Found a water Garden - Now What? And HI!

[GainesvillePond]

Just figured out should post this question here, not in introduction area - sorry about that

Hi Garden Pond forum! Recently bought a new home and found a pond that the previous owner filled in after a fall while cleaning. Turns out this water garden has a 16' "stream" that appears to have built in "cavities" to return water to the pond proper and act as a water level maintainer of sorts. Each end of the stream appears to have piping for waterfalls from main pond. The main "pond" is about 5.5' deep and widens to over 8' wide with a waterfall at the top (maybe 7.5') above the floor. Excavated (32) 30- gallon pots of muck and the whole thing is flagstone and limestone boulders over a liner. There are connections - but no pump. Power exists however choosing the right pump has be in analysis paralysis. With April showers on the way, need to get the water it has in it moving lest mosquitoes rule my yard. The concern is that all piping in the pond is 3/4" vinyl and my calculations (and research) suggest I need a 4000 gph pump. These all seem to have 1 1/2" outputs and only one at that. I have discovered a "little giant" dual discharge (which seems the right choice since I have piping up to the two stream waterfalls and a another pipe to the main waterfall) - my concern is the reduction from 1 1/2" to 3/4" - will I burn it up? Thanks!!! ( I may also buy two 1900 gph Little giants with dual discharge however they also have the larger output diameters.). Hi and HELP

 

[MitchM]

Welcome!
#1, make sure the discovered pond will actually hold water.
#2, determine the total water volume and purchase a pump that will pump at least 2X the water volume. Vinyl tubing will not last long. You won't burn up a pump by having a smaller output, but it doesn't help with efficiency.

Pictures and overall dimensions, will help.
Have you found any mechanical filter or skimmer in the setup?

 

[GainesvillePond]

HI Mitch and thanks for the reply.
Answers 1st:
1. Pond holds water, at all levels I have reached so far. Have not filled entirely as do not want to have to drain to get to connections. Was told the pond is fine, just filled in by previous owner.
2. My calculations show between 1500 - 2000 gal. Going to base all assumptions on 2000 because of unknowns.

There is no mechanical filter. I believe that each end of the "stream" - curved part - has a void created to act as a skimmer. Just not sure how to clean it out.

Image 1= (tree removed, had to cut it down as it was dead river birch deprived of water when pond filled in and it grew over 3/4" piping to upper left waterfall) This image is the curved stream fed by two waterfalls at each end and has two areas where water will flow back down to larger pond proper.
Image 2= Pond proper, I am standing on a huge stone that will be submerged once filled - three pipes lead out
Image3=Still standing on large stone and taking shot of stream which is separate from pond proper by large rocks and two spill ways to feed water back down and maintain water level
Image 4=Another view of the left stream from pond proper, tubing shown not necessary anymore as I believe it was a "fix" once the original piping was crushed under tree weight
Image 5=Standing at the head height where the 3/4" black piping is further reduced to 1/2" for about 2 -3 feet and then fed out to create top water fall. I have not been able to get water up to this with a garden hose.

THANKS!!

 

[GainesvillePond]

HI Mitch - two more photos - looking back at the stone I was standing on and the top stone which it the top waterfall. image 2 is the curved 16' stream before final clean out.

Plants are still there however will most likely go away to lessen debris.

 

[Lisak1]

Welcome! And thanks for sharing - this is going to be fun to see you get this up and running! It's too bad the previous owner filled it in - maybe they were told the house wouldn't sell with a pond.

 

[GainesvillePond]

Thanks Lisa - always wanted one. Previous owner fell cleaning it and spent a week in the hospital and broke two front teeth, think he got mad at it :-(

 

[j.w]

@GainesvillePond Oh my the poor guy, no wonder he filled it in
You can do this but it is gonna take some work. Will be neat watching it all come together

 

[Gemma]

@GainesvillePond I'm glad you moved your post here, and posted images!
Your pond looks like it's going to be awesome once filled and running, I hope you'll stick around and post updates so we can all enjoy the journey... good luck!

PS. Personally, I would figure a way to include a mechanical filter, it would cut down on cleaning and give you crystal clear water and overall healthier pond...but that's just my opinion

 

[cas]

Welcome to the forum @GainesvillePond ! Looks like it will be a neat pond once you get it all cleaned out and up and running. Good Luck! Please post progress pictures. We love to watch other people work!

 

[GainesvillePond]

Thanks everyone! So it looks like I should turn the water every hour - so at least a 2000 gph pump. Anyone have an opinion on the Little Giants? Also - filters - pressurized with UV?

 

[addy1]

Welcome to our group! I
I use just a bog, i.e. pea gravel up filter full of plants as my filter. I have read pressurized filters don't work too well. But I have never used one.

 

[GainesvillePond]

Thanks Addy - i wonder if that is what the curved stream was for? Anyway - any feedback from anyone on pumps? Need to make a purchase soon (tonight or tomorrow morning) to arrest the mosquitoes. Little Giants (2 @ 1900 gph dual discharges) are the way I am leaning - one to run the two waterfalls at the end of the streams and one to pump to the filter and and up to the top waterfall

 

[j.w]

I prefer Laguna pumps, pretty energy efficient. Danner's Pondmaster lasts a long time tho just not as energy efficient.
Little Giant appears to be a lower price less quality type of brand IMO.

 

[addy1]

Laguna and sequence pumps are both good brands, last long and low energy use.

 

[addy1]

i wonder if that is what the curved stream was for?

Hard to say, might have been, once you get it running you will be tweaking as you go.