Pond pumps

Question:
Do I need a pump for a pond?
I am using it to grow lotuses, but I also want to add a few goldfish to it to make it more interesting. Would I need to buy a pump for the fish, or would the plants provide the oxygen needed?


Answer:
You don't need a pump for your pond. If you add goldfish, you must add submerged vegetation for them to eat, but never feed them anything else or the water will get foul. The submerged vegetation (anacharis, hornwort, cabomba) will add enough O2 for the fish.
Add a few mosquito fish to keep mosquitoes away.

Cal Pumps

Question:
Does a cal pond pump make noise when on?
We have a pond and bought a cal pump for the filtration of the pond and was wondering if we'd know that it was on. Does a cal brand pond pump make any noises, such as a running noise? Also, how do I work it? how to turn on, keep on, and how to get it working.

Answer:
Calpump makes one of the finest pond pumps. It makes no noise at all. You can feel it humming if you touch it, but that's it. To work it, drop it in the water, and plug it in. Hook it up to the hose you want it to pump water through before you put it in the water. I would use a prefilter to keep debris out of the impeller.

Koi and filters

Question:
Is it possible to turn a pool filter into a filter for my Koi pond?
I know i can't use the sand in it, I will take that out. What type of media should i use?



Answer:
Yes it's possible, even recommended. If you want to take it out, use lava rock, beads or bioballs instead.

Fishing pond

Question:
Can i put a pond in my backyard? (for fishing)?
hello. i live in ohio and i want to put a pond in my backyard but i want it for fishing. what can i do to have the pond without hitting any lines of pipes?

Answer:
It can be done, but it's not easy. First call your local utility company and have them mark where their wires and pipes are.
After that, find a local aquaculture place and ask for help as far as how deep it has to be, and what you can stock successfully, etc. Usually a local community college can help as well. Another resource is your local extension service.

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Wetland Gardens

Question:

How do I create a wetland garden?

We live on a lake in Michigan and I want to start planning a wetland garden. We have an area by the lakeshore that is always mushy, so I'd like to embrace mother nature and plant a wetland garden in this area that will look better than muddy grass. And I would hope this area would improve drainage in my yard. How much maintenance does this type of garden require? What mulch or other bedding material would be best? The area is probably 30 ft long by 5-8 feet.

Answer:

Here's an article I wrote about building a bog garden.

http://www.pondlady.com/Articles/bog_garden.html

In Michigan, my home state, I would use cattails and hardy rushes. Drainage would indeed be improved and the area would look nice. Maintenance would be very little. I mulch mine a couple times a year.

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Ponds and pumps

Question:
Is it possible to have 2 ponds running off 1 filter & 1 pump?
i want to add a second pond ,but i would like to know if it is possible to use just 1 filter & 1 pump ? if so how do i do it or do i need to use 2 pumps & 2 filters i should also say that i want to run a waterfall flowing down into the bottom pond from the top 1 any info would be much appreciated many thanks

Answer:
I suppose it is possible. You would have to use an inline (out of the water) pump and somewhere in the hose put a Y so each pond could have water moving. To get two waterfalls, you would need a HUGE inline pump, but they are made, I know. You could use one bead filter that was also out of the water. You are looking at lots of dollars. It would be cheaper to use two pumps, I think.
That idea of having one pond flow into another one is very very difficult to do. I built ponds for 20 years and when doing that sort of thing, I made each pond a separate entity, each with its own pump/waterfall.

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Oxygenating grasses

Question:
Can you plant just regular grass seed in a fish pond? Will it grow? Will it take oxygen from the fish?
I own some land in which I have started building a fish pond. If the grass doesn't grow, is there a special type of underwater grass to use?


Answer:
Regular grass will not grow in water. Use anacharis, hornwort or cabomba and your fish will love you. All three give O2 to the fish and they, in turn, fertilize them.

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Terra Cotta Fountain

Question:
What type of pump do you suggest for a terra cotta pot fountain?
It is going to be made of three pots staked on top of each other with a saucer on top.

Answer:
You can buy a tiny one at some place like Hobby Lobby that costs less than $20.00. You will have to replace it often because those little ones don't have a long life. But anything bigger will send the water into your neighbor's yard. Have fun with your garden art.

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Koi pond filter

Question:
I have read a lot about building a koi pond but i am unsure of where to put the skimmer, filter and pump?
Does anyone have a diagram of where to put all the stuff, preferrably the pond would be L shaped. or can you tell me please because videos on youtube dont really say where the filter, etc. goes.




