Hello, Good questions as sometimes it is not made clear what and where items are to go. 1- the underlayment is meant to protect the bottom of the liner, so no it does not need to match the liner. 2- Yes you can fill both bags or save one for later when the first one falls apart because of old age. Fill it with anything that will allow growth of bacteria. We sell bio balls, they have lots of holes. Lava rock is an urban legend, it does not have enough holes to create surface area for the bacteria to grow. Bacteria will grow on it just not enough to do a good job. 3- roots will grow into the mat. You could use a milk crate and cut a board to fit the falls and cover with plants. Or take the filter and bottom support out and fill with rock and plants. you could than use the bags to hold barley straw in the pond area. 4- You want the bacteria to grow in the falls. As the water flows over the rock or balls or filter material the colony of bacteria will filter out and eat the nutrients that have been created by your fish. You can also add it to the pond area to grow on the rocks in the bottom of the pond. Some of these tell you to add it to the skimmer area so that the pump will pull it up to the falls. We tell out customers to fill the falls with water and cover the tube where it inters the falls so the water stays in the fall area. If you have a check value it will keep the water in the falls. Now that you have water in the falls sprinkle the bacteria into the water and let them set up house on the filter, bio balls or rocks how ever you decide to fill the falls area for two hours. After this two hour set up time you can start up your system and enjoy. Remember to follow directions and keep this colony alive because this is what helps to clean your water. Plants will also help. Up to 64% of the open water should be covered to help keep the algae growth down. 5- Gold fish are hardy and good to start a pond but donÂt put in to many before your plants are ready to clean the water. If you are on city water give it a few days to evaporate the chlorine. If on well throw them in when you are ready. 6- I have not dealt with plants yet but I believe it is from the crown, Water plants just need something to anchor to. I have seen them just in pots of rock so that they could be brought in when the weather changes. Hope this helps, Michelle www.ncpond.com Here is a link that might be useful: NC Pond site

dang it....I had a really well though out response all done, and my internet explorer crashed. So I'll try again...lol!! First...a few comments regarding how koi ponds compare to aquariums. Normally, aquariums are lightly stocked with small fish. It's really easy to keep the ammonia/nitrite/nitrate cycle operating perfectly in a correctly stocked environment. Same as a rock bottom pond...lightly stocked and properly maintanied it can work. In a pond's bio filter, ammonia is converted to nitrite and then to nitrate. Nitrate is most easily removed froma koi pond by way of regular water changes. Ever try to keep an aquarium with goldfish? Many goldie keepers I know keep no gravel in the tank at all, because of maintenance. That gravel gets really filthy very fast. I had a lovely goldie tank once....and gave it up. the maintenance was a nightmare! I'd rather deal with a huge koi pond any day of the week. Some people are reporting sucess with rock bottom ponds and no maintenance. Again...it is directly related to stocking levels. I hope these ponds continue to perform well for years to come, but for the vast majority of people, they will not. Most watergardeners install their ponds (and rocks) and then run out and buy a bunch of adorable little 5" long koi. The koi grow.....fast. They produce mountains of fish waste, which all gets trapped in the rocks. But because the pond looks clean, the owner is lulled into a false sense of security and does not think that there is a thing wrong, until the fish start dying or the fins start rotting off. Then they do one of two thing....they learn where they went wrong and correct their mistakes, or they just buy new fish (which is unfortunatly what most people do). Matt...you are on the right track with your new pond. You certainly can install your bottom drain now and add the rest of the system later. But instead of using a pipe cap, install a 4" ball valve on the end of the line. The water can't be permitted to sit stagnant in the unused drain line for too long or it will start developing the dreaded hydrogen sulphide gas. Opening that valve every couple of weeks and allowing the water to flow out for a couple of minutes will prevent the problems. I am attaching a link to the Atlanta Koi Club's web site. They have an excellent pdf that explains a lot about how a koi pond works, water quality, stocking levels, how much biofiltration is needed and many other wonderful facts. Cindy

Barnmom - This looks a great gift idea for a couple young girls (sisters) I need to buy for. Two questions: 1) Can you recommend any "sides" to give with this, such as specialty decorating equipment that's a recurring theme? 2) Out of 106 reviews currently on Amazon, just five are less than four stars. Great stats, but one of the one-star reviews caught my eye and I'd be interested in your take on it: "I read all of the 5 star ratings and thought this would be a great addition to my cookbooks. However, with much disgust, I am already halfway through the recipes and have yet to find even ONE recipe that does not state in parenthesis ingredients can be found at "specialty baking stores" or "online sources." What?! I was under the impression we could find "most" items in our local grocery store or convenience stores as the book states and not have to go to "gourmet candy stores," "baking supply store" or "online sources!!!!!!" Not ONE recipe so far calls for all items we'd find at a grocery store! Black food coloring? Orange food coloring? Moss green food color? Brown food color? (All found at baking supply stores). Dark blue paper liners? Chocolate covered sunflower seeds and black chocolate covered sunflower seeds? (Found at gourmet candy stores). Black, pink and white decorating sugar? Popcorn boxes? Orange melting wafers? Chocolate and white chocolate melting wafers? White, chocolate and carmel jimmies (found at baking supply stores). Blue silver dragees (baking supply stores). Brown paper liners? Striped paper liners? And what the heck are Nonpareils (available at baking supply stores!) There are a few items I've never heard of before. Do not get this book thinking that you can find the decorating candies, food colorings and such at a grocery store! I could list more items not found locally but the above is just the first half of the book's recipes! Granted, yes, the book lists two pages of sources where to get the ingredients NOT found in grocery stores, and yes, the photos of the finished cupcakes are fabulous...now, if I could only make them without all the fuss of buying the ingredients! If I knew what I know now, I would NOT have bought the book!"

This thread became resurrected when I was googling around for a substitution for Coco liners.. they were dirtying up my house and deck.. Plus the birds love to make nests out of the liners and pull the liners apart all over the place.... So this particular thread popped up ....and I'm glad it did.. But now when the comments pop up in browser form I have to go through the entire thread to receive the latest comment. Any way around this?something tells me this is a dumb question .