New pond and bottom drain setup

[Rhysmjs]

Hello all,


I would really appreciate some advice if anyone could help!!

I have just started construction of a pond in my garden, with a 2ft raised wall and dug to about 3ft into the ground. It is around 6ft x 6ft - a quadrant shape. This is situated next to my shed so any filters and pumps can be easily stored in there, also ensuring the set up will be gravity fed.

I wish to install a bottom drain as I have read almost everywhere these are most effective in ponds and for ease of maintainance. This my first ever pond and I as of yet do not want to spend lots on equipment until a later date and can afford to upgrade bit having the BD drain setup in place.

My question is (I have looked everywhere for basic bottom drain setup advice and have had no luck):

Can I plumb a BD into any gravity fed filter (such ashttp://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FISH-MATE...BULB-BIO-/170831821393?_trksid=p2054897.l5667) and have a pump attached to this (such ashttp://www.garden4less.co.uk/hozelo...r&partner=Sh&gclid=CKiageGPjL8CFeoJwwodVwcAXQ) to feed water back to the pond?

Or have I got this totally wrong?! And the filter/pump will be much more costly.

I would if I could attach an image to show how I image the setup but am also unsure how to do this ha.



Any help would be fantastic,

Thank you,


Rhys

 

[Rhysmjs]

Aha, Just figured out how to upload my picture

 

[Mucky_Waters]

Since you are running your plumbing into your shed you have the potential for a really nice filtration system, if you take the time to do it right. I'll give you a couple clues,,, The first thing your bottom drain should run into is a sieve, or some sort of settlement tank.
Second clue is, you don't need to spend money on a commercial biological filter.

 

[crsublette]

The pump you reference is an air pump, which can't be used to pump water out of the filter. You can build an "airlift" to use the air pump to pump air to push water out of the filter. Airlifts are incredibly efficient and a very cheap way to move water, but they have to be built properly and airlifts becomes much less efficient when pumping water above pond water level. Airlifts have zero head height, or strength to push water above the water line, but, if it is only an inch or two above the water line, then this is fine. If you want to look into how to construct an airlift, then Google the forum posts from the koiphen.com forum by the author named Zac Penn; this fella has done many experiments with airlifts and they do work incredibly well in the proper context.

Otherwise, you will need to get a typical water pump to pull the water out of the filter, but remember that it will only pull the water that enters the filter. So, you do not want too high of a flow rate when using a gravity flow filter; otherwise, your water pump will pump air and this will damage the propeller. So, since the Fish Mate filter you referenced only has a 500 maximum gph (2500 lph), then use a water pump that is smaller than this flow rate.

This is where the benefits of using an air lift comes into play. With an airlift, you do not have to worry about air damaging the propeller so airlifts are more forgiving as long as you do not need head height.

If you are wanting to connect a fountain or something to the filter exit, or pump out, then an airlift will not work.

I hope this helps.

 

[crsublette]

Aha, Just figured out how to upload my picture

Yep, this picture clarifies much and my previous recommendation about the airlift would work since your shed is also below the pond's water level.

 

[crsublette]

I would also be careful about placing the filter below the pond's water level since it looks like the Fish Mate filter is not a pressurized filter. Since it is a gravity flow filter and the filter is below the pond's water level, if the pump would ever fail, then your shed will become flooded until the pond and shed's water level equilibriates.

Easy way to fix this is to simply raise the filter inside the shed, rather than raising the shed, so that the filter is only an inch below the pond water level.

An inch below the pond water level since there is a water level "draw down" with gravity flow systems.

 

[crsublette]

I also agree with Randy (Mr. Mucky). You have the potential, due to how you are constructing the shed being recessed in the ground a bit, to have a quite nice filtration system whenever you decide to upgrade.

 

[Rhysmjs]

Thanks very much for the responses guys, great help. Will look into your suggestions and undoubtedly respond with many more questions.
Will look to upload a photo of my setup so far too.

 

[JohnHuff]

Agree with both of the above posters, don't use that pump and don't use that filter!

 

[Rhysmjs]

Ok thank you John. Do you have any suggestions and/or links to pumps, filters and bottoms drains I could use, without breaking the bank at present (because if I do I may not post on this thread again as it's highly my girlfriend would have killed me!!)

I will look to upgrade such filters/pumps in the not to distant future when I have had time to save some money ££

 

[Rhysmjs]

Again any help is great and don't want to sound like I'm asking too much, I'm just a little bit clueless at present, although I'll get there

 

[Rhysmjs]

Thought I'd had a photo -- the wall at the back is still under construction and is only at ground level until I figure out how to setup the filter etc.

 

[dieselplower]

If I could make a suggestion... wait until you have the money saved up to do it right the first time. If you think your girlfriend will want to kill you now, wait til you tell her you want to upgrade everything you just bought 6 months ago. If you're not worried about any of that, go for it...

 

[JohnHuff]

Thanks for the pic, it makes the picture much clearer. First of all, if you don't mind me saying so, it's an odd shape and depth for a pond. I assume you're wanting to keep fish in it and most people would want a pond with a bigger surface area so you can see the fish more, and something not so deep. A 5 ft depth in such a pond would seem claustrophobic to me and would be hard to clean. Assuming each side is 6ft, this would make a 1054g pond, which is a lot, considering the small surface.

Do you intend to keep any plants in it or only fish?

 

[Rhysmjs]

Do you think? Space was a slight issue so figured I put it in the corner. Saw a similar one in a local garden centre which I liked and had that in mind when building mine. See the photo I attached.

I was unsure of depth really, But its not 5ft at its deepest,- although I did say this. I have created steps - first in line with the 2 ft wall, then 2 more, half a ft each. So the pond when filled will actually be, at it deepest around 3 and a half foot - but this is only a small area in the back corner of the pond.

Yes, I do intend to put a few plants in it as well as fish. The funny thing is I actually have 7 gold fish happily living in rather large containers in my garage as a neighbor of mine was filling in his pond and wanted rid of the fish, 2 weeks ago now. So time too has been an issue