Hello, I bought a home last November and have had pretty decent results with the pond that is on the property up to this point but just wanted to post in here and see if there are any good "new to ponds" tips from anyone. I had a problem with my pump clogging all the time but I figured out that it didn't have the prefilter installed so I will be getting one of those for it today. The pond has a gravity type external filter that seems to work well. The pump has a T fitting off of it that pumps half of the water to the filter and half to the waterfall. The filter then drains the water about 2/3 of the way across the pond so it sucks it up on one side and discharges on the other side. I also have a lot of lilly pads and grass so I am looking for tips on how to keep them under control. Really glad I found this site and hopefully I can get a system down for maintaining this pond and keeping the coi and goldfish in it happy!!! It has a bunch of leaves and muck on the bottom so getting that thinned out is my next order of business after I take care of the pumping problem. Here are a few pics.