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Hi Lee,
I was surprised at the amount of money we spent on PVC fittings alone when we built our litlle pond but I can say this is simply part of the system that you should not take short cuts and I think you know that. What I am saying is if it is marginal that you should have one more bottom drain. go ahead and go for it now - it will save you money.
I'll not recommend specific brands of equipment, (although we did just replace a Sequence pump after about 8 years use and I think that was pretty good ) but we buy from dealers who support our koi club. We may pay a little more for a particular item, but we feel it is worth it. The PVC parts we usually get at a local plumbing supply or Lowes.
If you are using gravity fed systems, use 4inch pipe with adequate bottom drains to supply your multiple filter bays. Knive gate valves are much easier to operate and since you are in a warmer climate you are lucky in that you don't have to worry about the pipes freezing. Knive gates will fail so if you use them make sure you can switch them out. If we ever build another pond we may even use a ball valve before a knive gate so that it can easily be changed. And do yourselve a favor and put in purge lines at the lowest level.
Let us know how it goes. I hope you will post pictures of your progress
Happy New Year
Ruth
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