I am a newbie in water gardening. When the pump is switched off in our pond, the water completely drains out od the waterfall tank. Since it is a biofalls, shouldnt it retin water, even with the pump switched off? It was recommended that I put some plants in the waterfall tank, but since it doesnt retain water unless the pump is running, I am not sure how to go about it.
Any advice would be appreciated :)...

Ann, we need a bit more info...and you need to know more about the system or you will be attached to the landscaper for the life of the pond. If he is a good landscaper he should have given you the info in the first place. Please don't be alarmed about the number of questions. No two ponds are alike and no two ponders are alike either.

How much water is in the pond system? How big is the pump? Where is it located? (in or out of the water?) How big is the filtration/bio tank? What material is the liner? Do you have fish? What kind, what size and how many? How deep is the pond? How and where does the water enter the upper bio-falls? Why do you turn off the water? Do you have rocks on the bottom of the pond? What zone are you in?

We (all of the ponders who will come in to talk about the system) may give you advice that seems to conflict. Say so and we will try to reconcile the answers. If you have no idea in the world what we are talking about, say so. Some of us can get wordy at times. This is a bit off season for many of us so the process may be slow but you can be sure to get responses. Sandy

Sleepless is correct when she said you need to know the basics of your pond. Your landscaper should go over everything that is mechanical with and you should have questions for him.
If your landscaper doesnt help you with it.. feel free to email me and I can go over it with you. I have built hundreds of ponds so ive answered a few questions in my time.. lol. Good luck!

greg

All flapper type check valves work better in the better in the vertical position. Some can be installed in the horizontal position and work just fine. One thing is for sure and that is all check valves will fail. The only question is how long before this happens. This is dependent on a lot of factors. How the valve was made, the design of the valve, the volume of water moving thru the valve, the pressure the water is under, the debri in the water, and the temperature of the water. Cheaper built valves will normally last a couple of years and the better ones will last about twice as long. Try to stay away from valves that are glued in place and can not be replaced easily. Try to stay away from a pond manufacturer that has a check valve made that has to be replaced with their unit only without having to replace most of the pump plumbing as this means the replacement part can have a very high price because you can only get it one place.
Yes there are going to be exceptions to the failure times one way or the other. I prefer to stay away from check valves that use a plastic backing plate on the rubber flap as that has a tendency to come off and block the flow of water.
Mike

P.S. How do I find out my zone, and how do I post a picture?

Your landscaper should know what zone you are in.

greg

For example, Zone 5 contains some differences internally that might appear to be zone 4 or zone 6. These differences are not sufficient to designate them as a different zone. They are simply leaning toward those characteristics.

Normally you can find a new zone map about every 10 years or so but they have been published by the American Horticultural Society more often, recently.