Hi Jan,
I believe the pond "kit" for want of a better term is an EasyPro. At
least that's the booklet that the landscaper left. The pump is a
Tsurami but I'm not sure which one. We did have him exchange the pump
recently because the original one was too powerful (4.8amps) and our
electricity bill went thru the roof. Certainly a lot more than he said
it would. The replacement pump is 2.9amps and is more in line, cost
wise, with what he indicated. There isn't that much of a difference in
the waterfall but the water once in the pond seems to move a little
slower towards the skimmer. He specializes in outdoor ponds and never
mentioned a bottom drain so I'm hoping we didn't make the wrong
decision as far as design goes. The pond consists of about 3 tons of
rocks total. Most of the rocks are outside but the bottom and sides are
lined with big rocks and little rocks and some pebbly stuff. Really
does look nice. We are certainly open to any suggestions as we are
still in the upward swing of the learning curve. My wife just corrected
me about the depth. It's actually about 2.5 feet deep. In California,
anything over 3 feet deep is considered a pool and you need all of the
appropriate permits, etc.

Glad to hear pond is only 2.5 feet deep, without a pond drain you would
have serious water exchange with only a skimmer.

Regarding rocks in the pond, well I'm in the don't-rock-the-(inside)pond
group. If you go to koiphen.com there is quite a large number of posts on
this subject. Titled: To rock or not to rock! Let's get it on!

After reading that, if you change your mind, my suggestion would be enjoy
the pond as is, and when it starts to get seriously mucky, remove the rocks
and don't put them back. Then consider a retro fit bottom drain that will
hook into your skimmer box. So you never have to drain and de-muck the
pond again. ~ jan

~Power to the Porg, Flow On!~