Our new Waterfall

[Cinnamon]

Jackie here are the pics of the new waterfall you requested! We didn't get to run power this weekend. The rain just didn't hold out. Maybe next weekend! I think this is really going to be great. Instead of lattice around the bottom we are going to do deck boards like we did on the sides at the top.

[Busy B]

Well aren't you clever! That looks great..never saw one before using wood as a base.

Cin...are you the one whose pond collapsed on KV and then you had to rebuild?

[Jackie Ramo]

I just love the idea that regular steps were used as the base. For some reason this really appeals to me. Can't wait for the water to start coming down.

Yeah Busy and they had to rebuild all through rain and crap...

[Cinnamon]

Busy B that is us! The one and only! Now how could all that happen to more than one person?? :lol: Next we are doing a DIY filter out of a 180 gallon stock tank. I have pics posted here under Filter by Design. Stay tuned for that one. We are going to build a wishing well over it to disguise it. I think it will fit in nicely with everything!

[Busy B]

When you do it, you do it with gusto don't ya?:wink: You and your hubby have worked so hard to put it back together...I remember the pics from KV and you out there in the rain:shock: You're really going to appreciate it when your done and with your very own sweat and maybe tears..:grin:

[Ian]

That is one way to make sure you have a solid foundation for a waterfall. If you use more than one water return pipe(split it up in sections by using T's and valves to regulate flow) you will get the appearance that there is more water flowing down the falls. One return sometimes will not give good water "coverage" down the falls even with a good flow going.

[Cinnamon]

Busy B we have a LOT of BS&T in this project. We are so far in it we can't stop now! :lol: BS&T = Blood, sweat and tears!

Ian there is a FishMate UVc in the new waterfall. It has 2 out flow pipes. We plan on using 2 lines to create water coming down both sides. Thanks for the input!

It was funny how we came upon the idea of the steps. We were at a Garden Center trying to figure out how to get in. We drove around the back and there they were stacked turned upside down. My husband said I got it! He wanted to get a 4 stepper. I told him that would be too big! We didn't know if it would work but what the heck. We did slowly pour 2 - 5 gallon buckets of pond water down to see how it flowed. It was exactly as we invisioned!

[Busy B]

How big of a pump?

I had the vision and then hubby built it his way..It flows but the pump or the line to the falls isn't big enough. I didn't want rapids, just more sound..

[GregBickal]

Interesting approach.

[Cinnamon]

Busy we have a 3800 GPH we are going to split 3 ways with ball valves. The UVc calls for a 1800-2000 GPH pump then it turns right around and says the water should only be 600-800 for proper clarification! We figure we can split that big pump to run the UVc, the floating skimmer for that end and the new stock tank filter.

[Busy B]

Got it all planned out don't cha? :smile:

[Rembrandt]

I'm BACK!!! :wave:
Rembrandt

[Busy B]

Hi Rembrandt...don't know if you've been welcomed...but...!welcome

Glad to have you here!

Cinnamon's pond building buddy?!rofl

[Cinnamon]

Busy Rembrandt is my hubby and pond building buddy haha! :smile: I try or we try to plan everything and hope it works that way! Maybe it will. All we can do is try then if it doesn't regroup. We always have one more pump that is a 1900 GPH. So no matter what I think we will be covered!

[Rembrandt]

Busy,

Thanks for the welcome!

Yeah Busy, Cinn is my true "pond buddy". She and I have sure done our time side by side in the mud "trenches" during our rebuild. !bonk

I pop in from my office. She pops in from the house. I have to watch myself and exercise dicipline here at the office or I will spend most of my time here on this thing.

I am always afraid I am going to miss something really good! Hey, it's all good. I mostly visit the pond construction as ours seems to always be under construction. It keeps growing and growing but it is a lot of fun.

Thanks to you too Jackie. I know you are the official hand holder. You are the guardian angel in our book. I can't wait to get that new waterfall going.
Stupid weather doesn't cooperate though. I don't do electrical work in the rain!

