Any ponders out there?

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taekwondodo

taekwondodo

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Apr 26, 2009
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Just checking - I have a 5Kg pond adjacent to my pool. Now that my pool looks great, would love the pond to look as nice as well. Unfortunatly using BBB would kill the koi, so strike that strategy...

Any good sites out there for pond care (like tfp's forum)?

Thanks.

- Jeff
 
I have a pond, but I wouldn't say I am a "ponder". Our pond is 10'x12', water lily, water iris, koi, and a fountain. It pretty much runs it's self. We clean out the large debris from the pre-filter once in a while and that is about it.
 
taekwondodo said:
Just checking - I have a 5Kg pond adjacent to my pool. Now that my pool looks great, would love the pond to look as nice as well. Unfortunatly using BBB would kill the koi, so strike that strategy...

Any good sites out there for pond care (like tfp's forum)?

Thanks.

- Jeff
Click to expand...
Go to http://www.gardenpondforum.com I am very active there as DrDave. I am a Koi breeder and have several ponds.
 
So good to see this thread :) I just made hubby pull out the pond liner we have had for years. Its one of those small ones that you can get from home depot as a kit. I am starting out small and see how this goes. I am an aquarist, with several inside tanks. This will be a first outdoor thing. I can't wait to get it all done!
 
lulupalooza said:
So good to see this thread :) I just made hubby pull out the pond liner we have had for years. Its one of those small ones that you can get from home depot as a kit. I am starting out small and see how this goes. I am an aquarist, with several inside tanks. This will be a first outdoor thing. I can't wait to get it all done!
Click to expand...
Be very carefull how many fish you put in that preformed pond. It is easy to overload them. Get you bio filter working with a few feeders before you add any good fish.
 
Thanks Dave! I was thinking about 4-6 of those feeders to start with. I mainly want to do the plants in this since it is small. We also have a water turtle, I plan on letting this be his hang out in the spring/summer. I am going to save the good fish for when we do a bigger, really nice pond in the future.
 
The former owner of my house had put in a small pond with a hard black plastic liner. I was going to remove it last year but found cement under the liner, so I thought I'd give it a try. It's small but I've had 4 feeder fish for a year. Pulled them out for the winter and put them in a tank in the house. They've grown a lot. Even with feeder fish, you can find some that are more attractive than others; mine have long-ish tails. I have water irises, cat tails and a black elephant-ear type plant as well as some water hyacinths and some other small plant I bought at the plant store (supposed to be a water lilly but it's tiny). I feed the fish maybe once a day and hose down the filter monthly. The water makes a relaxing noise and I put an antique park bench next to the pond. 2 frogs have moved in and my cat keeps trying to catch them. I have a really ugly cave that I bought for the fish to hide in from PetSmart, but you can barely see it because of the plants. Right now, I have an arch over the pond to try to keep the herons from landing there to eat the fish (until the hyacinths multiply a little more). So far, it's working.

We have turtles that come up from the river and lay eggs in our lawns; none have yet tried to make my little pond their home.

Sue
 
Sue I didn't realize those feeder fish can get HUGE. My MIL has 2, (one is a true goldfish with the long flowy tail) The other blows my kissing fish that I have off the map,LOL and I have had him for almost 6 yrs and he's about 5 inches long. Her's is about 7-8 inches long and about 3-4in in diameter. Pretty freakin huge for a feeder fish. It actually looks almost like a small koi. She said I could have them, so I may just put them in there since it's only 2 of them and then bring them inside in the winter.
 
When we had our pool put in, we had another 5KG pool put in adjacent to the pool - for a koi pond. I wish the internet was as useful then in pond info as it is now as I would have done it quite a bit different. They essentially plumbed/built it as a 5kG pool with a sand filter (now filled with plastic bio media). I have a UV in it with a small pump all of the time, and run the filter a couple of hours a day.

I'd like to figure out how to run a smaller pump in parallel through the same plumbing as the bigger waterfall pump, that way I can keep the filter "alive" and have better water quality w/o running up the $$$ on electricity. As it's plumed like a pool with a single line coming from the skimmer (which connects to the drain via a diverter at the skimmer), with a jandy valve on the return diverting to the fall or in-pond returns - I want to put a veggie filter out near the pool pad and be able to have a smaller pump always running.

Any ideas here?

- Jeff
 

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taekwondodo said:
When we had our pool put in, we had another 5KG pool put in adjacent to the pool - for a koi pond. I wish the internet was as useful then in pond info as it is now as I would have done it quite a bit different. They essentially plumbed/built it as a 5kG pool with a sand filter (now filled with plastic bio media). I have a UV in it with a small pump all of the time, and run the filter a couple of hours a day.

I'd like to figure out how to run a smaller pump in parallel through the same plumbing as the bigger waterfall pump, that way I can keep the filter "alive" and have better water quality w/o running up the $$$ on electricity. As it's plumed like a pool with a single line coming from the skimmer (which connects to the drain via a diverter at the skimmer), with a jandy valve on the return diverting to the fall or in-pond returns - I want to put a veggie filter out near the pool pad and be able to have a smaller pump always running.

Any ideas here?

- Jeff
Click to expand...
Every time that filter is off for more than 5 hours, the anerobic bacteria (good guys) die. Get a Beckett W1150 from home Depot and tee it into the line. Use ball valves to isolate your main pump when you want to turn it off so the new system can flow correctly. I have used this pump continuously for 4 years and it does not cost that much to operate.
 
"T" it in... not sure what you're saying (I'm aware the bio isn't that great cause I'm turning it off).

| ====== 3/4 hp WFP = = = \\ //======= to waterfall
| / / \\ //
|From pond = = = || // ==filter==<diverter valve>
| \ \ // \\
| ====Mag 12 ==UV== =// \\=========to return
|

What's to keep the 3/4hp (or the smaller one, for that fact) from continuously looping on each other? Shouldn't I have check valves on one (or both) of the lines? And wouldn't I put that on the RIGHT side of the pumps?

Thanks.

- Jeff
(this dang thing is p888ing me off - it's removing my spaces!!!)

Try this:
3563753530_4cb8e3b0ec.jpg
 
I'm thinking w/o the check valves, it will go into a continuous loop.

My other concern is what happens to the MAG12 flow when the 3/4 HP is going... lots of backpressure may close its check valve...
 
That is why I suggested ball valves to start with. You need to be able to shut off the existing pump, then close that loop, then open the bypass and turn on the smaller pump. I think you can do it with 2 valves right by the tee closest to your main pump.
 
I be that moron ;)...

I have it on a timer because the pump is 600 watts and would cost .6*24*.49= ~$7.06/day to run if I kept it on 24x7.

I guess I could plumb it separate such that it looks like this:

3564743866_64b74917b7.jpg


I want to keep the WF on a timer... as I really enjoy going out in the morning everyday by the pond to hear the water run... (It's set at 7AM-9AM)...

My concern is - what happens when both pumps are on???

- Jeff
 
Sorry :cry:
Not being a plumber, I can't tell you what will happen with this arrangement. Try it without glueing in place just long enough to see what happens. It appears to be a viable solution.
There are electric solenoids that can open or close when wired properly to your timer contacts. A little more expense but it can be done.
 
Google does wonders...

It states that two pumps in parallel are more efficient than a single pump (of 2x). It didn't mention squat about two pumps of different sizes though. The interesting point I needed to know was that, yes, I need two check-valves for when only one of either pump is working (right after the pump).

Now, If I could find a cheap rubbermaid stock tank...
 

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