Barbara, If I found that in my back yard I'd turn the empty space into either: Waterfall Bog Area Find a fascinating item to use as a spitter/dripper: *maybe an old piece of driftwood that would hang out over the pond with water dripping or flowing from a branch *A Japanese bamboo water-dumper thingie *Big rock with hole drilled into it that water could flow up through *Any kind of statue that could be used as a spitter that would have a nature theme to it Hope this helps. Please post pictures when you have created something. Your pond is lovely. Anne

Desertflowergarden, You didn't say if you were thinking the 40 or the 49 pump. But that doesn't matter. Your plumbing will work just fine the way you have it but it would also work just fine by using 2" from the sc and skimmer to the pump. This would save you a lot of money and perform the same. One thing you did not say was how far your sc will be from the bottom drain. You might want to think about using 4" from the drain to the sc. Now let me talk a little about your questions. #1 Placing the pump far away from the sc and skimmer can burnout the pump but only if you are resisting the flow more on the input than on the output. As an example if you only had one 2" line going to the pump and 2 2" lines leaving the pump might cause a problem but not with a 1/4 pump. If you were using a A1/2-75 than yes. Than the pump would be trying to suck 7500 gph thru a 2" line that distance and it would over heat. Putting in a second 2" line to the pump would solve that problem. The pump you are thinking about isn't going to care if it is flooded or not. #2 Running the drain to a sc or the pump what is gained. That depends on how good the sc operates. This comment is going to draw some flak but most sc's are not that good and little is gained by running it to an sc. But a well designed and good operating sc can do wonders. #3 The problem with running the drain to the skimmer is that the flow thru the bottom drain is small not allowing the drain to do it's job. #4Well valves can be expensive. That is why I mentioned chaging the piping to 2". But I would put 2" ball valves on the line from sc and skimmer. The lines going to the return and filter would have 2" ball valves. I would than also put a 2" knife valves on the inlet and output of the pump. I would also use a knife valve on the line going from the bottom drain to the sc. The reason I would use the knife valves on the pump is that it is very easy to close two knife valves than four ball valves when cleaning the basket. $ 2" ball valves cost $48.00, 2 2" knife valves cost $42.00 and one 4" knife valve $75.00 for a total of $165.00. Depending on the filter that the pump is pumping into you may want a check valve. #5 Depending on the filter you may be able to dig out for the filter and add a trench for the drain and let the dirt support the filter bottom. #6 This question needs to be answered for your situtation. I have put general methods on the forum before so you might want to check some of the older threads. Mike

Don't cover the root system of the tree extensively when you raise the grade up. Adding soil on top of the roots can smother the root system. Ideally, disturb it as little as possible. 3' is a huge depth to place on top of a root system. If you are serious about this, perhaps consult an arborist about how to make this feasible and to lessen the danger to the tree. - Audric

Hi, welcome to the habit, er hobby..). Well let me address your second question first. There is a saying in ponding, "Build your last pond first". What this means is almost everyone usually builds to small at first and ends up expanding or building another pond. I still have my first pond which is 2000 gallons. I wasn't going to make the same mistake again, my new pond is 50,000 gallons. Now to the second question. My first pond is a garden pond, no bottom drain, gravel bottom for aquatic plants. I usually drain this and clean this every 2 years. My large pond is a koi pond, no gravel and 2 bottom drains. Bottom drains help get rid of any settlement on the bottom and fish waste. Most koi enthusiast will say this is essential. I've been seeing a new technology in koi books of a system they put under gravel that acts like an under gravel filter. This is very new and if your lucky enough to find a contractor that knows about, I would look into that. It is a system of PVC pipes with small holes that is buried under the gravel. Now let me give advice from experience. My land slopes downward at a 10 to 20 degree angle downward. My larger pond was just build last year and placed in the middle of my land. We get a far amount of rain here in Pennsylvania. I've had to add a series of drainage ditches to stop runoff from going into the pond. It has been turning my pond water brown and messing with my values. Only last week was I able to add fish. Also, upon building we hit an underground spring. My contractor put in drainage pipes underneath the liner that flows to a sump pump. This is needed because water underneath the liner will flip the liner. If you have that much water on your land, I would look into building your pond half in and half out of the ground. Either that or make sure the edges of the pond are raised so no water can go into your pond. There are many ways you can build a pond. Hope this helps...Craig