Catch ya later!
Rembrandt/Heiko/(Cinn's better half!)
...always learning!

[Jackie Ramo]

Rembrandt dear, I'm the hand holder at the other site, here I'm the butt kicker !rofl One needs to stretch and show all sides of their personalites.

Still, we are more than happy to have the two of you here.

[Rembrandt]

Thanks again Jackie!

I am going to stop by Lowes this afternoon and see what they offer in the form of shower drains, etc. I just cruise the isles checking out the stuff constantly asking myself... "I wonder-- what if I were to connect this part to that part and .... would it work? If it doesn't, how hard would it be to undo it...." Our shops look like a miniature hardware plumbing store but it is funny that I never seem to have what I need in there. I just keep on plugging. On the plumbing thing I made, I had thought about using it to disperse the water more evenly through the filter rather than just unloading it in a particular spot. I could also vary the sizes of the holes down the length to keep the pressure more even as it gets to the other side of the thing. Similar to the principal used in the large a/c vents in the roofs in the department stores. I'll just have to play with it. Hoping this beautiful weather holds out through the weekend. ;-)

Back to work here!
Rembrandt/Heiko

[Busy B]

And here I was thinking that Texas was all hot and sunny...you guys have sure had your share of rain...

Are you sure you made it big enough? :smile: I can see the two of you out there again, making it bigger :lol:

[ozzyrockman]

Heiko, why don't you like doing electrical in the rain? I prefer to splice live standing bare foot in the biggest mud puddle I can find. :razz: Isn't it amazing how you never have all the right parts when you need them in the middle of a project. :-? Allen

[Jackie Ramo]

See the is a big difference betwee us Rembrandt, I get into the plumbing aisle and have panic attacks... Even with help I have trouble finding two pieces that fit together never mind do something once connected. I'm like that in CD stores to. I go in with a certain artist in mind but once I step in the door I can't remember which one it was...

[Cinnamon]

Busy Texas does get all hot and sunny. I am trying not to rush that part of our weather! And HUMID! This SE corner is like semi-tropical. We get sooo much rain it is unreal sometimes. In the summer we are usually really dry. Year before last I think we topped over 125" of rain in one year WHEW! Every time a cool front comes down it hits all this warm moist air. The results are thunderstorms. Between that and all the moisture coming out of Mexico we are unendated with rain. Enough is enough! :grin:

We should be getting a break in the rain soon. You watch this year we will have drought in the summer! I hope not. Last time was in 1998 I believe and we lost 14 trees on the combined properties of the family. I sure don't want that again.

And Jackie we do THANK YOU!! You have been a mind saver for me!

And Rem *I* am the better half! You KNOW that! !strut

[Rembrandt]

Hey Gang,

Here is a picture of our yard after one of those "150 Year" floods we seem to get every year and half. Makes digging FUN.
Have I mentioned that my sump pump is my friend??

This flood was very similar to the one that caused our pond to collapse.
Fortunately they don't come along very often and everything that we have done to our pond is with this exact scenario in mind. We were just lucky that it happened before we were too far along. This one is built to survive!
....I hope. :uhoh:

[Rembrandt]

....as I said, here is the pic....
Rembrandt

[Jackie Ramo]

Any gators in the lake??? :smile:

Pam, you are making me blush - now stop it!

[Cinnamon]

Rem if you remember last year was the exception. The one that took out the pond then 2 more within 3 weeks just like that! That is when I contacted the County! !rofl

[Cinnamon]

Jackie no gators thank goodness! Believe me though they do live around here! A friend that came by this weekend wants to bring me a baby gator for my pond! I SAID NO WAY! We do know a guy who has a water graden which looks straight out of the magazines that has a baby gator. ACk! But my friend also wants to bring me 2 Oscars and fresh water shark!!! Some friend eh?

[Jackie Ramo]

All my friends want to bring fishing rods!!! :roll:

[Rembrandt]

:-P
Sounds like a couple of friends of ours as well!

