In over my head, building a huge waterfall. Need pointers.

[GBBUDD]

The two red arrows are dead zones where the water is not moving a ton. Any thoughts on moving the water towards the top right to get it into the intake?

how dep are these areas? did you made perfect lilly zones ? or if they are too shallow for lillies they might be better off for frog bit looks very similar to lily pads but has white or yellow flowers.

I told you when you started you were by passing the Volkswagen and you were heading for the bently. and even now that you think you have things ironed out, but you'll be looking at an area and say but if i did this it would do that. there will always be tweaks here or there but i will say this you have the envy of all yards with retaining walls

 

[GBBUDD]

I remember what your area looked like before you started it's one hell of a transformation

 

[Tjsherrill]

how dep are these areas? did you made perfect lilly zones ? or if they are too shallow for lillies they might be better off for frog bit looks very similar to lily pads but has white or yellow flowers.

I told you when you started you were by passing the Volkswagen and you were heading for the bently. and even now that you think you have things ironed out, but you'll be looking at an area and say but if i did this it would do that. there will always be tweaks here or there but i will say this you have the envy of all yards with retaining walls

Those spots are about 32" deep. I was watching a recent video from Atlantis Water Gardens and Jak was saying how they leave the lily's in the pots at the bottom of the pond. Would lily's work there?

Also will lily's help the dead water stay clean?

 

[Tjsherrill]

I remember what your area looked like before you started it's one hell of a transformation

Thanks very much. I know I'll always have things to tweak here and there but its coming together.

 

[GBBUDD]

32 inches deep can be toward the deep end of the Lilly but if you do gind them growing to slow just lift the pot up onto a vinderblock or something a ND you'll be good to go

 

[Tjsherrill]

OOOKKK following up on this never-ending saga of building and owning a massing waterfall.

In general, things are good. It has been running continuously for two months without any major issues.

That said, I have a few questions that I need the community's knowledge on:

1. We struggle between green-tinged water and brown carpetty algae on rocks. The brown stuff has gotten pretty bad at times. I have a brush on a handle that I can wipe them off but it can get so thick you can't see the rocks. I am using beneficial bacteria and barley extract at the moment. What else can I do?

2. My intake bay is struggling to pull everything in. While its hard to see in the video, sometimes there gets to be a film on the water that is not getting pulled in and sorted out by the intake bay. I do scoop out the gunk daily. Ideas?

3. I am using test strips on the water and it looks my Alkalinity and carbonate are low (somewhere between 40-80) and my PH is in the high 6's. What can I do to help level this off at a good spot?

3. Winter is coming!!! My autofill should be off if it freezes or it would likely burst. But that raises the question of what happens if I am gone and it freezes? How do you handle water level in your ponds in the winter?

thanks everyone.

 

[Pablo]

OOOKKK following up on this never-ending saga of building and owning a massing waterfall.

In general, things are good. It has been running continuously for two months without any major issues.

That said, I have a few questions that I need the community's knowledge on:

1. We struggle between green-tinged water and brown carpetty algae on rocks. The brown stuff has gotten pretty bad at times. I have a brush on a handle that I can wipe them off but it can get so thick you can't see the rocks. I am using beneficial bacteria and barley extract at the moment. What else can I do?

2. My intake bay is struggling to pull everything in. While its hard to see in the video, sometimes there gets to be a film on the water that is not getting pulled in and sorted out by the intake bay. I do scoop out the gunk daily. Ideas?

3. I am using test strips on the water and it looks my Alkalinity and carbonate are low (somewhere between 40-80) and my PH is in the high 6's. What can I do to help level this off at a good spot?

3. Winter is coming!!! My autofill should be off if it freezes or it would likely burst. But that raises the question of what happens if I am gone and it freezes? How do you handle water level in your ponds in the winter?

thanks everyone.

Wow the waterfall and pond look great. For the algae issue, you need a lot more plants in there. It is getting near the end of the season so probably not much you can do now but next Spring you will need underwater plants, floating plants, and plants on the margins. The bacteria and barley are only short term fixes, long term the plants are the way to go. I dont have an intake bay so cannot help you there. Last winter I kept my pump going all winter, we had a lot of rain last winter so water level was not an issue other than having to pump out overflow. I know some people shut down for the winter, drain the pipes and be done with it until Spring.

