Your pond sounds about 1500-2000 gallons. One way to figure out true capacity is measure how long your tap+ hose takes to fill a 3 or 5 gallon bucket and then how long it takes to fill the pond. You should be able to do the math. Best thing to do is pump out this water, clean the remaining silt out, set up a submersible pump in a prefilter going to a skippy or other biofilter that feeds a waterfall. Refill, get filter going, buy some waterlilies and some other plants good for your climate, pot them and place into pond. After about a week, put in some cheap goldfish. If after a year, you have kept them alive and have discovered if local predators (birds, coons, ...) don't snack on them, you can go for more expensive goldfish. Your pond is too small for koi. You can get a submersible pump that also has a fountain attachment or a separate fountain pump. My pond (1500 gallons) is pretty low maintenance and is set up the way I describe above with goldfish and rosy reds, waterlilies, and several types of marginals + parrot's feather.

Hi all - wow thank you for the input! For some reason a few of these comments never made it to me via email, so sorry for the delay in response. CHAS: I think I'm going to just go with a shorter stream, which will cut down on the height a great deal. I will wrap it around the pond (instead of going straight up the sloped ground) - which will make the head height less and also keep the flow calmer for froggies. I also decided that I will focus the main pond on fish; and I'm going to put a little, shallower pond tucked along the creek which will be just for frogs - with a pump maybe, but no filter or anything (my current frog pond has just a pump/waterfall, no filter, and the frogs are very happy and healthy there). Hopefully the frogs will natuarlly choose the little pond instead of the bigger pond, and even if they lay eggs in the lower pond, I can just move them up to the froggie pond. I at least will feel like I've done my part to provide a safe haven for them :) RSINGLEY: I had read a similar recommendation elsewhere of putting mesh and other media around the pump - I like the idea, though I do wonder what the negative effect of not filtering the larger particles will be? (seems silly to get a debris handling pump and then restrict the debris from getting in, but alas, the dilemma of tadpole lovers). FROGMAN4: You'd be right on the calculation but it's not all at a 3.5' depth, and it's an oval pond. If you picture an upside down oval wedding cake: the biggest layer is 16x13 but it's only about a half-foot deep (it's a rock shelf). The second layer is 14x11 and is 1 foot deep. The third layer is 11x8 and is 2 feet deep (so total depth at the bottom will be 3.5). I calculated each "layer" out as separate pond volumes; using the oval pond forumla of L x W x D x 6.7, the top layer is 696 gallons, 2nd layer is 1031, 3rd layer is 1179 = 2906 gallons. The third (bottom) layer will have sloped walls, too, which actually will cut down the gallons, but I'm fine with over-estimating. I have wavered back and forth a hundred times about going with a skimmer filter as opposed to an external mechanical filter. I still haven't hit the "place order" button on my pump/filter order, but I made up my mind last night that I was going to go with a Laguna max flow pump (2000 gal), pressurized filter (3200), and also have a waterfall bio filter at the top. Holding off on the drain for now, but I saw some that I can add later if the need warrants. Chose the external filter instead of skimmer because I didn't want to have to do 2 pumps, and I just felt that not having the pump at the bottom (which it wouldn't be if I put the pump in the skimmer) wasn't the best idea... which was my deciding factor. I hope what I'm choosing will be sufficient... weeks of research got me here, and I'm ready to just install all this already! :) MEGANMCA: Thanks for that link - it's very helpful! I did read that pipe diameter is important - I'm going to go with 1.5" and hope that's sufficient. My sister just installed the same pump/filter combo I'm using with 1.5" and it's a beatuful flow. Her waterfall is a little lower than mine, but I think it will suffice... If not, can add a 2nd pump but hoping I don't have to do that. Thank you all so much for the input - and as always open to any other thoughts/suggestions!

Hi Mike, OK, Im glad I understood its the red one. Something right! Whoo To Mike, buyorsell888, and calamity_j, The kitties are totally stressed out right now, but I think they'll be OK. The one black cat seen in the pix above, had some teeth pulled, but he seemed almost fine the next day. His brother on the other hand - totally freaked out. The anesthesia didn't wear off, he was scared, and probably in pain all night, so I stayed up with him. Ever since, he's been sleeping in kitchen nightly, which is unusual for him. (The outside boys aren't allowed in any further than the kitchen - long story). The girls indoors - well the one with recurring cancer is acting very needy and wanted to be close *all the time* *every minute of the day*. I cant blame her, shes stressed. Shes had a several surgeries and doesnt like the vet much at all As you can imagine. The other girl had to have some tests, but after a few days, we found they all turned out all right. Shes still feeling a bit crabby with us about having been taken to, The Awful Place. (She holds a grudge, as many of you with kitties will probably know what I mean!) Thanks for asking and well wishing. :) Even though the girls are in their senior years now, theyre like my babies and I stop everything when they are ill. Its so hard that they are getting old! As to the pond, our plan is like something out of a slapstick movie, though we are hoping it might work anyway. Were going to hook up the hose, as Mike suggests, and weve got a tarp weve put a slit in and will place the fountain through, then duct tape, so that any runoff from inside the pipes and fountain gets funneled over the tarp and out to the trees not into the somewhat clean pond water. Its about 105-110 degrees out there today and neither of us are looking forward to working on it!

I have not heard that before. Did anyone tell you why to do it that way? My pumps are below. One is a submersible in my skimmer box and one is an external. When I planned on placement of both, I took into account is the "lift" of the pump.If you place your pump at or above your falls you will have to account for a lift of 3.5 feet ( the height of your falls) as well as the run of your pipe. If you place your pump at or above your falls you will have to account for a lift of 3.5 feet ( the height of your falls) as well as the run of your pipe. That would take a more powerful pump than one placed below the falls.Below is some info I found doing a search on pump lift. For Fountains (Indoor or Outdoor) - When choosing a pump for your fountain there are two terms that you will see when looking for your pump. GPH (gallons per hour) and "lift" or "head". For a fountain the GPH is not an issue, that is a guide used for ponds. The lift or head is what you will need to know. How far does the water in your fountain have to travel from where the pump will sit in your fountain to the top of the fountain where the water comes out. You will need a pump that lifts higher than that measurement. If that distance is 24", than you will need a pump that lifts at least 36" high. The "maximum lift" means that is the maximum height that the pump will lift the water. So you will get "0" flow at the maximum lift. For a Waterfall or Pond Pump - For a waterfall, the decision to be made is how wide you want your flow of water. For every inch of stream width or waterfall "sheet you will need to pump 100 gallons per hour at the height you are pumping. For example, if the pump has to lift the water up 3 feet to the top of the waterfall, you need a pump that will move 100 gallons per hour at 3 feet For a Pond Rule of Thumb - The Length of tubing is also an important factor when choosing a pump. Every 10Â of tubing equals the same restrictions as 1Â of lift. Hope this helps.