Do NOT place your pump on the very bottom of the pond....

[Catfishnut]

My bait pond system design incorporates an electrical / electronic water level monitoring system to control my pumps operation.

My pond will drain passively by gravity into a series of filter stages (120 and 55 gallon HDPE barrels). In the last barrel, a pump will return the water to my pond tank. I did not want the water level in this last stage to get so low that the pump would run dry. Nor too high and overflow. So I devised this monitoring system to control the pumps.

If the water level gets too low, the pump shuts off. If it gets too high, a second pump kicks on and assists the primary pump until the water level drops back to a specific depth.

Several stainless steel probes are set at various depths in the filter barrel and the probes are connected to a 12 VDC power supply and 12 VDC controlled relays (or a 12 VAC power supply and 12 VAC controlled relays). The electrical conductivity of the water and the probes control the relays to form a very simple computer logic circuit. This low voltage logic circuit controls the 120 vac pump power, switching the pumps on and off as required.

This type of monitoring system could be placed directly in a pond. It would not bother the fish unless they actually touched the probes and then they would just get a very mild shock (like sticking your tongue on a 9 volt battery) and if they didn't like it, they would learn to avoid it and that is a plus because they wouldn't interfere with it in the future. The probes could also be placed inside a PVC tube and camoflaged to blend in to the environment. Then the fish would never be able to touch the probes either.

You could use this monitoring system not only to control your recirculation pumps, but also, with some additional probes and relays, to control a valve to automatically turn your "top-off" water supply on and off.

Gordy

 

[JohnHuff]

My bait pond system design incorporates an electrical / electronic water level monitoring system to control my pumps operation.

My pond will drain passively by gravity into a series of filter stages (120 and 55 gallon HDPE barrels). In the last barrel, a pump will return the water to my pond tank. I did not want the water level in this last stage to get so low that the pump would run dry. Nor too high and overflow. So I devised this monitoring system to control the pumps.

If the water level gets too low, the pump shuts off. If it gets too high, a second pump kicks on and assists the primary pump until the water level drops back to a specific depth.

Several stainless steel probes are set at various depths in the filter barrel and the probes are connected to a 12 VDC power supply and 12 VDC controlled relays (or a 12 VAC power supply and 12 VAC controlled relays). The electrical conductivity of the water and the probes control the relays to form a very simple computer logic circuit. This low voltage logic circuit controls the 120 vac pump control power, switching the pumps on and off as required.

This type of monitoring system could be placed directly in a pond. It would not bother the fish unless they actually touched the probes and then they would just get a very mild shock (like sticking your tongue on a 9 volt battery) and if they didn't like it, they would learn to avoid it and that is a plus because they wouldn't interfere with it in the future. The probes could also be placed inside a PVC tube and camoflaged to blend in to the environment. Then the fish would never be able to touch the probes either.

You could use this monitoring system not only to control your recirculation pumps, but also, with some additional probes and relays, to control a valve to automatically turn your "top-off" water supply on and off.

Gordy

Complex yet beautiful, I congratulate you. I think I repeat myself but my monitoring system involves electromagnetic waves in the 390 to 700 nm spectrum, a biological motor-neuron system and finally a gravity fed hydraulic system. You know what I mean...

 

[Catfishnut]

Complex yet beautiful, I congratulate you. I think I repeat myself but my monitoring system involves electromagnetic waves in the 390 to 700 nm spectrum, a biological motor-neuron system and finally a gravity fed hydraulic system. You know what I mean...

Dr. Sir John Huff,

Yes, your recapitulation on the matter of the hydrointabulator detects full comprehension from the party of the research team involved in its creation.

Numerous theoreticals were simulated in the laboratory utilizing applications of light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation using the lanthanide series chamber, unfortunately the tempororal coherence proved to be optically unsatisfactory for the subject media and testing of this method proved too costly so it was abandoned in its infancy.

The cobalt wheatstone bridge pressure transducer appeared to be an excellent alternative during its first stages, however the Anthricitical uncertainty principle, when applied to the containment vessel, proved to cancel the accuracy of the devices and it too had to be abandoned.

The team does, however, wish to thank you very sincerely for your continued theoretical research on the enhancement mode Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor which ultimately led the team to the discovery of the hydrointabulator. Doping the MOSFET's silicon wafer substrate with the down quarks proved to be the essential item that made the discovery a success and the incoproration of the Helmholtz coils to determine the actual charge mass ratio of the electrons was a major windfall for the team.

In the very end, the team relied heavily on the podiatric method as it was the most enjoyable. Attached is a photograph of one of the senior technicians from the project attempting to apply the podiatric method through the reverse angle simulation trials.

Dr. Gordolopus E. Catenstien M.A.M. M.Aqua. M.E.E. M.S.E. M.S.M.Sci. D.Sci.

