swallowscott

Do you thin ka 3" bottom drain and pipework would be big enough as they are cheaper?? i have no trees near my pond so should not get to much debri entering which could block it up,

Plus i will only be using it as a waste pipe when the bottom of the pond is dirty

koimaster

because of the size gallonage of your pond 3 " should be fine i would run it staight to the filter and run it 24/7 from the bottom drain

swallowscott

the man atthe aquatic shop said the submersible pump i got would not be adequate to use the bottom drain 24/7 to the filter

koimaster

if you run a ball valve before the filter you can control the flow thats how to get around it

swallowscott

ahhh i see now, what he meant was if the the water from the filter isnt being put back into the pond fast enough then to much water would be coming through the bottom drain and over flow my filter??

so if i forget the slid valves and go for a ball valve and set it to the right opening which is equilivent to the pump i will be fine?

i have a submersible pump and filter, if i put an empty water butt connected to my filter system via a pipe and sat my submersible pump in there then returned it to the pond? as it would effectively be the last chamber of my filter?? would it work?

i have attached a picture so you can se what i mean (forget pond shape its just as an example and easier to draw)

koimaster

ball vavles are abit more cost but the seals on the side vavles are rubbish you could use them but the seals tent to go within a year to two. and i personally thing that you have that little more control using ball valves.

plan looks good if you could get a round 55 gal drum before your main filter for a vortex this will remove alot of soilds before it hits the filter freeing it up to work alot better