Stupid mistake, Totally Devastated, Huge loss

[Pambates]

I'm sorry for your loss, those are beautiful fish.

 

[CountryEscape]

Waterbug said it well, "Remember the good, forget the bad". My moral I live my life by is "Things always turn out for the best." I'm sure this seems impossible right now, you took so much time and effort ... and money I'm sure ... in creating your beautiful collection. It pains me to see them all laying there dead. BUT, something good will come of this. If you decide to sell, you will create another masterpiece somewhere else. It's in you to strive for perfection. I just can't imagine moving after all the work you have put into your place, not just the ponds, but everything else, too.
Take the deep breath, you've already figured out the "why", now find a fix and then move on. I, too, have almost a perfect record for leaving water running, whether into my ponds or into my horse trough. The well runs dry, and then I have to reprime the pump, but nothing permanent is lost. I can't imagine the feeling of loss you are experiencing, but know that we are all hoping that you are able to pick up and move forward. Maybe your young fish will be carefully picked to go into the larger pond, and grow into some champions! I know you helped me so much when I purchased some koi a couple of years ago, and I appreciated all your honesty and kindness.
Thinking of you and your family and your loss, and hoping you have the strength to heal and move forward once again.

 

[Shan]

Sorry about your beautiful fish.

 

[Jiml]

So so sorry to hear this, it is an awful feeling to loose even one. I have done this also and another brilliant thing I have done is I left the hose running in the pond for more than 12 hours and lost a beautiful collection of koi. A friend of mine who also is koi keeper told me that whenever he works on the pond he puts a rubberband on his wrist to remind him of what he is doing so he doesn't forget to either turn off the water or shut a valve. I use a heavy wool hat (even in the summer) to remind me. I picked up a water timer for when I fill the pond and was thinking of purchasing a low water shut off just in case a hose or something breaks. Just a couple of suggestions....Good luck to you, and don't beat yourself up we're all just human.

 

[callingcolleen1]

Please don't give up and leave , it is so very heart breaking to hear of your horrible loss of fish. I am shocked and still reeling from just learning of your terrible news. I too was rushed and in a hurry the other week and left a hose loose. The next morning I woke and found half the water missing from the bottom and the middle ponds. Lucky for me the water cannot pump all out cause I have simple system of filters that are off the bottom of pond and no drain anywhere. I figure the more moving parts and the more complex, the more that can go wrong too.

Stay strong and hang in there, love your little farm and you really had a very nice selection of colorful fish!

 

[brokensword]

I'm also sorry to hear of your loss, Larkin; had to tear your heart out upon returning to that. Always did worry that I might have something similar happen and it made me install a low water switch, just in case. Hopefully you'll still enjoy your pond(s).

 

[fishin4cars]

I'm also sorry to hear of your loss, Larkin; had to tear your heart out upon returning to that. Always did worry that I might have something similar happen and it made me install a low water switch, just in case. Hopefully you'll still enjoy your pond(s).

Can you give me a link, or post pictures of the low water switch you use and how it's set up? I'm also considering a low water float switch that will turn the pump off if the water gets to low, I'm also working on installing a auto fill so that if it should happen again then once the pump shuts off at least some water will still be in the pond.

 

[brokensword]

sure...

http://www.plumbingsupply.com/alarm.html

 

[crsublette]

Can you give me a link, or post pictures of the low water switch you use and how it's set up? I'm also considering a low water float switch that will turn the pump off if the water gets to low, I'm also working on installing a auto fill so that if it should happen again then once the pump shuts off at least some water will still be in the pond.

I have been using a Hi-Lo Pump conductivity switch and it works great... Just be sure to properly install it and to occasionally wipe off the conductivity sensor; I just wipe it whenever I have time or think of doing it and takes less than a minute depending on how you install it. I installed it with the rod near it so to ensure I have conductivity.

Here are the install directions and talks about the alarms in the Hi-Lo Pump Switch (http://www.washerwatcher.com/Hi_Lo_Controller.htm)

Here is the Hi-Lo Switch for Outdoor Locations, at bottom of bottom. (http://www.washerwatcher.com/Other_Switches.htm)

Be aware that it has a 14 amp limitation.

Whatever you choose... be sure the switch can handle the ampage...

 

[Catfishnut]

Larkin,

I wish to express my sadness and my condolences for this tragedy, too. I can totally identify with how you must feel about this occurrence for all the reasons that you yourself have already stated.

My advice: Refill the pond and begin to start anew with some new knowledge and new goals in mind.

