I'm thinking about making a waterfall

[wiperhunter2]

That goes into a pool, does anyone know if there are a type of fish that can keep the algae down in these small pools?
WH2
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[tubeN2]

The algae maintenance is rather easy in almost any sized pond from 100,000 gallons all the way down to 50 gallons. Most of us will use a fish called the Hypostomus plecostomus. Aka: Algae Eater, Armored Catfish or the Pleco Catfish.

They can be purchased around the size of your little finger and will achieve a size of about 20 inches. The are excellent for aquariums and ponds as they facilitate the cleaning of algae.

They are not expensive at all and I don't have any recipes for them since they have little nutritional value. [cool]
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[wiperhunter2]

Great, I'll keep that in mind. I'm not sure if I'll put fish in it but I wanted some ideas about what to buy, if I did. Thanks
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[tubeN2]

There are many commercial algae treatments and preventers. Some are plant and fish safe while others are for just a crystal clear pond with fora and fauna.

What type of waterfall are you planning? Which skimmer and filter are you also looking at?
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[wiperhunter2]

I've just been looking so far, I have a few ideas. I want the water coming off the top of a rock, then dropping about 2ft, into a small pool, then going from there into a larger pool, about 1ft below the upper pool. I'm not sure of the exact size of either pool. I guess I need to look at some web sites that sell those pools.
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[tubeN2]

I usualy recommend that if people want the chance to put in plants and fish but are not decided yet, that they use a biofalls set up to start the aquaculture with the beneficial bacteria and enzymes.

If you never put fish or plants and have the biofalls, you can always change your mind and add them later without harm to the plants or fish.

Some people like to put in the Water Hyacinths and Hardie lillies without fish. That is fine too.
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[wiperhunter2]

I'll look into that, I've never heard of biofalls[:/].
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[tubeN2]

They are pretty cool. I used to install them in a company that I worked for. The waterfall basin would have a layer of lava rock (which enriches the enzymes) and then 3 layers of permeable fiber pads.

The pads would help the beneficial bacteria to grow better.

Some people wanted a crystal clear pond without chemicals and other wanted fish with plants along with clear water. The Bio Falls were the way to go regardless of what they wanted.[laugh]
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[wiperhunter2]

Sounds like I have a lot to learn about these ponds/waterfall setups. I was just thinking about how nice it would be to go out my back door and be able to hear the water flowing or running off the rocks into a small basin. This is going to be an interesting project from the sounds of it.
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[tubeN2]

There is a minimal science to achieving even the type of sound or a frequency of the soothing splash in the water. You can achieve a more broken up yet lighter sound when the water is run over slate and directly to the water whereas a line of mounting of pebbles for the water to ripple through will cause more aeration and a slightly scattered sound.

Either of these methods also change the sound when you let the water fall on a flat rock in the pond or rocks that are slightly stellate or jagged.

Some people prefer the sound of a single pour of water right down the middle while allowing it to pour directly to the water below. This action also creates slightly more aeration for any fish that you might put in the water whether it be Plecostomus or other types of algae eaters. Feeder goldfish survive well on this type of aeration too.

Depending on the size of your pond, the algae eaters can get up to 18 inches depending upon the species. I have had feeder goldfish get up to 6 inches in some of my ponds.[cool]
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[wiperhunter2]

Good to know, I do have some flat shell type rocks that I plan on using but I don't think it is slate. I'll try taking a pic of it to show you. I do plan on using some local rock to form the top of the water fall. Is there a certain height where it sounds best when water is falling? I was thinking 2 ft would be good but I can make it 3 ft, if that would have a better sound, when it hits the rocks below.
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[tubeN2]

A waterfall that falls onto rocks, only betters itself with height if aeration is your goal and a slightly louder tone is desired.

Before you build your waterfall portion, you can get some sample sounds froma 5 gallon bucket of water and pour it on your desired rocks at 2 feet, 3 feet and even 4 feet just so you can see how the sound changes slightly.

You may like the sound better on a rounded rock, slightly blunt rock and one a flat rock. Different people are soothed by different frequencies that are generated by these types of waterfall sounds.[cool]
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[wiperhunter2]

Well, I did not get as much done on my waterfall pool as I was hoping this year but I did find a pool at a yards sell and I got it installed. Next year, I plan on building the waterfall, here are a few pics I took after I got the pool in, the pile of dirt beside the pool is where I plan on putting the waterfall. Question, the pool came with this plastic box that has round white plastic pieces in it, any idea what they are or what they are used for? I'm assuming they are some sort of filter, but with them just randomly laying in the bottom of box, I have no idea how they work.
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[tubeN2]

Looks like a nice install.

I imagine you will be searching for a small heater to go in there for cold weather.

You can purchase small heaters at your local fish supply.[cool]
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[wiperhunter2]

So what do you think about the plastic pieces in the third pic, any idea what they are?
I don't plan on putting a heater in it, really no need for one, unless sometime in the future, we decide to put fish in it. Thanks for the info though.
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[tubeN2]

Those plastic pieces look like holders for the lava rocks or other media that you may put in them to help grow the beneficial bacteria and enzymes.

Some of the ponds that I have built have filter media sheets and permeable bags with the lava rock inside to hold the media from free floating off. Others have the media in smaller containers such as your plastic pieces in photo 3. The heavier the media and rocks means the more flow of water you can have without loosing your biofalls.

Lighter media requires less flow so that the filter media will remain stable and not float away. [fishon]
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[wiperhunter2]

OK, that makes sense, it must have been a low flow systems with that filter media because thats all that was in the system.
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[tubeN2]

What kind of pump does it have? Sometimes people will pack the other media holders around the suction end of the pump just to keep the fish feces from being stirred around by the fish.
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[wiperhunter2]

I think thats exactly what they did. The pump had a fine mesh net around it and those white plastic pieces were around the pump in that little tub, that in one of the pics. Here is a pic of the pump name.
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[tubeN2]

That is starting to make sense now that I see that you have a UV pump.

The UV helps to clarify the water by killing certain bacteria. The plastic pieces are there to collect wast so that the pump can work better on the clarification.

Those are good for bigger goldfish or smaller Koi. You may be able to keep Chubs or even Alewives for bait as well as crawdads.

Since it does not have a heater, that will just be a fairweather bait keeper. [sly]
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