....back to work here ;-)

[Busy B]

That flooded pic reminds me of one year when I was a kid...needed a boat to get to the house..

Cin I was going to say you were the better half but I didn't want to start someting...glad you did..:lol:

[Rembrandt]

Rain, Rain, Rain.....
:-x

[Rembrandt]

Guess it is a good day to get plumbing fittings!

[Jackie Ramo]

Snow, snow snow :-x :grin:

[Cinnamon]

Jackie I guess I am thankful it is rain and NOT snow! Bless your heart. When does it usualy thaw out up there? That makes me love the south! Brrrr I couldn't handle that cold.

[Rembrandt]

Snow.... isn't that that white stuff? :lol:
Scoop it up, put it in a paper funnel and pour syrup over it!
You could make millions with it down here.
We just need to figure a way to get it here without melting! :lol:

Rembrandt

[Rembrandt]

I'm sorry for that...
I hang my head in shame. ;)

[Jackie Ramo]

Never mind, I'll send some down to you, watch out for that north wind :twisted: !wow!

[Cinnamon]

Jackie don't you know NOT to listen to him yet? !rofl Here I am trying to send you warm weather! Please.. pretty please don't send it this way! ;-) When Heiko gets home he will get a !bonk :lol:

[Jackie Ramo]

Pretty pretty please send warm weather even if it has rain, its got to be better than this... Rembrandt, coming your way soon so be sure to put out the !welcome sign

[Cinnamon]

Jackie BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR That made me shiver all over!! it is March. If it is any consolation it never reached above 44 F here today with all the rain. I can only imagine what it would be like there. Me nothing personal but.. Better thee than me! :lol: !rofl

[Jackie Ramo]

The news last night said we have 3x's the normal snow on the ground for this time of year.

:backon: So did you get those plumbing fittings?

[Rembrandt]

LOL Jackie,

I did get the fittings. Spent about an hour cruising the plumbing isles. I think they are getting used to me there. The only thing I was not able to find there was a gate valve. They had ball valves but the large ones are just too difficult to operate by comparison. I will check out a couple of local RV places. I brought a little piece of the pipe with me to ensure I bring home the correct size.

I worked out in the shop last night drilling holes and watching the Houston Rockets get BEAT. :-x We had the 180gal tank outside but I moved it into the shop. Still working on the layout. Got lots of ideas but I know only one of them will be the best. Would like to get it right the first time if ya know what I mean.

g'morning Cin! :grin:

[Rembrandt]

Here is what I messed with last night.
I just stare at it, rearrange the stuff, and stare some more.
I think we are getting close though. !dude

Rembrandt.

[Cinnamon]

Here is the power box that sits under the new waterfall structure. Rem wanted me to upload it as I had to resize it.

[Rembrandt]

Hello all :wave:

Wanted to add another pic to the waterfall.
This is the backside of it and what makes it work!
My "Tim Taylor" powered waterfall. It even has a light under it so there won't be any more fumbling around at night with a flashlight trying to plug and unplug stuff in the dark.

Rembrandt
(Thanks Cinn)

[Busy B]

You've really planned this out haven't you...Looking good!

[Cinnamon]

Here is the link to the weekend's progress on the new waterfall. Heiko kind of changed the design but it is for the better. Like we said.. Design on the fly! :D He decided to utilize the space under the plant shelves. He is making me a storage cabinet for my nets and cholorine clarifier and for whatever! He is going to put doors on it also. He did decide to go ahead and get the water run to the pond. We had planned it on the first build and didn't do it. On the rebuild we were going to do it but didn't once again. Now it is better as it runs through the new waterfall and dumps into the pond.

