Hold my hand? Let's start from the ground up, and down, please.

[Waterbug]

No we don't all agree with waterbug, we all have our own opinions on what will or will not work.

Some more than others. And thanks so much for pointing that out. Classy.

@myswtsins, as I said, those things are "On my easy list". My post was more for myself, I like thinking about my next pond this is good place to write down and compose my thoughts. This really isn't a proper forum for trying to explain different ideas, as you can see. Sorry if I confused your thread.

What you want is a Skippy...they're great.

 

[addy1]

Some more than others. And thanks so much for pointing that out. Classy.

waterbug the question was asked, I answered, I did not trash you, your opinions or thoughts. Not everybody agrees with how I do my pond, that is their right.

 

[Mucky_Waters]

I for one agree with most of Waterbugs views, it's his "snarkiness" that takes some getting use to. LOL
Also, just because I agree with something and see the merit in it, that doesn't mean it's the only, or the best, or the cheapest way to do it. Everything has a down side.
One thing I'll say, most forum members base their expertise on their experiance with their (one) pond, whereas Waterbug has a wider range of experiance to draw from, and tends to give advice on what is current in the field rather than just personal succeses he has had in the past. That alone is one good reason to pay attention to what he has to offer, even if you don't follow up with it.

 

[myswtsins]

The quilt batting is put into a laundry or other type plastic container w/ holes in it and either stuck under the waterfall or a hose from a pump in the pond is allowed to run water over the batting. When it gets dirty you take it out and clean it.............have a spare piece ready and clean to replace the dirty one and go at it again. Some have it set up high out of the water to catch the dirt. Mine is just floating on the surface. I just made mine out of an old swim tube and a plastic strainer or sometimes I use a black plant pot that has holes and it fits right into the floater. Actually I moved it away from the falls since this photo was taken and now have a slower flowing hose from a pump running over it:

View attachment 43359

Thank you for the explanation and picture.

I don't have any rocks on the bottom. I had some in my arizona pond, they were a pita. To me the bottom of the pond, over time, looks natural, well as natural as a piece of liner can look.

This is at the 5 foot deep area, about 20 feet across, right at the bog waterfall

To me the folds look like rock edges

Cool picture! It does look like rock edges! I wish my pond was going to be that big though...one day, one day.

We don't always agree with each other, most of us can tell you what we have done that works in our situations. Most of us have not done scientific experiments to confirm nor deny why certain things work and others do not so when people ask we give them our opinions and it is up to you to decide on which route to take. So now here is my responses to your questions.

1. I did not see a need for the catch basin, I did not like the way they look and did not think it would fit into the look I was going for.
2. I did not want mortared rock in the pond, wanted to be able to tweak and adjust it and change without needing a jack hammer and sledge hammers to do it.
3. I was thinking of adding a bottom drain to my existing pond. the only reason being is that in the spring and late fall when the leaves fall my skimmer gets full rather quickly and if I don't empty it on a daily or sometimes twice daily it will cut my water flow down by 75% and create a very annoying sucking noise b/c the pump can't get water. I have an external pump.
4. You don't really need plant edges, it gives prey an easy way to get in and out of your pond. I would just put any shallow plants on a block or something to get it to the right height.
5. I have two filters both store bought (I would build my own had I known about this site 8 years ago), one bog, and three streams. So I should have plenty of filtration. The bog I just built this year.

Nice garden set up, do you have any close ups of your trellis in the garden...

Another person with an amazing pond and yard! For once I wish I didn't live on a flat piece of land or could make a hilly area look natural with the rest of the yard so I could make it look like your yard. I have been searching for pictures of what I want my pond to look like for years, because I can't draw to save my life, and yours is by far the closest, truly inspiring!

3. (bottom drain) So were/are you going to use it as a flushing system or continuous filtration?
5. (filters) If you had known about this site 8 years ago and had today's technology what filters would you have built?

Thanks. They are actually just plant cages we made out of re-bar. I will get a picture later if you like.

Some more than others. And thanks so much for pointing that out. Classy.

@myswtsins, as I said, those things are "On my easy list". My post was more for myself, I like thinking about my next pond this is good place to write down and compose my thoughts. This really isn't a proper forum for trying to explain different ideas, as you can see. Sorry if I confused your thread.

What you want is a Skippy...they're great.

Everyone shouldn't agree or else we would never make any advancements. I am still genuinely interested in your methods but it seems now that you don't agree with everyone else that you are not going to answer any of my questions. Where does that leave me as a new inexperienced hobbyist? I hope you will continue to share your methods and views so that others and myself can learn from them. Do you have a thread about your pond? I couldn't find anything.

 

[myswtsins]

I for one agree with most of Waterbugs views, it's his "snarkiness" that takes some getting use to. LOL
Also, just because I agree with something and see the merit in it, that doesn't mean it's the only, or the best, or the cheapest way to do it. Everything has a down side.
One thing I'll say, most forum members base their expertise on their experiance with their (one) pond, whereas Waterbug has a wider range of experiance to draw from, and tends to give advice on what is current in the field rather than just personal succeses he has had in the past. That alone is one good reason to pay attention to what he has to offer, even if you don't follow up with it.

Nicely put and I agree. Thanks.

 

[addy1]

True mucky waters, a lot of people it is their one pond experience, I am on my 6th, but again it is just the way I have done it, made changes, made it better for the way I want it to work. Does it make me an expert? nope, all it means is I have hands on experience, experience based on the way my ponds have been built, nobodies else.

