Dzguy, Many ponders on this sight swear by bottom drains, but I personally don't think they are absolutely necessary for ALL ponds. My pond is about the size you are considering and I do have rocks on the bottom. The thing is, you will have to siphon the pond about every other month to keep it clean. I do it monthly. I don't mind doing this as this is my hobby and I love spending time on my pond. If I had to do it again, I'd probably get a bottom drain just to minimize the cleaning part. BUT, I don't have one, and I don't plan on putting one in since it's considered a "small" pond. If I ever move and build another pond in the future, yes, I would probably get one. Rocks on the bottom - I do believe they are not a good idea, but I do have them because that's the way the pond builders made my pond. I do love the natural look it creates, but it comes with the side effect of having nooks and crannies for debris. And again, as I mentioned earlier, I siphon (vacuum) the pond to get it all out. It does make cleaning harder, to be honest. I love my pond the way it is and accept that it is not maintenance free due to the rocks and missing bottom drain. I would personally recommend getting a bottom drain if you don't want the maintenance. If you don't mind the plain black bottom look, don't use pebbles, either. My fish have been very happy. I've only had the pond for 8 months and my koi and shubunkin have already reproduced many times. I started with 5 fish and have close to 20 now (They spawned three times last summer). I will give most away due to the size of my pond, but as long as the water tests well and the fish are active, spawning, and eating well, I am happy. Good luck! It is definitely a fun hobby and the experienced ponders on this site give wonderful advice. Loretta

Wow! You are quite an artist. I love so many of your pieces. I wish I could see them close up. I expect you spend a lot of time on the arts and crafts forums. DH would have a hissy if I started working that form. A new application for the Dremel? Old toilets? What a great source of material! Lots of color from the fifties and sixties. And there are lots of flat areas. I did a quick search for bottom drains and there were over 5,000 entries. Didn't limit it to the pond forum which would reduce it but it still is a huge number. It would be worth your while to skim for a time. At the least it would show you the basic theory and how differently each person does it. Some are fairly simple and others are very complex. I am not the one to advise you on this but lots of other posters would be happy to show you what they have done. A multi holed spitter sounds good but I can see lots of problems with clogs. Think that one through. It won't be any where near adequate for a pond the size you will have. A pump the size of the one you have now would blow it apart in short order. It is not necessary to have the whole pond 4 feet deep. You may want to have several levels to make shallow areas for plant containers. I like the idea of a trellis. The raccoons and herons may still come but it can solve a lot of other problems. I have the frame of a six sided gazebo over my pond and I really like it. I have used only the top with the stubs that usually go into the legs inserted into PVC pipes so it is very short, easily removable and looks more interesting than just four sides. I can attach netting to it or hang wind chimes or let vining plants climb on it. I never keep the same ideas for long. Everything changes. The ornamental part can be added anytime, so for now, concentrate on the basic pond structure, but keep the ornament part in mind. You know how that can change. Sandy

The pond will be 3' on the "shallow" end and 4' on the deep end. I've decided to move the waterfall to the Northwestern corner and the skimmer to the Southeastern corner (better view of the falls from the patio). The only drawback to this is it shortens the distance from the waterfall to the skimmer from 18' to 16' (back of waterfall box to back of skimmer box). The skimmer will be on the deep end with the bottom drain. I've done some calculations and the pond should be around 3500 gallons (based on shape and plant shelves), head height will be 5' -6', waterfall width will be 20". That puts GPH at around 3250GPH (20" falls, full circulation every 2 hours) to 5500GPH (20" falls, with circulation every hour). I've been looking at the Laguna Powerflo 5000 skimmer and the Powerflo 5000 Filter falls (upto 10000GPH combined). I might just go with the Powerflo 5000 skimmer and use a 17" spillway for the falls. I went to the local ranch store to look at the Rubbermaid 100 gallon stock tanks (Skippy) and they are way to large for the area this is going in. The pump I'm currently looking at is: Calpump PWM-3900 (4100GPH) submersible. Keep in mind I will be stocking with Sarassa Comets and Shubunkins and not Koi. With the temperature extremes we get in the area, temps commonly swing 50° in a day, I need a more tolerant fish.

I'm no pro... but these are my thoughts. (Just had 600 people come and see my pond set-up (Pond tour)). What I have come to appreciate. 1. Perhaps you have a possibility of having TWO falls with TWO 4500 GPH systems (external is THE way). My understanding is it would be beneficial that the pond turned over once an hour. 2. Have the plumbing below and Incorporate a settlement chamber set-up. What you design into the front end of the job (SC will capture a MAJOR part of the gunk that flows through system), will save you time and effort when it is running. 3. Bottom drains Bottom drains Bottom drains > Connect 1 pump from each BD to run through SC to Biofilter water falls. Check out the surface skimmer types for a better look to your new pond. You could set it up so it gravity feeds to SC. 4. If you have koi AND possible predator problem; go deep and steep. (Knock on wood) no predator problem for me(70 degree sides and 3.5 feet deep). Well that's my bit, LP