Troubleshooting Small Pumps

Question:
Sarah Peyton Step Garden LED fountain help?
For Mother's Day I bought a little Sarah Peyton Step Garden LED fountain. Well, I decided to give it to her early. It would appear that we need some trouble shooting. After adding the batteries, water and rocks all we get is the light. No trickle trickle of soothing water! Nothing in the instructions explains this or troubleshoots this.


Answer:
Water needs a tube to get from the pump to the top of the fountain. Perhaps it is detached or missing altogether.
First check to see if the pump is working. Touch it. If it hums, at least it is running. Then check the bottom where the water is pulled into the pump. There is an impeller in there - looks like a propeller, but pulls water in rather than pushing it out. You may have to remove the pump and put it in a pan of water to see if the impeller is working.
If you want to try to fix it, remove it from the water, unplug it, and use a screwdriver to free it up so it spins. Then put it back and see if it's working.
If it is pushing water out, then check any tubing that is attached to it to make sure it is attached where it is supposed to be.
If it is not working, rather than try to repair it, I would return the fountain for another one. Those little pumps fail repeatedly, so start with a new one that is working.

Fire Feature in the Pond

Question:
In-pond propane fire feature?
I'm a mechanical engineer and want to add a very unique flare to my back patio. I was trying to decide between a pond and a propane fire feature (in a rock bed) when I was struck by an idea...could I put a propane burner of some sort under the water in a pond and so the gas would surface and produce a flame? I know I've seen it on a large scale (Disneyland), but does anyone know of this being done in residential application? I realize lighting the fire may be a trick. Perhaps an electronic igniter just above the surface? Flow would probably have to be enough to keep a continuous stream of gas through the water or I expect the fire would go out between bubbles. Input or other fun ideas?

Answer:
If it's been done, you can do it. My suspicion is that Disney has a small pipe going from an exterior propane tank through the water and stopping at the surface, perhaps even sticking out a few inches. The public can't see it, but it has to be there.

Turtle pond

Question:
I made a pond for my turtles, what can I put in it so the have a dry floating area to sun?
I bought a pond that is 140 gallons at Home Depot, set it up with the pump, filter, fountain, and put some rocks at the bottom of it. At the moment I have my three turtles in a tank inside of my house, and I want to move them to the pond. Is there a company that offers floating turtle "islands" that I can put in the pond so they can sun? I bought the one from the pet store, and they are so big it sinks when they get on it.

Any suggestions would be great. Such as the company that sells them, etc.

This is the first time I am putting my turtles in a pond/ caring for a pond. Any tips would be great too.

Thanks!!!

Answer:
A rubber pad like you kneel on in the garden (if you are old and have bad knees like one of two of us have) will work well. If you need more than one, just cable tie them together where the handle is.
I would think about just putting a log in there just like turtles have naturally, so they can pull themselves out of the water to sun themselves.

Because you have turtles, your pond will get pretty dirty, so keep lots of plant material in it to help keep it clean. They will eat it, but depending on their size, maybe it will grow faster than they can eat it. You need a filter system to keep the pond clear - at least a little clear.

Pond side caved in

How to fix my pond side as it has caved in?

on one side the soil has come down and pushed pond liner so now got a massive bulge on one side

• Here's what I do.
• Buy 26 gauge roofing flashing, 15 pound roofing felt and some 1/2" PVC pipe. 
• Pump out the pond,remove the liner, then make the sides of the pond straight up and down. Run the flashing all the way around, stake it with the pipe, cut to 2' or whatever you need. Bend the top edge of the flashing over toward the outside so it does not penetrate the liner. Cover the entire inside of the pond with 15 pound roofing felt. Now back fill where there is space behind the flashing. Do this carefully so you do not force the flashing to bend in toward the pond. Put the liner back, refill the pond and put the plants and fish back in.
• You can see photos on my website at http://www.pondlady.com under 'how to build a pond.'
• Good luck.

Drainage and ponds

Question:
If I dig a pond in my side yard will it help my drainage issues?
In my side yard the lawn doesn't drain very well. If I dig a pond in this area would all the standing water run into it since the pond would be the lowest lying area in that the lawn? IF I did dig a pond in this area would there be any legal concerns since this part of our property does not have a fence around it? Would I have to worry about drowning issues and lawsuits?

