diy any idea for covering waterfall pump

[toytika]

Ok so something I keep forgetting one of my pumps I had to take out after it ate two of my koi, it doesn't have anything over it and right after I had put them in(like by the next morning) I started noticing missing fish. Finally I found one dead stuck to the intake area. I didn't remove it til I noticed another missing fish and found this one the same place. So now I need any possible suggestions for putting something around it that might help with prefiltering it also. My plan for now is to have one of the pumps go to the bog(which will be the big boy/fish eater and the other go to the waterfalls. My husbands told me I should keep them in the same area otherwise one would overpump the other and cause issue with one side being too empty and the other overflowing. Which wouldn't be good. Any ideas on what to use to keep the fish from getting stuck I know some sort of filtermedia that could sock over it would probably be ideal. I have some that are round that went to my saltwater tank but they aren't big enough.

 

[michey1st]

You could try polyester quilt batting... That will give you a bit of filtering but it may also make a mess if you turn off the pump... All the dirt will be on the outside and without the suction, it may all fall out.

Do you have a skimmer? A longer term solution would be to stick the pump in a skimmer, behind the leaf basket and a few filter pads to keep the fish out.

I will be messing with a diy skimmer once I'm done with construction, if it works decently, I will have saved myself big $$$ (and will post about it too ;-)

 

[toytika]

I did build a skimmer even made some little flap things for it, I had planned to put a smaller pump in it because I really want the big boy at the bottom of the pond since that will feed the bog, I am trying to build all the mechanical from everything I have read or faced without spending a fortune to do it and so far I haven't spent anything but maybe 10$ of course I could probably plumb a thousand ponds and still have fittings left over lol. The guy that used to own my house left behind plumbing fitting of every size and shape. I used a black small tub that was also left behind used fore hydroponics and cut some holes into the side of it. I had planned to put it into the new side and have it hidden under my boardwalk(which it might be going back to or somewhere else because I think I am def going to be ordering a new liner, I was going to move it to where the waterfall will be thinking it might solve my leak to put the skimmer where the leak is but that's even more seams. So maybe I will let you know how it works loll the skimmer is only for the surface stuff because of the tree that sits over the main pool, so as far as pump size as long as it can handle taking the water back out of it. I wasn't too concerned beyond that I had planned to screen the top so it wouldn't let any big debris back out and originally it was going to sit on a shelf inside the pond so water flowing back over wasn't a big deal either. I had actually seen similar on YouTube and the guy seemed to have a good set up.

As for the batting I have some and didn't think to use it on the pump because of how loose it seemed to be but I am sure I can find a solution to that, I did intend to use some in the bog cause I want to do mine slightly different from what I have seen others do.

 

[michey1st]

I'd say for the batting, wrap it around the pump a few times and secure it around the tubing with zip ties (or wrap tie it with some sort of cord), or maybe place the whole thing In a mesh laundry bag. Lots of possibilities!

 

[toytika]

I was reading other people have used milk crates to secure their pump in with various different types of media, I had thought of a mesh bag but was concerned about it too getting sucked into the pump lol. I will see what the batting does!

 

[toytika]

Do you have pics of your pond anywhere?

 

[michey1st]

Do you have pics of your pond anywhere?

I've got an upgrade thread going (we are still mid-construction of our larger lower pond. Fish are in and happy, working on rock edging now, then connecting waterfall, then plants, then skimmer, then... lol. Does it ever end?!?): https://www.gardenpondforum.com/threads/michey1sts-maryland-pond-upgrade-thread.15347/

 

[rodsboys]

If you are not interest in filtering and only preventing fish from getting to the pump you can encase the pump in 2 pond baskets that are zip tied together.

 

[sissy]

Even a plastic flower pot would work ,just set the pump inside the pot

 

[toytika]

I hadn't even thought about that thanks @sissy, I have a ton of them laying around all the time.