Aquascape Products

[malatu]

there are a number of advantages. 1) help circulate water at the bottom of the pond. (you could accomplish some of this with a submersible pump); 2) pull a great deal of the debris and fish waste off the bottom into the biofilter where it can be processed (this part is not so good for a submersible pump, but many are made to handle solids up to a certain size); 3) provide for aeration of the bottom water which in summer has a pretty low DO without circulation; 4) temperature modification if needed, e.g. pull cooler water off the bottom in summer and by turning off the BD leaving the warmer water on the bottom in winter. What am I missing?

BD stands for Bottom Drain ... correct?

 

[D&RW]

in this context, yep.

 

[malatu]

Would there ever be a a need for two bottom drains such as in a larger pond? My definition of a larger pond would be anything over 11 x 16'.

 

[koikeepr]

What do you recommend for the bottom instead of stone?

Nothing. you just keep the liner bare. In a few months you'll get a nice coat of algae and the fish will feed on it. And it will look nice and you'll easily be able to keep it clean. Rocks make it impossible to remove detrius, poop and the like.

 

[D&RW]

Would there ever be a a need for two bottom drains such as in a larger pond? My definition of a larger pond would be anything over 11 x 16'.

there are calculations out there that give an estimate of what's optimal. but yes, i think for bigger ponds like koikeeper is building, two or more are best.

i have two in mine, but they are the AquaArt Surface Mount type. It would really be best to have them sub-bottom surface, but i opted for these. They work pretty well, but not nearly as good as the real deal, or at least that's what I think. The AquaArts are just much simpler and easy to install.

 

[nigil]

D&RW, I am looking at buying one of those bottom drains. What type of pump are you using?

 

[D&RW]

I have two. A submersible EasyPro 4700. Nice because the intake has threads so you can hook it right up to the bottom drain. that makes it much more effective. The second pump is a Sequence 1000 4500 external model. i plumbed it through the skimmer with a direct 3 in. connect to the Aqua Art BD. The 3 in is reduced to 2 inches in the skimmer.

 

[nigil]

Thanks! I was thinking external pump.....

 

[D&RW]

I am really pleased with the Sequence and many of the folks here like them too. Amazingly quiet. Powerful and lower energy usage than the EasyPro.