watergarden. These are used to hold the plastic sheeting in-place. There is a tremendous amount of weight of water holding the plastic sheeting in-place. Later, I’ll REMOVE all decorator bricks.

STEP 10: While the water tub is being filled-up with water, I’m going to make a home-made water filter / aeriation unit. This home-made unit will filter and trap the debris in the bucket while it’s putting oxygen in the water by the splashing of the water. I’ve been using these units for several years and they work real good.

STEP 11: The filter media can be purchased online. They come in thick sheets of plastic-looking stuff that looks like sponge opened-up. The come in different ‘thickness’ to trap debris. If you purchase it, get MEDIUM and FINE. The medium filter will trap the big stuff and the fine filter will trap the small particles.

STEP 12: I placed the bucket on the sheet of fine media filter. I take a black magic market and trace the outline of the bottom of the bucket. Then I cut it out using my scissors or utility knife.

STEP 13: This round section of fine media filter is your first filter. It’s placed in the bottom of the bucket.

STEP 14: Place the WSP on top and center of the bottom filter.

STEP 15: I cut the sheet of fine media filter into small rectangle blocks that I pack around the Wayne Submersible Pump (WSP) – see photo. Pack 02 layers of fine media filter blocks around the WSP.

STEP 16: Now we’ll cut some more rectangle filter blocks using the medium filter media. As you cut each block, start packing them around the WSP. Keep cutting rectangular filters till they reach just below the rim (01-inch) of the bucket.

STEP 17: Place the several medium rocks on top of the top layer of rectangle medium filter blocks. The medium rocks will secure the filters within the bucket. They medium rocks will not hinder the filtering process.

STEP 18: Screw on the old garden hose to the WSP.

STEP 19: Secure the heavy-duty extension cord to the cord on the WSP.

STEP 20: DO NOT plug-in the unit, not yet. Take-off your shoes. Take the home-made water filter / aeriation unit and CAREFULLY enter the hot tub. Place the unit at the bottom center of the hot tub. Take a good look and see where the end of the garden hose comes to the top of the hot tub. Cut-off excess garden hose so it’s about 03-inches below the top of the hot tub.

STEP 21: Insure the hot tub is filled with water till its approximately 01 ½ to 02-inches below the top of the hot tub.

STEP 22: Once the hot tub is filled with water, plug it in. The WSP should be working real good. The water should be pushed-out of the garden hose and several inches above the surface of the water. This will create plenty of splashing which oxygenates the water for the koi fish. At the same time all those filters in the bucket will be collecting super fine debris to big debris which will help keep the water clear.

Note: Back in 2008, I purchased a net with a long 06-foot pole to clean my watergarden from one of those mail-order watergarden companies. It was absolutely WORTHLESS. It broke in just a couple weeks. So I went to a hardware store and purchased a couple long poles. I then went to Walmart and purchased one of their fishing nets with the short handle. I got some carpet tape and taped the fishing net to the pole. WORKS GREAT!!!! This net grabs the big debris.

I did the same thing with the other long pole. Except this time I went to PetSmart and got one of large nets with the fine blue mesh to grab the small debris and big debris. Both nets have lasted years. I use them all the time. To repair them, I sew em’ up using dental floss. WORKS GREAT!!!!

STEP 23: When the hot tub is initially filled with tap water, the water in the hot tub is loaded with chemicals. Let the pump run for a full 24-hours for the chemicals to evaporate.

STEP 24: I cut-off all the excess plastic sheeting insuring there is still enough overlap in-case the weight of the water pulls-in the plastic sheeting.

STEP 25: After 24-hours you can go purchase a few koi fish at your local Walmart or PetSmart. Female koi fish have rounded fins and a rounded body. Male koi fish have angled fins. Before you place the koi fish in the water, to prevent shock from different temperatures of water, place the bag(s) of koi fish in the hot tub for about 30-minutes and then release them in the water.

BIG CONGRATULATIONS, you no longer have a hot tub. You now have a WATER GARDEN complimented with koi fish!!!  WAIT, we’re not done yet. Let me tell you how I clean the home-made water filter / aeriation unit.

STEP 26: To clean the home-made water filter / aeriation unit, with everything unplugged, I simply get in the water with a large plastic tub and another smaller tub and a bailer (01-quart plastic cup). I place the home-made water filter / aeriation unit in the tub and with a garden hose sprayer set on ‘jet’. One item at a time, I take each item out of the home-made water filter / aeriation unit, jet spray it within the large tub and place the cleaned item in the small plastic tub. I’m collecting all the dirty water within the large tub. Once everything is clean, I bail all the dirty water on the lawn, ground and then put the home-made water filter / aeriation unit together and place it back in the water garden. Depart the water garden plug-in the home-made water filter / aeriation unit.

My small 1,000-gallon water garden has about 60 koi fish in it and I clean all 03 home-made water filter / aeriation units about once a week. The water garden (hot tub) with only a few koi fish will probably have to be cleaned once a month or so.

Note: If the water garden is in full free view of the sun with no overhead trees blocking the direct sunlight, algae will no doubt be a problem. About 07-months out of the year (April – October), my 1,000-gallon water garden is completely free of algae because I let all the trees and vegetation grow around and overhead of the water garden – thus blocking all direct sunlight.

IRISAP Copyright 2019 – All Rights Reserved