I am so glad I discovered your channel before I finished digging my pond, wetland filter and negative edge. I shudder to think of all the mistakes I was going to make if I hadn't found you. Thanks for being so clear and informative.
What a great resource you've provided here, John...a year or 2 after 1st watching, here I am revisiting due to current relevance. We learn a lot from any number of great CACs out there with channels...but NONE go into the depth of detail like you. Thanks.
One of the best explained and informative videos out there. Thank you for your effort. You explained how to avoid large fish from going over the negative edge, what about the baby fish? Does this design make you avoid losing baby fish as well?
Love your videos!! We are building a swimming pond, 20x30, 6’ at the deep for 10ish’ sloping up to 2’ deep 8ish’. Not sure we’ll get it 100% right but it will be much better after watching your videos than without😅
@@KoiAddiction I’ve been watching a lot on bog filtration, wet lands, I’m planning on putting 2 in one is a chemical tote, soap water, for waterfall, and the others is going to either a zero edge or some sort of skimmer 4’deep, 4’ wide, and 6’ lenghth. One video you recommended 30% of total pond, surface area, I’m concerned about depth and having enough filtration.
Hi at first thank you very much for your great videos. Im from czechoslovakia. Unfortunately maybe through the language barrier I didn't understand exactly how to calculate the size of the tank for a negative edge system. Can you please write how to calculate size ? Thank you very much. In video I understat (2 * 3 inch * size area of the lake in square metres) is correct like this?
So take the area of all of the areas above the negative edge, pools, streams, etc, and allow for 3” of. Water in motion. Then double (triple is better) the amount of your answer for reservoir size. Make sure your pond edge is “tight” so you don’t loose more than 3” of pond water when power is off.
Do you have a calculation for the min depth you like in the reservoir? I am going to build with a neg edge and an external pump - aqua blocks in the bottom of the reservoir. How deep does my minimum depth from the bottom of the reservoir to my Autofill need to be? I know my space for “water in motion “ needs to be in addition to that. I plan on the extraction pipe being maybe 4” off the bottom of the reservoir. Help please - and thanks in advance!
If your water in motion is 50% of the capacity of the reservoir below the neg edge, make the auto fill set up to fill to that level. In other words, 1) fill res TO FULL-2) run and achieve circulation, 3) mark water level in res at that point-4) set auto fill at that level!
would you calculate the intake bay size for a 140' x 85' using the same calculations you're using for the negative edge? 12' of TDH using 3 SLD 5-9000 to feed wetland @1200 sqft?
I've got a project in mind for a couple of years time (to try and save the money to do it right 😂) and your videos have been exactly the things I've been looking for, very helpful and informative. Only issue is I live in uk and cant seem to find aquascape products over here
Speak to my good friend Mark Wilson the Pond Advisor (anypond.com) he is SUPER BUSY but he has tons or content and is importing Aquascape product, somwith proper planning, he can hook you right up😎🤘🏻
John, you're inspiring me. I'd love to replace my ugly skimmer with an add-on negative edge waterfall and reservoir. I have a pump rated 1900 gph / 22ft feeding a Biofalls1000 via 1.5" flexhose, and lots of water in motion now. Is that enough to calculate the reservoir size/volume I'd need? What capacity reservoir would you recommend? Is a negative edge pond well-suited for sub-zero winters, like Ottawa, Canada?
Yes it is fine there you just have to unhook pump and pull it out in the winter up there. You should be able to use my videos to calculate your water in motion. If you need help, you can reach out to our office for some “consulting”. I can help you get it right!
I absolutely love your personality, where were you in 1972 in my Algebra class, if you were my teacher I would have Aced the class instead of getting 20's and 30's.. LOL
I would use (tested) well water or city water on a float switch IN ADDITION TO some natural rain water. I have 600 S’F’ of roof surface feeding my new feature at the house. That’s 50 CF of water or about 375 gallons per 1 inch of rain. PLUS the feature captures the same amount from total surface area to give me a combined total of closer to 750 gallons of rain water per inch of rain here!
@@KoiAddiction thanks - I will catch rain water as well from about 1,800 sq ft of roof. We are high desert here at about 5,000’ elevation. We only get about 10” / yr. When we get it, it tends to be in bursts and some from winter snowfall.
Great Explanation, THANKS, If It's not a problem to have water go over the overflow (out Of The system) in case of pumps turned off, could I reduce the Size of my Reservoir somewhat? Also should I include the Surface Area (+3")of the Wetland Filter in my calculations of the "Water In Motion" ?
