Hi, I'm new to ponding.

[Tiberius316]

I bought a house eighteen months ago that came with two ponds; sort of... I dug them both deeper and enlarged them and connected them with a stream. I now have a skimmer and waterfall. When I filled the ponds last year I lost level, and when I redid the rocks etc. this week, after refilling over night I lost 4-6" of level in both ponds. Is this normal or should I drain the ponds and look for a leak?

 

[CountryEscape]

Welcome to our fun forum!!!
Did you look to make sure there isn't an edge where the water is going over? I'd say wait another day, and see if the pond level continues to go down. If not, then either 1) you have a leak close to the top or 2), there is a problem deeper. Keep in mind, after you fill it, if you then turn on filters, streams, etc., those areas take up lots of water. If you filled while everything was running, then you need to look for the reason for losing water. I had an area in my bog where a plant was up against the edge where the liner was too short (my mistake) and it was draining over the edge. I moved the plant, and lowered the level of the bog and it fixed the issue. So, check your outer edges really closely first. If your ground is dry, you should be able to see where the leak is, if it's near the top. Good luck!

 

[Lisak1]

CE gives you good advice. The last step is to empty the pond. First step is to check every thing else first.

 

[Big Lou]

Welcome. Take CE's advice.

 

[Tiberius316]

I checked all the exposed edges, no evidence of wet ground. before I redid the pond this week I pumped it out and vacuumed out the residual so everything was dry, removed all the rock from the stream checked the seams there and refilled the stream with nothing but river stone. So, if I have a leak it's in another area or the bottom.

 

[Tiberius316]

Thanks CE!

 

[j.w]

Tiberius

 

[Meyer Jordan]

Welcome!

Exactly how did you fabricate your seams? That would be my first place to really look. Is the 4" - 6" drop in water level enough to expose the bottom of the stream, even partially? Does the water loss stop at this 4" - 6" level?

 

[addy1]

Welcome to our group. When you filled the pond this week did you have your stream running? If so fill the ponds, nothing running see if the level drops. If not then the ponds are good, then turn on the stream, if the water drops you have narrowed down where your leak might be.

 

[CountryEscape]

I now suspect the stream, too. Just doing a visual check on the seams may not have been enough, although I don't know if you did more than that or not.
Do as Addy suggested, fill pond, run nothing and see if the water level remains constant. Lots of process of elimination for now, but as long as it's only 4-6" a day (ok, I realize that's a lot, but it's not half the water depth or something more drastic ...), it's doable to keep narrowing down the possibilities. We have all been there sometime or another, and sometimes it's obvious what to look for, and other times not so obvious.
I had leak in my bog several years ago. Removing all that pea gravel was tough, but removing it and replacing it, only to remove it again was a royal pain! Turns out the leak was on the pond side of the bog, and on the bottom. Looked like a turtle had been digging down and sharp claws had cut short slits in the liner. Patched it and been good ever since.

 

[Becky]

Welcome aboard!

 

[sissy]

Welcome and have you checked your hoses and filters .Also when you refilled and started it up did you account for the water going into your filter .My filters take about 3 inch's of my water out of the pond .

 

[DrCase]

Got any pictures??