Well... you don't see many answers cause we all have PONDS. [grin] For a pump suggestion you can't go wrong with a Pondmaster pump. They are a very efficient design, with the electronic part all sealed with an opening where the impeller goes. The impeller is the part that wears out after 3+ years, and they sell replacements. Keeping it clean is the only maintenance, mine needed to be disassembled and wiped out this spring after laying dormant at my pond bottom all winter. I don't expect to have to touch it till next year. This is my 4th year with it. The original impeller died shortly after I bought it but the store I bought it from did a warranty replacement for it and that has run fine. I even have one in my hot tub that pumps hot chemical laden water that ran 2 years before needing a new impeller, now on its 3rd year. You will need a pre-filter to keep it from sucking up leaves, twigs, and it is also best to keep sand out of it too. The pre-filter will be your main maintenance headache as it will need frequent cleaning (which you will know when the fountain turns to a trickle).

....your gonna have to fill it in some how. Thats ALOT of rock. I'd hate to see your move the rock in and then later have to move it out, but you might have to now. I dont know how big of a water fall your want, I'd purchase a large plastic horse tank or something similar to use as a catch basin for your waterfall and to hide your return pump.....then just build your waterfall from that up and fill the rest in with rock......Filling that all in with rock...you got quit a job ahead of you.

I've had several pondless water features and they are an absolute joy. As long as you have power near by they can be very easy. Smallest -------- Bury a 5 gal bucket, or smaller, so the rim is slightly below the surrounding ground. Place small fountain pump in the bottom of the bucket. Remove any filter. Connect a length of hose to the pump out flow. Put some bricks around the pump to form a opening around the pump. Buy a piece of pond liner. I like EDPM but anything will do since it is protected from UV. The piece can be any size you like but the bigger you make it the less splash will be a problem. 3'x3' would cost less than $10. Cut a small circle in the liner maybe 4" in diameter. Position the opening over the bucket and kind of push the liner down into the bucket. Fill in the bucket with rocks which will hold the liner in place. More gaps between the rocks the better. Put dirt under the liner so it slopes to the bucket. Can be flat, slope away is no so good. Berm around the outside to create a lip. Test with water to make sure the water ends up in the bucket. Cover the liner with more rocks, any size and shape. Build your water falls anywhere you want on top of the liner. Med to Large ------------ Basically just like a regular pond. Dig the hole, cover with pond liner. I like EDPM. Cut holes in a 5 gal bucket to let water in. I use a hole saw, 1" or so. Soldering iron will work, torch, or even matches. Nothing fancy. Bucket goes into the pond ideally so the top of the bucket is just below where the rock surface will be. Brick in the bottom of the bucket, pump on top of the bucket. Plumb the pump to wherever the water feature will be. Remove the pump's filter. It serves almost no purpose in a regular pond and absolutely no purpose in a pondless feature. Put the top onto the bucket. I like the screw on type. For snap on I'd just lay the top on for easy access. Fill in around the bucket with good size rocks, hopefully larger than the holes in the bucket. Fill in the pond with rock. I like 2" river rock, sometimes called drain rock. Build your waterfall anywhere you like. Pretty easy to move it later if you think it can be improved. Build it so it will drain when the pump is off and you won't have algae problems. Plants ------ In both setups you can add potted plants that like wet feet. A few plants can really improve the look. Water Source ------------ You can just top off with a garden hose as needed. Or for top of the line... I put a livestock water tank float valve in the pond. Less than $15 at feed stores. I connect that to a sprinkler valve on a timer. I set the timer for about 2 min each day. Water is only added if the float is down enough and the sprinkler timer is on. So if the float fails the worst I do is overflow for less than 2min which is fine. Here in Phoenix 2 min a day is more than enough. Pondless features use very little water. Electric -------- You want GFI protection. For top of the line... Another nice thing is a remote switch. Cost like $10-15 at Home Depot etc... One end plugs into the outlet and the pump plugs into the other end. Little remote control to turn it on and off. Just make sure the plump isn't too large for the switch. For crazy cool... I use an Intermatic lighting controller. I set it to start the pump just before we wake up, off when we go to work, on just before we come home, etc... Way cool but pricy at around $150 for everything. Maintenance ----------- I've been running 2 of these features for more than a year and I've done nothing. For most ponds zero maintenance means a few hours a week. But these pondless deals I've done zero, nothing. I haven't added a drop of water, the auto fill does it. I don't even turn them on and off the timer does it. No string algea since it isn't on 24/7. Most of the water is in total darkness so unicell algae doesn't really grow very well. No exposed water so no mosquitoes. You can put a clorhine tablet in the water once a week if you want but I not had the need. Leaves are no problem. Rake them of the top like the rest of the yard. Birds ----- Birds love the sound of moving water. If you make a place for them to bath you'll have lot's of birds. An easy way is to place the bowl from a bird bath on some rocks and run the pump hose into the bowl. If you drill a hole thru the bowl at its lowest point to run the hose thru you'll hide the hose. No real need to seal the hole since a small leak is fine. When the pump is off the water will drain out back down the hose so the bowl is empty and no algae or mosquitoes will form.

Susan, I have something similar planned for an area in front of my house. My plan was to use heavy hogwire and curve it (sort of shallow bowl shape) to put on top of the reservoir, with the bottom of the bowl dipping down into the water. Then narrower gauge screening on top of that. Then rocks on that. In my mind, it will create a natural type of beach on the edges. That way there will be just a little water over the rocks that the birds can bathe in. And the little critters can drink from. I think that the circulation of the water will help prevent mosquitos. If not, then I guess the mosquito dunks or the MicrobLift mosquito treatment would be in order. They are supposed to be safe for wildlife. Or it could be flushed out once a day or every couple of days. Since there aren't any fish, the chlorine won't hurt anything but the mosquito larva. Anne