Pond Lighting Tips and Tricks | Water Feature Design Series 10

[@TheOfficialSteelReign]

👍 A little something in. Thanks for helping us out, John. We really appreciate you taking the time. 👍 Nothin' but ❤ for ya, John. Nothin' but ❤

[@TheOfficialSteelReign]

Also... is the thicker walled hose better than pvc conduit? Less likely to break? Easier to wirk with? More cost effective? All the above?

[@KoiAddiction]

Its just a fine line between flexibility and enough strength not to collapse. That is really what is most important!

[@KoiAddiction]

Lol you are my #1 fan😂😂😂I appreciate it boss!

[@richardbaker5151]

Love your videos, no nonsense, non technical, simplifying things that some people consider magic... and you have a great sense of humour, keep up the great work John.

[@KoiAddiction]

Thanks for the kind words🙏🏻

[@rowgler1]

Good detailed advice. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. You seem a little stressed, I'm getting a Bill Burr vibe ( great comedian). Take it easy, we love you, you're just giving it all away to educate and make the world a better place. We appreciate it and Thank You.

[@KoiAddiction]

Not stressed at all, just having fun!! Thanks for hanging out with us, we appreciate you watching🤠

[@stacyadams357]

Good lighting enhances the water feature as well as the landscaping🐸

[@KoiAddiction]

Yes it does Stacy Adams🤓

[@bettycorley7369]

Thanks for the technical side of the industry. It's refreshing.

[@KoiAddiction]

Absolutely, we try to share a little teaching in every video even the project ones :-) it’s very difficult, time-consuming, and expensive to produce educational videos on top of project videos, it’s a tough balance for a smaller company like ours. We appreciate all of you guys and your support👍🏻😎

[@paulmckinney3288]

Once again you save me John. I ran all my pipe through the pond to come out in one place and was about to run my lights in the next few days.

[@KoiAddiction]

Glad to help Paul! Hope your project goes well👍

[@tonymarshall3162]

John ! You guys are truly the leading edge for teaching the tricks of the trade to build these things the best way possible and to make servicing them much easier down the road ! Not enough words of gratitude for the experience and knowledge you guys share on this channel ! Thank you ! Thank you ! 😎🙏🏼

[@KoiAddiction]

We appreciate your support and words of encouragement! We love to share and teach, arising tide lifts all ships;)

[@ronwatt7268]

I have recommended this video many times! It was gold. Especially the bit on magic fire light on the trees!

[@KoiAddiction]

Hope it inspires some folks to do lighting!!

[@landvista1]

MAGICAL!!! Solid tips. You’re the best John!

[@KoiAddiction]

Thanks Ray, yall doing good?

[@landvista1]

Modern Design Aquascaping Inc. yessir. We are good. 🤙

[@jessiecheema]

Knowlage bombs! Always watch your videos and always learn new things. “Squirrel” !

[@KoiAddiction]

Yea, always a squirrel...

[@MagicScape]

Hey John, Love your videos! Lots of good info. delivered with a southern sense of humor and plenty of positive energy. Off to buy some more wire nuts with "silly-cone." Keep up the good work!

[@KoiAddiction]

Thanks, I stole that one from Tristan😂

[@gullyyrsola5979]

Your videos are always so informative. Thanks for this video. It really helped @Modern Design Aquascaping

[@KoiAddiction]

Awesome sauce! Hope it helps you out in the future😎

[@user-jg8ry3rx7p]

Thanks John Great Gold Nuggets!! And No Ugly Irrigation Boxes to stick out like a sore thumb

[@KoiAddiction]

Yes lol, too much stuff out in the garden is bad😵

[@PondKingWaterGardensMN]

Your vision is unreal cool man!

[@PondKingWaterGardensMN]

Great foresight with editing and filming too! You're killing it! 💯💫

[@KoiAddiction]

Thanks buddy, how you doing?

