1. PVC or flex are both good, and I have used both. I am currently in the middle of a rebuild also, and I will be using rigid sch 40 PVC 4" as the piping leading from my bottom drain. 2. I have a pump hidden inside the skimmer and another at the last phase of my chain of filter tubs, which will draw from the BD. As Joe 09 mention, an external pump is an excellent choice. They are expensive, but I'm told they are more energy efficient. 3. I know of no reason why burying the biofilter would affect the efficiency of the bacteria. Just make sure you have a suitable method of cleaning, such as being able to lift the bio bags to rinse in a separate tub of pond water. Most people have them above ground, though, so they can simply aggitate the media and then open a valve to drain. 4 & 5 ?? 6. I just use waterfall foam purchased at Lowes or Home Depot. I've tried cheaper varieties, but for some reason they didn't set up properly.

Pickerel - an excellent choice for the pond. Loads of flowers in the summer, and is much loved by bees and butterflies. It is hardy and will survive the winter if the roots don't freeze. If you have hard winters, after it dies back in the fall you can sink the pot down to the deeper water and retrieve it in the spring. Keep an eye on it, though -- it will jump the pot. Is a very forgiving plant. Can be divided when it gets too big, and give the extras to friends or to a water garden society. Water lettuce does not like full sun, so you might want to place it where it will get some shade or dappled sun. Multiplies very rapidly, so when the older ones start looking ratty, toss them out. There will be plenty of new ones to fill in the space! Water hyacinth likes sun, and reproduces as fast as lettuce. Koi love the roots. I keep my hyacinth in the stream, where it's safer, but sometimes I'll allow one to float down to the pond. The fish are on it in just seconds. Lilies. Can't really add anything else about those except that the tropicals are usually treated as an annual. Some people can over winter them inside the house. I tried last year, but a power outtage rendered my efforts useless. I've never tried primrose creeper. I'd be interested to know what you think of that one.

Hi RexAnne, Yes, I have 2 foot boulders being delivered today. They will be set in the edges with the liner behind them and more larger rock behind the boulders. My last pond was not constructed correctly, hence the reason I am here asking for help. So please, anyone just jump in and set me straight! I am taking Kevin's advice about no shelves and digging the deep end a little deeper. I can easily go to 4 foot in the deep end and still be able to fit the liner properly. I am looking at bottom drains online with confusion on which one to purchase. How much difference in an aerated drain than just a simple $50.00 drain? Do they really make that much of a difference in forcing the debree down the drain to justify over $200. I need to make up my mind and get it ordered right away as we here in Michigan are losing our warm days quickly. I do not plan on fish till next spring but would like to at least get it filled and running before the snow flys.

Hello Lily, I agree with Tiffany that "Letting plants wilt on purpose is a dangerous plan." Frequently we overlook the importance of the water we provide our plants. Our tap water is not necessarily the best thing for our plants. Most of the plants on our planet are watered by Mother Nature with rainwater, which is essentially distilled water with a trace of Nitrogen Oxides from atmospheric lightning (and hopefully NOT a lot of industrial contamination. ) Fluorides in our drinking water may be good for our teeth, but Fluorides are not something that is good for our plants. And, although plants need a very small amount of Chlorine, it is questionable whether the amount of Chlorine in our chlorinated drinking water is harmful to our plants. Our situation is not typical. We live in a rented farmhouse in a rural area, and our water supply is from an open well (a hole in the ground about 8 feet in diameter) so Chlorine and Fluorine aren't an issue. But various forms of agricultural contamination are a serious problem, including various drowned creatures that manage to fall into that 8-foot hole. I refuse to drink Possum juice, so we buy drinking water by the gallon from Walmart to drink and cook with. But my indoor plants were a problem. (I grow more than a few zinnias indoors as part of my zinnia breeding hobby.) For my indoor plants, I considered installing a tank to catch rainwater from our gutter downspout. But that scheme had its difficulties, including the fact that rainwater would be contaminated with bird poop and squirrel poop from the roof. I ruled out buying gallons of distilled water from Walmart for our plants, based on how much that would cost. So I considered distilling our possum juice to get purified distilled water. Hospitals, laboratories, universities, and such find it economical to distill their own water and various water distillation units are commercially available. I did some calculating and estimating and concluded that the cost of electricity per gallon to produce the amount of distilled water I would need would be only somewhat less than purchasing distilled water by the gallon. So, back to the drawing board. Some homes find it feasible to install a Reverse Osmosis unit to purify their available water supply. The Reverse Osmosis units (sometimes referred to simply by the initials RO) use only a very small amount of electricity to power an ultraviolet bulb that kills any kind of bacterial contamination. The water from an RO unit is very close in quality to clean distilled water but can cost a lot less. I purchased an RO unit online from a supplier named Perfect Water. My current indoor zinnia project uses about 10 gallons of RO water per day and that will probably at least double as my plants grow in size and number. My current RO unit will be capable of supplying a considerably increased water usage. I do need to purchase a new Reverse Osmosis filter about every year, but I am getting the equivalent of distilled water for my indoor zinnia hobby at a very bargain price. My outdoor gardening has no problem with rainwater supplemented with some of our Possum Juice. For a limited amount of indoor plant watering, you might find Distilled Water by the gallon to be a practical solution, and possibly better for your plants than the tap water from your local city or town water supply. ZM (not associated with any product or vendor mentioned or linked)