Starting the dig...

[nero6370]

The top drain is the only one I am using; that one skims the surface. If the power goes out I will lose a little water, nothing major. Even if the pool empties to the 2nd drain, there will still be 2' of water in there. Not the best setup granted, but it was a quick fix; plus it's temporary. Maybe 2 or 3 more weeks til the pond is ready (funds willing) and then the kids can have their pool back...


Any feedback on my earlier posts...anyone...

 

[mrunlucky07]

I am about the same place in construction of my pond.

If you are going with a external pump a pool pump works, but generally use more electricity, around 2 wpg. From what I found they are cheaper initially and good for high head/pressure, but lack efficiency. Once I started reading about it that constant electric draw will add up. Everywhere is different, but if your price is around 10c per kwh thats about $1.20 a day for a 500w pump, $440per year. Cut that in half and save $200 in the first year.

Some pond pumps are meant for high flow/low pressure. Sequence looks like they have a good record and are very efficient. Close to .5 wpg. Dolphin pumps also look to be pretty good. I was also looking at getting a laguna submersible pump like the powerjet which claims 2900gph for under 150 watts.

The pumps you mentioned are around 5000 gph. How much flow are you looking for and did you decide on a filter design yet?

 

[nero6370]

Thanks for the feedback; I do like the Sequence models, a little pricey but the power usage over time would be worth it. The pond will be about 4500 gallons if my math was right and I have read that a pond needs 1-2x turnover an hour. So I am looking for a pump that gets at least 4500 gph at 10'; I looked at an Aquaflow external pump mod# af2s10. It's a 1 hp, 2 speed pump. The high speed setting is supposedly for waterfall applications and draws 11 amps at 1250 watts...a little too much. But at low speed, for filtration settings, it only draws 2.9 amps and 340 watts. It claims 5460 gph at 30'. It has a 3" inlet and a 2" outlet. Seems like a decent buy at $329 from Pond depot.com. As far as the filter goes, I am building a "Skippy" filter out of a 150 gallon rubbermaid stock tank; I have all the parts and hope to dig out the footprint for it this weekend. The plan, if an external filter is used, would be to house the pump and strainer in the shed and feed the filter. The filter would be the starting point for some type of water feature, which would incorporate plants to aid in the filtration.

 

[mrunlucky07]

I saw the skippy filter idea too and like the idea of the low maintence and easy DIY. Almost seems too good to be true. It seems without maintance there would have to be anerobic bacteria at work as well, and too high a flow may defeate the filter. I emailed them to see what size they suggest on a 150 rubbermaid. I will post up when I hear back from them.

What are you going to use for the filter material? Floor pads, or did you order it from them?

The 2 speed aquaflow sounds like a good option. I am going to keep that in mind myself.

How are you planning to route the water to the filter from the pond?

Also what type of liner did you go with? I am debating between EPDM and 30 mil PVC.

 

[nero6370]

As far as bio media goes, I am gonna stick with pot scrubbies. My 75 gallon sump is full of them; I used that on the 700. When everything is ready, I am gonna transfer the water from the pool to the pond and seed the new scrubbies with the ones I have now.
The plumbing for the external pump will be fairly basic (if I go with an external); The drain will probably be 3" and be placed close to the far end of the pond, opposite the water feature. I am prob looking at 5 or 6 elbows and about 15- 20' of pipe. My main concern is the seal at the drain; I'll have to do more research on the proper way to do that. I went with the epdm 45 mil liner; it's real flexible so I imagine the folds and corners should be easy to make. My only experiance with pvc liners was a shower pan liner by Oatey 40 mils thick and it was a nightmare to work with; too stiff in my opinion. 30 mils should be easier to handle if you go with pvc liner.

 

[nero6370]

Well after seeing the price of the larger pavers, I decided to make my own. The cheapest paver (16x12) was $5; a 80# bag of Sakrete is less then $4. I was able to make 4 16x12x2 pavers from 2 bags of 80# Sakrete. So I spent less then $10 as opposed to spending more than $20...I am all about being cheap when necessary, which is most of the time. You would be suprised at the discounts if you ask the mgr. All the egg and river rock bags that I have bought were half off due to holes in the bags; the pond plants were half off as well due to their poor condition. All of the plants were nursed back to health, no problem. Anyways, I threw in a few pics

 

[Muske]

usually any plant (other than annuals that get a little cold at night) will bounce back from a few tattered leaves. Good score. Are those Pickerel Weeds purple or pink flowering?

 

[mrunlucky07]

Pavers look good. I agree save money where you can. How many are you going to make?

I looked more into the aquaflow pumps because they sounded great, but don't think its what you want. On the low setting at 10' it will only be putting out about 1500gph.

http://www.myyardpond.com/page/1076244

 

[nero6370]

The pickerels are purple; in a couple of days or so they should bloom. As far as the pavers go, I'll need about 40 for the initial perimeter; I may do 2 or 3 rows. Thanks for the flow chart on the pump; I did'nt realize low speed on that model had such low head pressure. Oh well, that's what research is for...

 

[nero6370]

Well I am still making pavers and doing research on the pump...it's a bit frustrating trying to decide on parting with $400+ for a efficient pump that will pay for itself over time, or spending a little less up front but paying more each month for electricity. I am sure we have all been there...Anyways, we have had a lot of rain in the past week, which along with other factors has resulted in a algae bloom. There is about 10 hours of direct sunlight on the pool, so that might not be the problem. I do not have a u/v clarifier yet, and that is probably the answer; but for a 4500 gallon pond it's gonna cost me as much as the pump...So for now I have to forego the u/v and go with other options. I am not sure if I have enough salinity in the water; I only used 1lb per 100 gallons. The pool has about 1200 gallons in it; I may add more salt if that could be a factor. I tested the water and it was perfect; o ppm on everthing. However, the water is very alkaline, around 8. I don't know if this could be a factor .I have some plants in the pool; I added some more today that I grabbed out of a local pond. I am not sure what they are, but they are floaters with a purple flower and a huge, hairy root system. Maybe someone could tell me what it is from the pic...Thanks for the help guys and gals, Tom