[@PondKingWaterGardensMN]

I'm doing well! Got any finding a leak in a pond videos coming up 🙄

[@KoiAddiction]

Thats a great topic👍🏻

[@MediaTrik1]

Hey John ...thanks for sharing your craftsmanship (some gold nuggets) and encouraging us to be better (than our lazy boneheads). Keep up the Awesome work!

[@KoiAddiction]

Yep, thanks for sharing our journey!

[@seals70]

Thanks for the generosity in sharing so many pro tips freely

[@KoiAddiction]

Glad to help!

[@robertanthony3473]

Love your videos and the series keep them coming this is gold for pond and water feature builders!!! Awesome job by you and the family and thanks for keeping it entertaining!!!

[@KoiAddiction]

Thanks for hanging with us!

[@rivercrest-watergardens]

JG - excellent information!! Thanks! JZ

[@KoiAddiction]

Thanks for tuning in🤓

[@rivercrest-watergardens]

😉

[@gianfrancocattina1014]

You are super smart, love your works

[@KoiAddiction]

Thanks, you guys inspire me to keep creating🙏🏻

[@written2382]

Great video!

[@KoiAddiction]

Thanks😎

[@matthewnelson7221]

Nice video! I enjoy your no nonsense approach to your educational videos! You guys rock! Pun intended... 🤣

[@KoiAddiction]

Lol thanks, glad youre enjoying the content😎

[@danielkelley6223]

Great info and knowledge bombs! Keep up the great content!

[@KoiAddiction]

Thanks for hanging with us💪🏻🤠

[@Christian-rn9le]

Awesome tips for lighting and service if I mean when the lights need to be replaced. Thank you!

[@KoiAddiction]

Lol, i have used Kichler-Vista-Aquascapes-Etc. None have lasted for 300,000 hours yet🧐

[@prairiecreekponds]

That sounds was extremely helpful John. Thank you!

[@KoiAddiction]

Thank you for hanging with the Adams family :-)

[@prairiecreekponds]

@@KoiAddiction When running lighting this way, do you need to use a different transformer other than the quick connect transformers?

[@thinleydem7063]

Thank you that lighting tip on futurw maintenance work and creating the magic behind the waterfall are 👌👌👌.

[@KoiAddiction]

No worries! Hope it helps ya out 😎

[@VLCAquascapes]

Excellent info.

[@KoiAddiction]

We appreciate you interacting with us🙏🏻

[@i-seanneill7051]

This was great information I'm going to install my waterfall lights myself. Thank you

[@KoiAddiction]

Glad it was helpful to you, good luck with your project!

[@charlottewilson4560]

I wish they had a laughing crying face to press! I learnt and I laughed at this video. I love your humour. I haven’t been a bonehead I’ve commented and liked 🤣and laughed some more. I hope you’re feeling the love from your subscribers now!!

[@KoiAddiction]

I am, glad to hear from you my lady😊

[@saeed6811]

Professional work right there. Much appreciated.

[@KoiAddiction]

Cool man! Are you enjoying the channel?

[@mchegger]

Thanks dude. I will now be Pond lighting with confidence and machismo

[@KoiAddiction]

Glad to help! I am doing a color changing light video soon!

[@projectdewar469]

Hahah awesome vid. Solid tips and thanks for taking the time dude 👊

[@KoiAddiction]

Thanks for taking the time to watch, we appreciate our viewers ;)

[@johnklein233]

Such a helpful videos. Great information and right to the point. Thank you for the information.

[@brucew.5177]

John ... Great video . Great technique ...

[@KoiAddiction]

Thanks! We appreciate your support!!

[@princeosae-nyarko2649]

Soo helpful. You are blessed

[@KoiAddiction]

Glad you liked it, hope it helps you build awesome features!

[@projectdewar469]

Awesome video guys !

[@KoiAddiction]

Thanks for watching🤟

[@tanusutomo7031]

Hi John G great very interseting thank you

[@KoiAddiction]

Thanks for watching👍

[@mrdunny131]

Thank you! Great help. I wish the guys from Aquascape did that to begin with. As lights have gone out I’ve had to find the wires myself, what a mess.

