Two Skimmers, One Bottom Drain .... One Pump

[malatu]

I'm, going to have an irregular shaped pond approximately 40' x 12", average depth of 2.5' with falls in the middle of one of the sides. We are considering 2 skimmers (one on each end) and one bottom drain at the deepest part. I'm having a tough time getting my arms around the plumbing aspect of the project. Also there will be a 30' stream feeding the pond.

Questions:

Can this all be run off of one pump?

Are two skimmers optimal or over-kill?

With the stream and falls, is an aerator necessary (for aeration of water)?

Would the aerator really assist that much in helping push debris to the skimmers? I'm thinking the falls will serve this purpose.

Thanks!

 

[hewhoisatpeace]

Can this all be run off of one pump?

Are we talking about 70' of lateral pumping distance (dynamic head) plus rise from bottom to top of feature = bigass pump. External for sure.

Are two skimmers optimal or over-kill?

I'd say one skimmer on bottom pool, but two bottom drains if you have two pools. A large pool without a bottom drain will accumulate fish poop. I have three successive pools, but one bottom drain in the big bottom pool. I am currently building another pond to accomodate my shubs and comets, and removing all fish from both top pools, too much mucking out. Might use the upper pools for a koi nursery, with a net in the waterfall.



With the stream and falls, is an aerator necessary (for aeration of water)?

No. You should have plenty of aeration with those. Slope to your bottom drain(s), you should be fine. An expensive aerated bottom drain is sold, and they're great, just depends on your budget. If you put in aeration, I'd do it with an aerated bottom drain.

Would the aerator really assist that much in helping push debris to the skimmers? I'm thinking the falls will serve this purpose.

Put your skimmer and drains opposite waterfalls, you should be fine.

 

[malatu]

Can this all be run off of one pump?

Are we talking about 70' of lateral pumping distance (dynamic head) plus rise from bottom to top of feature = bigass pump. External for sure.

You lost me on your above answer about "one pump".

 

[hewhoisatpeace]

Sorry, that's a lot of dynamic head, and would seem to require a very large pump. You mention a 40' pond, plus a 30' stream, that is where the 70' came from.

Try a rough calculation of pond volume, get a rough calculation of vertical height to pump water, rough calculation of lateral distance to pump water. From that, you could get an approximation of how much pump power you might need. Your plan seems pretty straightforward, if you use large pipes to pump it, one pump should be sufficient, just might take a large pump. Probably only find an external pump powerful enough for your needs.