Two tiers using Pre Formed Ponds? Ideas anyone?

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I've already got a preformed fibreglass pond 3500 ltrs.

I want to add a second preformed fibreglass pond beside the first one but slightly higher up the garden and pump the water to the top one so it cascades from the top one into the bottom one.

Placing the ponds isn't a problem but I'm looking for ideas how to make the waterfall spout/wier or whatever it's called. I suppose I'd need to cut a hole (maybe a narrow horizontal slot? or a row of round holes?) a couple of inches below the rim of the top level pond and rig up a shute to feed water down into the lower pond.

I hope you know what I mean.

Anyone have ideas? Suggestions? Pictures if you've done it?

Thanks :)
 

addy1

water gardener / gold fish and shubunkins
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I have drilled holes in my tub, put in pvc pipes sealed with pl roofing repair stuff.
One tub real slow flow had 1 inch pipes the other higher flow has 2 two inch pipes. Others have used metal sheeting, plastic dust pans etc to make a wier.

Make sure your out put is twice the size of your input.
 
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You can do the pipe thing like addy said and hide the pipe with soil, plants or rocks. No one will know it's even there and the distance between the ponds is irrelevant. You can make the pipe as long or short as you want.
Addy has had good results with PL roofing cement, but if you want to play it safe, use a bulkhead fitting. An 1-1/2" or 2" bulkhead fitting costs under $20 on Amazon.
 
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The ponds are quite close together and the 'Top Pond' is around 1 foot higher than the bottom pond so was just going to let it tumble over rocks into the bottom pond.

The current pump and filter in the bottom pond is more than able to handle the total volume of both ponds. So, in theory, I could send everything, through the top pond and let it overflow into the bottom pond.

But the top pond is only 700 liters so don't want to send 4000 liters an hour through there. So I'd use a 'Y' splitter so that I can send 'some' water through a reduced bore to the top pond and let that overflow back into the bottom pond.

How big does the 'overflow' from the top pond need to be? I mean if the overflow isn't big enough then the pond will overflow over the back and sides into the surrounding landscape and the bottom pond could, in theory, empty itself.

I'm wondering if the idea is too risky? I mean if the overflow from the top pond gets blocked by leaves or whatever then it won't overflow fast enough.

Maybe I need some kind of Ball Cock in the top pond so if the water level reaches a certain level then it can cut off the inflow into the top pond? (Small hidden ball cock in the inlet. Does such a thing exist?)
 
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You can drill a 1 1/2 inch hole in the upper pond and insert a 1/1/2" male pvc electrical connector and connect it to a female adapter to make a bulkhead. Then glue a piece of 1 1/2" pvc pipe into it and lay it on top of a flat waterfall rock then cover the flat rock with another rock to hide the pipe or connect the 1 1/2" pvc to a tee and run some 1" pipe out of the tee to spread the water out.
 
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You can drill a 1 1/2 inch hole in the upper pond and insert a 1/1/2" male pvc electrical connector and connect it to a female adapter to make a bulkhead. Then glue a piece of 1 1/2" pvc pipe into it and lay it on top of a flat waterfall rock then cover the flat rock with another rock to hide the pipe or connect the 1 1/2" pvc to a tee and run some 1" pipe out of the tee to spread the water out.

Thank you.

If I'm pumping in 1000 litres an hour into the top pond would that single 1.5 inch hole be enough to drain 1000 litres an hour just by gravity? Or would I need 2 (or 3 such holes?)
 
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How big does the 'overflow' from the top pond need to be?

I think @addy1 answered that one earlier - output should be twice the size of the input. And I would add "at least" - bigger is better than smaller, as you can always fool around with the output after the fact. Changing the input - not so much!
 
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Thank you.

If I'm pumping in 1000 litres an hour into the top pond would that single 1.5 inch hole be enough to drain 1000 litres an hour just by gravity? Or would I need 2 (or 3 such holes?)
I pump about 3400 gallons an hour into a 257 gallon tank that is about one meter above the ground and use a 2" hose .At times I have to slow the water down with a because it is coming out too fast. You have a different situation because you probably don't have as much height. If you find that the water doesn't flow fast enough you can always put in another pipe.
 
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If the ponds are plastic and not fiberglass you may be able to heat and reshape the lip with a heat gun to lower one edge into a spillway.
Another option is to bolt on a toilet flange and then you can add a 3" pipe for a drain back to the pond. If you have the flange a little lower just add an elbow and pipe on the inside to adjust the water height in the top pond to overflow into the drain.
 

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