Derek covered a lot of XYZ, so I won't go over more of the same (so forgive
me for top posting).

My 2 cents I'd like to add are this. Even when my ponds have run
problemless all summer for years, I'd never leave them unattended. Now my
family situation is such, that they never are, but back when we took family
trips, I had a trusted pond sitter. Someone who knew my ponds come over
twice a day and knew what to do if there was a problem.

If you don't have a local ponding buddy, look for a club and make some.
Otherwise there are pet sitters who will work for money. ;-) ~ jan

One Book, but not sure it will cover everything is The Pond Doctor, by
Helen Nash. I don't think it covered filters though.

-----------------

Also ponding troll free at:
http://groups.google.com/group/The-Freshwater-Aquarium

On 26 Jul 2006 09:32:54 -0700, "scs0" wrote:

I was curious if there's a good book out there on defensive pond
design. I have been having numerous problems with my latest pond
involving the technology that supports it. For example, I've had
problems with:

1) The pond draining because the filter overflowed
2) Fish dying because the pump stops
3) UV clarifier that died for no reason

It's basically been an entire season of BS for me with the pond. The
thing I'm tired of the most is the pump stopping on me. It's not
clogged because the thing is enclosed in a large pump protector. If
the power goes out for just a fraction of a second I'm at risk of the
pump deciding not to turn back on when the power returns. Overloads
and GPF issues are not in play here because the other device on the
outlet continues to work and the pump comes back online when I pull out
the plug and plug it back in again.

I also have a Laguna Filter Falls waterfall and it has overflow holes
at the top. Unfortunately those holes can't be connected to a tube, so
when the filter decides to overflow there's nothing I can do about it.
This happened recently because those filter balls somehow got loose
from their section and jammed up the outflows. I don't think this ever
happened before and I had 3 clog up at once and lost several hundred
gallons of water.

What I need are a book of tips to prevent BS with things like:
1) Use foam instead of filter balls because the balls will just clog up
the filter's tubing
2) Look for XYZ when choosing an external filter so that you don't risk
returning to a drained pond after returning from a trip
3) Look for XYZ when choosing a pump so that you don't risk returning
to a pond of dead fish after returning from a trip