Answer:


You don't need a skimmer at all. You do need a filter tho, but it doesn't matter where you put it. Put it where it is easiest to hide and to clean.
• Here's an article that I wrote about how to build a koi pond.
• http://www.pondlady.com/Articles/koipond…
•
• Oh, and thoughts about skimmers:
• http://www.pondlady.com/Articles/filters…

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How to build/buy a small raised pond?

Hi I bought my partner two goldfish and a fishtank for Christmas last year, one is your average goldfish (Betty) and the other a Sarsha comet (Bob) They have been living in a 10 gallon tank this whole time and as a random surprise I want to build a raised bond in our back garden. It has to be raised as we have nephews who visit and we own a lot of rabbits.

The garden has mostly been taken over by the bunnies but was planning on putting it near the patio part. Is there any like metal tub/plastic tub ponds that I can put there? And what sort of size should I be looking for and what sort of filter?

Thank you


You can build or buy most any size pond for the back yard. Here's one made of cinder blocks and fieldstone. Or you can use a circular horse trough, bury 24" of it and camouflage the rest.
Here's an article with photos for the cinder block pond.
http://www.pondlady.com/Articles/above_g…

And here are some smaller and cheaper ones:
http://www.pondlady.com/Articles/inexpeTo find more pond information, go to pondlady.com

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Koi question

I live in miami fl. im building a 175 gal waterfall pond but can go only 20 inches deep. I have morning shade?
Question: I am concerned about the temp for goldfish or koi in summer. I have a concrete pond I bought as a foundation. It's only 45 inches round and 8 in deep, so I plan on dropping it under ground 1 foot and adding 1 foot around the circumference. This should take its original size of 65 gallons and add about 100 gallons more making it about 165 total make any sense got any ideas?





Answer: Your fish will be fine at 20". I would stick to goldfish rather than koi, tho, because koi need at least 3' of water depth. Cover 60% of the top of the pond with floating vegetation and put in one bunch of submerged vegetation per square foot.


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Koi and pumps question

Can I turn off my pump in my koi pond in the winter?

I have a leak in my pond liner. I think it is at the bottom because a windstorm moved a large plant and my water level started to drop after that. The temperature where I live is from high 30's at night to 60's during day. Can I turn off my pump and let my water level drop without depriving koi of needed oxygen? Also, when I remove koi to completely drain pond, how long can they survive in small holding tank w/o pump

If your temps stay under 55F, you might be safe turning off the pump, but I would probably throw an airstone in the water. Frankly, I suspect you will not find a leak at all. First turn off your pump and watch the pond overnight. I'll bet the water level will not drop and you will find that same wind moved hoses around and the water is dripping off the back or side of a waterfall.
With an airstone, the koi will survive in a kiddy pond for as long as you need, especially in cool weather.

See my article on leaking ponds: http://www.pondlady.com/Articles/pondlea…

Make your own pond vacuum cleaner

One of our readers made his own pond vacuum cleaner. He reports it works great and was cheap to make. He graciously shared how to make it with the readers of pondlady.com. I though it would be nice to post it here as well for readers who do not get to pondlady.com regularly.

Thanks for sharing, Darrel. We all appreciate it.

From Darrel:

Here's a list of the parts I used:
(1) Utilitech 0024840 Lawn Pump or Flint & Walling/Star Water
#HSPJ100(any 1hp utility pump with 1" intake/outlet)
(1) Culligan HD-950 Whole House Water Filter
(2) Union 1" slip X slip
(4) 1" male adapter, 1" slip socket by 1" NPT
(1) 1" 90º elbow slip
(1) 8 ft. of 1" spa flex hose
(1) 10 ft. of 1" PVC pipe
(1) 1" coupling
(1) Circular brush attachment from a vacuum cleaner to fit the PVC pipe.

Procedure:

The filter is attached to the inlet side of the pump.
(1) Screw a male adapter into the pump inlet.
(2) Cut about a 2-1/4" piece of PVC pipe.
(3) Glue this into the male adapter.
(4) Glue one side of one union to the pipe.
(5) Screw a male adapter into the filter outlet.
(6) Cut another 2-1/4" piece of PVC pipe.
(7) Glue the pipe into the adapter.
(8) Glue the other side of the union to the pipe.
(9) Screw another adapter into the filter inlet.
(10) Cut another 2-1/4" piece of PVC pipe.
(11) Glue the pipe into the adapter.
(12) Glue one side of the other union to the pipe.
(13) Glue the other side of the union to the spa flex hose.
(14) Glue the coupling to the hose.
(15) Cut a 6' length of PVC pipe.
(16) Glue the pipe into the other side of the coupling.
(17) Screw an adapter into the pump outlet.
(18) Cut a 2-1/4" piece of PVC pipe.
(19) Glue the pipe into the adapter.
(20) Glue the 90º elbow onto the other end of the pipe.
(21) Glue the remaining PVC pipe (approx. 2') to the elbow.