A while back, I had posted about designing an electronic water level management system using stainless steel probes set in a PVC tube which would conduct (or not conduct) electricity through the water within the PVC tube. It would be low voltage so no harm to any of the fish. With a small amperage DC voltage power supply and some low voltage solid state relays, I could control several pumps and ensure that none of them would run if the water level was so low that there was no conductance of electricity through the probes. This design would work well because there are no moving parts to "stick" or get abused by the fish or toppled over. It is extremely simple and nearly dirt cheap. A big advantage is that you can customize this water depth meter or sensor to your personal pond by simply locating the sensor probes at any depth you need when you create it. All that entails is "where to drill the holes in a vertical PVC tube to insert the probes" and you can change their height at will if you need to readjust.


Gordy

 

[Waterbug]

To me the pump intake should be positioned so it gets starved if the pond falls maybe 12". Yeah that might burn out a pump, but it's going to be dry either way. I'd rather have a burned out pump and an almost full pond than an empty pond and a burned out pump. Shutoff switches are more to protected the pump. Switches can fail especcially in a pond where they might not get used for years and get crusted up, whatever. I'd hate to trust a switch when changing the intake is 100% sure.

For the auto fill I use a float valve but I never connect it to a live water supply. Instead I connect it to a sprinkler valve on a timer. It only needs to be on for a little while. But that's city water, I'm guessing you have well so that wouldn't be as big a problem. I like Kerick valves. Horse tough valves only seem to last about a year or 2 and aren't fun to mount. Toilet valves also seem to clog (the new kinds, not the older ones with the float on an arm). Kerick just has a great selection, easy to mount and they have a lot of parts so you can get a lot of configurations. Plus I've not seen a better made valve.

 

[addy1]

I do auto fill, in the summer every day around 20 minutes, if not needed it flows out, if needed, it adds water. In the summer usually needed. We are on a well, would not trust a float switch, which can hang up, and you end up with a dry well.

My very good float switch in my arizona pond hung up, whew that water bill was nasty.

Here my pump intake is off the bottom (no bottom drain) even if the pond did drain down, the pump is protected, it is built to swish water back and forth rather than run dry, keeps it wet. The fish will end up with water to survive in around 2 feet . Biggest problem I would have would be the refill with our acidic well water, sure would need to buffer it well. That water ends up very hot, but the pump survives. (lost prime a few times in arizona, so I know it works, thankfully)

 

[Shdwdrgn]

Waterbug, you and I are probably some of the few who actually have sprinkler systems. I had also thought about setting up a fill line off my sprinkler pipes, and using a float valve from a swamp cooler (I can get those for about $5 around here), however I have discovered that during the Summer when my sprinklers are running, that additional water falling on the pond is enough to keep it topped off. In the Winter I generally only have to top off about once a month, unless an ice flow causes loss around the waterfall.

For those with a bottom drain... is it possible to stand up a 12" length of pipe into the drain? What I'm thinking is if you could make a float inside the pipe, so as long as there's water in the pond, the float holds open a large inlet at the bottom of the pipe, but if the water level drops too far, then the bottom inlet closes and only allows water to run in from the top of the pipe (or none at all). You could have a string attached to the float that you hold up when you are intentionally draining the pond, but otherwise it acts as a fail-safe to regulate the maximum amount of water that can be pumped out.

 

[crsublette]

To raise the pump intake, whiling using a bottom drain (BD) and without interfering with the BD's execution, then I imagine a secondary chamber would need to be used outside of the pond. This secondary chamber will contain the raised pump intake.

I do not see how a water autofill would solve this problem. The autofill will only slow down the dumping accident rather than stop the dumping. Depending on equipment size, the pump can easily dump water out at a much higher rate. The only benefit I see of an autofill, in these situations, is that it slows the time it takes to dump out the water, dependent on many variables.

The largest flow rate from residential water supplies I have experienced is 18gpm, which is 1080gph. I am on underground well water and my 3-phase motor system will only supply 16gpm. There are incidents where the flow rate would be above 20gpm, but I see this to be quite rare for residential. So... be sure you know your source water's flow rate when the purpose of the autofill is to prevent these accidents.

 

[minnowman]

A refrigerator icemaker needle valve can be used to refill water loss due to evaporation. It can be adjusted from a slow drip to a small stream. The small amount of chlorine dissipates quickly.
A secondary pump intake chamber like Charles suggested would be failsafe without altering anything inside the pond.

You could also install a float switch inside the chamber to save the pump.