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  • Results 1 to 5 of 5

    Thread: Help with small pond design - combining bottom drain and skimmer

    1. #1
      billd is offline Junior Member
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      Help with small pond design - combining bottom drain and skimmer

      I need help with filtration for my small pond: 8 x 6 x 2.5 - lined - around 900 gallons.

      Present state - there is a submerged pump pushing water up through the vase - no filtration. It acts as a resource for the local wildlife - mostly birds and racoons. It will never will be a Koi pond - too small - presently it's home to 2 Shibunkins.
      As there is no filtration or skimmer, the surface is covered in a film, there is a lot of leaf fall into the pond and 6" of mud. Although it gets 2" of ice for 2-3 weeks over winter, the fountain keeps some of the surface open and the fish get through winter fine.

      Ideally I would like to setup a skimmer and a bottom drain. I have a Savio Compact Skimmerfilter with a 6" faceplate that I want to use. The filtered output will go up through the vase and a second outlet goes to a TPR (I think that is the correct term used here.) It's retrofit so the input line/output lines will be run through bulkheads below the 1 foot frost line.

      The skimmer needs to go in the top-right corner where it's least visible and where the power outlet is located. Ideally the vase/fountain stays where is is for composition reasons when viewing the pond from the house, even though I know it creates a short flow back to the skimmer.

      My main concern is how to combine the skimmer and bottom drain. If I put the bottom drain through a 2" or 3" pipe into the bottom of the skimmer would that generate enough flow for the bottom drain? Or will the skimmer weir inlet totally dominate the flow? If it was a larger pond I would put the BD through a sieve filter like Ceton, then combine the skimmer and Ceton outputs, but that seems like overkill for such a small pond like this.
      Another option: Should I lose the BD but still use a TPR to direct most of the flow out away from the fountain and get some circulation going?

      Advice would be really welcome!
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    2. #2
      sandthemall's Avatar
      sandthemall is offline Supporting Member
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      I would wye a 3" drain and 2" line from skimmer to an external pump with leaf trap to an aqua ultraviolet ultima II 1000 back to the vase fountain. Maybe put the pump and filter on a 24" x 30" concrete tile and make a miniature tea house over it and hide it behind greenery.

    3. #3
      birdman's Avatar
      birdman is offline DIY Savant
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      If you run separate lines from BD and skimmer, each with it's own ball valve then to a tee to pump, you can control the flow from each.

    4. #4
      billd is offline Junior Member
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      Thanks for the advice. So what I'm planning to do is:
      Bottom Drain:
      - D514 Aqua Art Retro Drain with 3" coupling
      - 3" pipe
      - Wye and ball valve to drain line
      - Leaf trap - to be determined - looks like mid-sizes come with 2" inlet/outlet
      Skimmer:
      - Savio Compact Skimmer Filter with 6" bulkhead
      Pump:
      - Wye connecting 3" BD and 2" skimmer outlet - ball valves to control flow through each
      - Pump - to be determined - 900 gph at 10' head
      Filter:
      - 2" check valve with unions
      - Aqua Ultraviolet Ultima II 1000 with 2" inlet/outlet
      Outlets:
      - Ball valves to control flow to fountain and TPR lines
      - 1" fountain line
      - 1.25" TPR line

    5. #5
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      richtoybox is offline Administrator
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      The Ultima II 1000 may be adequate, but manufacturers tend to overstate the capacity of their filters, and a good rule of thumb with manufacturer products is to go with something that states it will handle 2 times the size of the pond. If I were going for an Ultima II, i would make it the 2000. If you are handy, you can DIY a sand/gravel filter and it will probably handle this size pond at a significant price savings.
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