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/pamth@sbcglobal.net/album?.dir=fcd6&.src=ph&store=&prodid=&.done=http%3a//pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/pamth@sbcglobal.net/my_photos

[Cinnamon]

What a weekend! We had our trials but the waterfall and the new DIY filter are in use as I type :D You know my idea of using the big pump (3400 GPH) and splitting it off. We tried that. Have you ever seen a rubber stock buldge out and almost pop? :lol: We had to shut it down in a hurry. You will see on the pics how we have concrete blocks to hold the plywood down. It was raising them up and coming out. So we had to take big pump out. We moved the 2400 GPH to the skimmer which slowed the original waterfall down tremendously. So it was a fun weekend! We turned everything on around 11 pm Saturday night. We found we had a leak at the filter <sigh>. So Sunday morning we drain the filter and fix the problem. The fittins on the line that goes from the pump were not tightened inside the filter.


Here are the pics!

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/pamth@sbcglobal.net/album?.dir=fcd6

[Busy B]

:grin: I think the time spent building a pond develops patience....the two of you seem to have alot!! Half the fun tho huh? :grin:

[Jackie Ramo]

Well I'm glad you had refreshments while working !strut The new waterfall looks like it is going to need that bigger pump for good flow. Would larger connecting pipes solve the problem? Seems water was going in faster than it could go out? Frustrating to be sure. Still its running now, lots of time to play with it.

[Cinnamon]

Busy B first off about the patience, I try to have a lot of it. Sometimes it isn't there! :lol:

Jackie we have ball valves on everything to adjust the flow and put it where needed. The new waterfall has the FishMate UVc in it. It is set for the level of clarification.

The fish loves the changes. After things settled down with us working on it they came and scoped it out. The run under the trickling waterfall. The pipe that comes down from the filter has a pretty good current. They will swim round and round that pipe! :lol:

Heiko still is amazed how fish like to play!

[Rembrandt]

Hey all.
Well, finally back at work where I can get some rest! :roll:
Jackie, I had a 3rd leg on the custom divider I fabricated that I had to cap off. Only after I capped it off did I realize I didn't leave enough to tie back into it. Is ok though, I have enough fitiings, pipe, etc to redo and improve. Our place looks like a hardware/plumbing supply store. I will call this the 1st prototype and everyone knows the 1st prototype is never released to the public. :confused:

After chasing just a couple of leaks, everything (knock on wood) seems to be running well and holding. The flow over the new waterfall is actually quite pretty good. I guess we could "rough it up" with rocks if we needed more visual enhancement. The time spent leveling and re-checking and checking it again paid off. We are definately seeing the light at the end of the tunnel and are pretty sure it isn't a freight train! :lol:

More posts as we keep chugging along....

Rembrandt

[Jackie Ramo]

It may just look like it isn't flowing in the pictures. Clear water over black liner doesn't make that great a photo :D The two of you are doing a great job and we are all learning from your experience. Keep it coming.

[Busy B]

Film at 11:00....:smile:

[Rembrandt]

...still working on the new waterfall. Everything is still running and seems to be running well. The water is starting to clear up and is noticeably better. I guess the pond is recovering from all the activity this past weekend.
I worked on the new waterfall last night flooring the underside cabinets for storage and finally got the underside completed. Now I just need to finish the outer panels and build my cabinet doors.

....well, back to work and reality here!
Rembrandt
(I'd rather be working on the KOI pond.....) ;)

[Jackie Ramo]

I thought Pam was the woodworker of the family ;)

[Rembrandt]

Hey Jackie,
She IS the woodworker. Since the project is outside, I guess she figures there's not too much I could tear up? :???:
It is sheetrock that I have been banned from !bonk ...and that is another story. Seriously tho Jackie, we work together as a team. :smile:

Just spoke with her a moment ago and she is bouncing some ideas around for the 40 watt sterilizer.... Pam said UPS brought us our new pump today so we got work to do when I get home. I better "git".

Rembrandt

[Jackie Ramo]

I'm seriously considering banning Smith from painting... but that to is another story.