You want the filter on the intake side of the pump so you're not sending crud through the pump. There's also the possibility that if you suck up something living, you may be able to rescue it from the filter housing.

The pipe for the wand should not be more than about 6' or it bends too much and is difficult to control.

Lawn pumps need to be primed. They have a port for priming. You can also fill the pump/filter/pipe with water from a hose, or by scooping it from the pond. Just know that the pump, to begin with, will not suck the water up by itself.

You may notice that I used two additional male adapters, one on either side of the filter. This was only because the store had only one slip union. I had to buy one 1" slip union and one 1" NPT union. I then mixed the two halves of the unions so that each one became a 1" NPT X 1" slip union. The additional adapter then screwed into one side of each union.

When glueing the flex hose to the union hold it for a long time. The glue does not seem to set as fast as on the PVC pipe.

I've included a picture to help.

Darrel 

BIG fountains

I often get questions about huge fountains.  People try to put a fountain in a large pond, usually a natural bottom pond and find that the pump clogs up fast and the fountain stops working.

You will see fountains like the one in the photo at shopping centers and casinos.  This one is near a shopping mall near my house.  If you look closely, you can see that the fountain floats.  At no time can a huge fountain like this one be on the bottom of any pond or it will try to suck up debris and burn out quickly.

If you have a huge pond at home and want to use something like this, watch that the wind does not blow the water out and cause the level to drop to dangerous levels.  Sometimes you have to give in and install a float valve to keep the pond full of water.

Turtles in the pond

We haven't talked about turtles in awhile. Don't get them for your pond. 

Nuf said? No?  OK, turtles eat everything in the pond. They start with your most expensive plants, like tropical water lilies and eat their way through every last plant.  And they do it fast.

You can have turtles in a pond if you have nothing else in the pond. You have to feed the turtles and make a little island and/or ramp so they can get in and out. Turtles do not live underwater.

In the winter, they burrow in the leaf mold and under the rocks and stay there undisturbed until spring when they wake up with a voracious appetite for more water lilies.

Turtle on a turtle?  Yup, it is.

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Another kind of pondless waterfall

Most pondless waterfalls are holes in the ground filled with rocks or a box that makes the sound echo.  All nice and all with their own problems.  Yesterday I decided to make my own pondless waterfall in the front yard.

It could be a pond with fish and plants, but it is really small, so I now have my own mini pondless waterfall.

Here's how I did it:  I bought a 3' in diameter x 2' deep Rubbermaid horse watering trough at a feed and seed store.   It cost about 40 bucks.  I had a pump lying around from my active pond building days. It's a 700 gph Little Giant submersible.  I also had rocks in the yard, saved from my pre Katrina pond and moved to this house from the one that we had to bulldoze.

First was a hole in the ground. I did not bury the horse trough all the way, but left about 6" above the ground. It's easier to deal with that way, easier to keep level and doing it like that avoids any run off.  Also with our water table so high, digging a 2' deep hole would find me in the water before I got all the way down.

After you dig the hole, put in the horse trough and fill it with water.  If you don't it will rise like the phoenix while you are leveling it.  Add kiddie play sand around the edges to give a solid surface to hold the trough.  Use water to pack down the sand. As you doing that, get the trough as level as you can.  You will cantilever rocks over the top later, so you don't have to be perfect here.

Start piling up flat rocks to hide the sides of the trough that is above ground. Doing this will make the pond look natural.  Save a spot for the waterfall.

Attach flexible tubing to the pump and then T off with a hard plastic T fitting  like plumbers use.

Put the pump in the water.

Now build your waterfall on one edge of the trough.  Use a large flat rock for the bottom, put a few thicker rocks on top and add another rock on top of those.  That's about as high as you can get because you don't want water splashing out.

Place the two hoses on the top of the waterfall.  Maybe one hose on each level.  Whatever pleases you.  Put rocks the same thickness as the hoses on either side and a rock on top to keep them where you put them.

Now arrange the hoses so no water slides off the back or over the sides and out of the trough.

Hide the hoses in the back of the falls with rocks or plant material.

Use swimming pool chlorine to keep the water clear.

There, you have it and it only took a few hours.  This one took me about 5 hours yesterday.  I am moving a bit slow this morning.

