Please tell me there's no issue with adding vigoro Creek rock from home depot to a pond that already has fish

[Mayank]

We got some bags of vigoro decorative Creek rock from home depot to put on the liner of our pond which did not have complete coverage. We have 8 bags of it and we were on our 3rd bag when I thought I should ask this question because every time we've done something there is some weird repercussion that we could never have imagined that would somehow harm our fish. Please tell me there is no negative effects from adding Creek rocks on the liner after triple washing them at home with a garden hose. I'm sure there might be a negligible amount of chlorine from the garden hose but we are at this time adding water with dechlorinator as well.

 

[Mayank]

It's the light colored rocks you can see in the pic.

 

[IPA]

No rocks on the bottom for small ponds.

 

[Mayank]

No rocks on the bottom for small ponds.

Not sure I understand

 

[IPA]

How many gallons is your pond? Has your pond recovered from the biological filter crash? My pond bottom is full of detritus and now a layer of algae. A thin layer of rocks is not the worst thing but they soon be covered with detritus and algae so it will only make cleaning the bottom when necessary that much more difficult.

 

[Lisak1]

I'll take the other side of this argument - many pond professionals will tell you that a gravel bottom pond adds to the biological filtration as it gives beneficial bacteria more surface area to colonize. Cleaning it is not an issue - just shuffle it around a bit and it's all good. My gravel bottom has been there for 8 seasons - I can still pick out individual stones that my granddaughter brought home from a beach trip and tossed in. On the GPF we pretty much agree that this is a matter of personal preference.

There's no issue with using the bagged rock you chose. Vigoro sells something they call "pond pebbles". I would just make sure you choose smooth gravel, not the sharper, construction type.

 

[KimA.]

How many gallons is your pond? Has your pond recovered from the biological filter crash? My pond bottom is full of detritus and now a layer of algae. A thin layer of rocks is not the worst thing but they soon be covered with detritus and algae so it will only make cleaning the bottom when necessary that much more difficult.

I'll take the other side of this argument - many pond professionals will tell you that a gravel bottom pond adds to the biological filtration as it gives beneficial bacteria more surface area to colonize. Cleaning it is not an issue - just shuffle it around a bit and it's all good. My gravel bottom has been there for 8 seasons - I can still pick out individual stones that my granddaughter brought home from a beach trip and tossed in. On the GPF we pretty much agree that this is a matter of personal preference.

There's no issue with using the bagged rock you chose. Vigoro sells something they call "pond pebbles". I would just make sure you choose smooth gravel, not the sharper, construction type.

That's what I thought, too. How large is your pond?

 

[Mayank]

How many gallons is your pond? Has your pond recovered from the biological filter crash? My pond bottom is full of detritus and now a layer of algae. A thin layer of rocks is not the worst thing but they soon be covered with detritus and algae so it will only make cleaning the bottom when necessary that much more difficult.

The rocks are not on the bottom level but they are on the highest level which is about 6 to 8" under water and very easy to access. I am planning to also put them on the 2nd highest level which would be about 16". The lowest level which is around the waterfall is 3 and a 1/2 feet or a little more.

 

[Mayank]

I'll take the other side of this argument - many pond professionals will tell you that a gravel bottom pond adds to the biological filtration as it gives beneficial bacteria more surface area to colonize. Cleaning it is not an issue - just shuffle it around a bit and it's all good. My gravel bottom has been there for 8 seasons - I can still pick out individual stones that my granddaughter brought home from a beach trip and tossed in. On the GPF we pretty much agree that this is a matter of personal preference.

There's no issue with using the bagged rock you chose. Vigoro sells something they call "pond pebbles". I would just make sure you choose smooth gravel, not the sharper, construction type.

Those were my thoughts as well Lisa. I figured it would be more surface area. I am planning to buy a pond vacuum so cleaning those areas should not be an issue because they're only one rock deep.
I wanted exactly the pond pebbles that you talked about but they did not have any. It was kind of wild how many things home depot's out of at this time. These were the only ones that I thought would work. Just wanted to make sure there was no such thing as some kind of chemical or whatever on those rocks versus the pond pebbles. We did triple wash them though.
Also, I was half worried that somebody would say all those are made of lime stone or something and will raise the ph of your pond by 3 or something crazy like that .

 

[Mayank]

That's what I thought, too. How large is your pond?

About 1800 gallons.