Does anyone have a bottom drain that goes directly to a skimmer? I'm debating including a settling chamber in the plan. Sounds like this would mainly just allow gunk from bottom to avoid being routed through the pump.
My pond plans are getting ever more complicated...
bottom drains and settling chambers
Oh, I wish I could start over and have a bottom drain. The time I spend trying to get the gook out of the bottom. That would be a timesaver since it would keep your filters from the pump from becoming dirty so quickly. Jenny
Jenny, Do you have fish in your pond? I'm wondering if this gunk develops even with plants only.
By the way, it seems doable to retrofit your pond with a bottom drain. Have you thought about that? The way I understand it is that you have the pump in a separate spot out of the pond (a settling chamber or skimmer) and then when the water is drawn from that chamber the bottom drain sucks water in to replenish it, like a siphon. With the retrofit, you lay the drain and tubing on top of the pond liner, so you don't have to cut the liner. I'm going to do that anyway, because I just don't like the idea of making a hole in the bottom of my liner.
-Karen
I have a 500 gallon stock tank that has been dug down even with the ground. I tried one of the filters that was on the outside and it was such a pain to clean and get open (arthritis in my hands). Now I have two bottom filters that go up to a waterfall and another filter at top that has an ultraviolet light. I can just flip open that filter and grab the sponge and rinse out quickly.
Yes I have fish. They were just little feeder fish but are now from 5 inches to 10 inches long and gold, white, etc. Beautiful. I've had these same fish about 3-4 years. Jenny
Karen, I have a bottom drain that dumps directly into my skimmer. Since the pump is behind the skimmer basket and there's a filter pad between the two, the pump doesn't get clogged.. I'm very glad I decided to include one in my pond plans, but I didn't realize (I.E, forgot to think about..) that my plan of having rocks on the bottom of the pond would interfere with the bottom drain's function. One area of the pond appears to collect stuff on the bottom , especially leaves, more than the other areas and I had to clear a path through the rocks to the bottom drain so that the leaves didn't get stuck on the rocks.
I have 12 or so fish in the pond, and only 1 fish has ended up in the skimmer basket, and that was when I first put them in. He was fine. I see them swimming around the bottom drain now and they don't get sucked in. The might be too big now.
By the way, I designed my own bottom drain and saved a lot of money doing it. Also, there is no hole through the bottom of my liner. If you'd like to see how I did it, you can go to my thread 'Watching the progress in Washington state' . I'll find it and post the link for you.
Melissa
Here it is. Look at the April 17 posts. I have more photos that aren't posted if you are interested in building one.
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/497510/
This message was edited Jul 20, 2005 12:38 AM