Sure, there is no “rule” per-say…I just make it as long as I can, as wide as II can (to keep the water thin), and try to bring a vertical wall up for the fish (not a 6” deep shelf leading to the neg-edge).
Love your passion, energy and humour John. Just wondering if you have a minimum flow depth you're happy with on your negative edge as I assume debris will collect and dam the flow if it's too shallow. Cheers
Typically the water going over our negative edge is only a half to 3/4 of an inch of water Thickness. I never have problems with junk building up on the negative edge it always just rides over the top.
What is the "length" of the negative edge spillway that you like. You say "long", but how long? is that 6'-8'? Great video - thanks. Question when figureing size of water reservior how do you calculate water volume when so much of the space is rock?
Negative edge can be as long as possible, there is no rule but longer is better. Calculations on reservoir are math. Count gallons in the aquablocks. Calculate cubic footage of gravel as 30% water 70% stone ;)
@@KoiAddiction What are the chances that when I get my drawings finalized that you can check my calculations for the reservoir. We are in Coloraod so it is a bit far to hire you guys and noone here really knows how to build a pond like this. There has to be a base amount of water in the reservoir and I was planning on working with an external pump. I don't think I want a submersible pump down under 6' of gravel! Do you have an email that I could send a draweing to when I get there? Love your passion and expertise - JH
Hi John, Thanks for your videos, I'm always learning something new from them. One last thing that I'm always getting different references from different sources is about the capacity of the pump for the water feature. I've seem people mentioning that it should be 4 times the volume of the pond per hour, and others saying that the volume of the pond should circulate into the filter every 1 to 2 hours. What is your statement about it? Thanks and keep up the good job.
It is always different. Smaller ponds re-circulate more often. The bigger you get, the less you recycle through the filter system. Environmental factors, fish load, ducks, runoff, pollutants, etc. all can effect the filtration system. Don’t overthink this too much, it’s more important on bigger systems BUT you can always refer to the Aquascape filter system sizes vs. flow rates, etc.
Hello John, really love your videos. I am currently busy designing a pond which hopefully can be constructed next year. As I live in The Netherlands my garden is almost flat. Overall I have a slope in my garden of approx 30cm from front to back. The idea is to create a wetland filter on the highest point. This will flow over into a small pond of about 4 meters diameter close to my house. Then spill over into a slow flowing (meandering) stream of about 10 meters long. The stream should end in a larger pond of about 6 meters diameter. And then ideally I would like to have a negative edge design as it will keep the level in the main pond always the same. I have more then enough space to build an underground storage system. My question is if my idea would be achievable with the total height difference of 30cm (1 foot) as it means 4 level changes within the whole system. All the level changes should keep the quantity of water in motion relatively low which I understand is beneficial.
Can be done, just keep liner seamed up tight. Design might be a bit tricky but not too hard. Can you dig deep where you are?? That may dictate size of negative edge basin if it has to be shallow. I just met a really cool guy from there named Kuhn while I was in the UK last month, we could work together to help you realize your dream ;)
Do you have to take into account all of the water inside a wetland as water in motion or no because if power goes out all of that water would just sit in there.
With regards to a pondless waterfall. In time the aquablocks will build up with organic material and need to be cleaned out. What would be the best way to do this without removing all the rocks. Could you use a wetland design but use it in reverse like you would a pump vault. That way you could use flush out the system. Thanks
We use 3”-5” rock on the reservoir only about 6” thick (2 stones). That protects the blocks from UV, allows you to rinse through normally, and if it is neglected-there isnt that many rocks to move and clean.
Modern Design Aquascaping Inc. How do you work out the ponds heights so they are level. I’ve never seen a pond building show go through how you map out the levels of the pond so it’s all even.
Got a 22m diameter pond, guy from aquascapes is saying I need a 25000 litre reservoir for the negative edge because of the water in motion. Seems a bit extreme.......???
We have quite a few videos on figuring water in motion. We normally figure WIM and then triple that # for our reservoir. Double would be an absolute minimum but it doesn’t allow for much changes-add ones-etc. during the construction process.
Totally going to depend on the space and budget BUT if I can I like it to feel like a long shallow stream. If not make sure it is wide enough to keep the skim thin & discourage fish from going over
Seriously, dude I didn't understand any of that. "Add all your water together, add 3", then multiply by 2." Whaaat do you mean? A more detailed example would be informative.
I am so glad I discovered your channel before I finished digging my pond, wetland filter and negative edge. I shudder to think of all the mistakes I was going to make if I hadn't found you. Thanks for being so clear and informative.
