New member looking for advice

[Vypr]

Hey all,
I finally have the means to build a water feature.
I liked the idea of the aquasacpe system but holy crap, that's half my budget.
I got all the parts off Amazon by picking and choosing.
The one last thing I need to figure out is the spillway and something like the ecoblocks.
I saw the PVC spillway but wasn't a fan.
I had thought of using one of the heavy dudy plastic shelving units and making some horizontal supports so when I backfill it won't sag.
My build will be small, roughly 10x12 waterfall/stream area. And 4x3x2 reservoir area.
Height will be approx 5 ft of grade elevation over 10 ft.
2ft wide stream areas and maybe 3-4 smaller drops for falls. Total reservoir is close to 240 gal I think. I have a 4000gph pump coming. Any thoughts here for a total noob?

 

[qclabrat]

You've done your homework but not sure of your questions. Are you just doing plants? What will you layout look like? I completely underestimated my first pond my half

 

[Vypr]

Some plants. I'll have to snap some photos

 

[addy1]

Welcome to our forum!

 

[Lisak1]

Welcome!

Ready made pond products can SEEM expensive, but DIY can cost you in time, frustration, failed performance, and having to re-do later. It's a trade-off. I'm not sure what you mean by using heavy duty shelving as a spillway - explain that one a bit more. And Aquablox are costly, but they really do the job well. I've seen some DIY builds with milk crates or even stacked PVC pipes with lots of holes drilled in them. I guess it depends on your skill level and your willingness to re-build if something doesn't work the way you hoped.

 

[Gemma]

Welcome to the forum!

 

[Vypr]

Ok, so I have my rocks, underlament, liner, pump, hole for reservoir dug to 6*3*2. I have my ecoblox diy built but the openings are a tad larger then the rock I have to cover it. I'll loose a bunch through it. Any ideas on a mesh to cover it?
I also have to come up with a diy pump vault, and waterfall spillway. Any recommendations would be appreciated.
I plan to have 2 1ft wide streams and probably 15ft long each with 2-3 drops each before the basin.i would say less then 1 in deep. And the elevation rise is 5ft or so. I have a 4000gph pump. Do all me dimensions seem ok?

 

[Lisak1]

You should cover your blocks with geo-grid. It's a landscape product. They use it behind stone retaining walls to keep the dirt from washing out. You can buy it in a few different grid sizes. Any landscape supply store or place that sells rock and gravel will have it. They may even give you a few scrap pieces you can use if you're lucky.

 

[j.w]

@Vypr

 

[Vypr]

So, I have everything dug out and placed. I know where I want my spillway. How did y'all figure out how and where to place your rocks and falls?
I'm having a terrible time coming up with ideas. I change my mind every 3 seconds!!!!

 

[Mmathis]

@Vypr I think we all feel your pain! It’s hard to decide. If you can post some pics of what you’ve got so far, as well as what the surrounding area looks like (how buildings face, etc.), maybe we can help you.

 

[Vypr]

This is where I'm at now. I'm having a tough time hiding the vertical parts of the liner

 

[Lisak1]

Yeah - you're going about it wrong. It's hard to describe the how to's of building a waterfall - much easier to watch. Here's the Ponddigger explaining how to correctly build a waterfall.

 

[Vypr]

Hrmm.

 

[Lisak1]

If I were going to explain what I see going wrong in your build - you're trying to build the structure of the waterfall from underneath, with your foundation. Your foundation should be neutral, with the rocks giving the waterfall it's shape. Does that make sense?