I think you did a great job, Sentrek and although I dont think your filter will be big enough over the long haul, I also have been a big proponet of building what you can afford now and adding to it with bigger and better later. My own opinion on it is to PLAN and THINK hard on what you want LONG TERM and then build NOW with that in mind. What I mean by that is a little of what Sissy has said and a little of what Deiselplower has said. When I built my pond I tried to be on the tightest budget I could, like Sissy said she did, I did it all---Craigslist for my slabs of waterfall granite, store closeouts for skippy filter parts, adapting things for pond use that were designed for other uses, walking creeks for rocks, carpet store dumpsters for used carpet and pads to use for pond liner underlayments, and driving 100s of miles to get the cheapest price for a pond quality rubber liner When I built my 5000 gal. pond I just jumped in with no thought or planning what-so-ever, bought a liner and started hand digging the hole. HI-HO here I go---but then I ran into a GIANT oak stump underground, suddenly after chopping and digging around that stump my little pond I was building had morphed into a huge 10x10 foot by 6 foot deep hole and the liner I had bought for a 4x6 foot by 3 foot deep pond of course wouldnt fit. Nothing will make you reevaluate your pond like nearly 2 months of digging and chopping, LOL--so I set down the shovel, took the little liner back to Home Depot and decided that I WAS'NT going to feel that big hole in, that even though my money was budgeted for a small pond, I was going to build a BIG pond on a SMALL budget. THATS when I used the best tool any of us have, our brain--I began to plan and think of every cost saving Idea I could to make my new large plan a reality, but I also tried to think of my pond needs in the future and plan that into the design. Deiselplower's right--you will probably have to change to a bigger filter later--so PLAN for that now, since your gonna have to bury your plumbing to the small filter make the spot in a place that has the size to accomadate the larger filter later and pipe is cheap so size it for the larger filter and pump you will need later and then you wont have to dig out small pipe to replace it with larger later. also when you run electricity to the pump site, bury wire larger enough for the largest pump you will ever need (all this saves doing it twice, costing you twice and tearing up patio blocks and established landscaping plants later)--worked for me, my first waterfall pump was a cheap john, 3400 gal. an hour pump that probably put out far less--now I run an intermediate priced pump that puts out around 3800--once I add my new Bog Filter this summer I will add a new 4 to 5000 gallon pump to feed the skippy and the new bog (in the space I planned for it next to the skippy when I built the pond) and my pipe I buried 3 seasons ago is big enough to supply BOTH filters. Thats what I'm trying to say in my long winded way-- I knew I couldnt afford big fancy pumps and all the filtering that I would need later but I didnt need all that early on --BUT I needed to plan for THAT later as my fish load grew) I do like your pond and think you did a great job, but in the pictures it looks like your rubber liner is below the level of your patio blocks--if so you may want to raise the rubber level above that or nasty surface water will find its way into your pond which can be bad if it carries lawn chemicals or worse into it. Good Luck, Tim
