Bottom Drain

[cawolfe]

  I live in a small towm and am doing a new pond , thought I would put in a bottom drain, and called a landscape co in town and asked for a 4" bottom drain, he didn't know I was talking about,  They just  drop a sump pump in to clean the bottom, does anyone here do that?

[-Greg-]

I have used a sump pump to pump out the sediment chamber when I want to water the plants around the yard. I would worry about the fish either getting injured or worse if they got sucked into the impeller if I dropped the pump into the bottom of the pond. Just my thoughts....

I ordered my koi toilet bottom drain from Gene at koi village, super nice guy and had good prices as well. Here is a link to his website in case you are interested:

http://www.koivillage.com/pond_accessories/drains_and_skimmers.html

Greg

[cawolfe]

Which one did you purchase?  Are they easy to install?

[-Greg-]

I purchased the koi toilet 4" bottom drain with the air diffuser. Yes it was easy to install, dig your trench, set the drain in place, glue your plumbing, fill with cement (leaving a small grove in the cement for the drain sealing ring to fit into), install liner, cut hole in liner, use 3m or PL flashing sealant on the drain ring, screw drain ring in place, fill with water... That was the short version! When I was doing my research I referenced many of Kent Wallace's build threads on koiphen, after reading all of his builds I was beyond confident that I could do this, in the end, it was easier than I thought it was going to be. Here is a link to his builds:

http://www.koiphen.com/forums/showthread.php?t=35291

Scroll down about half way and you will see his "Kent Wallace Section", If you have time, check out all of his builds from start to finish, he has a ton of tips!!

Here are a couple of pictures of the process as well:

[-Greg-]

And a few more of the liner cutting/sealing...

Hope these help!