[@neilwhitehead166]

Great content, keep up the good work 👍

[@KoiAddiction]

Did you learn anything or you just pumping me up?

[@edwardlocke874]

Funny and informative information!!!

[@KoiAddiction]

Thanks for supporting us, we appreciate yas ;)

[@brannenh9005]

Thanks so much for all your information. You do amazing work!

[@KoiAddiction]

Thanks for the kind words ;)

[@pdiddy4292]

Love it!!!🤙🙏❤👍you rock brother...thank you for the awesome help/insight. Always make us laugh w the vlogs💪 One day hope to work with you guys!!

[@KoiAddiction]

Sounds great, thanks for tuning in 🤘🏻😎

[@ThePondAdvisor]

light bulbs lol, nice lighting video, wish we could use the wire nuts in the UK, but its not possible, keep up the good work

[@KoiAddiction]

Why not?

[@ThePondAdvisor]

Regulations

[@mystoller]

Thanks for the great video.

[@KoiAddiction]

My pleasure, hope it helps :-)

[@Daniel_morfogeno]

Thanks! A fan here in Brazil

[@KoiAddiction]

My pleasure!!

[@FishinmattRyann]

GOLD!!!

[@KoiAddiction]

Whatcha fishin for?

[@FishinmattRyann]

@@KoiAddiction "fishin" to become a CAC myself!!! i have a full time job, but have been working with Cliff from Terrascapes in CA on my days off trying to learn as much as possible! I've done the online academy, online pondemonium, and I watch all your videos to learn more about the trade and educate myself!... Other than that, ill try to catch fish in any body of water fresh or salt! Keep up the good work on your channel!!! Love the tips from pondo as well! THANKS!!!

[@KoiAddiction]

Thanks for hanging with us🤙

[@johnhildebrand8740]

Thank you = really good advice.

[@KoiAddiction]

Thanks John!

[@ZokomoTV]

Great tip John

[@KoiAddiction]

Thanks for watching ;)

[@raymonewhite4892]

Great tips John! Thanks,

[@KoiAddiction]

Short useful tips? Next video is a project and will be more fun for sure👍

[@alberteinstein5421]

I really appreciate you series. This helps me a lot. Especially as here in Germany it seems that only few people use the wetland filter systems, so it is difficult to find as detailed information as in your videos. (It's then a hassle to find the correct German names for products and concepts ; ) ) I also like that the professionalism of your videos has increased. Especially the lower volume music. People watch your videos to listen to you not to music ; )

[@KoiAddiction]

Thanks for the honest feedback, glad you are enjoying👍😎

[@susansawarin5776]

That was exactly what I needed to know.

[@KoiAddiction]

Well that is awesome! Thanks for hanging with us;)

[@gbd5658]

Thanks a lot for the content. It’s great

[@KoiAddiction]

I’ll be putting videos out again very soon, I’ve been organizing content for days :-)

[@onthefence1492]

Awesome videos brother 👌🏾

[@KoiAddiction]

Thx, glad you enjoyed it👍🏻😎Thanks for hanging with us!

[@peterjex353]

Good tips John thanks 😊

[@withermanlive6048]

Hi do I have to buy a 60 watt transformer to connect the lights and the three way connectors to attach them? Thanks for your help! Your part of our family here in new Mexico so thankful for your 73 videos can't wait for many many more!

[@KoiAddiction]

You will need a transformer- may not need 60 watts. Add up you lights wattage-Aquascapes has many different transformer options. You should use the 3 way connector unless you are familiar with low-voltage wire connections in which case you can cut & splice. For color changing you’ll def want to use the connectors. Thanks for hanging out with us:)

[@kellyhadlock719]

Really thanks for the great information wat to think ahead 😀 👍

[@KoiAddiction]

Glad to share, I hope it helps!!

