I eventually removed the pad and replaced it with a grate (made from 1/2" plastic egg crate) that did no filtering but did keep fish and plants from getting sucked into the pump.

My water stayed clean as far as algae growth was concerned but I noticed a "murkiness" developed. Never lost sight of the gravel bottom and could always see the fish okay but they just never "sparkled" like they had with the pad in.

What I figured was the LRB was taking care of the algae problems and the larger particulate stuff just fine but there must have been a really fine particulate (maybe even finer than dust) that was clouding the water. So fine it couldn't be seen with the naked eye.

I solved the problem by putting the pad back on top of the pump bucket and putting the (another) grate raised an 1/2" or so above the pad. That kept the fish from getting close enough to the gaps to get caught.

You may wonder why I didn't just plug the gaps. Well I did that but the suction go so great it collapsed the grate the pad sat on. Further, it then started pulling water (& fish) around the hole where the pump hose come through the side of the bucket. It seemed no matter what I did, it created new problems. I had it so tight that bucket would literally pop to the top of the pond as the water couldn't get through fast enough to feed the pump when the pad began to plug. I have found it better to just leave the gaps. Oh well.

Pumps

I'm on my third (maybe fourth) 2000 gph sump pump ($90) since last summer (June 1996). Dunno what's been happening to them. They just give up the ghost. I saved the original receipt and the box and when it goes west I just return it to Rickles and get an exchange. When they stop exchanging them, I'm going to buy a bigger (3000 gph) heavier duty pump (Beckett - around $150) from Aquatic Eco-Systems. Hopefully it will stand up better.

The smaller sump pumps (1200 gph) *seem* to stand up better. My son has one as do a couple other ponders around here.

Power Heads

Both power heads drawing through the UG filters (300 gph) are still doing fine (over a year now). Had to clean the strainers once or twice but that's it.

Plants

Anyway when we rebuilt the pond last June (made it deeper 18-20" to 26-30") we replanted the Sagittaria in the new gravel. It just didn't seem to be as happy (flowers, etc) but I thought it would be okay. It wintered okay but just never took off again. Two or three plants grew up out of the water this spring but they never flowered and eventually died.

I figure the reason they died was one of several things:

1. They were originally in a dirt/sand bottom and just never took in the fine gravel. (Maybe)

2. The water was too deep (26") for them to prosper (they came from 18-20"). (Unlikely)

3. The water quality was too poor for them. (Unlikely as most of the plants in the top pond prospered.)

4. I had introduced a lot of small koi and they bothered it. I never noticed them bothering the plants but I've read they are hard on plants. (I figure this is the most likely reason)

I had bought three mail order (Pond Lilies). Two I planted in the BP and one in the TP. The two in the BP did nothing (died) and the one in the top did well. It was planted in dirt in a container. Towards the end of August, I filled a 5 gal bucket with topsoil and transplanted it to the BP hoping it would winter over better in the deeper water (top pond is only about 6" deep). When I transplanted it had over 40 leaves and 2 or 3 flowers. It put out some new leaves and a couple flowers in the BP but now looks raggy as all get out and I don't think it's going to survive.

Every other year I had hyacinth, I swore I would never get it again as it always grew uncontrollably and I was constantly weeding it out. Well this year I couldn't even get it to grow and the couple I had just turned brown and withered like they were burned up from lack of water (this was before my nitrogen solution). I have no idea why because it didn't matter where I had them, in the TP, BP or on top of the LRB. No difference anywhere.

What I thought I'd do next year is plant some lilies in bigger buckets to bring them closer to the surface (6-12") and put some plastic coated wire fencing around the top of the bucket to keep the koi out.

Fish

I had a spell early this spring where I was losing 5 or 6 fish every week (floaters) and I couldn't figure out why. I thought maybe it was because I was using shallow well water (maybe contaminated) so I changed water with city water (chlorinated) but no avail. After 4 or 5 weeks the dieoff stopped. I'm still puzzled why.

Noticed a few fish with lesions that went away after I put in 20 lbs of SEA SALT. I guess the iodine and other stuff cleared them up.

I did lose a lot of smaller fish (minnows & guppies) to a catfish my wife had in school and put in the pond when school closed. She claimed it was eating fish in her tank in school but I scoffed at her. "Catfish ain't meat eaters, they're algae eaters." Claimed the resident fish expert (a retired commercial fisherman who shall remain nameless in this discussion). At any rate I found out later (after my population thinned out and he doubled in size) that when they get a certain size, they start eating meat. He musta ate a couple dozen small goldies or more and at least 50 minnows. That sucker was big enough for an early bird special at Denny's before I finally caught him.

I have 3 nice lionhead goldfish that have grown nicely over the summer. I just hope they winter okay. My population currently stands at about 25 goldfish, many going on 2 years old, a half dozen or so nice shebunkins 1-2 years old, two dandy large (12"+) golden koi, maybe a dozen assorted koi culls(this year), half a dozen small fantail goldies, a couple black moors, and assorted minnows, guppies, etc; all in the BP.

There's 50 10 centers in the TP (I'm assuming there all still there as I've found no bodies and can't see anything except around a small hole where the LRB discharges because of the Parrot Feathers. When I put feed in I usually see a half dozen or so around the hole but no telling how many still alive all together.

One thing I noticed about fish in the TP is they always hide and are seldom seen (even before the Parrot Feathers). I don't know why that is unless it's the shallow water that makes them nervous. They don't act that way in the BP.