Summer aeration - can I go without my waterfall due to a slow leak?

[weathergirl]

Hi! Newbie of 8 months to my pond. I have been battling water levels in my 500gal. pond for the past few months. I am losing on average 2+ inches per week. I have located a small tear in the liner at the top of the waterfall (patched it), then noticed water escaping on the side (tried to foam seal it), but can’t figure out where it is still losing water. The pond has 14 goldfish and is mostly shaded but has plenty of water lilies and some reeds.

I have some summer trips that are unavoidable. I am worried that leaving the pump/waterfall running while away will cause the pump to run dry eventually. How long can I leave the pump off in the summer? I have two small air stones that run all the time.

 

[mrsclem]

Does your pump run your filter? If so, then turning it off will not be good. If your leak is in the waterfall, can you bypass it until you can find the leak? 2" a week is not a big loss of water. During hot weather I lose up to 6 inches a week.

 

[weathergirl]

Does your pump run your filter? If so, then turning it off will not be good. If your leak is in the waterfall, can you bypass it until you can find the leak?

Yes, it runs the filter and cannot bypass the waterfall. I’m more worried that because it hasn’t been hot and I’m already losing that much, that over a week with 90 degree temps, I’ll lose even more and won’t be here to fill it up. Although, from what I’m reading, some ponds lose more water when it’s cooler and less humid?

 

[IPA]

Can you get one of those automated timers that hook up to the water hose and have it come on for an hour; I use a sprinkler to fill my pond, my plants get waters too so bonus.

 

[GBBUDD]

Hi! Newbie of 8 months to my pond. I have been battling water levels in my 500gal. pond for the past few months. I am losing on average 2+ inches per week. I have located a small tear in the liner at the top of the waterfall (patched it), then noticed water escaping on the side (tried to foam seal it), but can’t figure out where it is still losing water. The pond has 14 goldfish and is mostly shaded but has plenty of water lilies and some reeds.

I have some summer trips that are unavoidable. I am worried that leaving the pump/waterfall running while away will cause the pump to run dry eventually. How long can I leave the pump off in the summer? I have two small air stones that run all the time.

you can buy a timer that goes on your water spicket you can set the timer from a minute to hours how many tImes a day and if everyday every other etc .

 

[weathergirl]

you can buy a timer that goes on your water spicket you can set the timer from a minute to hours how many tImes a day and if everyday every other etc .

What about the chlorine in my tap water? I like this idea and had no idea there was such a product (thanks, Amazon!).

 

[Lisak1]

Small daily top offs won't cause a problem with chlorine.

 

[Phaewryn]

My 60 gallon pond loses 1-2" of water every long weekend (evaporation and wind gusts blowing the fountain output outside the pond). It's no big deal so long as you don't have plants that are in shallow planters that must stay underwater and the pump stays underwater. I think what you should do is do a trial run over a week or so you ARE home. Just don't top it off and see how low it actually goes over the time period you're worried about being away. I suspect it's not as bad as you think. 2" in 500 gallons would not worry me one single bit. I assume that 2" is a long way away from the bottom where the pump is. Your plants require/use water and some evaporation is normal. You may not have a leak at all. You could also hire a pet-sitter while you are gone. Fish are pets too, so it should not be hard to hire someone who normally walks dogs or scoops cat boxes to put some water in your pond while you are gone. Just be sure to teach them the correct dosage for any chemicals you use to treat your tap water and make sure they understand that too much will kill your fish (more is not better than not enough).

 

[weathergirl]

My 60 gallon pond loses 1-2" of water every long weekend (evaporation and wind gusts blowing the fountain output outside the pond). It's no big deal so long as you don't have plants that are in shallow planters that must stay underwater and the pump stays underwater. I think what you should do is do a trial run over a week or so you ARE home. Just don't top it off and see how low it actually goes over the time period you're worried about being away. I suspect it's not as bad as you think. 2" in 500 gallons would not worry me one single bit. I assume that 2" is a long way away from the bottom where the pump is. Your plants require/use water and some evaporation is normal. You may not have a leak at all. You could also hire a pet-sitter while you are gone. Fish are pets too, so it should not be hard to hire someone who normally walks dogs or scoops cat boxes to put some water in your pond while you are gone. Just be sure to teach them the correct dosage for any chemicals you use to treat your tap water and make sure they understand that too much will kill your fish (more is not better than not enough).

Thanks! Im probably being conservative when I say 2” a week.... I definitely had a week where the pump was slurping.... my pump sits low, but the filter box stops the water from coming in if I lose more than 4”... I filled it up Saturday and am letting it see how much it drops this week.

 

[Phaewryn]

Thanks! Im probably being conservative when I say 2” a week.... I definitely had a week where the pump was slurping.... my pump sits low, but the filter box stops the water from coming in if I lose more than 4”... I filled it up Saturday and am letting it see how much it drops this week.

Can you turn the filter box upside-down so it sucks from the bottom or place it in a deeper location?

 

[weathergirl]

Can you turn the filter box upside-down so it sucks from the bottom or place it in a deeper location?

No, it’s an all-in-one in the ground. I wish I could adjust it!