[@h1garza]

Good video John

[@KoiAddiction]

TYVM! Happy Saturday ;)

[@simbaSato]

Great tips! I already installed some of my own lights, but now I'm going to go back out there with electrical tape and make a video. Oh yeah, and I'll keep an eye out for making some firelight magic! Thanks for sharing your expertise!

[@KoiAddiction]

Glad to help, keep building cool stuff!

[@jonosbeanflickn]

Hi John i am about to build my pond this Friday and i have been watching all your instructional videos they are hands down the best and most informative videos for all the technical stuff. I will be using this technique for my lighting the only thing i cant find any info on is what wattage lights and how many i should used in my pond it is going to be 13ft x 11ft and 2.5ft deep

[@KoiAddiction]

I would use 3 watt LED lights and probably use 4-5 lights in the pond. Space a few down illuminating the bottom, a few 12” underwater to light different parts of the pond! Falls are all up to you, we do 1 watt lights usually on small falls and larger lights on bigger falls or in deeper pooling areas under the falls! Good luck to you!

[@jonosbeanflickn]

Thanks so much for the advice

[@inspirevideoproduction5989]

Amazing tips :)

[@KoiAddiction]

Hope it helps you do some cool stuff!

[@khakicam5400]

Appreciate your no bullshit approach

[@KoiAddiction]

Thanks for watching, we’ll keep posting👍

[@bradparker649]

I bet Greg contacts you to re-engineer his lights. Next spring I'm going to redo my cheap lights. Solid info here

[@KoiAddiction]

Thanks, glad it helped ya!

[@jonmoseley8434]

Perfection

[@KoiAddiction]

Did you get any “gold nuggets” out of this one?

[@MrStevebeech]

Excellent advice 🍻 did mine the same but no vid to remind me where I made the connections 🙄 should have found your vids before hand 😂 but thank you guys top work as always 🍻

[@KoiAddiction]

For sure, the bigger the feature the more important the video becomes. My son likes to do a sketch, Im a video guy...Thanks for watching👍

[@johnbryant3943]

Good one!

[@KoiAddiction]

Thanks John!

[@andrewputney2418]

Excellent video, I keep going back to it. How deep are you putting the lights? It seem it would get difficult with the conduit if you go past the first shelf. How would you uplight a spillway bowl flowing into the pond? do you space the lights a certain distance apart?

[@KoiAddiction]

We go as deep as possible without making an under-water connection (if possible). Sometimes the conduit goes only through the wall to the shelf, and then again through the next wall to the next shelf to keep it clean. As far as spill bowl, lots of ways. Use a small light in a piece of 3” pipe from below to light the water coming out of the spout for a cool effect ;)

[@patriciareynoso3609]

Great advise!

[@KoiAddiction]

Glad it was helpful!

[@DanLiese]

Hey John Like what you do and how you explain things. Would it be possible for me to come down for a week and work for you on your team and learn? I am just starting out and want to make sure i do it right.

[@KoiAddiction]

Always a possibility! I am hopping around from place to place currently working with other contractors BUT if you send me your contact info. To messenger, I will be glad to reach out when a project presents itsself😎

[@Cheshire_2328]

Love your vids man. Prefer wiring lights with wiring nuts as I do installing landscape lights. But for the diy home owner does it void the warranty cutting off the connectors?I’ve sent back 3 of my 5 color changing lights in less than a year for aquascape to test out and make sure aren’t functioning correctly. Hopefully I just got unlucky but I’m now going back and installing my one inch Polly line as a sleeve to pull the wires through. Huge pain moving all the rock out the way. Just expected the color changing lights to last a few years.

[@KoiAddiction]

Yes, I have had issues with the color changing lights, but they have done a lot of development and improvement over the last couple years. There were some crappy chips during Covid. I never cut the ends off the color changing lights, but I have definitely chopped many of the others. I have never had any problems with #Warranty and most of the standard LEDs last very long time. I am confident that they are making great improvements with the colored lights and have had better luck with the newer revisions.