Welcome aboard! We appreciate you hanging out with us ;)
Good point about making a longer edge with fish.
Think like a fish!!
What a great resource you've provided here, John...a year or 2 after 1st watching, here I am revisiting due to current relevance. We learn a lot from any number of great CACs out there with channels...but NONE go into the depth of detail like you.
Thanks.
So glad I can help! The greatest reward is to give back the knowledge that was given to me!
Learned a lot today I'm not a pond builder, but I put a negative edge on my approximately 2,000 pond, I built myself.. those are some good tips!!!
I hope it helped you, and I appreciate you supporting our channel!!
No homo...but I love you bro‼️ Im learning so much‼️💪🏿💪🏿💪🏿💪🏿
LOL glad I can help!
Love the video John, very informative!!! I've been thinking about doing a negative edge on pond upgrade 👍😁 love the pro tips!!!
Educate and Inspire! We try to keep the teaching going, it’s ingrained in my DNA I think ;)
The best informational series I have watched. Great Job John!
I’LL KEEP EM COMING!
Love the teaching!
Keep it coming 😄
Keep watching, I will keep teaching ;)
Excellent, thanks John 🍻
Glad to help Steve- did you gain any insight from the video?
Good information shared and appreciated.
Glad you enjoyed, I aim to please ;)
Great video, zero edge is definitely my favorite skimming method. Pristine water surface!
Ditto😎
Great use of the dry erase board for your explanations.
I try to keep it real...Real EASY ;)
Well done... my brain understood your math🤓💙
That makes me feel better...I think??
Thanks John Great info!
Glad to help, thanks for spending time with us ;)
This was a great explanation of how to get a negative edge to work. Love you water in motion series. Thank you!
My pleasure, hope it helps you out along the way!
Thanks! Very helpful!!!
Hope you can put it to some practical use😎
Thanks for breaking this down for us! 👍👍
Lol exciting stuff eh😂🤣
Impressive stuff! Thanks for sharing your knowledge. Concise yet comprehensive.
Thanks, I appreciate the kind words it definitely helps to motivate the teaching process :-) stay with us there’s more to come👍🏻
Great stuff. Thanks.
You are binging ;) Thanks for hanging out with us!!
One of the best explained and informative videos out there. Thank you for your effort. You explained how to avoid large fish from going over the negative edge, what about the baby fish? Does this design make you avoid losing baby fish as well?
Amazing content John ! Thank you !
Those videos are boring but SOOO important!
Awesome info and very entertaining. Thanks mate 👍
Absolutely, hope these vids are helping the designers out there😎
Thanks for sharing Jon. Great info. 🍻
Sharing is caring :)
Love the "squirrel!"
Me too, there are so many!
Great video & explanation, thank you!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Very good info man
Whats up buddy😎
Well explained! Maybe you could do a future video about water movement in differently shaped ponds and how to optimize their flow.
Good call-I just shot some film on jets and circulation, lets see if I get to it🙄
Totally appreciate this
I see you have been soaking up the Water Feature Design Series ;)
Love your videos!! We are building a swimming pond, 20x30, 6’ at the deep for 10ish’ sloping up to 2’ deep 8ish’. Not sure we’ll get it 100% right but it will be much better after watching your videos than without😅
That’s awesome! What do you want to know more about??
@@KoiAddiction I’ve been watching a lot on bog filtration, wet lands, I’m planning on putting 2 in one is a chemical tote, soap water, for waterfall, and the others is going to either a zero edge or some sort of skimmer 4’deep, 4’ wide, and 6’ lenghth.
One video you recommended 30% of total pond, surface area, I’m concerned about depth and having enough filtration.
Hi at first thank you very much for your great videos. Im from czechoslovakia. Unfortunately maybe through the language barrier I didn't understand exactly how to calculate the size of the tank for a negative edge system. Can you please write how to calculate size ? Thank you very much. In video I understat (2 * 3 inch * size area of the lake in square metres) is correct like this?
So take the area of all of the areas above the negative edge, pools, streams, etc, and allow for 3” of. Water in motion. Then double (triple is better) the amount of your answer for reservoir size. Make sure your pond edge is “tight” so you don’t loose more than 3” of pond water when power is off.
this is so good
Do you have a calculation for the min depth you like in the reservoir? I am going to build with a neg edge and an external pump - aqua blocks in the bottom of the reservoir. How deep does my minimum depth from the bottom of the reservoir to my Autofill need to be? I know my space for “water in motion “ needs to be in addition to that. I plan on the extraction pipe being maybe 4” off the bottom of the reservoir. Help please - and thanks in advance!
