Auto-fill worries

[dstnwst]

I was thinking about installing an auto-fill setup on my pond, but i am a bit worried about doing that. I have accidentally killed my fish before by not realizing that my timer had a program to come on at midnight and run for 2 1/2 hours (I had previously used it to run sprinklers in the front yard. I was sick about it for a month.
My worry about the auto-fill is with the reliability. I wouldn't want it to come on and then not shut off when it should. Does anyone know if this has been a problem?
Thanks in advance.

 

[GBBUDD]

It's a mechanical device and they break plain and simple. so wats the solution, well many trust the toilet float valve and for me thats great when i am talking about waste going down the bowl. but i have a few dollars and pets in my pond that i do all i can to protect and make them comfortable. . so whats the solution i have used TWO timers. one right after the other. so for me i set it up in the past for the water to run every night for 15 minutes/ so as one timer turned on it then hit the second timer that was off, but seconds latter would turn on and now the water was flowing to the pond. now if the first pump should happen to fail and leave the water running the second timer would kick in on its time schedule and shut down the flow. pretty simple and actually not all that expensive.

BUT the best in my book is a rain capture system and a cistern

 

[addy1]

I use a irrigation timer. Set and forget. It won't run when rain is coming.

I can turn on, stop , manual feed etc from my phone.

Works great

 

[GBBUDD]

I use a irrigation timer. Set and forget. It won't run when rain is coming.

I can turn on, stop , manual feed etc from my phone.

Works great

I have never seen the rain sensor on them. That's sweet . It would be real mice if it guaged how much rain fell .

There is also a electronic 800 dollar water top off that has a sensor and sends a signal wirelessly to a electric valve I bought one but never got around to installing it . The cistern ended up winning out over the high tech.

 

[addy1]

It senses by the weather report.
You can also have a moisture sensor to see if water is needed..

My rain Guages tell me how much has fallen

 

[GBBUDD]

Some how I'm thinking this all comes with a nice price tag

 

[addy1]

Not really, the sprinkler system was 75. pvc, to garden hose, water into pond. My weather stations, 15 yrs old. It is professional level. Around 1000

 

[GBBUDD]

Most here squack about 50 bucks for a water timer

 

[addy1]

Most here squack about 50 bucks for a water timer

Lol I use it also for a few gardens I water. 6 station. Makes my life easier

 

[GBBUDD]

With your oasis community I would have too

 

[seandelevan]

I was like you. I need peace of mind so I ditched the mechanical timers. 3 different times with 3 different timers failed to shut off after they turned on. Lucky for me I’m on a well so nothing died but who knows how many thousands of gallons of water I wasted turning my yard into a lake.

So what I do is turn my water on(hose from a spigot runs under my deck and under some rocks into pond) and then set my Apple Watch timer for 10 minutes…or whatever time I desire. When it goes off I turn it off. If I did this without the timer I’m bound to forget it.

I just can’t trust anything mechanical.

 

[j.w]

When inside I just use my oven timer and the amount of water I send in for a refill is small, like a trickle and long ( I set for an hour, go check and set for more, on and on every now and then,nice slow refresh for the pond) so even if I forgot it it would just seep out of one part of my rocks and not flood anything, just give the plants around that area a nice watering. I did have an issue a couple times tho. A couple fish found a spot they thought was a nice swim upstream and they landed in the grass where they met their demise. Since then I added more barriers in that lower spot and all has been fine so far.

R.I.P poor fish

 

[addy1]

The irrigation system has been watering the pond for years now, maybe 8 or 9, love it. Just recently upgraded to a wifi one, phone control. Like 4ish years ago

Maybe more

 

[GBBUDD]

Give details so others may want to go that route . I would if I didn't have the cistern