I'm planning a pond. The books say 'put in a bottom drain to make cleaning
easier.' The (few) people I've actually spoken to say 'don't put a hole in
your liner - don't need a bottom drain.

I plan for about 1500 gallons, 24-30" depth. Probably no Koi, because I've
heard they generate a lot of waste (and get huge).

What's the feeling on bottom drains?

I have bottom drains and highly recommend that anyone putting in a pond,
also install bottom drains. There are a couple of retrofit bottom drains
that do not require the bottom of the pond have a hole in the liner. One of
the problems with a couple of the bottom drains that go directly through the
bottom of the pond is the setting of the diffuser top is tricky when the
water level is deeper than arms reach. there are some homemade bottom
drains and diffusers that you could find by Google of the rec.ponds. Mine
have the holes through the liner in the side at about 12 inches deep, so if
it were to develop a serious leak, it would only draw the pond down about 12
inches..
--
RichToyBox
http://www.geocities.com/richtoybox/pondintro.html


"stricks760" wrote in message
news:QTYNa.120093$MJ5.54275@fed1read03...
I'm planning a pond. The books say 'put in a bottom drain to make cleaning
easier.' The (few) people I've actually spoken to say 'don't put a hole
in
your liner - don't need a bottom drain.

I plan for about 1500 gallons, 24-30" depth. Probably no Koi, because
I've
heard they generate a lot of waste (and get huge).

What's the feeling on bottom drains?

I neglected to place a bottom drain in my pond last summer and have
regretted it ever since. So over the last week I added a Tetra Vacuum
drain retrofit to the pond. Seems to be working exceptionally well.
The photos of the upgrade are here if your interested

http://community.webshots.com/user/tapetrade

A bottom drain will make cleaning a heck of a lot easier and improve
the overall health of the pond.


On Sun, 6 Jul 2003 10:21:18 -0700, "stricks760"
wrote:

I'm planning a pond. The books say 'put in a bottom drain to make cleaning
easier.' The (few) people I've actually spoken to say 'don't put a hole in
your liner - don't need a bottom drain.

I plan for about 1500 gallons, 24-30" depth. Probably no Koi, because I've
heard they generate a lot of waste (and get huge).

What's the feeling on bottom drains?

Bonnie Espenshade wrote:
stricks760 wrote:

I'm planning a pond. The books say 'put in a bottom drain to make
cleaning
easier.' The (few) people I've actually spoken to say 'don't put a
hole in
your liner - don't need a bottom drain.

I plan for about 1500 gallons, 24-30" depth. Probably no Koi, because
I've
heard they generate a lot of waste (and get huge).

What's the feeling on bottom drains?



I've had my ponds for several years now and just put in a retro-fit
bottom drain. I think it works great and I didn't
have to cut into the liner to install. One point to think about is -
how will you clean the bottom of your 30" pond.
The bottom drain sure makes it much easier ;-)



--
when i built my pond I had never heard of a out of pond pump or bottom
drain( nobody here sold em) now that my pond is on its third or fourth
remodel and 8000 gal and three ft or so deep
I wish i had a botom drain, i dont have a problem with cleaning the
pond as I have now 4 mag drives sittin on the bottom,
and they pump all the dietrus into the veggie bog
but when the intakes get clogged with loose algae, garter snakes or
tumble weed parts its a real pain to get in and clean them esp in the
ealy spring and fall when its colder in a cob in there
next remodel will have bottom drains



John Rutz
Z5 New Mexico

good judgement comes from bad experience, and that comes from bad
judgement

see my pond at:

http://www.fuerjefe.com

On Sun, 6 Jul 2003 10:21:18 -0700, "stricks760" wrote:
I'm planning a pond. The books say 'put in a bottom drain to make cleaning
easier.' The (few) people I've actually spoken to say 'don't put a hole in
your liner - don't need a bottom drain.

Quit talking to the ones who don't have one, and therefore don't have a
clue. ;o)

I plan for about 1500 gallons, 24-30" depth. Probably no Koi, because I've
heard they generate a lot of waste (and get huge).
What's the feeling on bottom drains?

