Thinking About A Pond

[Davo86]

There are plenty of good filter makes available such as Hozelock or Laguna.

Oase is the best brand for pond equipment but is reflected in the price.

 

[BINKSY]

If i decide to add a waterfall, could i use a tee from the pump, one to the waterfall, then the other to a DIY filter, which would be fed back by gravity.

My reasons for thinking in this way is because i dont want a big filter box above my waterfall for two reasons would look unsightly and no room, but the filter could go near one of my short sides and just a short return pipe from the filter too the pond.

Hope the above makes sense.

Cheers Gordon.

 

[Davo86]

If you get a pressurised filter then you can easily have the pump taking the water through the filter and then up to the waterfall, or as you say with a gravity filter you can have two outlets.

ebay seem to have some good deals atm, so may be worth seeing whats available there

 

[BINKSY]

Thanks for your input everyone.

Just did a quick search on ebay and found this

For that kind of price does not seem worth doing a diy job on a filter.

Cheers Gordon.

 

[jonp]

One more hint/tip/request is to put in a shallow submerged shelf on one side. Not only does this give you more scope for the plants you can put around it, but also allows any errent wildlife that falls in a chance to escape (thinking hedgehogs etc. here).

When we put my parents one in we put a good 200kg of soft sand in the bottom of the hole (round 4" deep) to help the liner settle without coming into contact with stones etc. in the soil below.

 

[BINKSY]

With the filter and pump set in my post above, the pump can be sited outside of the pond which sounds a great idea.

But how would the inlet to the pump need to be set up? Would i need a bottom drain or something? I like the idea of not having any hose coming out over the top of the pond to the pump/filter.

Cheers Gordon.

 

[Davo86]

With the filter and pump set in my post above, the pump can be sited outside of the pond which sounds a great idea.

But how would the inlet to the pump need to be set up? Would i need a bottom drain or something? I like the idea of not having any hose coming out over the top of the pond to the pump/filter.

Cheers Gordon.

sorry which pump do you mean? the elimax 2500 in the ebay link?

This pump is a standard 'wet' pump so does need to be run in the pond,

The setup will need to be like this, (but without the extra submersible filter shown on the right)

With a raised pond you could drill a hole or two in one of the sleepers, cut some circles in the liner and then push some hose through, before sealing the pipe to the liner with EPDM silicon glue that any good LFS should carry

 

[BINKSY]

Hi Davo thanks for the tip about drilling the sleeper, for thhe hose then sealing the liner with the silicon.

But the Elimax 2500 is for use outside of the pond also. Have a read here for more info on that pump.

So different ideas bouncing around my head at the moment.

Cheers Gordon.

 

[Davo86]

Thanks for the info, the idea of a 'dry' pump makes more sense now.

With that in mind i would personally still create one hole fairly high up the wall, which would act as an overflow, with a hose on the outside leading to a 'sump container' where the pump would be situated.

 

[BINKSY]

Your more than welcome for the info Davo, you been a great help so far.

So with the inlet on the wall of the pond, would this be enough to pich up any debris from the bottom of the pond? i suspect so or you would have not suggested it.

How big would the sump container need to be? and what level compared to the overflow outlet in the wall of the pond? would not want the sump container overflowing.

Cheers Gordon.

 

[Davo86]

Your more than welcome for the info Davo, you been a great help so far.

So with the inlet on the wall of the pond, would this be enough to pich up any debris from the bottom of the pond? i suspect so or you would have not suggested it.

How big would the sump container need to be? and what level compared to the overflow outlet in the wall of the pond? would not want the sump container overflowing.

Cheers Gordon.

No it wouldn't pick up debri. that is the downfall of having this type of pump setup,

This system works like a sump in a fish tank, it gives you hidden filtration that has a very good turnover and minimal floating debri, but doesn't do anything to help with anything that has sunk.

I know its a bit more unsightly but a raised 'wet' setup usually works best.

Not sure if this diagram is any help, was having a look at how i'd set it up using a sump so mocked it up on photoshop

The sump side of things is a little more complicated and something i struggle with to be honest,
It isn't so much the size of the container but more importantly the diameter of the hole you create for the overflow,
Get it too small and the pump will remove water from the container too quickly and will dry out,
Get the hole too big and the container will overflow.

Although a post in the DIY section should answer this question

 

[BINKSY]

Thanks for taking the time to do that sketch Davo.

The more i think about it i think the easier option is the pressurised filter and pump, as linked to in one of my previous posts.

I would feel happier having a bottom drain (if possiable) with the above filter and pump both external to the pond, dosent sound any harder to install than the sump type of installation. And no problems with the sump runing dry or overflowing.

Cheers Gordon.