First attempt at a large pond

[Telion]

Today I discovered two things 1. Free rock is great till you have a to move it a second time. And whoever invented the phrase getting close lied to themself In the effort to keep going. No pics yet but got the fish cave roughed in and started rocking in the pond.

 

[Telion]

Pics of the fish cave, today it already has water and tons of flower debris in it again grrr. Need to GRT it done and filled so the skimmer can do it's thing.

 

[GBBUDD]

yes cleaner / primer not using it is a gamble I'd be reluctant to take.

 

[Telion]

yes cleaner / primer not using it is a gamble I'd be reluctant to take.

With your build I can certainly understand it. There's not much pressure for my setup and actually I have done a couple sprinkler systems that have held up for years. The glue fuses the plastic and is practically inseparable.


A quick update of moving tons of small and medium rock stacked.

I will likely go back and fill some of the gaps with waterfall foam for added strength. If I go through with my plan of stacking each of the steps I will be in need of more rock.

 

[GBBUDD]

With your build I can certainly understand it. There's not much pressure for my setup and actually I have done a couple sprinkler systems that have held up for years. The glue fuses the plastic and is practically inseparable.


A quick update of moving tons of small and medium rock stacked.View attachment 111566 View attachment 111567 View attachment 111568 I will likely go back and fill some of the gaps with waterfall foam for added strength. If I go through with my plan of stacking each of the steps I will be in need of more rock.

I'd give you all you need but you have to get it there

 

[Telion]

So kind and I totally believe you

 

[Lisak1]

Let me butt in here and suggest something - if you plan to walk on those steps, make sure to build them so they are stable. I would put large flat stones on the "step" if it were me.

Also - and I'll duck after I say this - I wouldn't put rock that large in the bottom. You want your bottom to be gravel - larger than pea gravel, more like grape sized (sorry! I don't know gravel terminology!) Those larger sized rocks are going to trap muck and cause you trouble down the road. With a gravel bottom you can get in and stir things around with your feet to make sure you don't have stuff building up and creating a bad situation for your fish. Just a suggestion!

 

[Telion]

Let me butt in here and suggest something - if you plan to walk on those steps, make sure to build them so they are stable. I would put large flat stones on the "step" if it were me.

Also - and I'll duck after I say this - I wouldn't put rock that large in the bottom. You want your bottom to be gravel - larger than pea gravel, more like grape sized (sorry! I don't know gravel terminology!) Those larger sized rocks are going to trap muck and cause you trouble down the road. With a gravel bottom you can get in and stir things around with your feet to make sure you don't have stuff building up and creating a bad situation for your fish. Just a suggestion!

Thank you. You are welcome to butt in anytime that's one ofbthe many reasons I am here. Yes the steps will be built up with some flagstone of some sort. As for the bottom. Great suggestion, wish I thought through it a little more before hand but now it's there so I will likely contend with it for right now till I think of a solution to replace it. I wonder if there is a way I could get enough circulation down there to keep it from getting mucked up.

Can't remember if I mentioned it but. The bottom rocks are not the same as the stacked rocks on the sides they are 60% 1 to 2" river rock and 40% 2 to 4 " river rock. Do you think I could mix in pea gravel to fill the gaps?

 

[GBBUDD]

WHY NOT TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE ISSUE put a reverse flow down there. Or possibly use the spray foam.

 

[Telion]

The spray foam would be too much but I could do concrete I suppose. When you say reverse flow you mean up filter of some kind where it pushes the water up through the rock?

 

[GBBUDD]

YES, it won't stop the muck but it would keep it thinned out and circulating to where the skimmer may grab it . I saw an aquascape video where they had do it to a large pool but they placed large flag stone panels to allow for some pressure between the panels

 

[Lisak1]

Upflow could work and would be interesting to try... however, you'd have to remove the rock to do it right? So why not... just remove the rock?

You can of course fill the gaps with gravel, but muck may still build up to some extent. I have seen ponds with floors where the rocks are completely cemented in place - gives you the look of a rocked bottom with the ease of cleaning a cement basin. If you're handy with cement that is!

 

[Telion]

In time. For now it's time to put water in this thing and see what it does. I just can't be patient any longer. And this will give me a chance to discover other needs as I take the next step.

Unrelated we went out to visit my dad and while looking for a place to pick cherries we stumbled across The Pond Diggers new ranch about 15 minutes from my dad's house. So we bought a few big plants just to say we bought plants from his ranch. Then we picked up a few others to get the big planted.

We bought a society garlic, two umbrella sedges, 2 variegated sedges, 4 corkscrew rushes a couple hyacinths and a water lettuce. And the pond is almost full.

 

[Telion]

A visitor that frequents the flowers by the pond (and in the rest of the yard but this is a pond forum lol)

 

[Telion]

Shot of the bog from the other side of the pond. Still need to plant the Creeping Jenny that I bought. So many people have it that I felt I should have it too lol.