Determine pond placement - suggestions needed

[krazyrabbit]

Thats always good to have around someone who knows electric and plumbing you never know when you have to call in a favor .lol I tell my son well all you put me through being born you owe me big ,never new when he was born that was my ace in the hole:lol::lol:I told I knew I had for a reason .I love VA but the summers can be a tad bit brutal .I have a yappy dog (chihuahua ) he loves to go out by the pond and bark at the fish and they swim after him as he walks along the side of the pond .Thats why he barks at them I think he thinks they are following him .But he does not bark usually funny just at the fish .

I love VA too, my home state is Michigan but I lived in Texas for 5 years before moving here for a job. The Lone Star State trumps VA for heat that's for sure!

And I hope no offence to dog fans by my post, I love them and have had two Schnauzers. My neighbor's two dogs have a doggie door and they come outside all the time, they bark endlessly - like right now! I've got cats that sit in the kitchen window and that makes them bark, they bark at the squirrels, at cars, at leaves falling. It's very annoying when I'm outside gardening, I spray them with the hose!

 

[sissy]

no offense taken chihuahua's are yippers if you do not train them right from the start lol .My pee wee in pic loves to bark at the fish because they follow him when he walks around the pond and he seems to hate that .I was born in PA raised in NJ retired to VA .Otherwise all he barks at is his big bro who he bosses around and he is a pitbull

 

[krazyrabbit]

no offense taken chihuahua's are yippers if you do not train them right from the start lol .My pee wee in pic loves to bark at the fish because they follow him when he walks around the pond and he seems to hate that .I was born in PA raised in NJ retired to VA .Otherwise all he barks at is his big bro who he bosses around and he is a pitbull

sissy - ha! Little dogs are always the boss!

Question about digging - obviously I am not going to be able to dig the entire pond area in one day, or weekend - is it best to cover the hole in progress with tarps? Should I use the removed dirt to help build the waterfall area or should that be mostly stone and rocks?

Question about the electrical setup - do the cords from the pump, skimmer, lights so forth go underground to get to the outlet that will be installed or does the outlet have to be right next to the pond? I'm a bit confused about this as I never really paid attention to my Dad's, his electric setup must be well camouflaged.

 

[addy1]

I would not worry about water/rain getting into your hole, It took me about a month to dig mine, if it gathered rain water on the bottom, just waited for it to go away. use the dirt to build up your waterfall area, make a nice pile of dirt when you dig, you will most likely use it all by the time you are done

 

[sissy]

If you are going to have to run power cords to your outlet I used abs pipe and put the cords inside it ,black pipe hides it well .You do not want them nicked or damaged in any way .Regular soil it will just drain down and leaving it open gives you a good idea after a rain if you are going to have any problems with water setting around liner .You can put your outlets under your stairs and make sure you have enough outlets more is better one time cost for electrician and make sure he puts in gif breaker boxes with covers and on a breaker in your panel box by itself nothing but the pond .You would not want to overload any breakers

 

[krazyrabbit]

Reconsidering waterfall feature. In reading I've seen that this is apparently one of the more difficult things to achieve a natural look for without experience and $$$. I'm thinking about changing over to just a stream leading down 20' or so to the pond from the back of my house. See pics below, ignore the extra hose.

Question: from the top of the stream, do I still need a waterfall weir for the pump to send the water up from the pond to collect and spill over to the stream?

 

[addy1]

Not really you could just use pvc a T with holes drilled in it, someone here posted taking large pvc, warming it and squishing it together to spread out the water flow.

There are a lot of ways to have the water flow nicely down.

 

[sissy]

yeh they heat the pipe up and mash it down then spread it out but not so easy either as the pipe gets either to hot or not hot enough .I ended up using my garden shovel the small one heating up the pipe and as I used a rock and the shovel to flatten it I used the garden shovel to spread it out by putting the shovel inside the opening

 

[krazyrabbit]

Please excuse my math ignorance, I was always terrible at figures. If I have a stream about 14 foot long and a rise of about 2 feet to the top of that stream, how does that figure into the pump capacity? For example for the Laguna Max-Flo 2900 this is how it's broken down:

GPH per foot of Head:
O’: 2900
3’: 2504
6’: 2251
9’: 1854
12’: 1347
14’: 793

Would a pump this size work for that stream that lead to a pond about 10'x6'?

Just trying to wrap my head around all this, and the expense for all the parts!

 

[sissy]

Are you using a filter at the top before it goes down the stream and how big a filter .

 

[fishin4cars]

If your going two feet high for the water fall you have aprox, two feet of head, You can use the 3' of head measurement for probably the closest actual pumping rate. Bends in pipeing and any restrictions will change that pumping rate somewhat. That should be fine for the stream you have in mind, That's about the same size pumping head, stream size, and distance that I have and I'm very happy with it, great flow, good oxygen, but not splashing all out everywhere.

 

[addy1]

Here you go

http://www.pondworld.com/headpressure.aspx

 

[fishin4cars]

Reconsidering waterfall feature. In reading I've seen that this is apparently one of the more difficult things to achieve a natural look for without experience and $$$. I'm thinking about changing over to just a stream leading down 20' or so to the pond from the back of my house. See pics below, ignore the extra hose.

Question: from the top of the stream, do I still need a waterfall weir for the pump to send the water up from the pond to collect and spill over to the stream?

Need it, Not really, BUT it sure is easier to work with. I would highly consider useing a filter fall, You get a bio filter and the weir for the water fall all in one. withe goldfish and plants this filter system will last you for many years and maintaining them is really a pretty simple deal. works great for the start of a stream, waterfall, or combination of both.

If you don't use a weir the water is going to start from a single small stream outlet and will be coming out at a pretty high rate and is harder to keep the splashing to a minimal, but as you have read there are options for that too.

 

[krazyrabbit]

Thanks, and the head pressure calculator is terrific! I guess I should get the waterfall filter, saw many at decent prices.

If anyone wants to private message me the more reliable and affordable online pond supply shops please do.