[@kaliebgriffiths9800]

Thx for the info JohnG

[@KoiAddiction]

Thanks for watching our channel, we appreciate you!

[@nleking4859]

Hey John say you had to run a wire from a 5 foot shelf how would you run it thru the other shelf

[@KoiAddiction]

We will run a long conduit from the top to the bottom to make that happen! Just don’t run your conduits longer than your cords ;)

[@phfen]

Great piece of information ! Definitely you are the most informative and right to the point guy among all your Aquascape colleagues! How many 3W lights would you use for a 33’x13’ swim pond about 5’ deep?

[@KoiAddiction]

I like to put them alternately up high and down low. I always put too many conduits in the construction process so that if I need more lights after the fact it is easy to add them. Usually about 10' apart on each shelf staggered on the way down the shelves if that makes sense?

[@phfen]

@@KoiAddiction Amazing! Thanks!

[@nancybireta2823]

Great video. Our lights went out and we can’t fix them or afford to replace the whole light system. Are there waterproof solar lights we can set in the pond? Thanks and Happy Ponding!

[@KoiAddiction]

I don’t know about solar alternatives BUT your light system may not be totally out, may just be certain components that have failed. Has it been diagnosed?

[@nancybireta2823]

@@KoiAddiction When they were out this year to clean the water feature Tristan said we needed new lights. I was surprised because I thought they would last longer. We had problems the year before and Tristan got them up and running again. So I guess they are done for. We can’t afford new lighting so we bought two solar flood lights. Looks good but not as good as actually in the water. Thanks for getting back to me.

[@user-jg8ry3rx7p]

Do you run a solid pipe to the bottom of a pond weather it’s 2’ or 5’ down the the shelving or is the pipe just thru the Boulders on each level and then bare wire thru the Gravel?

[@KoiAddiction]

bare wire through gravel areas works for us👍

[@user-jg8ry3rx7p]

Thanks John! U Da Man!!💪💪💪

[@BaruchDavidGreenman]

Dang man, you're good

[@KoiAddiction]

Lol, thanks for your support🙏🏻

[@user-jg8ry3rx7p]

What size Landscape Lighting Wire do you like to use? 12,14,or16

[@KoiAddiction]

Typically 12. Run length and voltage drop dictate that. Be sure to test voltage at end of run if you are unsure. The LED LIGHTS TYPICALLY LIKE 12-15 VOLTS👍😎

[@chadnoland4404]

John, What size and type of underwater and above water lights do you like for price and Quality? Thanks

[@KoiAddiction]

We have been using the Aquascape 3 watt LED lights. We have pretty good luck with them and we have installed a bunch of different brands over the years.

[@chrisharrison5178]

Awesome helpful videos! I’m installing the Aquascape color changing lights in the pond I’m building and you mentioned larger conduit. What size would you suggest and am I correct that those wires should not be cut and spliced but they should be plugged into the 3 ways/6 way splitters?

[@KoiAddiction]

Make sure the pipe won’t crush behind the rocks- high pressure pipe is what we use (black poly). Take a light into Lowes and find what works- don’t make it too tight of a fit. I wouldn’t cut the wire on the color changing BUT I saw a video that Carl Petite put out where they cut one and spliced it so it can be done. 4 wires inside and they are small. I would stick to the connectors on those and use the di-electric grease on them to keep em sealed up tight!

[@chrisharrison5178]

Sounds good I’d rather not cut them if possible so I’ll find some black poly that will work. Appreciate the reply and I’m enjoying the instructional videos.

[@chadnoland4404]

Great helpful videos John. The Aquascape underwater LEDs are literally 10X more money than other similar (even more watts) underwater lights at Amazon, are they worth it?

[@KoiAddiction]

I can't say-haven't used the others. I get great service from Aquascapes and no BS if I need to warranty them. PLUS the other guys haven't done anything to lift my business, my education, my lead flow, or the industry as a whole SO there is more to this equation than just a light fixture for me!

