waterfall help

[Jencylivez]

I wanna make a simple yet visually appealing waterfall. Something like water flowing down a piece of wood into a pool of water...can anyway share any ideas or experiences?

[holidayhanson]

My experience is a headache.

Water is very difficult to control...ie keeping it flowing where you want it to is no easy task. I would also recommend keeping it simple. If you saw the DIY viv on blackjungle http://www.blackjungle.com/gallery2/...g2_itemId=2108
I would suggest not trying to make a waterfall flow from a irrigation drip manifold. A drip manifold does just that....it drips. If you are seeking a waterfall...a waterfall will flow out of a tube. Thats what I can presume.

I have done lots of reading about which pump....and the Mini Jet 606 sounds reliable. I just got mine...and it pumps...but going through the drip manifold it drips...Im thinking of a way to carve it out of the heaps of GS it is buried in and run a single 1/2 line to my waterfall..... I want to see water fall instead of trickle.

Good luck with yours.

Bottom line is keep it simple and test it out....and really test it. Let it run for a day, a week, maybe two. And test it through all the actual lengths and heights of lines you will use. All the pumps I have used work great for the first 10 minutes and slowly pump less and less. A strange phenomenom I have yet to solve. I even have my sister, who is a civil engineer, got all her co-workers trying to figure it out. They are scratching heads as well.

[holidayhanson]

BLASTED I FIXED IT!!!!

I just tried what I explained....the half inch line pumps a solid flow! A WATER FALL... and LOTS OF WATER!

Problem solved! If you want trickling drips...use a drip manifold...if you want waterfall use 1/2inch line. Thank you for posting...you helped me! Now just have to figure out how to restrict flow!

Have a good one.

[Marty71]

Far from a master at these but I have tried a few with some limited success.

What I have found is:

* Keep the pump accessible, it will eventually slow and need to be cleaned.
* Create a filter outside of the pump. A margarine tub with holes and landscape fabric/screening siliconed around it. This will let the water to the pump but keep all of the dirt out.
* Have a plan and test it out as previously mentioned. Water has a mind of it's own, don't build everything, great stuff, and silicone, and then try it. You will be sad, I was.
* The easiest way I have found is to great stuff a whole corner minus an area you can fit your arm down in the very corner ( you can frame the corner out with eggcrate) . Then carve a narrow slightly sloped path down the great stuff. Then sillicone it thoroughly and press small gravel/pebbles into it. You can then poke a hole at the top to snake the tip of your tubing through.
* If you want to try the slate step approach give yourself a large area to work with because the water will be much harder to control.

Good luck, hope this helps a little.

[Jencylivez]

ill post pics when im done