600G Pond Help

[bgwoods4]

Hello all! I've been lurking on MFK forum for a few weeks formulating some ideas because I've finally reached the point where I'm sick of upgrading tanks and equipment for my red ear slider and decided to build an above ground pond in the back yard that measures 8'x4'x2.5'. I've based my design on one that I saw posted on here made from landscaping timbers and just wanted some feedback on the components I plan to purchase. I'll be using a 45mil Firestone pond liner and was curious about what your thoughts are on the use of the underlayment that you can purchase with it for an additional price. I'm building over garden soil/grass and putting a layer of leveling sand down inside the structure, so its not rocky. I'd rather save the $50 and put it towards other components if its not necessary.

As far as pumps go, I was looking at either the Tetrapond DHP models or a higher volume Pondmaster mag drive pump. I've not seen many knocks on the Tetras, but I have seen quite a few reviews of the Pondmasters talking about the failure of the impellers and having to replace them occasionally.

For filtration I've zeroed in on the Tetrapond Bio-Active Pressure Filters w/UV, but am open to suggestions.

Another question I have is if its overkill to use pumps and filters that are rated way higher than the volume of my pond. The price differences don't seem to be very much when comparing both pumps and filters so I'd lean towards the "bigger is better" philosophy unless there is a good reason why not to do this.

Thank you in advance for your feedback/advice/input. Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

[CairnsLocal]

For underlay i used carpet. I got used carpet from a carpet store for free. They were thrilled that i would take it off their hands.

As for filtration, you can never have too much.

 

[bgwoods4]

So I've got the frame built and corner trim installed. Picked up some carpet remnants for underlayment from my friend's carpet store and am just waiting for my pond liner to be delivered. Now I just need to decide on what to use for a pump and filter. Anyone have any good first hand experience/input for a pump/filter setup for a 600 gallon pond?

 

[duanes]

I've been using Laguna pumps the last couple years, and find they work well.
The surrounding casing helps keep debris out of the volute, which extends the life of the impeller, and is easily hosed off when debris does clog it up. They also use a bit less power than some pumps out there, without compromising flow rate.
I have a 2000 gph model in my 500 gal pond.

I bring the pumps in and run them when overwintering fish in a pool in the basement, and they are quiet compared to some others I have used in the past.

 

[bgwoods4]

So I put the pond liner in this last weekend...WHAT A PAIN! More specifically, folding the corners was very difficult for me to do. Not sure how so many people got them to come out so perfectly. I went to the hardware store to pickup some tubing so I can plumb everything and not a single place stocked 1 1/4" ID or 1 1/2" ID tubing that my pump is setup for. So, I ordered it and should have it by this weekend sometime. In regards to the liner, it seems most people put some water in to set up the liner, but I didn't want to have standing water in the thing for over a week and have algae build up. Has anyone else had a difficult time folding the corners? I've already trimmed off the excess so I'm pretty much stuck at this point unless I want to drop some coin on another liner (which I don't really want to do). I basically got to the 'its good enough' point after messing with it for 3 hours.