DIY skimmer

[Nepen]

Hi all,
I decided that I should be building my own skimmer with my (not so ) distance future new pond.

I'm looking at Water bug design http://www.waterbugdesign.com/pond/skimmer.html - probably going to tweak it up a bit to fit my pond. I have a few questions here

planning for my skimmer is about 2 x 1.5 feet 2 feet deep.

1. If I make the opening long and deep (about a foot deep and 1.5 foot wide, will that effect anything? water flow? collecting leaves?

2. I'm going to need to add a liner and seal them, is it best to have the pond liner over the skimmer liner? I'll have to make sure there's the least bunch up, any suggestions?

3. I'm going to have 2 pumps, 2900 and 4200 gph, which one should I use in the skimmer, does it matter? is the higher gph one will make the water flow in faster?

4. any suggestion on how to / what to use for collecting leaves?

Thanks!
Anya

 

[Aaron S]

Waterbug has some pretty neat designs. I wish I had seen his skimmer design before I bought my skimmer. Sorry I'm not knowledgeable enough to answer some of you questions.

 

[Nepen]

I saw the skimmer for sale and they are expensive. Trying to keep my cost down so I can propose to my husband the plan and price we didn't include the pond build to the house renovation costs, oh well, the bank wouldn't loan for that anyway.

 

[Dave 54]

Not a bad idea waterbug has there Nepen go with it ,
Weve found that by topping our pond up to above the over flow pipe (formerly the in pipe when it was a QT pond for koi dealership), and with the control we now have since putting the ball valve in.
That if we crack it open just slighly then it will draw the surface area towards it thus anything that may be floating on the waters surface .
We dont get anything big like leaves on the waters surface because of the net so it makes a perfect skimmer

Dave

 

[Nepen]

Thanks Dave I think I'm going to do it like his design, just a little different on the detail.

My new house project is sitting still though... So I only can mentally prepare for it. I wish I could do it now!!!!

 

[Nepen]

ok since no answer on the questions above.. that's ok i only have one more question

Can I use normal pump in the skimmer or do I need a skimmer specific pump?