Help with my pond/waterfall

Well, I just bought a new house that came with 2 koi ponds. We have one
in the backyard that has a waterfall feature. The pond is approx. 2835
gallons (21x12x1.5x7.5). The waterfall starts about 5-6 feet above the
surface of the water. There is a path leading down about 15 or so feet
on a hillside before the water turns and runs down a rocky face where
it then splitsand runs down two "channels" formed into the sides of the
pond that are supposed to direct the water from the path and around
both sides of the pond where the water then would run into the pond.
Well, none of this makes much sense without a badly drawn schematic, so
here is one so you can try to figure out what im trying to describe....
http://www20.brinkster.com/robv60/pond.htm . Now, The boss and I have
decided we would like to divert the water away from the "channels" on
either side so that most(if not all)of the water will simply cascade
down the smooth face and into the pond below. Anyway, With a 2835
gallon pond and a six foot head to the "holding basin", what size pump
should I use? I already have a "little giant" 1900 gph pump the
previous owner had in the much smaller pond elsewhere on the property.
Apparently this pump will pump ~1250 gph at 5' head. Im not sure this
will be enough, going to test it out tomorrow though. I have been
looking at the Supreme PondMaster mag 18,24 and 36. seems the mag 18
will pump 1200 @ 5' and 1125 @ 6'. The mag 24 will do 1850 @ 5 and
1700 @ 6'. The mag 36 pumps 3050 and 2900. For my needs what is your
opinion on which would be best. Should I just go with the biggest pump
I can reasonably afford and restrict the flow if its too much. Crap, I
will need this pump to run with a bio filter too I 'spose.

How wide is this new proposed spillway? I used to have a formula I think it
is 100 gph per inch but I am not positive.....I would suggest trying out the
pumps you have to see what it looks like, try one and see what it looks
like, but I am thinking using the (perhaps faulty formula) that a 24"
spillway would need a 2400 gph flow. my main concern is that you have
enough flow to truly cascade rather than dribble....you will also want to
check and make sure there is a liner under the rock face in question
otherwise you will have on big leak :-).
My pump is 5000 gph running 2 waterfalls each less than 18'' wide at their
widest point, the results are (to me) quite impressive
http://groups.msn.com/TheOldGardenPond/bobspond.msnw

"robv60" wrote in message
oups.com...
Well, I just bought a new house that came with 2 koi ponds. We have one
in the backyard that has a waterfall feature. The pond is approx. 2835
gallons (21x12x1.5x7.5). The waterfall starts about 5-6 feet above the
surface of the water. There is a path leading down about 15 or so feet
on a hillside before the water turns and runs down a rocky face where
it then splitsand runs down two "channels" formed into the sides of the
pond that are supposed to direct the water from the path and around
both sides of the pond where the water then would run into the pond.
Well, none of this makes much sense without a badly drawn schematic, so
here is one so you can try to figure out what im trying to describe....
http://www20.brinkster.com/robv60/pond.htm . Now, The boss and I have
decided we would like to divert the water away from the "channels" on
either side so that most(if not all)of the water will simply cascade
down the smooth face and into the pond below. Anyway, With a 2835
gallon pond and a six foot head to the "holding basin", what size pump
should I use? I already have a "little giant" 1900 gph pump the
previous owner had in the much smaller pond elsewhere on the property.
Apparently this pump will pump ~1250 gph at 5' head. Im not sure this
will be enough, going to test it out tomorrow though. I have been
looking at the Supreme PondMaster mag 18,24 and 36. seems the mag 18
will pump 1200 @ 5' and 1125 @ 6'. The mag 24 will do 1850 @ 5 and
1700 @ 6'. The mag 36 pumps 3050 and 2900. For my needs what is your
opinion on which would be best. Should I just go with the biggest pump
I can reasonably afford and restrict the flow if its too much. Crap, I
will need this pump to run with a bio filter too I 'spose.

