Thanks everyone. I'm making progress. Bought a shallower heavy duty rubber small animal feed bowl (6 gal), a more reliable pump, and finally figured out that the conflicting advice was based on my having a fountain without an integral reservoir. The two nursery people I spoke to couldn't understand my confusion because we were talking about different kinds of fountains. I will drain the current too big bucket, but I have to tell you the vole that fell into a month ago sank to bottom in one state and arose again-still very dead- in another. It has got to come out of there! I have to overcome my squeamishness, put a big throwaway container in there and pick up the meat and toss it all in the woods. Then I can proceed. You guys are so great. I would have abandoned this project a while ago without you. idabean/Marie

The following may be overkill, but it helped me with our fountain several years ago. I dug it up from the New England forum. If you search that forum under "installing fountains" there are four posts and these were in answer to my desperate questions. Marie clip this post email this post what is this? see most clipped and recent clippings Posted by carl18 z6 NJ (My Page) on Tue, Jul 7, 09 at 19:53 O.K. Take a deep breath. . .kick the vole out of the way, and let's start over again from the beginning. Years ago, when I tried my first fountain/watefall, I was just as flummoxed as you are now, but eventually I got the hang of it. . .it's really no more complicated than installing a supercharged flush toilet or replacing the mainfold in a '54 T-Bird. . .but I jest, of course. . . Real solutions: we need to know the exact dimensions of your fountain. . . specifically, how deep is the "bowl" on top of the pedastal?. . .and how high is the fountain from the bottom of the pedastal to the top of the fountain? My guess is that the bowl itself isn't deep enough to hold the pump (which MUST be submerged, as everyone has pointed out), and the plastic (or rubber) tube which supplies water to the fountain from the pump must run down the center of the pedastal. Are we guessing right so far? If this IS the case, your only solution is a reservoir SEPARATE from the founain (which is why I prefer larger fountains where the catch-basin is an integral part of the fountain). . .personally, I would find the idea of an adjacent bucket (or reservoir) unappealing; you were actually on to the most logical and efficient solution with your five-gallon-pail. . .you just need to expand and refine that idea. Here's a cheap-and-dirty idea I've used over a dozen times in the past years for simple waterfalls, overflowing birdbathes, or fountains just like yours. You need to create a small pool to act as your water reservoir: my favorite comes from an animal supply source (such as AgWay) and it's a small watering trough for horses or other animal, very tough, 24" round, black vinyl bowl, about 8" deep - an alternate, would be a black vinyl mortar tray (from HD or Lowe's), the kind you mix concrete in, which are about 6" deep and usually rectangular in shape (roughly 24"x30"). Sink this vinyl reservoir into the ground, so it sits FLUSH with the ground level - it helps to dig your hole, tamp the bottom really hard, and fill with water (and let it drain away). . .this helps to keep the much heavier reservoir (filled with water) and the massive concrete fountain from sinking further down once it's installed. O.K. This next step is important. We don't want the reservoir to remain FLUSH with ground level, because dirt and rain run-off would tend to spill into it. So: we pour about an inch of clean sand into our hole-in-the-ground and set the vinyl reservoir on TOP of that. . .now, your black vinyl pool is sitting a perfect 1" (approximately) ABOVE ground level, which is exactly where we want it ! Take a sturdy piece of scrap wood that is STRAIGHT (a 3-foot section of 2x4 is ideal), lay it across the edges of your reservoir in at least three different directions, and with a carpenter's level on top check to see if your pool is completely level. Here's why we used the sand: if it's not quite level, you can tap on the bottom of the reservoir to gently lower one edge - the sand will give just enough to allow this - using your balled fist or a flat brick. Gentlly, now - you don't want to over- compensate ! Once everything is level, backfill with dirt around the vinyl basin (since you obviously had to dig the original hole a bit wider than necessary) and tamp that backfill firmly, being careful NOT to disturb the reservoir - water this backfill well (and gently) until really saturated, and let it all soak in well (maybe an hour or so) before proceeding. Now, we need to support the fountain. Using concrete bricks or patio blocks (HD or Lowes - the perfectly flat, machine-made ones that will stack securely) you create a "piling" in the center of your reservoir on which to stand your pedastal/fountain. Depending on the depth of your reservoir, and/or the thickness of your bricks, you might need only one layer (which would mean the pedastal base would be underwater - that's my preference), or perhaps two. Remember, if you use THREE piles of bricks instead of just the minimally necessary TWO, you'll make the pedastal/fountain steadier, thanks to the tripod effect). Your small little pump can rest on its side anywhere you like around the perimeter of the reservoir, with the power cord snaking up and over the edge and running off to