Absolute MUST have! On my website I have a diagram of a retrofit *My
Filter*. But in a new pond I'd go thru the liner, the Tetra Bell is a very
easy one to install. This is so important to me that when we did my
Lilypond we installed one even though the filter is sometime down the road.
The Lilypond doesn't have much of a fish load and I remove all the fish in
the spring so they won't eat the frog spawn. Because I don't have the
bottom drain plumbed, I have to shop vac out the muck. It's a 6 hour job in
the spring, versus my koi ponds where I just open the valves in the spring
and turn on the pump. In the fall cleaning that filter is maybe 4 hour job
total that I can spread out over a week or 2. See the Demon Pond Filter and
My Lilypond for various pictures on the plumbing at website below.

FYI, Most of our bottom drains drain to the filter, and "Probably no Koi",
is rarely taken seriously in this group. ;o) ~ jan


See my ponds and filter design:
http://users.owt.com/jjspond/

~Keep 'em Wet!~
Tri-Cities WA Zone 7a
To e-mail see website

DesertPond,

Do you get good waterflow to settling chamber using 4" pipe
reduced to 2" for settling chamber??

I was wondering what size pump you have from the settling chamber??

I have the same hook up. I used 2" pipe all threw to settling chamber.I have
a Sequence 3600 pulling from settling chamber.I had to add another 2" pipe
with basket on end from pond to settling chamber to keep up the pump.I
wanted 2000 GPH threw pump??

Thanks
Doug


"DesertPond" tapetrade@[No Spam]cox.net wrote in message
...
I neglected to place a bottom drain in my pond last summer and have
regretted it ever since. So over the last week I added a Tetra Vacuum
drain retrofit to the pond. Seems to be working exceptionally well.
The photos of the upgrade are here if your interested

http://community.webshots.com/user/tapetrade

A bottom drain will make cleaning a heck of a lot easier and improve
the overall health of the pond.


On Sun, 6 Jul 2003 10:21:18 -0700, "stricks760"
wrote:

I'm planning a pond. The books say 'put in a bottom drain to make
cleaning
easier.' The (few) people I've actually spoken to say 'don't put a hole
in
your liner - don't need a bottom drain.

I plan for about 1500 gallons, 24-30" depth. Probably no Koi, because
I've
heard they generate a lot of waste (and get huge).

What's the feeling on bottom drains?

If a pond is less than 30 inches in depth it is quite easy to 'vacuum 'the
bottom with a siphon. Over this depth it becomes too difficult and a bottom
drain is needed. Penetrating the liner is O.K. providing it is done very
carefully with the right equipment. But be aware that most leaks in
ponds are the result of poorly fitted bottom drains.

Les.

"stricks760" wrote in message
news:QTYNa.120093$MJ5.54275@fed1read03...
I'm planning a pond. The books say 'put in a bottom drain to make cleaning
easier.' The (few) people I've actually spoken to say 'don't put a hole
in
your liner - don't need a bottom drain.

I plan for about 1500 gallons, 24-30" depth. Probably no Koi, because
I've
heard they generate a lot of waste (and get huge).

What's the feeling on bottom drains?

On Sun, 6 Jul 2003 10:21:18 -0700, "stricks760" wrote:
I'm planning a pond. The books say 'put in a bottom drain to make cleaning
easier.' The (few) people I've actually spoken to say 'don't put a hole in
your liner - don't need a bottom drain.

Quit talking to the ones who don't have one, and therefore don't have a
clue. ;o)

I plan for about 1500 gallons, 24-30" depth. Probably no Koi, because I've
heard they generate a lot of waste (and get huge).
What's the feeling on bottom drains?