Answer:

You would be digging a retention pond, not an ornamental pond. You might need a permit, so check with your local building code enforcement office.
You could dig out an area less than a foot deep and put a bog garden there and need no permits or fences.
You might also think about a french drain to help with drainage problems.

Tiny ponds

Ideas for the base of a small pond?

Hi I am going to make a small nature pond, it can't be too big as I don't have the space or money, really it is for dragon flies, and frogs,toads and newts, not fish. I could get a pond liner but its hard to find one which is small so what other kind of container could I use? I have a rounded plastic tub a little larger than a washing up bowl but it doesn't slope like it should to seem natural. Could I get the smallest pond liner possible and just cut off the excess?

Any other suitable container I could use?

Thanks :)

A horse feeding trough is about $40.00 USD at a feed store. They run about 3' across and 2' deep. 

You can also use your rounded plastic tub and surround it with flat rocks that stick out over the edges a bit to hide them. I have made ponds from casserole dishes and even old aquariums. If it holds water, you can make a pond. Just be sure you put the proper submerged and floating vegetation in it and a mosquito fish. Or use a Mosquito Dunk occasionally to keep mosquitoes away.

The top right photo shows a pond in a casserole dish:

http://www.pondlady.com/portfolio/page4.…

Pond liners and tree roots

Question:
Have your pond liners been poked by tree roots?
I've got a EPDM liner, and I'm not going to use underlayment.
There are an avocado tree, an apple tree, an orange and a willow. They are about 4 feet away from the border of my pond. The pond is just 15 in below the ground.
I wonder if the tree roots can poke the liner? or it will just run around the liner?

Answer:
Your liner will be fine with those trees. Bamboo and banana trees poke through liners, no others. But it is safer to use an underlayment. Use 15# roofing felt. It's cheap and easy.

Putting stones on the pond bottom

Question:

What stones can I put in the bottom of my new pond?
Can I put pea shingle or similar, I have a mixture of shingle and slightly larger stones in my garden already that I no longer require, so thought I could put them at the bottom of my new pond? I will be getting goldfish for it.
Thanks.

Answer:
Please, no stones in the pond. You will go crazy trying to get them out when it comes time to clean the pond. They serve no purpose at all except to muddy the water. Put submerged and floating vegetation in the pond, then put goldfish in. Don't forget the dechlor.

Hoglice?

Question:

Pond full of Water 'Hoglice'?

Hiya, I have been moved into my parents' house which came complete with garden pond which i know little about. Today i started pulling out some of the pond weed as there is quite a lot,and it is infested with what i believe to be hoglice, the weed is literally running alive with it, it's not something I have ever heard of or come across before, the pond otherwise seems okay, full of tadpoles at the moment and only a couple of fish and some babies which were born in the pond last year. should I just leave these lice? Is there anything I can do to get rid? are they causing harm? 

Hoping someone with pond knowledge will be able to assist on this one as I don't want to completely mess up the ecology of the pond.

Answer:

I would leave them alone. They have a predator:

http://www.unisci.com/stories/20011/0108…

but that predator is invasive and destroying water life all over the UK. I think the ecology of the pond will be fine.

I have a philosophy of benevolent neglect when it comes to ponds and it has served me well for over 20 years.

Natural Bottom Pond

Question:
How do I get rid of the grass in my pond?
I have a medium sized pond that has a lot of fish in it and a lot of grass too. I want to get rid of the grass so I can cast my reel and catch something other then grass and lily pads. What can I use to do this?

Answer:
You will have to rake the grass out. If you want to have a fishing pond, the rules are different than if you want an ornamental one.
Get a small flat bottomed boat and a rake. Rake the grass into the boat and deposit it into your compost heap when you are done. Be prepared for a dirty, nasty job.
BTW, any chemicals that kill the grass will also kill the fish.

Pond Pump Blocked

Question:
How do I keep my 90 gallon pond pump from getting blocked up so often?
I see ponds with waterfalls in parks that seem to run fine all the time. I need to pull mine up and clean all the leaves and other debris that find their way in about once every 3-5 days or it slows down to a trickle. There must be a trick I don't know about since I know not everyone is pulling up their pond pumps to clean them out like this.




