Ok, that makes sense. I forgot that every time it turns back on it would continue pumping. duh. The bottom drain is an Aqua Art retro fit bottom drain with 3" opening. It is connected to a black flexible tubing that is really hard (almost w/ a metal coil in it?). It is reduced from 3" to 2" and then runs back to the pump. I had a Sequence pump but that thing sucked (not literally, unfortunately). I had to have it repaired 2x and it was NOT cheap to begin with! It lasted 2 yrs. BOOOO. When it last gave up the ghost, it was 1.5 months ago. I found a hayward 1.5 HP super pump on craiglist for $150. The pond was w/o a functioning BD for about a month. Here is where it all goes downhill. lol So the previous pump was connected to the hose in from the BD and hose out to the bead filter by the black hoses that were connected with a black screw-on style of fitting. They simply did NOT come off, no matter what. The new pump had smaller openings and so the old fittings wouldn't work. We had to cut off the "screw" ends and use compression fittings instead (the black squishy sleeves w/ two metal bands that you screw to tighten). The first day that we turned the pump on and were messing w/ it, the same top fitting popped off b/c it wasn't seated properly (the hose hit me in the head, almost knocked me out from the pressure...lol...bruise on my forehead for 2 wks!). Because of that, I was paranoid and was actually shutting it off at night...just in case something went wrong. (I know, this is a long story lol) Saturday during the day, we saw that the pump was emptying faster than the water could come into the basket and we realized the BD was partially clogged and decided to get in the pond and get it freed up. DH jumped in and pulled it up...cleared it out and then set it up on two large pieces of flagstone so it wasn't directly on the bottom of the pond. (Note: had he not done this, when the disaster happened, it would've drained the ENTIRE pond. Truly a lifesaving decision for the fish that lived in the remaining 6" of water b/c of that flagstone!) Anyhoo, everything was riproaring along at 100mph again and I was checking the basket frequently...not much there. That night was the ONE night I didn't unplug it overnight...I forgot. Small debris plugged up the basket, increasing the pull of the pump, which started moving around the hose on the top of the pump. It was moving enough to pull the compression fitting off and it popped the hose off. The water simply geysered out of the top of the pump until the pond was almost completely empty. SOOOOO...way more than you asked but I have known you long enough to know that you like a clear picture, MIke! LOL I"m hoping that makes the error of my ways clear enough! At this time I am only running the BD during the day and am trying to find screw-on fittings to replace the existing compression fittings. Additionally, I have bungee'd the BD to a crate so it is a foot off the floor of the pond. I have also been partaking of some retail therapy and have a little mass of baby koi in the pond right now. They just came up and started eating food this morning and I literally screamed with delight LOL! I'm not sure how these water bobbermcthingie's work but I *think* the external pump is close enough that if it truly does have a 20' cord, I can put it in the body of the pond and run the cord back to where the pump is. Need to get to the store today and get one to rig it!

Debbie, it could easily be a formal tropical water garden with its rectangular look. It would require a pump and some simple filtering, but that could be made to look formal. Many water plants have that tropical look, like taros (colocasias), and tropical water lilies are so beautiful. Submersible pumps don't cost much, and your first job could be to pump almost all the muddy water out and refill with fresh. Leave just enough water in for the fish. Then set up a skippy filter in a large fake old-fashioned looking flower pot and put it in. Then go all out with the tropical plants! These pics from the Singapore botanical garden. :) Mary

I have a 5x10 (1.5 deep) homemade pond. I'm low-tech (much to the dismay of Mrs. Oklahawg): 1. I run an extension cord from the back patio to the pond. I buried one in a PVC pipe but the lawn guy sliced it off and there isn't enough slack to splice. 2. I use a standard livestock tank heater in the pond. It kicks in at 40 degrees. Rarely do I have a problem. 3. I have a plastic prefab outdoor playhouse my daughter outgrew. I took a section of that and placed it over one corner of the pond, reconfiguring the rocks from the pond edge to weight down the plastic piece. Its 2 inches thick so it won't bow under pressure. It only covers about 2.5 square feet of pond, but that's enough for the fish to hide under - I put the heater nearby. I rake out leaves any day its decent outside - sun and not too cold. Seems like there is always crap blowing into the pond! Also, I add water from the hose if I get days in the high 40s or higher. The water is 70 degrees, or so, as it comes out of the faucet. Its easy enough to attach and detach the hose from the faucet - I do this early enough in the day to allow any drippage to dry in the faucet. The fresh water always makes the fish happy. My biggest fish loss occurs in late, late winter when the water starts to warm, the fish start to become active and the natural food in the pond starts to disappear. (I've not "fed" the fish in years.)

Oh here we go, another specialist. There's no need to channel the bulk of the water to the rain garden and is definitely not a good idea in the OP situation. I just put one in thats about a foot deep that is doing rather well. Try to think in simpler terms, fill the thing in, leave a bit of a depression to catch some water and plant in it using the appropriate plants, thats it, folks that SPECIALIZE in something are always thinking too dam hard and can be a bit narrow minded... of course the OP doesn't want to channel the bulk of his rainwater to the structure of their house. A rain garden can be as simple as a depression in the front yard to catch a bit of water for slow release into the soil. Maybe its not scientifically defined as a TRUE rain garden, but similar principles apply such as retaining a bit of water. Yes the OP can do a rain garden with a bit of planning regardless of your specialized rain garden design experience, just keep it simple.