Please help me with this

[TheCanuck]

Hey guys. Well my girlfriends mom has a 125 gallon pond. Its a plastic tub or a plastic pond if you get what i mean. We want to make the pond bigger by adding another bigger plastic tub connecting the two. I would like ideas on how to acomplish this. I was thinking a tube to connect the two and have a pump in the lower pond ( its down hill a bit) Pump back into the higher pond and have it water fall back down. Ideas would be great

 

[burntrubber]

Hey ya, my first post. Sticking my head in the bushes here.

You could put a pile of rocks and lay pond liner over it between the 2 tubs. Idea is to get the water flowing from the top pond to the bottom pond over the 'waterfall' you just created. You'd probably need to shift the rocks abit so the water doesn't flow elsewhere. The overflow from the top pond has got to be at water level not at the bottom or it will drain out if the pump's off.

 

[Muske]

Depending on how big the new pond is going to be, you could use the exsisting pond as the filter for the new one. Think of the upper pond as a fuge. Working with the slope, let a gravity feed return from the upper pond to flow into the lower section. It can be as easy as a couple of bulkheads and a piece of pipe. A pump in the lower pond flows up to the top pond and be filter there instead of actually buying a pond filter like a canister or bead for example. You could also connect the two by a stream, but that is going to be mch harder since you will need to attach the liner to the uppper pond some how. The low side is no problem since it can just drape over the edge of the pond.

Those pre-formed ponds usually have a shelf running the whole perrimater. Make that shelf planted with all sorts of plants to become the filter. I can help you w/plant selection down the road. I would also suggest a bottom drain in the upper pond as a clean out. That upper pond will act as a settling tank and detritus will build up on the bottom. An other bulkhead in the bottom will make for super easy WC's and also get rid of accumulation of debris.

Is she planning on stocking the pond(s)?

Is there a back-up plan such as a basement to over winter the fish? I say this because even if you get a large (300gal.+) preformed pond, that is still going to be really small and sketchy for winter time in Canuck land.

 

[CalgaryAC]

I can recomend a product that would allow you to seal the piece of liner between the two preformed shells. although it would honestly be easier just to use a piece of firestone or aquascape liner (same thing with a different name on it) and not use a shell.

http://www.fishfarmsupply.ca/mm5/me...ode=FFS&Product_Code=H55B&Category_Code=liner

honestly this product is just a NON ashphalt roofing material. and is much cheeper at home depot or another hardware store.

I have used this on some pretty horrific ponds that I can't believe people charged money to make for people. but that is a different story

as for attaching the two with a piece of pipe. I have seen it done and it does work depending on your deffintion of work. when a pond does not use over flow falls to send water in the intended direction you run a few risks. if any debris plugs that line for any reason your pond will leak. I am guessing with a preformed shell you will have a pump sitting on the bottom of the pond? then you will drain your lower pond and run the risk of killing fish.

Muske's idea of using a settling pond with a drain should be the standard for most ponds. this system is a fantastic way of hidding a very good mechanical filtration system.

keep in mind as long as you build pools using a shingle type effect you will not run the risk of leaking. so if you find the rubber material too expensive you can extend the stream (if you were to connect with a stream) under the complete upper shell and have the water flow over the shell. But then there is no need for the shell. unless you did not want to use rocks to hold the liner.