The waterfall keeps the water cold. This pond is not really that deep (I'll dig it out more next year). So sitting in the sun all day heats it up pretty fast. The cold water from the hose fixes this. The waterfall runs every 2 hours for 15 minutes. Here's where the well water comes into play.
The
timer. Just connects between the house and hose. Easy to use.
Runs on batteries so no worry when the power goes out. A plastic
cover (not shown) keeps things safe.
The inner circle of rocks is about
6" under water. Its function is to keep the small river rocks from
falling deeper into the pond. These small rocks (pebbles or river
rock) cover the plastic lining. After about 2 weeks I had a nice
green carpet of growth covering the bottom of the pond. A note about
the river rock... don't bother washing it. Just throw it in.
It will cloud up the water for a day ot two... but spending time washing
the rock makes little difference.
A close up of the waterfall.
The garden hose empties onto the top flat rock, which drops to the next
rock and into the pond.
I spent more money on plants than
anything else. About $50 for 3 plants. One plant was given
to me after things were going for about a week in the pond. Almost
all the animals live on this side of the pond where they get some shade
from the sun.
I do also have a light system.
A pond light system from Walmart. It comes with a power unit and
three pretty good size lights that can go underwater - and they are cool!
My camera cannot pick up the light at night however. The flash makes
it look like day, and without the flash all you see are three bright green
points. The lights come with red, blue or green filters. Worth
the money for night time effects.