(Part 2) Best products from r/ponds

Thank you for the help! I inherited this pond when I moved in...but I believe this is what I have. https://www.amazon.com/Laguna-4000-Clear-Flo-Kit/dp/B00T3L4KNU/ref=sr_1_fkmrnull_3?keywords=laguna+4000+clear+flo+kit&qid=1554230131&s=gateway&sr=8-3-fkmrnull

Here is a picture of the pond. https://imgur.com/a/KrOkpmV
Sub Pump I use is: https://www.amazon.com/Superior-Thermoplastic-Submersible-Utility-10-Foot/dp/B07HYX2XGX/ref=sr_1_fkmrnull_5?keywords=Superior+Pump+91250+1%2F4+HP+Thermoplastic+Submersible+Utility+Pump+with+10-Foot+Cord&qid=1554230544&s=gateway&sr=8-5-fkmrnull

Fish enjoy hiding behind the rocks as they are just lined by the wall. Makes it super hard to get them out.

I appreciate all the help and suggestions.
How do I clean the pond in the future when I have fish in there again? Do I need to do the drain again?

I've had great success with the Savio Skimmer.

Fits a pump and a square of filter pad real easy. Makes it easy to clean. Can even insert a UV filter if you'd like.

I think the Glyphosate would be a good bet for you, it wont harm the amphibians unless you spray it directly on them, often.

Youll want to get a product like:

http://www.amazon.com/Rodeo-Aquatic-Herbicide-gallon-Glyphosate/dp/B008QC00CC

Or anything similar that has 40ish percent glyphosate. I dont know the size of your pond so you can get the amount you need. You will also need to buy a surfactant if the product doesnt come with that. Helps it penetrate the cell wall and such.

This is a good surfactant:
http://www.forestry-suppliers.com/product_pages/Products.asp?mi=18911&itemnum=17132&redir=Y

No fish species will control that, dont let any hatcher folks tell you otherwise; they just want to sell grass carp. You have a pretty dense amount of vegetation so herbacide is pretty much only way.

I think I mis-read your idea. You want to have option of using the bottom drain, not use it as your primary pump in-tube.

It would work, but IMO, not well. The main issues are going to arise when you need to use it. I assume this will be during times when you want to drain and clean the pond, and there will be a lot of muck and sludge on the bottom of the pond. Will your pump handle this? Even Solids pumps (like this Savio WMS pump) only generally handle solids, but will still get clogged if it sucks enough. These things only have a tubesize of ~1.5" generally, if I remember correctly, and add a ball valve and Y-adapter to that, and I envision clogs.

Personally, for full drain and cleans, I like pumping most of the water out, then using a Shop Vac to get the sludge out. If you want to use a bottom drain I'd say a 3" tube would be great, but not if you want to use a pump to pull the water through that.

That being said, I would be interested in hearing an argument in favor of bottom drains and how they have them set up.

I don’t know if the product I was looking at is chlorinated rubber, but this is the product:
https://www.amazon.com/Liquid-Rubber-Waterproof-Sealant-Coating/dp/B00YYKJDEQ?th=1&psc=1

If I find the crack/hole as fill it with a silicone patch, maybe I wouldn’t even need to seal with liquid rubber?

Is there a particular silicone sealant product you would recommend that is fish/frog safe?

Thanks for your reply!

Well there are whole books about tips and tricks.

This one isn't bad: https://www.amazon.com/Water-Gardens-1-2-3-Home-Depot/dp/0696230402

Let me know if you have any specific questions and I may be able to give you some good feedback. Good luck!

pond filter I use this external filter and it is great also try using this pond algae killer it kills off sting algae all you do is mix it in a bucket of water and tip in in your pond. It is an expensive fix but works perfect. I would also recommend a pressure washer to clean the filters.

It's not alot of water, maybe 30 to 40 gallons max? , perhaps find a cheap cannister filter online.

That's likely most hassle free for indoors.

https://www.amazon.com/Cascade-CCF3UL-Canister-Filter-Aquariums/dp/B0002DJ9NY

Look at some of those, there has to be a cheap and cheerful option available out there. First figure out how much water the planter will hold and buy a filter with pump that will turn the water 2 to 3 times an hour if you plan to add fish.

If not that maybe build an l-shaped bog style filter in a planter to fit in the corner behind it.

I've got a DIY barrel filter on my 4600 gallon. The design could easily be used on a slightly smaller pond as well. In fact there's tons of designs you can use based on the surrounding area.

You could also use a pressurized canister filter. I prefer laguna filters and in my mind they're the best. There's the 4000 model also which is the upgraded version of the 3200. Both would work and can handle a flow up to the number in their name.

Whatever you do for a filter, you're going to want a minimum of 3000 gph pump assuming you're fully stocked.

Which leads to the question of what are you stocking it with?

I just bought the suunydaze pump from amazon and couldn’t be happier. I got the one with the battery backup so I’ll let it charge all day when I’m at work and run it in the evening. The solar panel is pretty small, maybe 8x10, and so is the battery and control center. I mounted the panel on top of my fence and buried the wires leading to the pond. It also has a light that turns on at night mounted under the fountain. I added a finer filter surrounding the pump in the casing. My pond is only 150-200 gallons. I’ve only had it about two weeks so I can’t speak to durability.
Edit with link:https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01MZ8H9UE/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It looks nice. Once you get a pump and filter it'll clean itself up quickly. You can fit fish but if it gets too cold during the winter you might want to put them inside.


[This](alpine pal4000 4000gph cyclone pump, 33' https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008E120DC?ref=yo_pop_ma_swf) is the pump that I have. Way too big for your pond. 4000gph means it pumps 4000 gallons per hour. It works very well but it was a little bit of work to find the hoses and fittings. But alpine makes smaller pumps. You'd probably want a 1000 or 2000gph pump.


Pondliner.com has a lot of parts you would need. They sell the same pump but it was a lot more expensive on their website.


The nursery by my house also sold all the parts I would have needed, but their stuff was really expensive.

I just bought them off Amazon. I wasn't expecting much because they were so cheap but they work pretty well.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07K3Q46LB/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_apa_i_3qfDDbYEQTAHR

Hey. I would use a RetrofitBottom Drain . Then I would use an external priming basket to catch a lot of the the large debris. This will be outside the pond so easy to access for cleaning. From the Priming basket I would run it through the pump and then have the pump push the water into a finer filter and then finally have a gravity fed output falling back into the pond. Just an idea but that should be able to keep up with the ducks. You may have to clean out that priming basket quite a bit but that should be easy.

Agreed - you will always have some algae, the key is getting the pond to balance out. One change that really helped me was moving from bio balls to bio-blox:
https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B002AR6WK8/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_t1_Gso7Ab9PQ5FSZ

More surface area in the filter plus the extra physical filtering helps. If you have space, a bog with plants will do wonders as well.