[@timmorel79]

Little love

[@KoiAddiction]

😂🤣😂

[@ilarinummi942]

Thanks, nice video, good proper content as always! This is a minor thing, but cut electrical tape with knife or sciccors, not with hands. Then it doesn't start to unwind. Keep on truckin'!

[@KoiAddiction]

That makes total sense, I’ll apply the technique immediately :) Thanks for hanging out with us !

[@Druppelsgewijs]

that's cool, but how do you do this with RGB multi color lights :)

[@bsol23]

What wiring do you guys use to hook up the pond lights?

[@KoiAddiction]

Direct bury rated landscape lighting wire. There are some basic rules for landscape lighting-voltage drop-max watts per run, etc. I would recommend a short study on the basics to get started if you are just a beginner👍😎

[@bsol23]

@@KoiAddiction Where would you suggest i do that?! I am doing a DIY Pond in a couple weeks and would love to learn how!

[@KoiAddiction]

I would just google it if you want more. BUT - If your wiring run from the transformer is less than 100 feet long (in a single straight run, splits dont add up)- and- you have less than 100 total watts of low voltage lights- you should be more than fine with12 gauge wire as your “trunk line” that you splice your lights into. A simple voltage meter that can read 10-15 volts will allow you to test connections for proper voltage (which is typically 12 to 15 for LED lighting) & tell you if you are good. A simple test at the final connection will let you know you are good. All that said if you’re just doing a simple loading system like I described at the beginning of this paragraph, there’s really no need to test voltages because he will be just fine :-)

[@johnhildebrand8740]

What wire are you using to do your run? Great TIP!!! Thanks 🎉😊

[@KoiAddiction]

We use 1” poly pipe that is rated for 200 PSI I think. It’s thicker than funny pipe and less likely to kink. If the pipe kinks it will not work for anything so be careful there. Also if you use Aquascape LED lights you can cut the “quick connects” off the end and use wire nuts like we do. That will allow you to run 3/4” instead of 1” pipe. The brand we get is called Silverline if that helps you find it on Google ;)

[@johnhildebrand8740]

@@KoiAddiction we were going to use color changing lights - if we use your method on wiring, will it work with color changing lights? The dedicated “Koi Keepers” like white only lights because the color changing lights distort the colors of the fish. Opinion? Advice?

[@johnhildebrand8740]

@@KoiAddiction so it is ok to cut the quick connects with the color changing or only on white lights?

[@KoiAddiction]

Only white-but you can run regular 12 V wire all the way to the control hubs Then you have to run the color changing wires from there.

[@johnhildebrand8740]

@@KoiAddiction I have one more “Poly Pipe” question. I am running between 200-300’ of air lines to power some items in the pond. For long air line runs like that what kind of pipe would you use? PVC or Poly Pipe?

[@thenotsojollyrancher-akate9516]

I like this guy! Too much common sense though.😉

[@KoiAddiction]

You would think so, but common sense just ain’t that common my friend :-)

[@ninjitzu228]

thx

[@KoiAddiction]

My pleasure ;)

[@nickmorris9383]

Thumbs up exterior lighting schematics....

[@KoiAddiction]

True story, it’s mandatory on a large project!

[@fernandoabisaab9930]

Hi thanks for your videos, do you have a online school?

[@KoiAddiction]

No but that is a great idea ;)

[@fernandoabisaab9930]

You are awesome explaining how to deal with pond

[@timsmith7351]

Are you hiring?

[@KoiAddiction]

You’ll have to reach out to the office, I know Tristan just brought on 3 new people though so it would be a “get your name in the hat” kind of thing. The odds of all three working out are pretty slim though.

[@bobmariano3731]

Awesome advice & video 👍⚾️thx !

[@KoiAddiction]

My pleasure thanks for hanging out with the Adams family!