Absolute MUST have! On my website I have a diagram of a retrofit *My
Filter*. But in a new pond I'd go thru the liner, the Tetra Bell is a very
easy one to install. This is so important to me that when we did my
Lilypond we installed one even though the filter is sometime down the road.
The Lilypond doesn't have much of a fish load and I remove all the fish in
the spring so they won't eat the frog spawn. Because I don't have the
bottom drain plumbed, I have to shop vac out the muck. It's a 6 hour job in
the spring, versus my koi ponds where I just open the valves in the spring
and turn on the pump. In the fall cleaning that filter is maybe 4 hour job
total that I can spread out over a week or 2. See the Demon Pond Filter and
My Lilypond for various pictures on the plumbing at website below.

FYI, Most of our bottom drains drain to the filter, and "Probably no Koi",
is rarely taken seriously in this group. ;o) ~ jan


See my ponds and filter design:
http://users.owt.com/jjspond/

~Keep 'em Wet!~
Tri-Cities WA Zone 7a
To e-mail see website

DesertPond,

Do you get good waterflow to settling chamber using 4" pipe
reduced to 2" for settling chamber??

I was wondering what size pump you have from the settling chamber??

I have the same hook up. I used 2" pipe all threw to settling chamber.I have
a Sequence 3600 pulling from settling chamber.I had to add another 2" pipe
with basket on end from pond to settling chamber to keep up the pump.I
wanted 2000 GPH threw pump??

Thanks
Doug


"DesertPond" tapetrade@[No Spam]cox.net wrote in message
...
I neglected to place a bottom drain in my pond last summer and have
regretted it ever since. So over the last week I added a Tetra Vacuum
drain retrofit to the pond. Seems to be working exceptionally well.
The photos of the upgrade are here if your interested

http://community.webshots.com/user/tapetrade

A bottom drain will make cleaning a heck of a lot easier and improve
the overall health of the pond.


On Sun, 6 Jul 2003 10:21:18 -0700, "stricks760"
wrote:

I'm planning a pond. The books say 'put in a bottom drain to make
cleaning
easier.' The (few) people I've actually spoken to say 'don't put a hole
in
your liner - don't need a bottom drain.

I plan for about 1500 gallons, 24-30" depth. Probably no Koi, because
I've
heard they generate a lot of waste (and get huge).

What's the feeling on bottom drains?

If a pond is less than 30 inches in depth it is quite easy to 'vacuum 'the
bottom with a siphon. Over this depth it becomes too difficult and a bottom
drain is needed. Penetrating the liner is O.K. providing it is done very
carefully with the right equipment. But be aware that most leaks in
ponds are the result of poorly fitted bottom drains.

Les.

"stricks760" wrote in message
news:QTYNa.120093$MJ5.54275@fed1read03...
I'm planning a pond. The books say 'put in a bottom drain to make cleaning
easier.' The (few) people I've actually spoken to say 'don't put a hole
in
your liner - don't need a bottom drain.

I plan for about 1500 gallons, 24-30" depth. Probably no Koi, because
I've
heard they generate a lot of waste (and get huge).

What's the feeling on bottom drains?

The bottom drain has a 2" opening on the bottom and is connected to
2' of 2" pipe. From there it connects to a 4" elbow - 4" pipe - 4"
elbow - to 9' of 4" pipe to connect to the settlement chamber. So
except for the bottom drain itself it's all 4" pipe. The pump is a
Sequence 4800. The only problem so far is that the flow rate is a bit
fast for proper settlement so I'm playing with the adjustment valve
connected to the pump. So I've certainly got some decent waterflow.

Do you happen to know the best layout for media in a settlement
chamber?

On Sun, 6 Jul 2003 19:24:48 -0400, "Doug"
wrote:

DesertPond,

Do you get good waterflow to settling chamber using 4" pipe
reduced to 2" for settling chamber??

I was wondering what size pump you have from the settling chamber??

I have the same hook up. I used 2" pipe all threw to settling chamber.I have
a Sequence 3600 pulling from settling chamber.I had to add another 2" pipe
with basket on end from pond to settling chamber to keep up the pump.I
wanted 2000 GPH threw pump??

