I want to build a pond in the shape of two circles next to each other, and there where they meet, will be the link of 600mm wide. The two circles are 2000mm in diameter and the one is 1000mm deep and the other is 1500mm deep. I want to install a submersable pump in the deeper circle and have a gravity filter linked to a small waterfall in the shallower circle. My question: Will this work or will I have circulation problems? Regards, Bernd

Hi berndb

Eveything sounds fine, except the submirsable pump part.

I would REALLY suggest installing a bottom drain the deep end and then to rather use an external pump to push the water to the water fall.

With submirsable pumps you have a constant problem to remove the solids like leaves and things like that from the pond. In the end you will have to get a vacuum to vacuum up the pond floor...that just sounds like work to me - which is not what the hobby is about.

Ill try and give you a diagram soon.

Wayne

This is a very rough scematic that i quickly drew up for you. It does not include any filtration.

If you plan a to build a fish pond, i advise you to go and read about filtraion first. I would not advise you to build a pond without a bottom drain.

Go and have a look at some of the typical pond layouts. You can change the shape of the pond to be any shape you want but you must understand the filtration concept.

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Hi Wayne
Thank you for your advice, I will look into it.I had a Koi pond in the previous house we lived in, where I used a submersible pump with pressure filter, and there the work was more cleaning the filter than the pond it self. The other thing bothering me is the power consumption of the external pump to the submersable pump. The external will be about 750W to only 60W, but I agree that it should be a hobby and not work.
Regards
Bernd

Hi berndb

It you dont want to look at swimming pool pumps then rather look for an energy saver pump like a 10,000 L/hr 170w 3.6 Meter head for R785. There are lots of these new high flow, low energy pumps availabe now but first you need to work out how big the pond is going to in liters.

You cant put a 2000l/h pump on a 10000l pond.

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The distance that the water will travel to the waterfall will impact which pump you need but i also have to say you are not going to have much of a waterfall with a 60w pump. To have a decent looking waterfall you need atleast 250l of water per minute.

These low energy pumps can not be used in a pressure system, everything must work with gravity. A basic mechanical filter to catch the leaves and poo either working with brushes or matting followed by a Bakki showers or trickle towers are usually how these pumps are used.

Wayne

Hi Wayne
That pump looks like an good option, my pond will be about 8200l. Can I connect this pump to a bottom drain? Here in Namibia I've got limited resources when it comes to pond equipment.
Bernd

Hi berndb

it all depends on your design. These type of pumps cannot sit above water level. It has to be below water level. (I dont mean in the water) So that means that you need a pump chamber. It can also not drive a sand filter.

If you want to use a energy safer pump then you need to design your ponds filtration something like this:

Skimmer -----\
Bottom drain -> Settlment chamber -> Mechanical chamer -> Bio chamber -> pump chamber -> UV Light -> return to pond.

OR

Skimmer -----\
Bottom drain -> Settlment chamber -> Mechanical chamer -> pump chamber -> UV Light -> Bakki Shower or Trickle Tower -> return to pond.

Something like this.
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Have a look at:
Installing a fibreglass filter unit
Concrete block filter units
Building a concrete block filter unit