the power source. By placing a small piece of slate (or a flat dark stone) on TOP of your pump, it won't be visible once it's underwater. Stand your pedastal/pump in place, hook up the pump tubes, fill carefully with water, and you should be good to go. Try flipping the switch and see how it works. . .your only job now is to keep the water level in the reservoir, if not full, AT LEAST covering the pump. Finish off the edge of your reservoir/pool with irregular slates around the OUTSIDE edge, resting solely on the ground, but abutting the vinyl pool - since these slates are roughly 1" thick, they are about level with the edge, and a SECOND layer of slates can perfectly jut out over the edge of the pool and disguise it's presence. You could easily substitute stone, bricks, or whatever suits your fancy. . . As for cleaning, I rarely ever need to clean my reservoir/pools (save for the occasional stray leaf or twig) If suicidal voles tend to start hurling themselves into your pool, why, just do what I'm sure Marty will be doing with all the voles in HER new pools - she'll be dipping them in kerosene and having little festive floating votives in her fountains ! Yes, at the end of the season, I siphon all the water out of the pool, remove (and clean off) the pump for indoor winter storage, and then stretch a small, dark brown or black tarp OVER the fountain and all the way to the outside edge of those slates surrounding the pool - in fact, remove that second layer, stretch your tarp and re-apply that second layer of slate to hold the tarp in place. The idea is to keep as much water/snow/wind-blown-debris out of the pool as possible; it not only makes Spring hook-up easier, but there's no freezing/thawing to stress the concrete or vinyl. Hate the tarp? One friend buries hers under a mound of pine boughs; someone else I know built an elaborate minature shed/house which drops in place OVER the whole pool/fountain, complete with little translucent windows that light up ! I told her all she needed was smoke coming out of the chimney - I'll bet she adds it this next winter. . . How long do these vinyl pools last? Well, I can only tell you that one I installed nearly 15 years ago is still going strong. How dense was I about pools/fountains when I started? My major concern was how I was going to extend the water lines from the house, underground some fifty feet to the pool's location - it was quite some time before I realized that pools and fountains require a POWER source, not a water source. . .duh ! Thank heaven I figured that out BEFORE I called a plumber. . . Carl P.S. Any questions? Let 'em rip. . . RE: How to install a fountain....desperately clip this post email this post what is this? see most clipped and recent clippings Posted by ctlady z5 CT (My Page) on Tue, Jul 7, 09 at 21:09 RE: How to install a fountain....desperately clip this post email this post what is this? see most clipped and recent clippings Posted by idabean 5A (My Page) on Marie Posted by idabean 5A (My Page) on Tue, Jul 7, 09 at 21:40 RE: How to install a fountain....desperately clip this post email this post what is this? see most clipped and recent clippings Posted by cloud_9 z6 CT (My Page) on Wed, Jul 8, 09 at 21:21 clip this post email this post what is this? see most clipped and recent clippings Posted by nhbabs (My Page) on Thu, Jul 9, 09 at 18:43 Idabean - My DH is the one in the family with hands-on practicality, and I have slowly absorbed a tiny amount of his wisdom and experience . . . Get a wet-dry shop vacuum to clean out the bottom of the reservoir, and the extension cords needed to reach as far as the pond if necessary. I have seen pictures of fountains with reservoirs filled with water smoothed pebbles or with a heavy duty screen covered by water smoothed pebbles. I guess you'd need a larger reservoir if you have pebbles filling it, but it's a nice effect. Here's a blog entry on fountains, and the 11th photo has what I'm trying to describe. Michelle may have directions somewhere else in the blog, but I didn't go hunting for that. Here is a link that might be useful: garden fountains - Michelle Derviss' blog

I used retaining wall block and my pond is half above and half below ground .I use a 2150 harbor freight pump for 4 years now and it works great .I have been ponding 11 years now and have not lost a fish and have 2 koi over 2 ft long besides 11 other fish .If you are putting it in the front make sure there are no restrictions on depth and even having a pond .Also make sure your homeowners insurance and mortgage company have no problems with it also .Submerged lights have a tendency to leak and also make the water hot .

We used to have a small waterfall in our pond, and there was a filter which hosed water back into the pond, via the 'waterfall' which was a stream-like affair, running down on 3 levels, before the water went back into the main pond. One bright spring day, having bought some watercress for salad, from a supermarket, I noticed that some stems had roots forming, but I knew that watercress prefers moving water (My SiL lives near a watercress farm in Hampshire) so I stuck these stems into the top section of the waterfall, and placed a flat stone on top to keep them there. Within 3 weeks, I had to pick and divide the clump, and keeping an amount in the top section for the duration of the summer, gave us plentiful supplies of fresh, peppery watercress, AND - it filtered the water amazingly well!