Help! Hooking up pump filters and water feature

[Ollieman0916]

Hi all! I'm new to the forum here and setting up my first pond. I think I have all the equipment needed but not sure which order things should go in. I bought a dual discharge pump, tubing and 2 waterfalls with filters and bio balls. I know I can run the pump to each waterfall because it has the dual output but I was told that I'll need a UV light as well because it's in a full sun area.

What is the best way to add the uv light? I've seen options for additional filter units with the uv light inside but not sure how I would run that with what I currently have. If I run one line from the pump to the UV filter and then to the waterfall won't the output of the 2 waterfalls be different?

Thanks in advance for the help! Definitely in above my head on this one!

 

[Meyer Jordan]

I would recommend a separate smaller pump for the UV if you feel that you really need a UV.
Is the dual discharge pump that you purchased powerful enough to feed two (2) waterfalls?

 

[sissy]

I always use a small pump on my uv as the slower the water runs into it the better.welcome aboard our little ponders forum

 

[Mmathis]

Hello and welcome!

Where do you live and how big is your pond? Tell us a little about your pond and what kind of plans you have....

 

[Ollieman0916]

I live in Raleigh NC and the pond is relatively small in comparison to most of the ones I've seen in this forum! It's going to be about 1000 gallons with 2 waterfalls about 18" above the water level. I had to order the .45mil liner and that should be here this weekend and then the setup begins.

So far Ive purchased the following:
Little giant 1900gph dual discharge pump
2 Tetrapond 12" waterfall filters that have a 1000gal filter capacity each. They have the filters and a bag of bio balls in the reservoir. I also have some barley straw and water lettuce.

I'll have some tall fountain grasses planted to help provide some shade but the entire yard is in full sun until 3-4pm.

Any other suggestions? I'd love any feedback!

 

[Mmathis]

Are you planning to have fish?

 

[Ollieman0916]

Yes. I was planning on 4-5 koi.

 

[morewater]

For that size of pond, I think that you'd be better off with Comets, Shubunkins, etc., rather than Koi.

 

[sissy]

get liquid barley it is better .And get fat fantails they are pretty and don't breed as much as all the other fish do .I have fantails since 2004 and they have never produced babies and for a 1000 gallons they would be perfect .

 

[sissy]

I think this is a pic of the fat fantail next to the fake duck .koi get huge mine are over 2 feet long and produce a lot of babies also

 

[Tula]

Ollie, welcome to the forum, it's a friendly group Sounds like you're excited and planning ahead!

I keep koi, I have 4 adults in my 1700 gallons pond. I didn't know as much about koi, when I built my pond as I do now, or I would have included a bottom drain. As it is, I have to be very careful about re-homing off spring, net the bottom of my pond ( almost daily ) with a pool net, and run three filters, three pumps and a UV.

Any way you could go larger, with your pond? Shubunkin are beautiful fish,looking similar to koi and are easier to keep

 

[Mmathis]

@Ollieman0916 What they are trying to say is that koi require more room, plus they grow so fast..... They produce a lot of waste, which means the filtering requirements are much greater. It can be done, but with that size pond, you would do better with only 1-2 koi......or some nice goldfish.

@Tula I think we were posting at the same time.

 

[Mmathis]

@Ollieman0916 As @Tula mentioned......is there any way you could go larger? Of course, we don't know what kind of physical or budgetary constraints you have, but almost everyone who gets into this hobby either ends up re-doing their ponds to make them larger....or they wish they had made them larger. We always say to go as big as you can first time around.

 

[sissy]

some people don't want larger plus if they ordered there liner they have set them selves in stone .I wish also someone had told me about koi .That is why I like fantails slow and pretty to watch and that butt wiggle is to die for .Plus they are even friendlier than koi if you raise them right .Mine love to swim into my hand to get belly rubs and love to eat out of my hand .

 

[Ollieman0916]

Thank you all for the info! I can't extend outward in any direction but I can definitely go a bit deeper. I went to a few nurseries today to get some more ideas and input and the Shubunkins there were beautiful. I may do a combination of going a bit deeper and changing what fish I end up with, although my head/heart was looking forward to koi. Decisions decisions...