Connecting multiple ponds

So I have been just a tiny bit massively jammy tonight, and gotten hold of all of these:



For £5! I have another larger one too. My plan is to connect all five preforms in a chain leading to the main pond (as seen in my big specimen plant thread).

I have no idea how to do this!

Obviously as they aren't designed to be connected, they don't have overflow lips so I need to figure out some way to do that. I don't want to go down the siphon route as I want the water level self-regulating in case the power goes out. I will be raising each one a little so they are stepped to help that flow.

Any suggestions? I'm thinking maybe basic guttering fixed to them somehow to provide a lip, or something similar?

My pump at present won't stand a chance of managing this lot but I won't get on with constructing the whole setup til next year so I've got plenty of time to upgrade that

 

I would cut a notch about a foot wide and a few inches deep into the rim of each hard pond liner (except the end one) and then get some pond liner on the ground between each one. You can attach the pond liner to the hard pond liner with glue. The following website suggests cold glue tape.

http://www.pondkeeper.co.uk/articles/joining-two-ponds-together-to-make-a-bigger-pond.asp

Make sure that for each mini-pond, you put the "inflow" and "outflow" on opposite sides as this will create circulation across the pond. Of course, you could reduce the flow in one mini-pond by having the inflow and outflow quite close and you could use it as a frog/newt breeding ground.

One other thing which could really save you some hastle is this. Let's say you have 5 ponds numbered 1,2,3,4,5 where 1 is the highest one, 5 being the lowest one. You will have a pump in pond 5 and it pump into pond 1, which cascades through all the other ponds, back into 5. If you get a leak (for example between 2 and 3) then the water will pump out of 5, into 1, 2 and then leak out. That will drain pond 5. If you only cut notches a couple of inches deep in the hard pond liners then flow will stop and ponds 1-4 will stay full (normal water level). Keep your pump in pond 5 about half way up, on the raised shelf bit, then at least it won't run COMPLETELY dry. Any plants/fish in pond 5 will be spared.

 

That is a very good idea about the pump, thank you. As the main pond is 800g that would be a heck of a lot of water to lose if a smaller one did leak!

I've been thinking about an alternative idea to the stepped ponds thing. I wonder how feasible it would be also to connect all the preformed ponds with a length of pipe below the water level, then the level in all 5 preforms would self-level and I'd just need to cut a lip in the last one to back into the main pond. It would be easier to get a decent finished look on as the pipes would be buried, and if I put some mesh across the lip to keep them from spilling into the main pond, I could even have small fish living in those Smaller ponds (rosy red minnows I'm thinking, if they can survive the winter - the pump would outflow keep a permanent ice-free bit in pond 1).

Leakage obviously still an issue but raising the pump would I think still negate that concern to a degree?

Ooh, so many possibilities! This is going to be fabulous :D

 

Oh heck yeah! that would look really good!

My immediate thoughts to that idea are to use 110mm underground pipe. It's designed to be walked on and it's durable. The bigger diameter also means that they are much less likely to be clogged (it's easy for a plant to fall over in the wind and get sucked into the pipe over time). On a side note, get some pond snails or fish that eat leaf matter and algae. They will keep the pipes clean and make it easier for you to maintain the pond.

With regards to connecting it together, I would do this:



Get some 110mm pipe and some couplers. You can get pipes and couplers in black by the way. Cut the coupler in half and then you will have 2 equal parts which can be slotted onto the end of the pipe. In the picture, I said to cut one end off the coupler but it depends on how far you want the coupler to stick out in the pond.

Get the pond liners, cut a hole (using a hole saw, not a jigsaw etc as this will ensure a good snug fit and reduce risk of leaks) into a part of the wall which is flat. Then slot the couplers through the holes and then the pipe will be snuggly between the two ponds. That means the weight of the water will help to seal the connection between the coupler and pond liner. Of course, stick some glue on the inside of the rim of the coupler to help seal it.

You'll also want to get some sealent on the inside of the pond liner too but I'm sure you know that.

Let us know how you get on!

 

Brilliant, thank you! I have dug out my other liner and a little waterfall that I'd completely forgotten I had so now I have all the ponds together and I am planning the layout