Water Gardening: Converting to Pond-less Waterfall, 1 by Mrs_Ed

Mrs_Ed wrote:
After some consideration, we are considering switching our pond and stream to a pond-less feature later this year. Mostly this is because of the dogs wanting to jump in the pond. It's fenced off now, and the dogs have a wading pool, but occasionally they still wind up in the pond.

I've done some reading/research on how to build a pond-less. But I'm looking for more in-depth info on conversion. Pros/Cons, installation tips, design ideas, etc. Has anyone skipped a vault and kept a skimmer box?

Please share you pictures and sage advice. :D