If your water in motion is 50% of the capacity of the reservoir below the neg edge, make the auto fill set up to fill to that level. In other words, 1) fill res TO FULL-2) run and achieve circulation, 3) mark water level in res at that point-4) set auto fill at that level!
Bam! Now I'm on the same page.
Do you prefer internal, or external filter? Paired with a wetland filter.
I prefer a negative edge skimmer but a standard skimmer or intake bay will work well too!
would you calculate the intake bay size for a 140' x 85' using the same calculations you're using for the negative edge? 12' of TDH using 3 SLD 5-9000 to feed wetland @1200 sqft?
I've got a project in mind for a couple of years time (to try and save the money to do it right 😂) and your videos have been exactly the things I've been looking for, very helpful and informative. Only issue is I live in uk and cant seem to find aquascape products over here
Speak to my good friend Mark Wilson the Pond Advisor (anypond.com) he is SUPER BUSY but he has tons or content and is importing Aquascape product, somwith proper planning, he can hook you right up😎🤘🏻
John, you're inspiring me. I'd love to replace my ugly skimmer with an add-on negative edge waterfall and reservoir.
I have a pump rated 1900 gph / 22ft feeding a Biofalls1000 via 1.5" flexhose, and lots of water in motion now. Is that enough to calculate the reservoir size/volume I'd need? What capacity reservoir would you recommend?
Is a negative edge pond well-suited for sub-zero winters, like Ottawa, Canada?
Yes it is fine there you just have to unhook pump and pull it out in the winter up there. You should be able to use my videos to calculate your water in motion. If you need help, you can reach out to our office for some “consulting”. I can help you get it right!
I love this stuff! Even time I get a chance to learn something new I try to... SQUIRREL
Seriously though. Great info. Keep 'em coming!
Lol!
I absolutely love your personality, where were you in 1972 in my Algebra class, if you were my teacher I would have Aced the class instead of getting 20's and 30's.. LOL
I was struggling to actually get to class lol! I was great at math, bad at school??
@@KoiAddiction Hey John can you call me now would love to talk again. 401-742-3216. dan in RI
Love it
Thanks for hanging out with us Joe!
Question on larger water features and “auto filler”. For a larger pond - 15,000 gallons. What kind of auto filler would you use?
I would use (tested) well water or city water on a float switch IN ADDITION TO some natural rain water. I have 600 S’F’ of roof surface feeding my new feature at the house. That’s 50 CF of water or about 375 gallons per 1 inch of rain. PLUS the feature captures the same amount from total surface area to give me a combined total of closer to 750 gallons of rain water per inch of rain here!
@@KoiAddiction thanks - I will catch rain water as well from about 1,800 sq ft of roof. We are high desert here at about 5,000’ elevation. We only get about 10” / yr. When we get it, it tends to be in bursts and some from winter snowfall.
Thanks!
You bet!
Great Explanation, THANKS, If It's not a problem to have water go over the overflow (out Of The system) in case of pumps turned off, could I reduce the Size of my Reservoir somewhat? Also should I include the Surface Area (+3")of the Wetland Filter in my calculations of the "Water In Motion" ?
Don’t undersized & yes include ALL AREAS that will flow down in a power outage into your calculations!
John - first thank you. Is a 4’ deep neg edge long enough?
Sure, there is no “rule” per-say…I just make it as long as I can, as wide as II can (to keep the water thin), and try to bring a vertical wall up for the fish (not a 6” deep shelf leading to the neg-edge).
Love your passion, energy and humour John. Just wondering if you have a minimum flow depth you're happy with on your negative edge as I assume debris will collect and dam the flow if it's too shallow. Cheers
Typically the water going over our negative edge is only a half to 3/4 of an inch of water Thickness. I never have problems with junk building up on the negative edge it always just rides over the top.
@@KoiAddiction thanks.
What is the "length" of the negative edge spillway that you like. You say "long", but how long? is that 6'-8'? Great video - thanks. Question when figureing size of water reservior how do you calculate water volume when so much of the space is rock?
Negative edge can be as long as possible, there is no rule but longer is better. Calculations on reservoir are math. Count gallons in the aquablocks. Calculate cubic footage of gravel as 30% water 70% stone ;)
@@KoiAddiction What are the chances that when I get my drawings finalized that you can check my calculations for the reservoir. We are in Coloraod so it is a bit far to hire you guys and noone here really knows how to build a pond like this. There has to be a base amount of water in the reservoir and I was planning on working with an external pump. I don't think I want a submersible pump down under 6' of gravel! Do you have an email that I could send a draweing to when I get there?
