New to fish ponds - not completely sure what to do

I was thinking that, too, after I went to bed last night, bypassing the old plumbing and hiding a new hose behind the edge of the wall. Do you have the same pump for the falls and the fountain? If you do, that horrible noise might not be the pump itself, 'cause you'd hear it when the falls are running, right? (Edit: If I actually READ the whole post, I would have seen your answer.:) My bubbler growls a little, too, especially when the flow is turned down, but it is disguised by the splash, so I don't hear it unless I am listening for it. If it isn't your pump, you can get a different head for your fountain that provides more aeration, for less than $30. It threads onto the same upright your current one is on, and they come in several different patterns.

I am not an aquarium keeper, but couldn't you run an airstone in there for aeration, too? I see you have power there on the right side (?)

Sorry to hear about your doggy. Mine is a pain in the rear, but I'd be doing the same thing.
Jen
 
Are you sure there is no access? I am having trouble imagining the piping leaking if it is encased in mortar/cement. With absolutely no room to move, how could it crack? Even then, while the cement would absorb a little water, it would become saturated, and no more water would leak. This makes me think there has to be open space, which means there is access. Is it possible that the whole waterfall structure can lift up? If not, could digging under it grant you access? Could moving the preformed liner open up an access point? Is the ground UNDER the falls wet?
 
That is definately NOT what your fountain/pump should sound like. I have that same/similar one. Mine is quiet and puts out a steady flow of water. Unplug it, take the box out of the water and open it up to get at the pump. You should be able to twist off or unscrew one end of the pump to access the impeller. It sounds like there might be some old gravel or sand in it causing it to not spin freely. Clean it off and the well it fits into. Re-assemble, put back into water and test it out. Hopefully that is all it is. Was the pump ever running when it was not completely submerged? If so, that is bad.

If the pump is bad, Ace Hardware (I'm in Montana..I would guess you have Ace or similar in LA) has fountain/pond pumps you can put in the box for a lot less than buying a new fountain/pump/box combo. Here they range from $40-$60...(I swear I've seen them for less somwhere....maybe Wal-e-world). They are rated at 250-300 GPH which would be plenty to make your fountain do its thing and provide enough aeration. I have my waterfall off too and my fountain definately aerates enough.

We have very similar set ups. I have determined that my waterfall developed a leak due to ice build-up during winter that cause the flagstone to shift. Luckily mine is just piled, so I can re-stack it...still a pain though.

I'll try and post pics soon. Pump tear down and all.

BTW, Nice fish. Mine are still inside....due to my technical problems.
 
Oh, yeah. The pump ran dry for a while. When we closed on the house and went over there on the 1st day, the pond was pretty much dried up with the pump running. :irked: Of course we unplugged in immediately and didn't think anything more about it. We didn't know there was a fish in there. When we refilled it to turn on the waterfall, we saw the fish. And that's what sparked this whole thing.

Now we're looking at another $550 for the dog, so the pump is just going to have to keep grinding away as best as it can. :(
 
They are pretty durable, so I would at least tear it apart and clean it....nothing to loose.
It's funny how similar our situations are. I bought my house..it came with the pond. I came over one day before we closed, and the fish were huddled in about 2 inches of water (pump grinding away)...A hose had popped loose. Anyway, I am still using the same pump.
 
It might not be the actual waterfall PLUMBING that is leaking, like Hebily mentions...it could well be cracks in the wall face or loose rocks that are allowing water to go down behind the falls rather than into the pond.
Jen
 
Oh, boy. It was an eventful night in the pond. The pump has quit, so today we'll be swinging by HD to pick up a new one with our lovely 10% off coupon.

Also, I think I'm down to 4 of the little baby comets thanks to a marauding feline. This is sad, but ultimately, I had accidentally overstocked, so it's probably for the best. :( I just hope it doesn't make a habit of stealing my fish. Little Ponyo could be hiding out somewhere, but I sure couldn't see him anywhere. *sniffle* Let's hope Haku, Hamachi, The Stig, and Jackie Chan Fish are smart enough to hide. I think Saturday AM, I'll pick up another plant to both oxygenate and give them more places to hide.

On the plumbing issues, I don't think that the plumbing is completely encased in rock and mortar. I think on one side it's the rocks, but on the other it's the fence. I believe it may be attached to the fence, but Hebily had a great idea to see if it will lift up or move out or something like that. We'll definitely fiddle around with it this weekend. I'm just relieved now that I know where the leak is. And relieved that we'll be getting a new pump. I think that will really help with things. I'll also take the opportunity to get some tubing. My theory is, that if I can run water AROUND the old plumbing and there's no leaking that will further tell me that the leak is in the plumbing itself as opposed to a crack in the falls like Jennie Beth mentions.

Squabegg, I have cleaned that pump out. It's just toast. Once they run dry for a while, their days are pretty numbered from what I hear. Well, a new pump will mean better water flow, so that's a good thing!
 
You can also get some black netting to put over the surface...it is for keeping birds and beasts out. Fish can still get to the surface, and it is actually hard to see if done right.
 
Pump Woes

Good News: All goldies are present and accounted for. Apparently Ponyo was just hiding.

Bad News: I can't find a stupid pump that works! I bought a pump for a medium sized pond initially and got a little fountain attachment to go with it. Same brand and everything. Well, the parts didn't fit together. So I took it back. The only one that would fit any of the fountain parts was sized for a large pond. Okay. So I get that. Now the darn thing doesn't work! I put it in the box and it runs for about 5 minutes (or less!) and then it shuts down! I've got it out of the box and running now just to move the water and aerate my pond, and so far it's still running.

I think what's going on is that it's moving water faster than the filter box can refill with water. What do I do here? I need that filterbox to filter my pond! I am so frustrated about having to go back to Home Depot YET AGAIN!

Any advice?

ETA: So much for my "Too Powerful of a Pump" Theory. I had it running just on its own outside of the box, and guess what! It quit! :mad2::swear:
 
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Do you have a McLendons in your area? That's where I get most of my pond fittings--pump, filter, hose, etc. If you have different sized hoses and connections, you might try the plumbing or in-ground sprinkler section at the Home Depot. You can often find fittings that will adapt one size to another and use them to connect your not-fitting pieces. Might have to drag them all in to the HD with you to find the pieces, but it is worth a try. Can't think why your pump should be shutting down. It shouldn't be lack of water, because, as you found with your last one, it will run with no water, at least for awhile til it nukes itself. What do you have to do to get it running again? Could it be tripping a breaker somewhere? Or tripping the GFI on your pond power outlet? But then you'd have to be resetting it to get it to run again...

Did you maybe just get a bum pump? What brand is it?
Edit: Is it a Beckett? I was snooping on the HD website and saw they carry that brand. Googled it, but couldn't find a troubleshooting section on the Beckett site
Jen
 
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