Thanks everyone...I am looking at at least 3' deep across the bottom of the pond with it sloping downward a few inches towards the fence. I am going back and forth on whether or not to have Koi or goldfish (Shebunkin appeal to me) or probably will end up with a mix of both. This year I will only be building it, then adding fish in spring. I was looking at making a Doc Bio Filter and hiding it by the fence. On the fence side I plan on making a small decking that will partially overhang the pond to create some shade since it is in full sun. I won't have a skimmer or bottom drain since I have no mature trees around it, and the drain because I don't want to cut the liner (can retrofit one later if need be). Found a 5000 gph Total Pond pump on ebay that will power the stream and was going to find a smaller pump to run to the filter (one that can handle solids). The stream will begin with a small header pool that will run over a stepped falls (to help avoid water loss from a tall falls). The stream I was going to take Addie's advice from other threads and make it at least 10" deep, probably closer to 12" and 2' to 2 1/2' wide. It should be around 30' or so long coming down the slope. I was going to use 2" Flex PVC so I don't have to worry about burying the pipes below the frost line (I am in all clay and don't want to have to do a 3' pipe trench). Does anyone have any experience with Flex PVC? They advertised that it can freeze solid without breaking, which not sure I believed, but the water drains down to pond water in the pipe when turned off correct? The whole pipe run with the exception of the top portion that would go into the header pool would be run at an up elevation so everything should drain down. I should have extra so if it froze at the pond level and busted I could replace that portion and couple it together and then remove the ends in winter. Does anyone leave their pumps at the bottom of their pond through cold weather? Sorry for the long reply, will repost this in the newbie pond section.
