Making this harder than it has to be

[koikeepr]

Oh gosh! $200/mo!!! That's insane!

The bottom drain is a hole in the floor where your water/poop enters to your filter. The pump pushes water.

If you want a great pump at a great price that has low power consumption, consider a Sequence 750 pump. PM DoDad here on this site, as he's a vendor and can get you way better prices than what's advertised online.

 

[DrDave]

I don't know what math whiz came up with $200 month, but I have 3 submersibles (2 ea 3200GPH and 1 ea 1150GPH) running 24/7 and I am willing to bet that they cost no more than $25 month to run. I also have about 6 more smaller ones in ny nursery and they don't cost more than about $10 month.

It is basic math. calculate the watts and look up on your electric bill what they are charging you per KWH. Multiply you KWH times the $.06 to $.10 they are charging you per KWH and that is your cost.

 

[ZmanArt007]

Perhaps his/her total bill is $200?

 

[JustMe]

I think this person is just crazy.

Ok,....if I go with the concrete, and a true bottom drain,..are you saying I can run pipe from the drain, to the filter and have the pump at or in the filter? I plan for my skippy filter to have a gravity drain back to the falls.

 

[koikeepr]

You really should run your pipe into a pre-filter first. Let's say a 55g drum that catches the thick crap and gets them out. Then your regular filter. Then your pump.

Of course, to do this design, you have to be working with gravity and have your filters are waterline.

Are you building an underground or semi-raised pond?

 

[JustMe]

Thanks so much for your time Koikeeper.

I'm going to dig underground for most of the pond then use the dirt I dug to build up for the falls/stream. I guess the part I'm not understanding is what actually needs to be inside the concrete at the bottom of the pond. I would really like to limit what is actually in the pond as much as possible. The bottom drains I've been looking at appear to just be a drain with a curved top that attaches to my plumbing. I looks to me as if I need to add a pump somewhere. Can I use an external pump (a big one) and "pull" water from the bottom drain, to a prefilter, thru the skippy then back into to pond. This would make my pump higher than the water. I'm having trouble understanding how the watter from the bottom of the pond is going to go up hill, maybe 10ft,..thru the first two filters.

Lets make sure I'm on the same page,...gravity will move the water out the plumbing as high as the water line. Anything higher than that will need a pump. Here's a quick drawing.

 

[koikeepr]

you're on the right path, yes!

 

[JustMe]

you're on the right path, yes!

UUuummmm,..in the pic I had three options of where to place the pump,...this was a multiple choice question,....but thanks for the encouragement:lol:

What's the difference between an external pump and an "inline" pump. I'm loving the idea of an external pump,..place everything out of the pond and where I can get to it. Hope to start digging next week!!!

 

[koikeepr]

i agree with you about external. No wet hands. Lots of power for little power consumption. I already asked you this question in another thread, but your external will need to be below water line as well in a pit. Pumps work best by "pushing" water, not pulling it. So, you don't want your pump above water surface. I'm not a fan of most inline pumps, as their wattage consumption is higher than a standard external. These pumps can be used in or out of water, but I find the power usage high.