What lighting do you have around your pond?

[Laaf]

I am looking into options for lighting around my pond.

I tried turning on my old landscaping lighting and it just doesn't look right. I think I need some kind of focused downward pointing lights that do not shine in your eyes from any side of the pond.

What pond lighting have you used and liked?

Any tips welcome. And heck, maybe I do want in pond lighting recs.

I said no when asked if I wanted them. But maybe I don't know what I am missing and in pond lighting will be best.

 

[SoCal Pond]

My small pond has a variety of lights but everything is solar powered. There are lights in the pond running off the main solar panels and batteries but also landscape lights around it and two spot lights with separate panels with batteries to light up the fountains and plants in the bog.

 

[rubyduby]

I am looking into options for lighting around my pond.

I tried turning on my old landscaping lighting and it just doesn't look right. I think I need some kind of focused downward pointing lights that do not shine in your eyes from any side of the pond.

What pond lighting have you used and liked?

Any tips welcome. And heck, maybe I do want in pond lighting recs.

I said no when asked if I wanted them. But maybe I don't know what I am missing and in pond lighting will be best.

If I had it to do all over again I would probably not have had the lights put in under water...They tend to illuminate all of the floating minute particles of algae, ect...so my normally crystal clear water during the day is not so at night (this is my perfectionist side talking)...I would have put lights around the outside of my pond shining down into it for a clearer view...On a timer, and not for too long so the fish can go to sleep...That is just my opinion...There are some good pics of the lights I am talking about on koiphen.com....Many here love their underwater lighting system so it is just a matter of opinion

 

[Laaf]

Thanks for the pics and comments.

If I do lights in the pond, it will be added on by me and easily removable.

I am having a pond built and they reconnected my old yard lighting so I could see what types of lights look like. I discovered I prefer the "source" of light to be hidden, and do not like light shining in my eyes even if I walk around the pond. So I adjusted the spotlights so they were pointing at the water as you suggested, before I read your post, so they were not blinding.

Perfectionist? You are in good company here. There are so many details that can be done better. The guys building my pond know how to make a pond look good. But do not know how to keep it running. So for example they put a disconnect on the waterfall pump at the pump which is at the very bottom under 3 feet of water. I told them they would have to come back and swim down for me to disconnect it. (Since I know it will eventually clog and need rinsing, even though I am going to elevate it above the bottom on a crate with a flagstone on it). I told them the pump needs to be on flexible piping with enough length that I can pull it up by the cord (gently) to get it out of the water and hose it off. They are fixing this. And they rocked in where the skimmer pipe enters the pond......even though I had asked they leave it open so I can run aeration lines and lights through there if I want them without having to thread them through an opening in the rocks. They are fixing this too. I prefer stacking rocks in some areas such as where the pipe enters to it is easier to disassemble and service. I am going to stack rock to cover where the piping enters and goes to the bottom of the pond too.

I am restless to be able to start adding plants. The bog is 3/4 full of pea gravel. And should be full today.

I know lights can be changed out later so there is flexibility.

There are so many options online...............Great to know solar lights can look so good since I can add them myself later.

 

[YShahar]

I've had pretty good luck with really inexpensive solar lights. I've got one small solar spotlight shining across the pond toward the waterfall. It doesn't give a huge amount of light, but it does make a nice night-time effect. There are also four small Ikea solar lights hanging in the trees around the pond, which light up the ground a bit as well. The impact is much nicer when there's no light coming from the patio lights and all you see is the glowing waterfall.

This solar spotlight is one of a pair attached to the same little panel. The second one shines on an urn fountain sitting a little ways off the seating area.

Recently, I bought some inexpensive solar pond lights via Amazon and I'm experimenting with those in the pond. It's cool when fish pass in front of one of the lights and suddenly stand out, but for the most part they aren't all that additive. The only exception is the one light that I put directly underneath the falls. That one gives a very cool effect: almost like looking at a fire made of water, its light bouncing off the "fireplace" walls made by the wing walls of the falls. (Sorry for the really poor photo quality; the phone isn't great for this.)

I've put the other two lights from that set in the stream (since they're all attached to one cord, they have to be placed fairly close together). I think if I build up the cascades in the stream a bit, they'll give a pretty cool effect.

 

[GBBUDD]

 

[Laaf]

Wow, all of your pics are inspiring!

 

[Lisak1]

We put lights in when we first built the pond, but as newbs didn’t realize they needed to go below the ice line - duh. They all cracked and leaked and that was the end of that.

When we had the waterfall redone last year, they strongly encouraged us to put lights back in and boy am I glad we did! Yes we see the floating bits, but we also see the fish gliding through the water, the lily stems and pads, the rocks… it’s like a whole other world at night!

Last night I walked out when it was pitch dark and the dancing lights in the trees from the waterfall was just magical.

 

[GBBUDD]

A properly set up pond with lighting turns your back yard into a spa and an oasis.
Sometimes you do too good a job and it's hard to get people to go home.
I suggest a way to shut the lights off manually so you can set the time for the show to be over.

 

[GBBUDD]

I have to agree with @Lisak1 it's crucial to put the lights deeper in the pond than will be your ice ( for those in colder climates) if they are not they stand little chance of surviving for long and wait till you price low volt led lights . They are not even close to reasonable but they are still worth the sticker price . I also would add solar leds outside the water in the garden they are reasonable but shop around there are so many styles out there.