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Winter Pond Care - Plants and Fish

Winter Pond Care - Plants and Fish

Reposted for those of you who missed it the first time.

Water Lilies in Winter

Hardy water lilies will survive the worst winter you can imagine.  I have seen hardy water lilies in Rocky Mountain National Park at about 11,000 feet.

 Remember water lilies are only pretty weeds, invasive and obnoxious if left to their own devices.  If you have planted them on the bottom in the bottom of a natural pond, you will regret doing that because they will cover your pond in short order. BUT they will survive. And survive. And survive.
You can tell the difference between hardy water lilies and tropical ones easily. The tropicals have stems that raise the flower far out of the water. The hardy lily flowers sit very close to the water, sometimes even touching it.

All water lily flowers live for about three days and then die. Another opens and so on, so you have flowers throughout the spring and summer.

If you have tropical water lilies, you must protect them in the winter.  If you have a deep pond, you can lower them to the bottom and keep your fingers crossed.  Here in South Louisiana, that's what I do.  Our freezes are relatively short and rare, so our lilies are safe.

If you live where your pond may freeze solid, you can remove your tropical from the pond, remove its leaves, rinse the corms off and pack it in damp sand.  Put it in the garage or somewhere that does freeze. You have about a 50/50 chance of saving your tropical. In the spring, simply pot them up again and place them in the pond.

 Of course, the ideal way is to have a green house and store the lily in it.  You can cobble together an 8' long box made of 1' x 12' lumber, line it with butyl rubber, fill it with dechlorinated water and your lilies will love you for it.  You will have blooms early in the spring.

No matter where you live in the US, your lilies are dormant by now. They react to the length of daylight and dark as well as temperature changes.  Don't worry, you will see them again in the spring.

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Ponds, men and women

Have you noticed? I know I have.

When men build ponds they want technical, complicated things like automatic water levelers. Women just use a garden hose to top off the pond every couple or months.

Men will run PVC pipes from the house hose bib and put a faucet near the pond. Women: See above.

Men plumb a waterfall with that same PVC pipe, so if it needs repair, you need a saw, sandpaper, more PVC pipe, fittings and that blue glue. Women use flexible tubing. If it breaks, they get a new piece for a couple of bucks.

Men hard wire a pump into an electrical box, so when the pump burns out, an electrician is needed to install a new one. Oh, and hard wiring the pump voids the warranty. Women just plug in the pump. When it burns out, they just plug in a new one.

Men love concrete. They use it to cement down rocks around the pond and try to glue waterfall rocks together. Women simply balance the rocks properly, so no concrete is necessary. That way, if rocks need to be moved, they can be picked up and  moved.

Anyone else find this strange?  Or is it just me?

Pond Vacuum Cleaners Redux

I get questions about pond vacs all the time. People want to use a pond vac or a wet vac to clean the bottom of the pond and not have to do a total clean out.  And will that work?  In a word, no.

A pond vac sucks up water.  It sucks up the junk at the bottom of the pond, but it sucks more water than junk.

The other big problem with pond vacs is that they do not have enough suction to reach from the top of the pond where they must sit to the bottom of the pond where the junk is.  Wet vacs are better at this, but still not the best.

 If you want to clean the bottom of the pond and not pump all the water out of the pond first, try this: Go to the swimming pool supply store.  Find a gadget that looks like the picture in the link above.  Do not buy the mesh bag that the salesman wants to sell you. It doesn't work because the mesh is not fine enough.  Also, if you don't already have a telescoping pole for your fish net, buy one of those as well.
When you get the saucer/vacuum cleaner home, attach your garden hose to the fitting on the saucer and a leg from an old pair of panty hose over the hole in the middle of the blue saucer.  You now have a water pressure powered pond vac that will (sorta) clean the pond bottom. At least it will do a better job than the ones you pay lots of big green dollars for.

Put the saucer on the bottom of the pond.  Turn on the water.  If you turn the water on first, you will start the job wet.

Using the pole, which also has a handy place to attach, start vacuuming the bottom of the pond.  The panty hose will fill up fast with all that pond scum on the bottom.  You will quickly have a panty hose leg full of decayed plant material, fish waste and other unspeakable stuff that drops to the bottom of the pond.

When the panty hose leg gets heavy, turn off the water and empty the panty hose leg.  Repeat until the bottom of the pond is as clean as you want it.

By the way, I put a water shut off valve at the saucer end of the hose so I can turn off the water without having to walk back to the hose bib every time.

This is a dirty, messy job.  Wear old clothes and be prepared to shower immediately after.