Thanks
Doug


"DesertPond" tapetrade@[No Spam]cox.net wrote in message
.. .
I neglected to place a bottom drain in my pond last summer and have
regretted it ever since. So over the last week I added a Tetra Vacuum
drain retrofit to the pond. Seems to be working exceptionally well.
The photos of the upgrade are here if your interested

http://community.webshots.com/user/tapetrade

A bottom drain will make cleaning a heck of a lot easier and improve
the overall health of the pond.


On Sun, 6 Jul 2003 10:21:18 -0700, "stricks760"
wrote:

I'm planning a pond. The books say 'put in a bottom drain to make
cleaning
easier.' The (few) people I've actually spoken to say 'don't put a hole
in
your liner - don't need a bottom drain.

I plan for about 1500 gallons, 24-30" depth. Probably no Koi, because
I've
heard they generate a lot of waste (and get huge).

What's the feeling on bottom drains?

The bottom drain has a 2" opening on the bottom and is connected to
2' of 2" pipe. From there it connects to a 4" elbow - 4" pipe - 4"
elbow - to 9' of 4" pipe to connect to the settlement chamber. So
except for the bottom drain itself it's all 4" pipe. The pump is a
Sequence 4800. The only problem so far is that the flow rate is a bit
fast for proper settlement so I'm playing with the adjustment valve
connected to the pump. So I've certainly got some decent waterflow.

Do you happen to know the best layout for media in a settlement
chamber?

On Sun, 6 Jul 2003 19:24:48 -0400, "Doug"
wrote:

DesertPond,

Do you get good waterflow to settling chamber using 4" pipe
reduced to 2" for settling chamber??

I was wondering what size pump you have from the settling chamber??

I have the same hook up. I used 2" pipe all threw to settling chamber.I have
a Sequence 3600 pulling from settling chamber.I had to add another 2" pipe
with basket on end from pond to settling chamber to keep up the pump.I
wanted 2000 GPH threw pump??

Thanks
Doug


"DesertPond" tapetrade@[No Spam]cox.net wrote in message
.. .
I neglected to place a bottom drain in my pond last summer and have
regretted it ever since. So over the last week I added a Tetra Vacuum
drain retrofit to the pond. Seems to be working exceptionally well.
The photos of the upgrade are here if your interested

http://community.webshots.com/user/tapetrade

A bottom drain will make cleaning a heck of a lot easier and improve
the overall health of the pond.


On Sun, 6 Jul 2003 10:21:18 -0700, "stricks760"
wrote:

I'm planning a pond. The books say 'put in a bottom drain to make
cleaning
easier.' The (few) people I've actually spoken to say 'don't put a hole
in
your liner - don't need a bottom drain.

I plan for about 1500 gallons, 24-30" depth. Probably no Koi, because
I've
heard they generate a lot of waste (and get huge).

What's the feeling on bottom drains?

I'm planning a pond. The books say 'put in a bottom drain to make cleaning
easier.' The (few) people I've actually spoken to say 'don't put a hole in
your liner - don't need a bottom drain.

I plan for about 1500 gallons, 24-30" depth. Probably no Koi, because I've
heard they generate a lot of waste (and get huge).

What's the feeling on bottom drains?

Don't repeat my mistake. Install a bottom drain. I built my pond
(7000G) to have tons of crap collect at the bottom. It was basically
impossible to clean it out in any reasonable manner without adversely
affecting fish.

All the crap sitting on the bottom also gets constantly stirred up by
the fish making it harder to see them and increasing likelihood they
get disease and sickness.

So, yes, install a drain, why?

- It's not really that hard to do. About the labor equal to 1-2
thorough
pond cleanings without a drain.
- It will mean much clearer water.
- Do you really want your beautiful fish swimming around in their
poop
waiting for you to stir it up (in which case they choke on their
feces)
and then clean it out?
- It makes maintenance much much easier.

You could probably get away with a 3-inch on that pond which isn't too
expensive.

I didn't install one, and just finished adding two 4-inch drains and
moving fish back in yesterday. The water just keeps getting clearer
every time I look at it and there is basically nothing on the floor of
the liner. All the leaves, solids, and other crud gets sucked right
out of the pond into the pump basins for flushing.

