Adding another vessel to my patio pond. Any Ideas appreciated!

[lmbauer2017]

Howdy,

I've had this DIY patio pond for a year now. I think I've finally dialed it in (after MUCH trial and error) really well, and I'd like to increase the total volume of water to buffer the system a bit more... AND give more space for pretty pond plants!

Pond size: 40gal empty - probably closer to 30-35 gal with the rocks/plants in it
Bog filter: 7gal empty - its full of 1/3 large,med,small rocks so I'm not sure how much total volume is left (I can measure it though if need be)
Location: Houston, Tx (yes it's HOT, but I have about part shade on it and keep an eye on the water level. the waterfall is fairly powerful as well

The bog filter and waterfall are sitting on a sturdy stand I built out of 2x6's and deck screws. I basically want to add a second plastic faux barrel/pot and route some of the water from the pump to a spout. Instead of building some over-engineered stand, I might just set the barrel on a short simple stepping stool.

The new addition will be 11gallons

The pump is in the bottom of the left deepest spot in the pond, goes to a T with one end to the bog filter which has a valve to keep the flow slow, and the rest of the flow diverted into the waterfall. Here's a silly schematic of the water pathway behind the scenes

I'm trying to decide:
1. What side to put the barrel on
2. How the water enters the barrel:
- Through a flat spout pouring in using the DIY spout pinned at the top of this forum (which is an amazing idea btw)
or
- Stick a tube down to the bottom for maximum circulation within the barrel (this is done for my bog filter)
Both would have a side tube flowing out via gravity straight into the pond (unless I can get the barrel high enough to where it can flow into the waterfall)

Here's what I mean by a gravity fed side tube coming out the top of a barrel.

3. Any other suggestions or ideas that come to mind!

Pardon the mess! The vine running across is a voluntary cantaloupe that's spread throughout the backyard if anyone is curious.
Let me know if you have any questions, and thank you in advance for your time.

 

[GBBUDD]

Welcome, You don't want any ideas from me you'll have your sofa in the middle of an island

 

[Hound Heaven]

Many moons ago I had a "skippy" filter and I used this liner in a whiskey barrel https://www.pondliner.com/botanica-whiskey-barrel-liner-with-pond-spillway
Maybe you could avoid some plumbing by trying one.

 

[Mmathis]

@lmbauer2017 I am the last person to give advice. I’m a very visual person, and would almost have to [literally] draw it to even imagine what it would look like. So far, I understand that you want to add a 2nd barrel to your system, and you’re trying to decide where, in the system to place it, as well as how to plumb it. I’m pretty dumb, dense, clueless most of the time when trying to figure out what another person is trying to describe — please help me understand…..

So, you have a “y” (or “t”) connector after the pump, and some water is going into the existing barrel, and some into the waterfall. The barrel gravity feeds to the waterfall. How is the waterfall made?

How do you have the piping fixed where water enters the 2 vessels?

Would this 2nd barrel empty directly into the existing barrel (inline), or would it also pass through the waterfall?

 

[lmbauer2017]

I’m sorry for the super late reply! Work got in the way…

@Hound Heaven Wow this thing is awesome!!! It’s a little big for me but it gives me the best idea of just heating up the lip of my plastic barrel and bending down a section just like that bucket is. Thank you!

@Mmathis The questions you asked have helped me think about what I actually need to think about haha. Ok, so the waterfall is just two storage containers with their fronts cut off and stacked. Then I just shoved a bunch of rocks/broken sandstone pieces until it looked sort of OK:

And both the main line and the gravity line from the bog filter are just stuck into the top container:

So… I think I’m gonna put the new bucket on the left side, melt a section of the lip and pull it down so it pours out into the main pond. Then put another Y piece into the line at this section shown below:

I’ll set a little something up for better visuals and get pictures posted. We’ll see what new problems will come up at that point haha.

 

[lmbauer2017]

Updating this very old thread in case anyone is interested. I finally added a second container to my patio pond! It was actually wayyy easier than I thought. I bought a 12gal plastic barrel planter, drilled a hole in the side for a spout that pours into the pond. Then added a T connection to the line going into the waterfall and ran that hose down to the bottom of the barrel pot. The line in the bottom forks out to two tubes with some holes drilled in them for slightly more even water distribution. Then threw some big rocks over it to hold it down.

I added a valve so I could dial in the waterflow and not take too much flow from the waterfall. I moved my lily into the pot and bought a native pickerelbush and threw that in there as well. So hopefully this addition will buffer any swings in pH/KH/etc. and allow me to safely have 2 goldfish as I know 2 is pushing it for a pond this size ^^;

BTW all the hoses/connections I'm using are 2inch drip irrigation fittings/tubing. For small ponds I found these extremely helpful and easy to modify (and cheap) as opposed to dealing with PVC pipe. Maybe this can help someone down the line. Feel free to ask any questions if you have any (I'll get some more detailed pictures when I get a chance), and thank you everyone for the words of encouragement and advice!