New small pond with waterfall

[Mr. Detail]

Hi all,
I found some basic step by step instrcutions on the wwweb on building a small pond and a corresponding
waterfall to flow donw into the pond. The guy said that he bought a 120 GPH submersible pump for this.
Is this the right size pump for what I am doing? I think that the higher the top of the waterfall is then the
higher flow rate you need. If the waterfall is only 3 feet high at it's maximum, will this 120 GPH be enough?

 

[JohnHuff]

What's the size of your pond? Mr. Detail, you left out that important detail.

 

[Mr. Detail]

Well Dr. Sir John Huff,
I had not even thought about that fully yet but I am looking to create perhaps one of those kidney shaped or "S"-shaped ponds which might be 6 feet long by say 3 feet wide. Not sure how mnay gallons of water that might hold. Have you seen those pre-formed black plastic molds they sell in Home Deopt? Something like that only I might create the shape myself by digging it out and sand and some heavy duty plastic liner.

 

[sissy]

welcome and you have remember head on a pond when it is pumping up to a waterfall you loose gph .You may end up with a trickle of water with that size pump .I had the preformed from lowes and need a 620 gph .Remember that it will raise and lower the pond do to frost

 

[dieselplower]

I dont care what size it is, by the time it pumps up 3', 120 gph will be worthless.

 

[dieselplower]

Also if I could make a suggestion... skip the wacky preformed liner pond shapes. It wont be easy to manipulate a liner into those shapes, and they aren't the best for creating good circulation.

 

[Mr. Detail]

Agreed "dieselpower". I really wanted to do this on the cheap anyway.
Also I really don't want a big surface area of water anyway. just enough water at the bottom to have
maybe a lily or two. It is all about the waterfall for me and the sound effects.

 

[dieselplower]

If I wanted a cheap container pond I would buy a stock tank from Tractor Supply and put a pump of around 400 or 500 gph on it. No fish? If no fish you could go even to 300 gph or so. A lily will not want much surface agitation anyway.

 

[Mr. Detail]

Help me out here. What does a "stock tank" look like? So more is better then on the GPH, no matter the
size of the bottom pond?

 

[dieselplower]

http://www.tractorsupply.com/webapp...gId=10051&storeId=10151&searchTerm=stock+tank

 

[dieselplower]

Help me out here. What does a "stock tank" look like? So more is better then on the GPH, no matter the
size of the bottom pond?

If you want the water effect, you will need decent flow.

 

[RobAmy]

A garden hose is about 300 gph (give or take) to give you an idea of effect you want

 

[sissy]

My first pond was a preformed and hard to keep them level and hate to say this but more expensive than a liner .If you check out liners for that size they are fairly cheap on ebay and dr foster and smith sight .Remember you want free shipping or really low cost shipping since that size liner will not be very heavy .All you need then is a hole and pump and filter

 

[milhousebarks]

Hi,

I suggest you consider going a little bigger if you can. I don't really know of anyone who has a smallish sized pond with a water lily and wishes it was smaller. If you put a lily in it it will spread to cover at least 4 feet wide, unless you go with one of the few dwarfs. That means the leaves start pushing up against the edges and it just doesn't have the same look as having open water all around the plant and some nice open water to reflect. Also, if you have a waterfall you'll want the lily at least a few feet back from that since they like calm water.

It sounds like you are going for the esthetic of a nice relaxing water feature and having it more like 5x7 will give you a lot more options... I also agree that you shouldn't go with too ornate a shape since that just cuts into your surface area, etc.

Just my perspective from a pond owner who is feeling the pressure of too healthy plants in too small a pond.

 

[Mr. Detail]

Thanks everyone for your responses. Here are a few more questions on this topic:
A) So on the GPH question, would it be a true assumption that you can never buy a too large of a submersible pump?
(In other words, if buy a 600 GPH pump, can you dial it back if you need to?)
B) If you guys don't have any ornate shaped ponds, then what shape does your pond look like? (i.e. a rectangle, a square)
C) What type of search do you type in on Ebay for the liners you speak of? Are we talking about heavy mil thick plastic?
(Those stock tanks or pre-formed from Home Depot are way to much $$)