I'd like to thank everyone who's replied to my questions! First,
I was on the fence WRT placing gravel on the bottom but I've now
decided against and just go with my initial instincts and install
a center drain. Kathy, I loved your snake story! We have tons of
snakes around the house (in fact, there was a baby black rat snake
in the yard when I got home today), but all are harmless. The
only ones we have to be remotely worried about are copperheads
and they're far and few between in our area. RichToyBox, I looked
at the Supreme Mag pumps and they were on the short list, however
the reviews of the Tsurami pumps seem to be excellent and the
1/5 HP 3000 GPH model appears to be more efficient energy-wise
than the 2400 GPH Supreme Mag pump (231 watts vs 265 watts). I
actually picked up the main liner several years ago at Home Depot.
It's 15'x15' 45 mil EPDM liner -- on sale for $70 (end of year
clearance). I'm hoping I won't need a UV since the pond will be
shaded, but if so, I can add one to the Savio skimmer after the
fact (a 16W UVC is an option). Gale, it never occurred to me that
the 6" weir on the skimmer wouldn't handle the pump volume. I was
blindly basing the size on the size of the pond. :-/ I'll get the
8.5" weir version instead!

Thanks again!
- Dan -

RichToyBox wrote:

As for the pump, look at the specs for the electrical draw. The cost of a
good pump can be paid for in one season by the electricity that is saved
over a poor pump. For submersible pumps, I like the Supreme Mag drive
pumps. You can get them in 1200, 1800, 2400, and 3600 gph. The minimum
size pump for your pond would be about 500 gph, and there really is no such
thing as a maximum, until the flow through the pond is too strong for the
fish. A 3000 or even 3600 gph would be good. The more pump, the better the
skimmer works, and the better the filters work. If you decide to add a UV,
then the size of the UV, though stated in pond gallons, is really tied more
to pump volume, too much water goes through too fast to do the job.

Savio is one of the new kids on the block and seems to have one of the best
skimmers on the market.

Personally, I would not have the rocks in the pond. The liner is very
tough. After you get some, try to poke a hole in it with a ball point pen.
Almost impossible. The dogs toe nails will not hurt it. If you are goind
to have a bottom drain, the rocks will interfer with the flow of debris
along the bottom, keeping it from keeping the bottom clean.