Thanks hardin and Liz, I have to giggle a little at the compliment, since it seems so puny to me, compared to so many larger ones! haha But I do appreciate it! The important thing for me was angling all the stones slightly forward and supporting the big one on the bottom with dirt at an angle. Also, my bottom rock is so big, I didn't want it resting right on the lip of the stocktank, so I set it on 2 smaller flat rocks. From the side, it looks a little tilted, but gravity keeps the water from going backwards. Plus, the flat rocks need to not have any big lumps/bumps in them that might hinder the forward motion of the water. I do have the liner pulled up behind the lower rocks, with soil holding it up, so if the water does flow backwards, it can drain back into the pond. I'm always just quickly glancing at the water level throughout the day too....in case the tube becomes dislodged. I use one of those rectangular box filters. I put the pump inside it, and then direct the tubing to the waterfall. The force was too much, so I used one of those little clamps to slow it down a little. As the filter gets a little clogged, I open up the clamp. I have the clamp on the tube behind the rocks, so I can easily get to it. Thanks again for the compliment Liz. My head's a little bigger now. :)

I don't do too much filtering and can't help re total volume, I guess I don't even understand what or how a 'bubble pump' would filter, but I can help with the connection. You can find almost anything you might need at a hardware store, or Lowes/Home Depot although perhaps not completely together. The issue you didn't mention is controling the flow to the spitter. After the T you will need a shut off valve on the way to the spitter that you will turn part way off until flow is correct. The pump connections will depend on your pump/ waterfall, and spitter locations. That wasn't clear. Presumably this is all flexable tubing and if so then you will just need a connector with female thread to 3/4 barbed tubing fitting. These are usually found near the pvc pipe and fitting section. You will also find 3/4 tubing T fittings there too. These tubing fittings get jammed into the tubing. Usually you warm the tubing in hot water to make it soft enough to push the fitting in. You will probably need extra and different fittings to connect the shut off to the tubing. If you already have a shut off in the spitter line then neverrr mind.

Thanks waterbug_guy and mike_il! That's I'm here - you folks are smart. The events of the past few hours have certainly shown me that you are both correct about the source of the water. I don't know what the heck I thought I was doing with my testing, must have read my yardstick wrongly. At daybreak tomorrow, I will be digging out a cubic yard of pea gravel into two large trashcans and get to the manifold at the bottom of the filter pond. No doubt, it's leaking at up there. All of my plumbing is now exposed, so that's not it. It's leaking like a pig now when the pump is running. I can't even get the waterfall to flow with the pump on, put I but my hand in front of the pump and it's pulling water, so all that water is getting underneath. A close look with a flashlight tonight showed damp ground all around the upper pond at the base of the dirt build-up. This explains a lot of things - wet vegetation around the pond, a shrub that died where the water is accumulating, and the waterfall has been a bit less powerful and tonight it"s just a trickle (pump off now). Big question: I've always run my pump 24/7. Will the fish be okay for 24 hrs with no aerating waterfall, or should I go out and buy a fountain or take my oxygen tank from my welding kit and bubble some O2 up? I will post some pictures tomorrow so you can all see my leak.

Trance: I was determined to keep our small pedestal sink when it's moved to the corner, and I am probably going to go ahead and do that at first, but I decided yesterday that I would eventually put a vanity there. What I'm going to do in the meantime is keep the medicine cabinet/mirror on the same wall it's on, then add another one where the sink will be, only a bit bigger. I think there will be enough room in there for things that go in the bathroom, besides cleaning supplies, and the towels and clothes should have plenty of room on the shelves above the toilet. moccasin: No, I never open the window, and husband put one panel of the curtain back up there for now, because the wooden edge around the window was getting soaked, and, though we will probably get rid of that wood eventually, for now we don't want to be causing damage to it (eh, just in case). I love the idea of SHELVES in there, thanks for that idea! There is no other natural light in the bathroom, so I do like that bit. But, yeah, I can clean the windows from the outside, I just have to open them from the inside. They are very good insulation in themselves, I believe, since they were put in by the city due to airport noise. So if I took the inside window out of the equation, I'd have quite a bit of room in there. I promise I'll post a pic this week soon, so you can see what I mean. Put up the curved shower rod even though my new curtains have not arrived and it makes a HUGE difference. I still want to replace the vinyl stuff hanging from the window, though, because even though we only use one panel now, and it's flat against the wall, I can still elbow it and it's cold. I need to find out what the name of that material that a lot of hotels have in their showers and maybe cut that down to make curtains that fit the windows. Unless anyone has any other idea for a material that won't be cold to the touch and also won't let water through? :) The best news, though, is that a lot of this stuff doesn't have some ephemeral "eventually" to it. Husband gave me a budget today, and a GC is coming in 2-3 weeks (after he finishes some stuff for us on a rental) to give me some estimates. The budget won't allow for a full remodel, but it will give me a lot of working room, I think. Still have to be careful, though. :) Costs so far: -~$25 for the curtain rod -~$25 for the tp/magazine rack -$6.97 new shower curtains from k-mart -~$80 for shelves above the toilet (a little high, but I was desperate at that time, am a tiny bit more patient now) I should probably make a blog, huh? :)