Recent Questions
     Pond Construction

Q. Hey Nicholas,
I'm installing a pond. Alot of articles I've read suggest a
bottom drain. What do you think about this?
Please let me know. Manuela
A. Hello Manuela, I often equate a bottom drain with trying to “suck” out a birthday candle, instead of “blowing” it out …

Bottom Drains just don’t have the same debris removal power as a properly rated skimmer. When you trap debris from the surface of the pond you catch almost 90% of all the debris that would have settled in your pond, and reduce the possibility of sludge accumulating at the bottom.

Most bottom drains also require installing a bulkhead fitting through the liner thereby creating another possibility for leaks to occur. Even swimming pool manufacturers are eliminating bottom drains and opting for one or more skimmers as required.

In our experience pond surface skimmers are the way to go!

Q. I am building a waterfall off of 2 armor stone rocks, total height about 2.5ft. If I wanted a 25" weir can it just fall into a basin?, if so what size basin and pump ( I was told 2500gph would work?)

A. Hello Kevin,
That sounds like a beautiful project. Yes, your information is correct! You should factor 100 gph for every 1 inch of waterfall weir.  That being said, probably the ideal set up, to factor in the rise of the stones and line loss, would be the Atlantic Tidal Wave TW3700, a 3700 gph pump. I recommend that the pondless basin be twice the volume of the water flowing through the plumbing, falls, and stream – with a minimum volume of 100 gallons.   Also, you can consider ‘greening’ your water feature by adding a downspout filter to his eavestroughs and capturing rain water to top up his pondless waterfall automatically.
 I would recommend the 18” FastFalls, a Pump vault, EcoBlox, pump, check valve, pipe, geo & liner.  Contact the store and they can specify the exact equipment needed and provide a solid quote.
Hope This Helps!
The Pond Dr.

Q. I purchased my pond supplies from the store yesterday, April 15, and have looked at the Installation Guide DVD, so therefore I have a question. Probably the first of many, but hopefully just a few. I have a large amount of limestone which I had planned to use for the pond & waterfall, but after looking at the DVD, it appears I need much more. Can I mix limestone with granite or will that look un-natural?
Thanks,
Bruce

A. Hello Bruce:

We try to use granite as much as possible simple because it is chemically inert. Limestone can increase the alkalinity of the water and cause problems with fish. Since you do not intend on keeping fish, you should be OK, however you might want to add an IonGen ionizer to help combat string algae buildup in your water feature.

Limestone is OK for construction as long as it is stable. The sedimentary limestone in the Ottawa Valley tends to be very flaky and crumbles when submerged underwater after only a few years. My rule of thumb is - If you're willing to build your house with the stone, it's probably OK for building your pond. Your water feature is going to require about 15-20 tons of rock in sizes ranging from 8" up to 36" across. Throw in 3-4 tons of mixed river wash granite gravel (1/2" to 3") and yer good to go.

Your wife is gonna fall in love with you all over again cause by the time you finish lifting all that rock yer gonna look like a Greek Adonis. :)

As we say in the valley - Give'r!
Nicholas L. Bott, CIT, CAC