gfab,

You did a great job on the pond; I like the waterfalls. You also have the rocks partly in the water the way I like them. The whole thing will be lovely as the plants fill in and mature.

I don't have any advice on the underwater lights except to sayd, "Be sure they are safe and that you have a GFI outlet." (or whatever it is called). A co-worker lost all her fish when an underwater light short circuited and killed the fish. I'll let others who know about underwater lights respond to your question.

Keep us posted on the progress.

A friend lost all her fish

George, since you're not very good at it, you probably just need more practice. You can come and do mine! LOL
George, it's perfect, I love it. You really did do a great job. You have the eye for it, I'm sure you'll have a great time with the plants too.

About the lighting. Since it's low voltage, I would just buy one kit/transformer with two lights. Cut and splice the wires to make them longer. Lay them out first, and cut where the cuts won't be underwater. Then you can hide the wires in your rock work.

Looks great!
Corrie

Assuming they are low voltage lights-

What is the wattage rating of the transformer?

What is the guage of the wire you are using?

What is the wattage of the light bulbs?

What are the distances?

From the looks of the size of your pond, great job by the way,you should be OK. Maybe if you have a link to the lights you are thinking of installing would answer the questions.
It is possible you can splice extra wire to the fixtures and/or the transformers to make them the distance you need. This also is under the assumption you can take on a little DIY electrical work? If it is low voltage, because you mention transformers, then you are at less of a risk of making a dangerous mistake. And as pashta pointed out, a GFI is a must for anything outside or near a water source.

Beautiful Pond! Nice work!
I've had the same problem with the wires too short - looking forward to any comments others have.

Ive been contemplating lighting as well, but al the kits have only 3 ft of wire between the lights which usually isnt enough. Isnt cutting and splicing the wires ruining its underwater proof?

Yes and No, it depends on the type of lighting Low voltage DC using LED's or low wattage landscape lights etc. One reason I asked the questions I did.
The original question was about waterfalls so I am assuming from the pics that 3 feet should be enough to get the splice on "semi-dry land", just like landscape lighting where the wiring is usually hidden by mulch. But I'm glad someone brought this up, it gives me an idea.

Thanks everyone for your comments. After spending the past two months in the scorching heat digging, reshaping, moving rocks and making minor adjustments it's nice to hear that I did a good job.

As for the lights... Like Duddlydoright said, there is normally only 3 ft of wire from the light to either the next light or connector. If I need the light to be in front of the waterfalls, the distance to dry ground is very close to, if not more than 3 ft. I wouldn't like to splice the wires because of the close proximity to the water and it also voids the warranty of the lights.

I looked at several lights such as:
Tetra Ponds - http://www.tetra-fish.com/sites/TetraFish/pond/PondProducts.aspx?id=3066

Laguna Ponds - http://www.lagunaponds.com/lagunaeng/pondlighting/pglomini.php?link=181

And some other no-name lights I found in various stores which were usually covered in dust and looked like they have seen better days.

I might just break down and buy two separate lights, each with a long cord. The bad thing about that is I will need multiple outlets. Unless I can find one where the transformer can accept more than one light. I have seen some with a connection between the light and transformer. ItÂs a small two prong plug that holds together with a screw cap. If I can buy a splitter for that plug then I would only need one transformer, thus cutting down on the number of outlets needed.

FYI, here's a picture of my old pond back when the plants were blooming and before they overtook the area. This is actually two separate pond tubs and I used two pumps. I used the bridge to conceal the gap between the two tubs, thus making it look like one pond flowed into the other.

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Pondbucket posted the following that you might find of interest:

"I use a Little Giant LED set that I got on closeout at my local pond store... I say that because they were expensive. I think each light was about $80 then add transformer. I use 3 lights.

The thing I liked most was that this particular underwater LED set has the capacity to change colors, about ten different colors, and you can somewhat program the speed of change. You can also just use one color and maintain that color. And it is all EASILY done at the transformer with just a few clicks.

Anyway, I have two anchored at my waterfall and one at the shallow end shining horizontally across away from my walkway (so you don't see the hotspot of the lamp in the water much).

I have always read in the pond books that you should shine lights in the direction of flow at streams and falls but I've never been able to really do that well and still have the fixture integrated well into the rockscape, so I do it the other way.

Because my waterfall is wide but the drop is very minor, only about five or six inches, and because it has an overhang, I'm able to put my submerged fixture not only down into the water but have it shine out a little so I get lighting shining through the water coming over the falls. It makes for a real accurate color rendition and surprise.

Now for the other things... specifically, I use a Little Giant model LVL LED-L that uses a type MR 16, 12v, 20 Watt. I use the transformer that came with the setup. I wouldn't use anything that isn't rated for water. Most transformers that are rated for lights that go into water have that printed on them. Even Malibu brand like you see at the Home Depot has a special transformer for non-water fixtures when they are placed within a certain distance to a pool of water, so be careful. There are different transformers for different circumstances.

I don't think the model I have is available through www.practicalgardenponds but that's a good place to shop."

So there are likely more than one transformer that can handle more than one light at a time. I remember this was discussed several years ago. Sorry, I don't have time to do a search at the moment. Also there was the marvelous display of colored LED underwater lights under snow and ice posted by one of our posters with details and diagrams that had me wishing for a larger pond. The lights I have been using have 20 feet of wire so the transformer can be a substantial distance from the pond and the Egglights I got have about 12 to 15 feet of wire. I don't remember exactly because I don't use those. If one light went out you had to pull all three lights to find out which bulb went bad because all three lights are on the same wire. I did it once then the set went into the junk box. I'll try to do a search for the LED set up. It was quite impressive and it should be easier to find than the other.

Good grief! The original post was back in 2004. Sadly, that post is gone as well as the pictures but TommyC came back during a discussion and reposted the instructions on the hypertufa forum. (Didn't know my memory went back that far.) To avoid too much confusion, I'll post the whole thing. I wish I could find the pictures but they don't seem to have survived.

Hope this helps.

Here is a link that might be useful: TommyC's LED instructions

I know this is NOT what gfab884/George, who started this thread, is looking for because what I have is NOT under water and is solar..... but just thought I'd mention this in case someone else is interested. At the beginning of last summer, I purchased a pair of solar lights that look like rocks and aimed them so that they light up my waterfall beautifully at night. Since most of my pond gets some direct sun, they are charged every day. Of course, if there are a couple of cloudy days in a row, they are dimmer than usual. I store them over the winter and bring them out in the spring. I purchased my pair at a discount store(Target).