Love your passion and expertise - JH
Modern Design Aquascaping Inc. Thank you !!
Hi John,
Thanks for your videos, I'm always learning something new from them. One last thing that I'm always getting different references from different sources is about the capacity of the pump for the water feature. I've seem people mentioning that it should be 4 times the volume of the pond per hour, and others saying that the volume of the pond should circulate into the filter every 1 to 2 hours. What is your statement about it? Thanks and keep up the good job.
It is always different. Smaller ponds re-circulate more often. The bigger you get, the less you recycle through the filter system. Environmental factors, fish load, ducks, runoff, pollutants, etc. all can effect the filtration system. Don’t overthink this too much, it’s more important on bigger systems BUT you can always refer to the Aquascape filter system sizes vs. flow rates, etc.
Hello John, really love your videos. I am currently busy designing a pond which hopefully can be constructed next year. As I live in The Netherlands my garden is almost flat. Overall I have a slope in my garden of approx 30cm from front to back. The idea is to create a wetland filter on the highest point. This will flow over into a small pond of about 4 meters diameter close to my house. Then spill over into a slow flowing (meandering) stream of about 10 meters long. The stream should end in a larger pond of about 6 meters diameter. And then ideally I would like to have a negative edge design as it will keep the level in the main pond always the same. I have more then enough space to build an underground storage system. My question is if my idea would be achievable with the total height difference of 30cm (1 foot) as it means 4 level changes within the whole system. All the level changes should keep the quantity of water in motion relatively low which I understand is beneficial.
Can be done, just keep liner seamed up tight. Design might be a bit tricky but not too hard. Can you dig deep where you are?? That may dictate size of negative edge basin if it has to be shallow. I just met a really cool guy from there named Kuhn while I was in the UK last month, we could work together to help you realize your dream ;)
@@KoiAddiction Many thanks, I will continue designing.
John, are there any differences to how you would size your pumps for a negative edge vs. a skimmer or intake bay?
No sir, the pump is selected based on my needs for circulation infiltration. If we make any alterations to that it is simply for aesthetics
Do you have to take into account all of the water inside a wetland as water in motion or no because if power goes out all of that water would just sit in there.
Correct- only the surface area of the water on the wetland is in motion👍
How are the calculations affected by having a wetland filter above the waterfall
Surface of wetland is water in motion! 2x-3x it and add it to the reservoir volume🤘🏻
@@KoiAddiction cheers
With regards to a pondless waterfall. In time the aquablocks will build up with organic material and need to be cleaned out. What would be the best way to do this without removing all the rocks. Could you use a wetland design but use it in reverse like you would a pump vault. That way you could use flush out the system.
Thanks
We use 3”-5” rock on the reservoir only about 6” thick (2 stones). That protects the blocks from UV, allows you to rinse through normally, and if it is neglected-there isnt that many rocks to move and clean.
@@KoiAddiction Thank you
So the wider and shallower the edge, the less water in motion?
Yes, you got it right. Negative edge width designed perfectly can lower your water in motion for the pond to 2”👍
How do you get your levels to make this work?
Im not sure I understand your question, elaborate for me?
Modern Design Aquascaping Inc. How do you work out the ponds heights so they are level. I’ve never seen a pond building show go through how you map out the levels of the pond so it’s all even.
Same question. I have not found anything that shows me how to level a pond either.
Thanks for the videos!!!!
Got a 22m diameter pond, guy from aquascapes is saying I need a 25000 litre reservoir for the negative edge because of the water in motion. Seems a bit extreme.......???
We have quite a few videos on figuring water in motion. We normally figure WIM and then triple that # for our reservoir. Double would be an absolute minimum but it doesn’t allow for much changes-add ones-etc. during the construction process.
How can I show you my design?
Sorry for the slow response, it’s been a long holiday :-) you can email me at john@mdaquascaping.com😎
You talked a lot about having a long neg edge. Do you have a distance that you have found works best? 3-4’? More ?
Totally going to depend on the space and budget BUT if I can I like it to feel like a long shallow stream. If not make sure it is wide enough to keep the skim thin & discourage fish from going over
I feel terrible that you guys don't have a certified aquascape contractor in India... 😌
It could be you??
Hah.... yes.. but u guys are super creative.. it's a living, breathing work of art! Not everyone can do it.. keep up the great work..
Seriously, dude I didn't understand any of that. "Add all your water together, add 3", then multiply by 2." Whaaat do you mean? A more detailed example would be informative.
Lol, thats all I got🤓