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Journal Pond on a slope

On the Koi pond I had a large settlement chamber with a stand pipe which also acted as my overflow. The settlement was fed from the side of the pond & from a bottom drain. (The general thinking at the time was a bottom drain was only for flushing) My view was to allow a reduced flow from the bottom drain to help remove muck from the pond, it used to settle in the pipe really surprising when you flushed it out.
The water then passed over a weir into a brush camber also with a stand pipe.
From there into a Ha Haa! "Bio ball" lol chamber. (I got my hands on a large amount of spray nozzles filled each one with something, can't remember what, to increase the surface area) The spray nozzles were about 1" diameter 3" long with slots, an inner & an outer to adjust the spray I also used a couple for their purpose as sprays, but more of that in a moment.
The water then went into a pump chamber where the flow of the pump was split 3 ways.
One way went to a couple of the nozzles that sprayed water into the inlet between the brushes & the "bio balls" to oxygenate the water into the filter.
The second split returned water to the pond via a venturi (Home made 3/4 waste pipe "T" with a silicone nozzle to make the jet & a lump of foam in the air intake (Upright of the T") to keep the noise down.
The third way split & most of the water went to a trickle filter from where it poured back into the pond.
If you look in the first blurred picture of the bare pond you can see the return comping out of the wall with the Venturi beyond it.

Maintenance was quite simple. block the two inlets with stand pipes pull the main stand pipe overflow empty the sump, Replace the main stand pie & release the bottom drain pipe once it runs clear block it off again & pull the main pipe which was connected to the sewer. replace the pipe pull both inlet standpipes when full restart your pump.
If the brushes needed a clean then a quick shake in the chamber before pulling that stand pipe to empty.
I kept the bio balls in "Onion"? sacks, nylon mesh bags so I could every so often rinse them in the main chamber to clean.
I used KeyTerrain fittings through out, roof drains for my bottom & side drain, the bottom drain had a homemade dome.

Sorry i've over done it again!
 
very interesting mate. i like your way. and no need to be sorry.. never had venturi . seem like a simple system.
mine is two lines. gravity feed. bottom drain to draco drum jet wash. to waste this is inside my nexus centre chamber. and the outer chamber is the bio side of thing s
out the nexus to uv and to upper pond with plants and gravel back to pond.
next line runs the skimmer line. to ultra sieve 3 dry pump to uv and the to the mid TPRs. work s great no crud on the bottom. i purge my bottom drain twice a week
thanks for replying all the best fred
 
Well the ponds still there about 25 / 30 years later!
just took this screenshot from Google Earth:

Dang I always wanted to leave a folly when I passed!
 

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that has stood the test of time kipper. well done. you have left a monument. all built by your hand. nice one mate
Have you only got koi carp. or have you a mixture of fish in your pond. i have a mixture. orf s . rudd tench. a couple of fantail goldfish. and about 18 koi carp
 
Guys,
What's the best way to illuminate a waterfall do you think.
20161127_152712.jpg

A. In the pond, directly underneath it?
B. In the pond, at a jaunty angle facing the cascade?
C. Above ground

Be interested in your opinions, any brands/lights you recommend?

Thanks
 
Depends what effect you want. (The following is using the actual fall as a reference.)

In front: It will light the waterfall, its surroundings and anything behind it.
Behind: Often not enough space to mount a light, and if there is it will point forwards "blinding" anyone looking at it.
Above: You need some thing to support the light, that will need to be hidden, it will light the water and the pond and show things you don't want to show.
Under: Lights the water as it falls, lights slightly behind the water.

As for which one, that is your choice, however it must be IP68 rated (Which means it can go under the water) With the advent of LED's you may wish to consider an LED light, may be even a colour changing one? How ever, the less you pay for it the shorter its life, and poorer quality.

The light in my avatar is a colour changing LED light, it must be 4 years old, still working
 
that has stood the test of time kipper. well done. you have left a monument. all built by your hand. nice one mate
Have you only got koi carp. or have you a mixture of fish in your pond. i have a mixture. orf s . rudd tench. a couple of fantail goldfish. and about 18 koi carp

Nothing but Koi, I sold them all to friends when I moved back South, stocked the pond with "hot dogs" I cant remember the real name! Doh! long fast pinky fish grow quite big?
Aha! Golden Orfe!
Regretfully work got in the way & travel, which is why I've only just started with fish again at 70!!
 
I should also have added ...solar or mains powered. Still digging out so have the option of both at the moment
 
Look at it this way:
Q) Solar lights need ? to charge the batteries?
A) Sunshine that we don't have much of in winter.

Also how can you make a solar light come on when YOU want it to? you can't, solar lights come on as soon as it is dark(ish) and run until the battery is flat, which is not long at the best of times and even less in the winter. Oh and try and find a solar waterproof light.

"Mains" on the other hand (Ok, its mains supplied but has to be 12 or 24v) can be switched on when you want, and it can stay on for as long as you want. It can also be bright too. Solar can't do that.
 
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Just thought I would mention.........The colour of the light used makes a difference. I have an RGB LED light in my fountain.
 
Water has an uncanny knack of finding ways to escape so line your waterfall at least twice as wide as the water you see to collect any wayward water.

This is indeed something very important to think about when constructing and sizing it up.. I tried it on a very small scale and constantly ran into these issues of water escaping.. Water is completely unpredictable, the smallest change like debri blown in by the wind ending up in the waterfall or a small rock kicked over by a bird etc. can deviate the water from the planned route it should supposedly take. Such a fall, at least the liner beneath it should indeed be wide and deep enough. Quite a challange if you've never done it before and if what you constructed doesn't work as expected might bust the whole project useless.. If a waterfall spills water it can be depending on the flow rate and fall speed many litres per day.. Mine once spilled 50 litres on a 300 litre setup in less than 12 hours becuase of a leaf from the tree falling in on the wrong spot. And the water took a different path and via an oddly shaped rock sprayed out with a little jetstream.
 
Looks good and very affective. Good nice job mate. Look even better when the plants and lights are done. Pat on the back
 
Wonderfull!! You made some realy nice progress there.. :clap: I have no idea how you underlay (foil) is placed.. But i have the hunge that this is a spot you need to keep an eye on..

If the leaves that ended up in your lower pond now end up in the waterfall you might be surpriced how it can spray away from it or cascade a total new w2ay over leaves stacked up like roofpanels. The flow speed of falling water can realy eject itself out quite a distance.. In a way like i painted it.. If it is durt where it lands and drips into the soil not ending back up into the pond. You can loos quite some gallons over night..
Waterfall1[1].jpg


I builded just a little mini waterfall this summer and thought i made deep and wide enoug. But nope even had the neighbours chicken move one rock out off place, water splashed on the stone end ejected itself outside the waterfall and the day after my 250 litre pond was half empty.. :rolleyes:
 
To make it more natural continue each step out into the garden either side of the step.
(I don't have the education to explain myself better!)
But
I do have photoshop!

I've added a couple of shadows to indicate what I mean





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