Do I call myself an expert? nope, do I trash other builds, filters, methods? nope just offer suggestions based on my experience.

 

[JohnHuff]

I for one agree with most of Waterbugs views, it's his "snarkiness" that takes some getting use to. LOL
Also, just because I agree with something and see the merit in it, that doesn't mean it's the only, or the best, or the cheapest way to do it. Everything has a down side.
One thing I'll say, most forum members base their expertise on their experiance with their (one) pond, whereas Waterbug has a wider range of experiance to draw from, and tends to give advice on what is current in the field rather than just personal succeses he has had in the past. That alone is one good reason to pay attention to what he has to offer, even if you don't follow up with it.

WB has an abrasive personality and his information is most often "worthless" (to use one of his favorite words) to newbies. When a newbie comes to this forum for advice, his initial advice is usually along the form of telling him his current setup is worthless and he needs to set up a trickle filter or a fluidized bed filter along with a lot of technical words. Tell me, what do you think a newbie is going to think of that?

I've moderated my own forum for more than 10 years. WB comes across as one of those internet bullies who likes to throw his weight around, I don't like them in my own forum because they create an antagonistic atmosphere and can scare off newbies or just people who don't agree with him. In fact my second post on this forum was telling him to eff off. I used to think that WB's purpose here was to show off rather than to help but now I think that WB really does want to help, he just doesn't know how to tailor his advice to the level of the person asking for help. I don't mind saying that I've learned a lot from his posts, but he does take getting used to. And I really love this forum, the members here are cool and helpful.

 

[Waterbug]

Everyone shouldn't agree or else we would never make any advancements. I am still genuinely interested in your methods but it seems now that you don't agree with everyone else that you are not going to answer any of my questions. Where does that leave me as a new inexperienced hobbyist? I hope you will continue to share your methods and views so that others and myself can learn from them. Do you have a thread about your pond? I couldn't find anything.

While I do enjoy talking about ponds I'm not that fond of forum politics. The "discussion" would just be a big mess. Sorry for messing up your thread. Hopefully everyone will get back to telling you about their ponds.

 

[myswtsins]

tahermann4, your pond has a lot of things in common with my original plan so I wanted to get some details? I tried looking through your thread but it's pretty long and I keep getting distracted by the pictures. About how long and wide would you say your entire waterfall area is, including the incline? How long and wide are your streams? Trying to figure out how much space I need. How long, wide and deep is the main pond? It looks big for 3,000 gallons. And lastly, do you just stick your stream plants (Taro in particular) into the rocks bare rooted? I know you said the roots get so big they impede the water flow sometimes so I am figuring they are bare rooted.

Question for everyone, if I use a bog/stream for bio filtration what do you suggest as far as mechanically removal, BD, pump location etc.?

Pictures of the plant cages attached.

 

[taherrmann4]

Another person with an amazing pond and yard! For once I wish I didn't live on a flat piece of land or could make a hilly area look natural with the rest of the yard so I could make it look like your yard. I have been searching for pictures of what I want my pond to look like for years, because I can't draw to save my life, and yours is by far the closest, truly inspiring!

3. (bottom drain) So were/are you going to use it as a flushing system or continuous filtration?
5. (filters) If you had known about this site 8 years ago and had today's technology what filters would you have built?

The bottom drain I was thinking about installing was going to be solely for the purpose of my pump having another resource to draw water from. Now in the spring and fall my skimmer gets filled up fast and you have to empty once or twice a day b/c it fills up with debris. A bottom drain would keep me from having to do it or if I wasn't around for a day or so it would still keep the water flowing at its normal flow rate. It would also help to keep some of the muck off the bottom of the pond that I vac out twice a year.
I would have built a combination of skippy style and a much larger bog.

 

[brandonsdad02]

Something that I have learned this year.....Right where my falls return to my pond, its a little over 3' deep. I noticed this year that the rest of the pond water was clear, but down in the hole in the deepest point of the pond, it was a brownish color. Anyways a while back, WB and I were having a discussion on the best way to oxygenate the water. I was saying a water fall was the better way and he was saying a air pump. The one thing that he said that stuck with me was a air pump will move more water cheaper than a pond pump. Got me to thinking. I hooked up my air pump and threw in a large air stone in the hole and plugged it in. After the first surge of bubbles, and large collum of water was flowing up too. All sorts of gunk and stuff came up too and worked its way to the skimmer box and filter. So I now use the air pump to help circulate the water from the deepest point of my pond. Problem solved! No more brownish water down deep.

 

[addy1]

The bottom drain I was thinking about installing was going to be solely for the purpose of my pump having another resource to draw water from. Now in the spring and fall my skimmer gets filled up fast and you have to empty once or twice a day b/c it fills up with debris. A bottom drain would keep me from having to do it or if I wasn't around for a day or so it would still keep the water flowing at its normal flow rate. It would also help to keep some of the muck off the bottom of the pond that I vac out twice a year.
I would have built a combination of skippy style and a much larger bog.

my renters sent me my aqua art retro drain, I might hook it up to run it on a off and on basis into a skippy filter. That way I could have the water go through the leaf basket with the snails etc before it goes into the pump, so I can sort them out. Then through the skippy and right back into the pond. Might cut down some of the netting. Still a thought in process.

http://aquaart.com/drain.html

Something you might want to look into tmann, they do work well. I had it running in my arizona pond. A suggestion made elsewhere, drill a small hole in the top, add a air stone, you then have an aerated bottom drain. I have read they pull in the debris better, but no personnel experience.