 

[Tjsherrill]

@Pablo thanks for the tips.

 

[GBBUDD]

1. We struggle between green-tinged water and brown carpetty algae on rocks. The brown stuff has gotten pretty bad at times. I have a brush on a handle that I can wipe them off but it can get so thick you can't see the rocks. I am using beneficial bacteria and barley extract at the moment. What else can I do?

What are you using for a filter? Green water will not last long with a good mechanicale and biologicale filters.

My intake bay is struggling to pull everything in. While its hard to see in the video, sometimes there gets to be a film on the water that is not getting pulled in and sorted out by the intake bay. I do scoop out the gunk daily. Ideas?

Intake bays should have a sticker guideline. So many gph for x sixe opening including how deep. I have a 12000 goh pump and an intake bay opening to where it has enough draw to pull surface debris in. Has to be around a foot wide and 6 inches deep. Any larger than that and it's not doing much filtration/ cleaning.
My suggestion Is to make the opening of the intake less than 6 inches deep. This will skim the surface better .
How many gph do you use for your system.

3. I am using test strips on the water and it looks my Alkalinity and carbonate are low (somewhere between 40-80) and my PH is in the high 6's. What can I do to help level this off at a good spot?

Ph of 6 is close to acid and will promote browns ad black slime algae.
Kh of 40 is abysmal you want to bring that up as well. Her is the good news. Baking soda. Does both and for cheap money.
Do you have fish?
If you have fih 150 to 200 kh is where I recomend.
No fish get the pH 120 to 150. Now here's the real good news by raising the kh you will also raise the pH. It should only get to 8.3. And should not go higher under Most circumstances. Ph of 7 or higher that is constant is better than ph that fluctuates

3. Winter is coming!!! My autofill should be off if it freezes or it would likely burst. But that raises the question of what happens if I am gone and it freezes? How do you handle water level in your ponds in the winter?

I use a cistern no worries with freezing valves. I will usually leave that 2000 gph pump running all year long and I shut down the 12000 when Temps drop to the teens for a period of time. But when I had a leak I kept a hose in my basement that was hooked up to a faucet and just ran it out the basement door for an our.

 

[Tjsherrill]

What are you using for a filter? Green water will not last long with a good mechanicale and biologicale filters.

Intake bays should have a sticker guideline. So many gph for x sixe opening including how deep. I have a 12000 goh pump and an intake bay opening to where it has enough draw to pull surface debris in. Has to be around a foot wide and 6 inches deep. Any larger than that and it's not doing much filtration/ cleaning.
My suggestion Is to make the opening of the intake less than 6 inches deep. This will skim the surface better .
How many gph do you use for your system.

Ph of 6 is close to acid and will promote browns ad black slime algae.
Kh of 40 is abysmal you want to bring that up as well. Her is the good news. Baking soda. Does both and for cheap money.
Do you have fish?
If you have fih 150 to 200 kh is where I recomend.
No fish get the pH 120 to 150. Now here's the real good news by raising the kh you will also raise the pH. It should only get to 8.3. And should not go higher under Most circumstances. Ph of 7 or higher that is constant is better than ph that fluctuates
I use a cistern no worries with freezing valves. I will usually leave that 2000 gph pump running all year long and I shut down the 12000 when Temps drop to the teens for a period of time. But when I had a leak I kept a hose in my basement that was hooked up to a faucet and just ran it out the basement door for an our.

Thanks for all the good info.

I was able to tweak my intake bay to skim the surface better. Its working much better but it is not swirling. I am going to play with putting liner down over the aqua blocks to see if I can get a swirling motion.

I am considering a UV filter.

I don't have any real filtration going on at all. And while I do want plants I don't want the pond covered in them.

My pond is about 3k gallons, my pump is doing about 7500 gal/hr best I can tell. I don't have fish yet but want them next spring. So, I'm thinking of a UV filter in the 55-watt range that I think would cover that.

thanks

 

[GBBUDD]

No filter no biological or mechanicle and green water you may stay stuck with.