DIY Floating Fountain ideas

I was thinking of going with a floating fountain, but the commercial ones
are insanely priced and too big for my pond. The blurb I saw for a smaller
one said that it clogs easily and would require considerable maintenance. So
I thought I would build my own.

Cheap idea #1 was some polystyrene with a cap and a pipe through the middle.
I thought I might use the water catcher from a plant pot for a cap. This may
not be too durable, but it would be cheap.

Cheap idea #2 was a large container filled with Great Stuff and a pipe
through the middle. Should also be cheap, but perhaps less durable.

Fancy idea #1 fill a container with polyester resin with a pipe through the
middle. I would use micro-spheres to make the resin buoyant. This is how
some of the commercials ones are made. I would likely only do this if I
liked the results from the fountain above.

I was also planning on adding one of the colour changing LED light rings to
the fountain.

Any better ideas?






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Bill,

I am not sure I follow your ideas clearly. Pics or drawings somewhere
might help my visual mind.

We were able to get a small fountain/sprinkler item and plumb it onto
1/2" PVC. It did not float, but it ran from the pump. The water from
it looked like an umbrella.

Jim

"Phyllis and Jim" <> wrote in message
news:6afefa0e-dfe1-4135-a1a6-...
> Bill,
>
> I am not sure I follow your ideas clearly. Pics or drawings somewhere
> might help my visual mind.
>
> We were able to get a small fountain/sprinkler item and plumb it onto
> 1/2" PVC. It did not float, but it ran from the pump. The water from
> it looked like an umbrella.
>
> Jim


The cheap floating variety:

http://www.diytrade.com/china/4/prod..._Fountain.html

The lake sized version:

http://pondfountain.com/

I'd like something in the middle, with a bubbler nozzle I think.



..

Bill Stock wrote:

> The cheap floating variety:
>
> http://www.diytrade.com/china/4/prod..._Fountain.html
>
> The lake sized version:
>
> http://pondfountain.com/
>
> I'd like something in the middle, with a bubbler nozzle I think.
>
The big one has a 1/2HP or 1HP motor! Kricky! OK, the top may float
but the bottom is sure tied to a power line so can't move all that much.
What's the diff, if you put a 1/2HP anywhere, out or in the pond, and
run 1" PVC along the bottom and then up to the top platform. It
wouldn't look any different because the big one has a pipe running up to
the top anyway.

Chip

Chip" <> wrote in message news:g0s8cu$jhf$...
> Bill Stock wrote:
>
>> The cheap floating variety:
>>
>> http://www.diytrade.com/china/4/prod..._Fountain.html
>>
>> The lake sized version:
>>
>> http://pondfountain.com/
>>
>> I'd like something in the middle, with a bubbler nozzle I think.
>>
> The big one has a 1/2HP or 1HP motor! Kricky!

Yeah, I've seen them advertised at 5HP+. I'm looking at more like 1200 gph,
which is probably soemthing like 1/8 HP at most.

>OK, the top may float but the bottom is sure tied to a power line so can't
>move all that much. What's the diff, if you put a 1/2HP anywhere, out or in
>the pond, and run 1" PVC along the bottom and then up to the top platform.
>It wouldn't look any different because the big one has a pipe running up to
>the top anyway.

I was originally thinking of letting the pump sit on the bottom as you
suggest, since a much smaller float would be required. The one big reason I
can see for not doing this would be the clog factor and the risk of emptying
the pond. I guess I've got another use for the milk crates discussed last
year. Most of the platforms I've seen have small weight(s) that sit on the
bottom to hold the flloat in place. Since I have much less tolerance for
error I need a better anchoring solution. I'm thinking of using a couple of
eye hooks and some string to anchor the float to the side of the pond.

I picked up some lighting fairly reasonable, so if it's too tacky I'll add
it to my pile of 'good ideas at the time'.

http://www.wholesalepumps.com/Produc...DID=79&PID=921



..

Bill Stock wrote:

> I picked up some lighting fairly reasonable, so if it's too tacky I'll add
> it to my pile of 'good ideas at the time'.
>
> http://www.wholesalepumps.com/Produc...DID=79&PID=921
>
All you need now is to dress your fish in white suits and have the hi-fi
playing "Disco Inferno".

Chip

"Bill Stock" <> wrote in message
news:bf1a9$4830c579$cef886b1$-Free...
>I was thinking of going with a floating fountain, but the commercial ones
>are insanely priced and too big for my pond. The blurb I saw for a smaller
>one said that it clogs easily and would require considerable maintenance.
>So I thought I would build my own.
>
> Cheap idea #1 was some polystyrene with a cap and a pipe through the
> middle. I thought I might use the water catcher from a plant pot for a
> cap. This may not be too durable, but it would be cheap.
>
> Cheap idea #2 was a large container filled with Great Stuff and a pipe
> through the middle. Should also be cheap, but perhaps less durable.
>
> Fancy idea #1 fill a container with polyester resin with a pipe through
> the middle. I would use micro-spheres to make the resin buoyant. This is
> how some of the commercials ones are made. I would likely only do this if
> I liked the results from the fountain above.
>
> I was also planning on adding one of the colour changing LED light rings
> to the fountain.
>
> Any better ideas?


HD does sell plant pot bottoms separately. They were in a hideous terracotta
colour, but some black plastic paint solved that. I used a couple of layers
of 2" styrofoam for the float, glued together with some polyurethane glue.
The glue did not stick to the HDPE plastic at all, but it did stick the
styrofoam together. But the weight of the pump keeps it all together. I
probably could have used one layer of styrofoam and a smaller planter base,
as the whole thing seems very buoyant. I'll probably redo it when I move the
pump to a support and take the added weight off the float. One problem I had
originally was that the fountain would not float straight, since the weight
of the pump was pulling it off center. A short section of flexible hose
between the pump and the fountain head solved my center of gravity problem.

I'm pretty happy with the LED light ring BTW, it's not quite as Vegas as I'd
feared. But then I'm a big Bellagio fan. :-)

I'll post a few night shots somewhere once I get everything else finished.



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