On 16 Apr 2005 22:50:30 -0700, robv60 wrote:

Anyway, With a 2835
gallon pond and a six foot head to the "holding basin", what size pump
should I use? I already have a "little giant" 1900 gph pump the
previous owner had in the much smaller pond elsewhere on the property.

You could try the 'little giant' pump and see if that gives you
sufficient flow and base your decision on a new pump on how much flow
you get with it for that head. For example if you want double the flow
that the 'little giant' gives you can look for a pump that does that
for the same head.

--
Regards - Rodney Pont
The from address exists but is mostly dumped,
please send any emails to the address below
e-mail ngpsm4 (at) infohitsystems (dot) ltd (dot) uk

Yeah, i think im going to try that today and see what happens, problem
is, I need to buy enough tubing to use with the LG to make the run I
need, but, I dont want to have to buy more tubing of a different size
that would suck. But guess I need to do what I have to do.

On Sat, 16 Apr 2005 23:17:34 -0700, "Bob H" wrote:

How wide is this new proposed spillway? I used to have a formula I think it
is 100 gph per inch but I am not positive.....I would suggest trying out the
pumps you have to see what it looks like, try one and see what it looks
like, but I am thinking using the (perhaps faulty formula) that a 24"
spillway would need a 2400 gph flow. my main concern is that you have
enough flow to truly cascade rather than dribble....you will also want to
check and make sure there is a liner under the rock face in question
otherwise you will have on big leak :-).
My pump is 5000 gph running 2 waterfalls each less than 18'' wide at their
widest point, the results are (to me) quite impressive
http://groups.msn.com/TheOldGardenPond/bobspond.msnw

Wow, Bob, your pond and area have really matured nicely. ~ jan

~Power to the Porg, Flow On!~

well to circulate 2835 gph, push the water through a bio filter and a
UV sterilizer doo-hickey and pump water up to 5.5' and have a nice
flowing water fall, I'll probably need no less than a 5000 GPH pump. I
hooked up the Little Giant the best I could and it didnt do much more
than a trickle. I can also increase the flow over the rock face by
re-directing water away from the channels where most of the water tend
to want to go. Any opinions? Advice?

Here is another thought, keep the smaller pump & tubing, buy a second pump
to bring you up to the flow you want. Hook the most energy efficient pump
up to the filters & use the 2nd pump as a boost for when you are in the yard
for example, hook it to a timer to shut off 1 of the 2 pumps 8-5 or whatever
you work then again @ 10pm or whenever you go to bed & come back on when you
get up. You will then have the flow you want when you can see it, the
filter will run 24/7 & you might save a few bucks in power.
As for changing the water flow, try a couple of rocks in the path you want
to restrict, it might just be enough but if not go to Lowes or HD & buy some
expanding foam insulation, spray it into the channel & re set the rock, if
any of the white shows don't panic, it will yellow to a nice amber in a
month or two or you can just cover it with a couple of loose rocks.

"robv60" wrote in message
oups.com...
Yeah, i think im going to try that today and see what happens, problem
is, I need to buy enough tubing to use with the LG to make the run I
need, but, I dont want to have to buy more tubing of a different size
that would suck. But guess I need to do what I have to do.

On 17 Apr 2005 18:40:08 -0700, "robv60" wrote:

well to circulate 2835 gph, push the water through a bio filter and a
UV sterilizer doo-hickey and pump water up to 5.5' and have a nice
flowing water fall, I'll probably need no less than a 5000 GPH pump. I
hooked up the Little Giant the best I could and it didnt do much more
than a trickle. I can also increase the flow over the rock face by
re-directing water away from the channels where most of the water tend
to want to go. Any opinions? Advice?

Can you explain to us (maybe you have and I haven't see it?) what you
already have as far as type of filter?

Ideally one gravity flows to the filter and pump it after it is filtered.
~ jan

See my ponds and filter design:
www.jjspond.us

~Keep 'em Wet!~
Tri-Cities WA Zone 7a
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