Another new home owner!

[Grove]

Hi all, purchased a home a month ago and my entire backyard is one big pond. It's beautiful, with a cute wooden bridge and a large waterfall, but it had been neglected for a few years as the home had been a rental. Barely any water was visible because of an overgrown plant that had taken over the entire pond. A few people suggested I try to salvage the water that was already in the pond so I removed most of the plants just by pulling them out or breaking them off their roots, but I could tell there was quite a bit of sludge and roots left in the pond. I plugged in the waterfall, repaired some gashes in the very old and brittle tubing, and the water started cycling. It cleared up very quick, but duckweed took over the entire pond withing a few days. I skimmed as much as I could but it seemed like it would come back every single day. I purchased about 20 feeders and left them to their own devices. I started pulling out roots/sludge/rocks as much as I could in the evenings and bought some BactiMax and sludge remover pellets to try combat it but it didn't seem to help.

Finally I met with somebody from a pond supply shop and they suggested I drain the whole thing. I did that and realized the sludge on the bottom was about 2.5 ft deep, plus the entire bottom of the pond was filled with planters and pots. I'm in the process now of pulling all the rocks and gravel out, pulling out all the pots, and scooping out all the sludge - it's a huge job!

Here's some pics of the pond and where I'm at - any tips/advice I'm all ears!

https://imgur.com/a/ZK7Hx4d

 

[addy1]

Welcome to our group of pond fanatics.

Keep working away, one day it will be done and you will be so darn happy! Don't get rid of all the plants they really help keep the pond in great shape

Love the waterfall/stream

 

[Grove]

Hope so - I like the work, it's satisfying seeing all the organic waste come out. Not sure if you can tell from the pics but it looks like it was set up with 2 bog filters, is that typical for a pond this size?

 

[Lisak1]

It is a lovely pond! Like @addy1 said - just keep plugging away... you'll get it cleaned and back up and running and be so happy you did! You're starting 20 steps ahead of all of the rest of us who had to first BUILD the pond!

I hope you're tossing all that good muck into your gardens - they will love it! I can't really see what you're referring to as bog filters - are the plumbed so water is being pushed up through gravel?

Welcome to the GPF!

 

[Grove]

Pic #4 and pic #5 in that gallery is what I was talking about - pic #4 has a plant in it that had a tag sticking out with "Bog [something]" written on it so I assume at some point they must have been pumping water through there. Unfortunately there's just random pieces of tubing I'm fishing out of the bottom of the muck right now so I have no clue how it was originally set up.

 

[Grove]

Any tips on what to do with all the exposed liner on the edges?

 

[Lisak1]

#4 is a picture of a gorgeous and healthy marsh marigold. That one will be the first thing that shows up in the spring. Lovely yellow flowers. It tends to die back here in the heat.

Was the other plant maybe "bog bean"? A bog filter would have piping in the bottom (slotted or with holes of some type) to push water up through layers of gravel. It appears you have more of some plant pockets than actual planted filtration.

As for hiding liner - yes! And again, it's hard to tell from the pictures but it appears you have some real construction issues going on. Basically your pond edges should be higher than the surrounding terrain - at one spot it looks like a straight drop off down the hill into the pond. Am I seeing that correctly? But basically you disguise liner with rocks. @addy1 has a drawing that she always shares that demonstrates it far better than I can explain it! @j.w also shares photos of her edging that shows very clearly the best way to accomplish what you are trying to do. They will pop in here I'm sure!

 

[j.w]

Easier to hide the liner w/making ledges around the pond a few inches down and place rocks and then on top ledge more rocks. Kind of like steps w/rocks on them. The stream will be harder but maybe done the same way. I don't have a stream so can't help you there.

My pond rock edge to hide liner:

 

[Grove]

That's beautiful and exactly what I would like to accomplish! I noticed there is a bit of "step" inside the pond all the way around, I'm guessing that's what the original builder was using to get that look. I think what I'm missing is larger rocks all around.

@Lisak1 I think you're right about those plant pockets, that makes more sense with their design, I already did pull out a couple plants from there. I was planning to put down some pea gravel in there and make it an actual bog filter with piping running through it, do you think that's possible?

 

[Lisak1]

Anything is possible! How deep are the pockets?

 

[addy1]

Here is my lonely green fish demo of a pond edge, red = rocks

 

[addy1]

I was planning to put down some pea gravel in there and make it an actual bog filter with piping running through it, do you think that's possible?

You can do it. It is surprising how some pea gravel, plants and water flow take such good care of your pond.

 

[cas]

That is going to be a beautiful pond once you get it up and running. Good luck and keep us updated!

 

[JamieB]

Welcome, and looks like you have a great start! Keep the plants in water, and read up on others new ponds. Once you get the sludge out and start over, it’ll be like a new pond and will go through the nitrogen cycle with all the hassles such as green water till it balances out. That duck weed is a great thing, it eats the excess gunk, shades the water, and goldfish love to eat it! I’ve got dedicated buckets to grow it this year, to toss in to my goldfish and shade my smaller fish.

 

[poconojoe]

+1 on the Marsh Marigold. It's one of our nicest plants. Every year it gets bigger. In the fall, I cut the stems down and in the spring it comes back bigger and better. That's in zone 6b northeastern PA. It sits on a plant shelf 8" below the water surface, so it completely freezes solid.
Good luck. All that work will be worth it when it's all done.