[quote author=Dkoinut
Hi Andi. If you'd like another option, consider a bottom drain that goes from the pond to a 55 gallon waste barrel or settling chamber. These plus the pipe, fittings, and pipe cement will cost aproximately $100. I'd also get the rock off the pond bottom to keep wastes and leaves from poisoning the pond. I'd also keep the shop vac away from the pond. Water and electricity are a deadly combination and an accident waiting to happen.
Are you crazy! Adding a bottom drain on an existing liner pond would be pond suicide for this guy. Number one once you remove all of the rock and gravel, which by the way provides a huge amount of surface area for bacteria to colonize, thus breaking down that black sludge that normally sits at the bottom of slick bottom ponds. Not to mention it also protects the pond liner from UV damage, and just makes the pond look 100% better and more natural. Now lets say you get all of the gravel and rock out of your pond. Now you have a wet dirty liner that will have to be cleaned and dried perfectly so you can get a good seal around your new bottom drain. Otherwise it's going to leak like crazy. Not to mention before you do this you are going to have to totally remove your liner and re-excavate the pond to install your plumbing line to your bottom drain, so you don't see it. You are also going to have to make sure everything in your pond slopes to the bottom drain so it can remove fish waste. The problem you face then is folds in your liner. This is going to act as a dam not allowing your fish waste to go anywhere. So basicly what you end up with is an ugly un-natural looking pond that has a good chance of leaking from the bottom drain, thats less funtional from a biological stand point than it was to begin with. Not to mention all the wasted labor that has to go into doing something like this. Bottom drains are fine in cement swimming pool ponds and thats about it, and i'm still not a big fan of them.