Still it will be nice to have the storage there so convenient to the pond. I had storage installed under the bay window at back but didn't realize that it would be frozen shut this time of year. Not a good place for the seeding trays its seems. Actually a sharp blow with the hammer got me in. !strut

[Michael R Dolliver]

I like the wood effect, and have been trying to get there for about a year. I read somewhere, I think where we have to be concerned with the way the wood is ttreated. What type of wood are you using. I would like to go with a treated decking and I understand they no longer treat it with what ever it was that was not safe around fish ponds. Does anyone know of the standard decking you can get at any home depot or lowes will effect the phishes
Mike for Sandy

[Jackie Ramo]

If I was using wood near the pond water I'd spring for the pastic wood. It looks great, no splinters and in 30 years will still be there and not need replacing. No worries about what it was treated with. Yes an upfront cost but you know you won't be replacing it any time soon.

[Cinnamon]

Michael the old decking was treated with Arsenic. That is what killed the fishies. The new is suppose to be safe. When I first got into this I was told by the pond guy that the wood manufacturers says it is safe but the pond people say it is harmful. He has a lot of treated wood around his ponds. He said as long as you can let it dry out good before placing around the pond. The way we have it set up the run off even from rain goes away from the pond. The bridge we have over the pond is treated. It has been up this time 3.5 months and no effects.

[Cinnamon]

I can't believe how clear our water is now! It is unbelievable it cleared up that fast! I guess with the new filter and the UVc it is going to work! YEA! I can even see the pea gravel at the bottom now that the fish have spit out of the plants! It started clearing after 24 hrs. When we set the new filter up on Saturday it was pea soup. You could barely see the fish when they were at the bottom.

[Cinnamon]

Michael if you want to see our complete pond project follow the link below. We shoveled the first dirt in late Aug 2004. We went with treated wood as our entire landscape is treated wood and timbers. It just fit the landscape we already had.

http://photos.yahoo.com/pamth@sbcglobal.net

[Rembrandt]

Hi Michael.
Thanks for checking out our project.

The wood over the bridge was pretty much dried before applied. It is the "juicy" stuff that you want to shy away from. I like the idea of using plastic but I have so much treated lumber used throughout our yard projects, I hated to start using a different type now in this project. Kinda like changing the color and texture of bricks when you are nearly finished. It would work but something about woule just look a little odd.

When I built (still building) the new waterfall, I incorporated a slight rearward tilt to ensure that any foreign water runs away from the pond and not into it. This is great when watering the plants, etc, or when encountering that unavoidable accidental spillage. Cinn came up with the idea of a "speed-bump" around the pond during early construction. This also stops unwanted water and debris from entering. Water is neatly channeled away from the pond.

....lotsa work. lotsa enjoyment.
Rembrandt

[Cinnamon]

Heiko finished the cabinets under the new waterfall this weekend. We can put a big DONE stamp on it! I uploaded the pics if you want to check them out! Scroll to the bottom of the pics.
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/pamth@sbcglobal.net/album?.dir=fcd6&.src=ph&store=&prodid=&.done=http%3a//pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/pamth@sbcglobal.net/my_photos

Now this weekend we start on the wishing well! After that we do the flagstone. I think I am ready to be finished with it all! Then I can have an Open Pond Party :grin:

[Jackie Ramo]

Another step done. Looks good and will be convenient to have the shelves for all those pond things and ponds.

[Cinnamon]

Very true Jackie. I have my nets in there and my watering wand also. Heiko has me a water faucet under the double doors. That is also my valve to put water in the pond. It makes it nice! I keep my water hose in there as well. He has it where very little critters can enter the cabinet space!

[Jackie Ramo]

!wow! !wow! What kind of critters do you expect to crawl in there??? little or not?

[Busy B]

You two must work good together :grin:...that's alot of project to undertake! Isn't it nice to see it get closer tho huh?

[Cinnamon]

Busy it is nice. It will be even nicer when it is finished! I am really getting tired lately. Our goal is to have it ALL complete by the first weekend in June. We have some friends coming from Wisconsin coming that weekend. I am keeping my fingers crossed the weather and our bodies hold out! :lol:

[Jackie Ramo]

One thing about a deadline, it makes things happen.