My First pond, almost there

[xman]

Hi,

I am almost done with my very first pond a 140 gallons preformed. Still need do the following

1) Pondscape: Planning to add a dwarf lotus in the upper pond, and a water lily in the lower
2) Setup the upper pond as a filter
3) Complete landscape around the pond
4) Add a couple of goldfish.

Open for suggestions, and Thanks to many on this forum who have advised me throughout this process.

xman

 

[koiguy1969]

ALRIGHT BUD... you seem to have a grip on things. where is the inlet on that upper pond?.. we can help you decide on how to best utilize it as a filter.

 

[intheboost]

Great job. Love the landscaping.

 

[xman]

The inlet on the upper pond is at the front end on the right side, mid height. I have a threaded end of the bulkhead that I can attach a 3/4 pipe to on the inside of the upper pond. I was hoping to add attach a pipe to this inlet so I can control where the water exits.
Here is what I was planning
1) Attach a pipe to the inlet so that the water can exit somewhere in the middle of the pond.
2) Place a grate that is raised about 5 -6 inches from the bottom of the pond, the pipe goes below the grate.
3) Over the grate, use filter media like scrubbies, pads, etc
4) Also add some plants (I am not sure which kind)

thanks,
xman

 

[koiguy1969]

o.k when you run your pipe from the inlet to the bottom..elbo it.. run it up to the water level.. elbo it.. run that to the point you want it to go down to the bottom and put a tee there(replaces elbo) with an open end of the tee sticking slightly above water level(you can put a 1" peice of pipe there sticking up if you like). this will break the syphon if for any reason your power goes out or the pump shuts off,gets unplugged, whatever,and keep the crud from the filter from draining back to the pond. i hope i explained this good enough

 

[xman]

Koiguy,

totally lost you on that one. Actually, I ran into this issue already when I had switched off the pump a couple of times, most of the water from the upper pond drained back into the lower one overflowing it. I had not thought about the crud from the filter draining back to the pond. I was thinking of adding a check valve or a one way valve to prevent the water from draining back.

I have attached a free hand drawing of your instructions to see if I understood them properly.

thanks,
xman

 

[koiguy1969]

like this

 

[xman]

Koiguy,

That diagram is very clear, thank you.
Should the first section of pipe (please see the section marked in red) be above the water level? or just the Tee section that is has an opening point upwards?

thanks,
xman

 

[koiguy1969]

it can be at, over, or even slightly under as long as that top art of the tee is sticking out above water. thats why that 1' peice was "if needed" you can use a peice longer than 1" and i would spray paint the pipes black just for cosmetics.
the bottom pipe setup is for a good whirlpool or swirl action at the bottom of the basin under the media and light grate

 

[xman]

Understood. Thank you again for the detailed information. I was lost on how to prevent the water from flowing back to the lower pond, and this should solve that problem.

thanks,
xman

 

[koiguy1969]

without a doubt it will, and i was happy to help!! god bless
OH! you might want a top grate to keep you media from going over the falls!!!

 

[xman]

Koiguy,

I wanted to run another option for the filter by you. I was thinking that instead of using the upper pond as is for the filter (the upper shell is an uneven shape so cutting the grates to fit it is going to be challenging), can I use another container ( 5- 10 gallon) or bucket that sits in the upper pond and acts as the filter.
It will almost be like setting up a 5 - 10 gallon skippy filter inside the upper pond.

What do you think? Should I go with this, or is using the upper pond itself as the filter the better option?

thanks,
xman

 

[koiguy1969]

i would use the biggest one i could fit in the pool then...or build one out of a 20 gallon Brute trash can and hide it behind the falls (upper pool) the plumbing would be easy enough.

 

[xman]

Koiguy,

I tried your first design, but most of the water is coming out of the top of the tee. I added a 4 inch pipe to the end of the tee, but the water still flows up than down. Also, when I shut of the pump, the water drained from the upper pond to the lower. There was some sound coming from the open end of the tee, but all the water drained back anyway. The only difference in the design is pipe between the second elbow and the tee is slightly below water level (please see image).

What am I missing?

thanks,
xman

 

[DrDave]

Take the tee off the top. What is it's purpose?