Pond Project (cont.)



Houston, we have liftoff. I installed the pump and filter in the pond today, crossed my fingers, and plugged it in. It works. I have a little seepage at a few spots in the cascades because I ran out of black expandable foam to seal everything, but more foam came in the mail today so sealing will be finished tomorrow and I can then run the pump in earnest. The pump is the perfect strength for the size and configuration of the pond. I did spend a good deal of time calculating "head" (or "lift"; i.e. the height from the pond surface to the top of the falls + friction of tubing and filter for the diameter of tubing I'm using) to make sure the gallons per hour of the pump (a Cyprio Titan 1450) would be within the parameters of the pressurized filter (it is) and still offer a nice cascade (it does). The above close-up of the final entry into the pond was a bitch to put together. Basically, it's hit-or-miss with the stones; I bought several flat pieces to use as weirs, but none really worked out until I hit upon the idea to do the tiered trickle effect pictured above rather than try to run a long overhang with the top piece. There are three sets of "mini-falls" which produce a very pleasant sound. If I have time after doing the sealing tomorrow I'll go to the rock yard for more pebbles and a few mini-boulders to set in the stream and maybe out to the aquatic nursery for some plants.

Posted: Wed - September 22, 2004 at 09:52 PM           |

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