I'm planning a pond. The books say 'put in a bottom drain to make cleaning
easier.' The (few) people I've actually spoken to say 'don't put a hole in
your liner - don't need a bottom drain.

I plan for about 1500 gallons, 24-30" depth. Probably no Koi, because I've
heard they generate a lot of waste (and get huge).

What's the feeling on bottom drains?

Don't repeat my mistake. Install a bottom drain. I built my pond
(7000G) to have tons of crap collect at the bottom. It was basically
impossible to clean it out in any reasonable manner without adversely
affecting fish.

All the crap sitting on the bottom also gets constantly stirred up by
the fish making it harder to see them and increasing likelihood they
get disease and sickness.

So, yes, install a drain, why?

- It's not really that hard to do. About the labor equal to 1-2
thorough
pond cleanings without a drain.
- It will mean much clearer water.
- Do you really want your beautiful fish swimming around in their
poop
waiting for you to stir it up (in which case they choke on their
feces)
and then clean it out?
- It makes maintenance much much easier.

You could probably get away with a 3-inch on that pond which isn't too
expensive.

I didn't install one, and just finished adding two 4-inch drains and
moving fish back in yesterday. The water just keeps getting clearer
every time I look at it and there is basically nothing on the floor of
the liner. All the leaves, solids, and other crud gets sucked right
out of the pond into the pump basins for flushing.

DesertPond,

I use to have my settlement chamber divided into 2 compartments.I then
had 2 4" pipes going threw the partition at the top.I had an elbow on each
facing up in the first chamber.Most of the solids remained in the first
chamber.

I redid my settlement chamber this year and made a cone shape on the bottom
like vortex.I put a 2" pipe in the middle of the cone at bottom chamber.I
then plumbed it out and up the side with a ball valve.I just open the valve
and it cleans all the solids out.It was the best thing I could of done.



"DesertPond" tapetrade@[No Spam]cox.net wrote in message
...
The bottom drain has a 2" opening on the bottom and is connected to
2' of 2" pipe. From there it connects to a 4" elbow - 4" pipe - 4"
elbow - to 9' of 4" pipe to connect to the settlement chamber. So
except for the bottom drain itself it's all 4" pipe. The pump is a
Sequence 4800. The only problem so far is that the flow rate is a bit
fast for proper settlement so I'm playing with the adjustment valve
connected to the pump. So I've certainly got some decent waterflow.

Do you happen to know the best layout for media in a settlement
chamber?

On Sun, 6 Jul 2003 19:24:48 -0400, "Doug"
wrote:

DesertPond,

Do you get good waterflow to settling chamber using 4"
pipe
reduced to 2" for settling chamber??

I was wondering what size pump you have from the settling chamber??

I have the same hook up. I used 2" pipe all threw to settling chamber.I
have
a Sequence 3600 pulling from settling chamber.I had to add another 2"
pipe
with basket on end from pond to settling chamber to keep up the pump.I
wanted 2000 GPH threw pump??

Thanks
Doug


"DesertPond" tapetrade@[No Spam]cox.net wrote in message
.. .
I neglected to place a bottom drain in my pond last summer and have
regretted it ever since. So over the last week I added a Tetra Vacuum
drain retrofit to the pond. Seems to be working exceptionally well.
The photos of the upgrade are here if your interested

http://community.webshots.com/user/tapetrade

A bottom drain will make cleaning a heck of a lot easier and improve
the overall health of the pond.


On Sun, 6 Jul 2003 10:21:18 -0700, "stricks760"
wrote:

I'm planning a pond. The books say 'put in a bottom drain to make
cleaning
easier.' The (few) people I've actually spoken to say 'don't put a
hole
in
your liner - don't need a bottom drain.

I plan for about 1500 gallons, 24-30" depth. Probably no Koi, because
I've
heard they generate a lot of waste (and get huge).

What's the feeling on bottom drains?