 

[Mmathis]

Good news! The fish are all still alive and well after their near-death experience of yesterday!

I spent yesterday cleaning pumps/filters and checking tubing connections and today will work on the SKIPPY and check all those connections. See, we leave day after tomorrow for skiing in Utah [Park City], so you KNOW if there's going to be a problem with the pond, it's going to happen right before you'll be out of town! Hopefully, this was THAT problem.....

 

[Catfishnut]

Turtle Mommy,

Good thing it occurred when it did and you detected it BEFORE leaving. I am not sure that I subscribe to your "YOU KNOW" theory here. I have been trained moreso to believe in Murphy's Law. That anything that can go wrong will go wrong at the most inopportune time. I don't mean to disuade you from your Utah trip, but if you are flying out there, don't look out the window at your home or pond.

I say that in a "figurative" fashion and not literally. What I mean is... "Don't look over your shoulder and worry about what is going on behind you. Instead, enjoy your trip and the moments ahead of you!"

Gordy

 

[sissy]

I just bought cheap sump pump hose and it has worked for since 2009 and no problems .I use the 1 1/4 size but new pump I want to get the 1 1/2 inch size home depot sells .They sent 2 adapters with pump and I want to use the larger 1 for the new bigger pump for the 1 water fall and filter and the smaller pump for the second filter .Both my filters set in liner that allows water to flow back in the pond and sump pump hoses run up the inside edge of the pond so any leaks all go right back into the pond and not out of the pond .Less things to worry about

 

[mrsclem]

Has this thread started Murphy's law? Just went to put the lights on times down at the ponds since all pumps are running and one pond is down a foot! Stock tank filter over flowing! I have plastic bread racks on top of the media and I guess when I back flushed yesterday the rock on top shifted and allowed the media to float up and block the out flow pipe. I will be out several times at night now checking on water levels.

 

[Mmathis]

Aren't ponds just like new babies & toddlers?!?! You have to check them often, always a learning experience, and you never know what "surprises" are in store!

Well, sure hope Mr. Murphy doesn't bother anyone else for a loooong while!

 

[JBtheExplorer]

Since we're talking about pump level, I've got a question. Last summer, any time I'd clean the filter on my pump I have to grab the hose and pull it up, while trying to make sure neither hose destroys or tips over any of my plants. I was wondering if there was any problem with placing my pump on a plant shelf that's around a foot deep, or maybe just over a foot. I don't know if its best to keep it lower or not but I figured putting it on a shelf would give me easier access to it and the hoses would be much less of an issue. If not, my next question is what is the best depth for a pump in a pond with a depth of 3' and an average of around or over 2'.

 

[brokensword]

TM (and any others):

What I did was to get a sump pump mercury switch (plastic housing, floats usually) and attached my pump cord to that. It works like this; it's a bobber type unit and if water goes down, the float will go down too. If you fix the cord of the float, tie it off in such a way that the heavy ball inside the float then drags the mercury switch down with the falling pond level, the switch is activated at some point you determine, shutting off the submersible. And even with this, I've elevated my pump off the bottom, but I have twice the peace of mind now with the sump pump float switch. You can get these at most big box hardware stores. Link below.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Flotec-S...Float-Switch-FP18-15BD/100206920?N=5yc1vZbqko

 

[Big Lou]

My under water pump sits on a thick piece of flat stone. The pump has about 1" extensions on all four corners that help.

 

[bettasngoldfish]

My pump sits on top of a cinder block (although I was warned afterward that putting cinder blocks in the pond could damage my liner or harm my fish) I am not planing on moving it around so not sure how it will damage the liner. And I don't have any monster size fish (no koi here only goldfish) so I don't see how they can hurt themselves swimming through the openings in the block.

 

[Mmathis]

My pump sits on top of a cinder block (although I was warned afterward that putting cinder blocks in the pond could damage my liner or harm my fish) I am not planing on moving it around so not sure how it will damage the liner. And I don't have any monster size fish (no koi here only goldfish) so I don't see how they can hurt themselves swimming through the openings in the block.

You could counter the liner damage part by placing a piece of spare liner under the cinder block, kinda like a "coaster."

The the best of my knowledge, the only damage to the fish would be either due to a change in the pH [from the concrete itself], or where the fish could rub against the sharp edges and cut themselves. There are some cinder blocks with wicked edges! [I recently bought an angle grinder and a special wheel that will smooth out concrete rough edges -- works great!].

 

[haver79]

My pump sits on an upside down milk crate. I zip tied the pump to the crate.

 

[Jeff Kraemer]

I learned my lesson....this happened to me with my first ever batch of fish in my first pond. I miss those fish. My pump sits on a shelf closer to the top now. I like it better this way. The waterfalls keep a good flow in the pond and all of the water cycles towards the pump which sits in a box i made with an open mouth i cut out of it. So all leaves from my weeping willow go directly into the skimmer box as well.