New Pond for a Newbie, is this equipment good?

[BigBoar]

I have been doing some research and dont know what to do about the equipment,
the pond will measure 11x16 and 3 ft deep - 2 ft deep
should i go ahead and get external pumps and a drain, {will i regret going with an in pond pump}
I want to put small rocks in the bottom because i like the natural look....

Here is my equipment purchase list so far.......... anything i am leaving out?
QTY: DESCRIPTION: PRICE: TOTAL:   
 Firestone 45 Mil Liner 20 X 25 $230.00 $230.00   
 Laguna Max-Flo 4200 Pond Pump PT-352 (w4) $228.95 $228.95   
 15 X 50 Underlayment $149.99 $149.99   
 Atlantic Skimmer / BioFalls PS4500 (NEW Style) & BF1250 FLT 27 $313.94 $313.94   

[miguynmkoi]

You've got a pretty good handle on the list of things you want to do with your pond.  Of course it is all up to you to decide what you want to do.     I can't think that you've left anything out for building your pond.

I went real simple and didn't do a drain or skimmer but I did do a bio-filter (Bio-Steps for about $230) with a submersible pump.  Works for my 4'-5' x 8' x 48" deep pond with a Firestone rubber liner and old carpeting as under-liner.  I grow waterlilies on a pvc shelf in this pond plus raise fancy goldies.  For the 3 years I've had this pond everything has been going very well....if you don't count outside disturbances such as egrets, herons, and raccoons. 

Good Luck and post some photos along the process!

[BigBoar]

Thanks for your response,
so if you had to do it over again you wouldnt spend the extra money for a drain and external pumps?

[Kittyzee]

I don't have a huge pond, but I don't have a bottom drain either.  What I WOULD do, is have a drain on my bio filter to clean that out occasionally and use it in my flower gardens.  It's not a big deal to me though, nor is draining, cleaning, and having an immaculate looking pond.  It's a habitat to me for fish and critters and plants, and it pretty much takes care of itself.   

I have a submersible pump by Pondmaster that runs 24/7, 365 days a year.  The bio filter is unhooked and drained before winter so it doesn't freeze, and plants trimmed and sunk to the bottom until spring.  The process starts all over again in warmer weather. 

[fishegg]

I would look at getting a kit, you have practically all the big ticket items on your list already and most kits work out cheaper and come with all this and then the peripheral stuff too, like plumbing and start-up chemicals.

[miguynmkoi]

so if you had to do it over again you wouldnt spend the extra money for a drain and external pumps?

If I had extra money I would have hired pros to dig my pond    I dug my own pond (wish I could find the AP post on it) and the drain seemed unimportant then.  As it is I do not miss the drain now.  Seems my pre-filter, which I move around occasionally, on the submersible pump does a bang up job.  I do wish I designed a skimmer just to skim away all the needles dropping from the junipers next to the pond.  Doing it by hand or floating skimmer once in a while now.  Seems the needles drop more often in the heat than wind.

Like LuAnn, I use the junk that collects at the bottom of the bio-filter.  It's excellent for the garden and easy to do with a gate valve/hose attachment to the bottom drain outlet.

I worry about external pumps over heating (the mechanical mind rears its ugly head) but not that I know of any doing so.  Oh well.

[jclements]

I agree with the previous recommendation that you may get additional value by buying a kit since you need so many things at once.

We're currently building a pond in our backyard that will be about 6000 gallons. It's in a sloped part of the yard so DH is working on a block retaining wall for the "low side" now. When that is complete, I'm considering buying a kit such as this one:  http://cgi.ebay.com/Mega-30x40-Savio-atlantic-Koi-pond-skimmer-kit-M304-/380241256710?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0 This kit has the liner, underlayment, savio skimmer, submersible pump that I can use for now, waterfall weir/filter falls, tubing, etc. Ultimately, I'll probably add a pressurized bead/sand filter, so I may have to get a different type of pump than what is in the kit or what I already have purchased.

We really debated on the bottom drain and skimmer issue for some time. Since we will add koi, I believe they will really be necessary. I also have a massive crepe myrtle next to the pond (20+ foot diameter of branch spread), so there will be leaves, tiny annoying ones! I already have purchased two bottom drains and two external sequence pumps.

[kalb]

??Avec les eaux du fleuve, le printemps touche presque à sa fin, A l''ouest, près de l ''étang, la lune est sur son déclin;
EIle va bient?t se coucher au fond de la mer brumeuse, Mais longue est la route, avant que les fleuves, Xiao et Xiang se rejoignent: Combien sont-ils, ceux qui rentrent au clair de lune, cette nuit-là? A la lune déclinée, les arbres du fleuve soupirent, mélancoliques.









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ed hardy bags/ed hardy

[Jerry]

Can you give us an English tranlation please?

[miguynmkoi]

Scammed again, Jerry.