Answer:
Small pumps like that are almost impossible to keep clean. They are made for indoor fountains, not outdoor ponds. I would probably try to make a 'sock' for it out of a fine mesh. Be sure the sock material is kept away from the impeller because it will suck the sock right on it. You can make a box out of hardware cloth, cover the box with old panty hose or coarse foam and that will work better than what you have now, but in the long run, you will be better off with a larger pump made for outdoor use. It will probably come with it's own filter.
Another thing to try is to fill up a black plastic grow pot with lava rock and put your pump in the middle of it. That way the lava rock will act as a filter and you will get a longer time between cleanings.
Oh, and elevate the pump so it is not on the bottom of the pond. That will buy you some more time between cleanings.

Pump flow control

Question:
How might you control the pump speed of a fountain in a pond, so that the water doesn't spray too high or how?

Your Answer:
A small pump will have a circular dial to regulate the flow. The larger pumps, meant for outside, have no regulator on them. You can use a clamp which doesn't work very well or you can T off the hose and make two or more outlets to regulate the flow. Just let one hose stay in the pond and hook the other to the statue.

Controlling pond algae

Question:

Has anyone used the Water Wych in their ponds to control algae?

They sell these things at pond supply stores and it shows that you just put it in your pond to help eliminate algae and is safe for plants and fish.

• 
  Answer:
• 
  
• Algae control can be done much cheaper and easier. This is just a box that holds barley and carbon. It will work, but so will barley bales and activated carbon from the fish store. It does not help with blanketweed or string algae. The only thing I have found that works with string algae is Microbe-LIft PL. 

• I wouldn't spend the money on a plastic box when I could put activated carbon in a torn panty hose leg and throw it in the water. Barley comes in its own bag. 
• To learn more about controlling algae, this is an article I wrote: http://www.pondlady.com/Articles/pondalg…

Filter media

Question:
What's the best filter media for my fish pond and waterfall?
I've used Spring Flo Bio Ribbon but am thinking about Bio balls. Do they go in the tank with my pump?

Answer:
I would use lava rock in a bag. It's cheap and works great. I put them in an old panty hose leg and tie it closed. Make it so the pump draws water through it or water is pumped through it and then over the waterfall.

Balancing your pond

Question:

Can I put goldfish in the small ponds in my yard?
I have three or four small ponds that measure anywhere from to four feet across and a foot, foot and a half deep. I want to clean them up this summer and make them look nice and I thought some fish would be a nice addition.

Answer:

These are a few pond rules to know. Makes pondkeeping easy.

Balance your pond ecologically. Use bog plants like irises or umbrella plants. You must have oxygenators or submerged plants. The best is anacharis, followed by cabomba and hornwort. You must have one bunch of these submerged plants per square foot of pond surface. These plants arrive with a rubber band holding them together. Remove the rubber band before you put the plants in your pond. If you don’t want them floating freely, you may pot them up in several pots that sit on the bottom of your pond. The submerged plants are fertilized by fish waste and CO2, a fish byproduct. The fish eat the submerged plants, but they grow faster they the fish can eat them. Nice cycle, huh? Nature takes care of itself if we can j ust leave her alone. If you have too many fish, they will eat all your submerged plants and you have to start over again. A good rule for fish load is 1 linear foot of fish per 25 square feet of pond surface area; tails don’t count. If your pond gets green, have patience. It will fix itself


When pH gets on the basic side algae flourishes. Vinegar is weak and it takes forever (days) to neutralize. But it takes an expert to use muriatic acid properly, so do not put concentrated muriatic acid in your pond to balance pH unless you know what you are doing. You can buy commercial products, usually called pH down or some such. They are expensive, but work well.


It is good to have algae slime on the sides of your pond... this is a sign of a healthy pond and can generate up to 70% of the oxygen needed for your pond.


If you feed your fish, these simple ways of keeping your pond clear will not work. You will need a filter, preferably a biofilter.


You must cover at least one half the top of the pond with floating plants. Parrots’ feather is great, as are water hyacinths, water lettuce and water lilies. If you live in the tropics, you can have beautiful tropical water lilies. You must be willing to either sacrifice them in the winter or store them away until warmer weather arrives again in the spring.

