Build waterfall from scratch or use pre-fabbed wier?

[nowherebound]

Hello -- I am a newbie building my first small pond. Will be approx a 3x8 foot rectangle about 18" deep -- approx 300 gallons, partly above ground. Will have just a few small goldfish and some waterlillies.

My questions:

1) For the waterfall, should I use a pre-fabbed wier box or should I build it from scratch? All of the pre-fabbed wier boxes I find on the web are +/- 16" wide. But that seems too big for the size of pump I will have. I was thinking of a pump rated for around 800 gph at 0 ft head, which should deliver around 400 gph to the waterfall. Based on the rule of thumb I've read that a waterfall should be 1" wide for every 100-150 gph, that leaves me with a 3" to 4" wide wier/waterfall. Are my assumptions correct so far? If so, is there such thing as a pre-fabbed wier 4" wide? Or for something this small is it recommended to build one from scratch? If that's the case, can someone point me to recommended construction method?

2) I was also intending to have the filtration in the waterfall basin (wier box). a) Do I need filtration for a pond this size? b) Is the waterfall basin/wier box a good place to put it? c) Do pre-fabbed wier boxes generally automatically come with filtration media? d) If not, can I add my own after?


I'm a very handy person and am comfortable building whatever necessary. But if there is something pre-fabbed that will save me a lot of time and headache (without being too expensive) that would be great.

Thanks in advance!

 

[addy1]

Welcome to our group!

Just a few ??'s are you going to bring in the fish for the winter? 18 inches might freeze solid where you are.

Yes I would recommend filtration even for a small pond. You could make a barrel type filter then have the water do a water fall into the pond. I have a 650 gph pump feeding my deck pond, the flat rock I have as the waterfall weir is around 18 inches wide, I like the flow over it. I am sure the gph is lower due to the 100 some feet of head, going up a steep slope 50 some feet.

some people have used dust pans to make a weir, I have used flat rocks for two waterfalls, pvc for two other waterfalls.

Check the diy section for some ideas on easy to build filters that work nicely.
My pond is filtered with just a bog type filter, i.e. pea gravel and tons of plants, the water then waterfalls back into the pond.

 

[sissy]

A large planter will work and look pretty as a filter and all you will need is a tank adapter and they are cheap at pet store.com or pet mountain.com a nice fiberglass pot will work .Fish will have to go inside like addy said
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[nowherebound]

Thanks for the replies.

So for the bog-type filter you describe, do you put the water inlet at the bottom of the planter and have it flow up through the pea gravel? And do the plants go right inside the planter so the water filters up through the roots too? Or they just sit in a pot inside the water and absorb nutrients without the water passing directly through the root system? I'm still learning about aquatic vegetation too.

I tried searching a few of the forums a few different ways (homemade filter, bog filter...) and found a lot of info for more sophisticated (and much bigger) filters. But I like the simplicity of what you are describing.

 

[sissy]

I plant all my plants in pots of kitty litter ,pure clay kind .I use a down filter type that is why I have the tank adapters and a square pot works better
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pond filter with plants .I have 2 filters with plants in them and seems to work for me the last couple of years

 

[cr8tivguy]

Bogs work best when you have the outflow at the bottom of your bog- maybe two or three outlets (using splitters or drilling holes in PVC). Having a clean out is important if you don't filter the water mechanically before it enters the bog. Plants like Iris, Bamboo and many many others thrive in bog settings.

Check out my photo of my little bog. It's not huge but it seems to be doing very well for itself. My weir is a slab of granite about 18" wide. I chose it more for the noise level rather than the functionality. The water running over it is very soothing.

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