Fish feeding, balanced pond

Question:

You talk about Water lilies on your web site are these your favorites or are these the flowers that generate the most questions?

Answer:

Water lilies? Yes, they do generate questions. But more questions are asked about murky, green ponds which leads to talking about submerged vegetation, the most important plant in the pond.  The water lilies are what sells the pond and are great for providing shade, keeping the pond clear and protecting the fish from predators by giving them a place to hide.

Question:

  I know you feel strongly about not feeding the fish in your pond, can you tell me why this is?

Answer:

If you feed the fish, you introduce a foreign substance. A balanced pond has 1 bunch of submerged vegetation per square foot of pond surface. The fish eat the plants, provide fertilizer for them. And the plants provide 02 for the fish and grow faster than the fish can eat it.  If the fish get fed, they grow too big, the bioload gets too much for the size of the pond. Soon you have huge fish, too much fish poop, not enough 02. The huge fish begin to die and all the fish poop pollutes the water. The pond becomes a great example of how we are polluting our planet.

Question:

 How do you go about achieving a correctly balanced water garden?

Answer:

See the last answer: One bunch of submerged vegetation per sf of pond surface area, at least 1/2 of the pond shaded with floating plants, no fish feeding, no run off getting into the pond, no more than 1 linear foot of fish per 25 square feet of pond surface.

BTW, All the previous information is for goldfish ponds only. A koi pond is an outdoor aquarium and must be treated as such with filtration and food.  If you have a koi pond, you cannot have water lilies nor do you ever need submerged vegetation because those little devils eat it like Hershey bars. Even building a koi pond is different from building a goldfish pond.

Solar pumps

Question:
How to pump water from a stream?
I'm looking for a small pump that can run on solar power and pump water from a tiny stream behind my house straight up about 10' to a barrel that I'll use to water my garden. The trick is it has to be low gallons per minute but also be able to pump high enough and run on solar power.




Answer:
Solar powered pumps are not capable of that. Solar power has a long way to go before being powerful enough to pump a 10' height. You could set up a sump pump in the stream that worked on a timer and pumped water when you needed/wanted it. It would have to be a relatively large pump to have a 10' head, perhaps as much as 2500 gph.

Water plants and soil?

Question:
Do Water Plants work without soil?
I have a small pond with no soil, only pond pebbles. Water is about a foot deep. Will water plants such as lilies grow without the soil? Or do I have to have soil?




Answer:
Pot up your pond plants. They don't need to be in soil, but they do need to be in a pot. Use pebbles if you wish or any old soil you have lying around your yard and put pebbles on top.
DO NOT plant directly in the rocks in the bottom of the pond. The plants will grow everywhere and you will have to get them out of those rocks. If it were me, I would remove the rocks now before you have to deal with cleaning them. But whatever you do, don't plant anything directly in them.

Pond pumps and underlayment

Question:
Pond Pumps: GPH and Water Circulation?
Why does a pump have to circulate 1/2 to the entire volume of water in one hour?
What pond liner, underlayment, and pump would be suitable for a pond 20 X 20 feet that is 3 feet deep?


 Answer:
Use 40 mil butyl rubber for a liner. You can use commercial underlayment or roofing felt. Old carpet can rot and start to stink as time passes.
To find liner size, measure the bottom, both sides and add 6'. I would get a 3500 gph pump so water will properly circulate. Circulating water adds O2 to the water, so the fish can breathe.

String Algae!

Question:
How to get rid of string algae in our ornamental pond.?
We've tried 4 or 5 different chemicals including clarifier and algaecide. We have a barley pad floating in it, we have a fountain running and a creek running into it, we also have about 30-40 comet goldfish and koi, and about 6 plants growing in it as well (water lily, cattails, irises) although they are not fully grown yet. The algae lines the entire bottom and sides and is about 3 inches thick. Would a pond vaccum help? We don't know what else to do :(



Answer:
I have found that Microbe LIft PL works very well to eliminate this stuff. Get as much as you can out and then put the Microbe LIft in according to directions. It's an enzyme and won't harm your fish or plants.
You don't need a pond vac at all.


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