should I remove the rocks from the bottom of my pond?

[j.w]

I think you will have it much easier now to keep it clean by just scooping every now and then w/ a net and doing partial water changes. The fish will thank you too...........oh and the bullfrogs also!

 

[blessedfamily]

It only took me 4 hours to take it all out lol....wow was it nasty.

 

[mtpond]

So far the bottom of my pond still looks clean, but I don't want it to get to that point where it will become a big mess.

 

[addy1]

Good for you blessed! It is work, but you will like the results. It took us a week to fill this one, being careful with our well, would be a real pain to drain it each year for cleaning.

 

[adavisus]

Rocks in a pond are an interesting choice, they can stabilise plant positions, provide predator cover, add to the picturesque natural effect.

The downside of cleaning debris around them might need a bit of thought to reduce the obvious problem of making a future liability lifting stuff out and avoiding pollution.

As long as a sturdy net can peck away most places in the bottom of a pond keeping pollution to nominal levels will be realistic

Regards, andy
http://www.flickr.com/photos/21940871@N06/
http://swglist.wordpress.com/

 

[sissy]

If you have the money to pay a guy to take care of the pond and clean it ,then rocks look nice .I saw a the pond store here where they where doing a show on how they clean ponds and gosh the way they do it looks scarey to me ,but guessing since they are pro's they know what they are doing .They do charge a lot for there service though .If you get a yearly contract it is just over 800 dollars for them to come out anytime there is a problem and do 2 cleanouts a year .Seems like a lot of money to me .Interesting to watch how they isolate the fish to one side of the pond and clean it out .Seems the fish are not stressed at all by the way they do it .They use a high powered vac. that sucks the water out and filters it and just lets it go right back into the pond .Neat thing to watch .Not sure what else they may be sucking out that may be living .To put in a new pond with all the bells it is over 6 thousand dollars waterfall filters,liner ,fish ,plumbing,media,skimmer ,bottom drain and rocks .I guess not bad as you can watch them work .Waterfall is 8 ft. long and pond is 20x20 .

 

[pecan]

I heard about issues with rocks prior to building my pond so I just put them on the first step down. Now I have pulled all of those and only have rocks on the edge about 2" in the water. You never see the liner anyway with the blanket algae. I do have a couple rocks I used to put flat rocks on top for fishy hiding places but they are very large rocks.

 

[sissy]

I use the top from an old cat litter box and also a milk crate that i cut both ends out .Like the cat litter box as it has a nice handle to pull it out of the pond to clean it and clean under it .I realized after pulling it out the first time how much gunk and poo was under it .

 

[pecan]

I tried the top of a kitty little box last year and my fishies did not like it. They would not get near the thing and I left it in there for a couple months.

I think with my island, a couple rock caves and the many lilies Addy sent me (Thanks Addy!) my fish should have plenty of places to hide this year

 

[sissy]

Mine was in there for awhile also but they got used to it ,once the koi went in the others followed and then had to do the crate because aggie and bert are now over 2 feet long .Aggie's back up was not so great when everyone tried to get in the litter box with her and Bert

 

[Heidi]

eeeewwwww for the pool boy. I loved reading all of your responses though. Does Rob Lowe clean ponds??? If so, sign my pond up!!! As for cleaning/removing the rocks on the bottom of my pond, I just can't lower the upper half of my body into such cold temperatures. I guess it's much easier to just fall in, as I do that really well. As of today, my pond is 65!!! That's a lot warmer than it was last weekend when I was in it (only up to midcalf...I did slip and fell on my butt, but still it wasn't the top half)lol.
I've read a lot about eggs and babies. I have 3 koi that are probably 12-14 inches long and 3 that are probably 10 inches. Are they big enough to start a "relationship" that takes them to the next level? lol.

 

[pecan]

Oh yes they are big enough... My 8 inch comets were playing together in the biblical sense within a week of putting them in the new pond LOL. You will have babies

As far as pond boys... This is my pond boy (my dear sweet husband and retired Marine) he doesn't do much as far as working on the pond except for digging it for me to begin with, but he does hang out with me, drink beer and look pretty while I am working on it. :razz: :luxlove:

 

[addy1]

Nice pond boy you have there! Nice pond too

 

[pondlover]

Nice picture. Pecan what is that purple plant at the right.

 

[Heidi]

Pecan, you definitely reeled in a nice piece of eye candy!!! My husband loves to look at them, but would NEVER go in the water...he won't even put his hand in it. I think he thinks they are Jaws and will bite his hand off. lol. I will definitely keep an eye on the "pond courting". I'm gonna follow Addy1 advise and let nature take it's course. Only the strongest will survive. I have a hard enough time keeping an eye on my teenager. lol Enjoy this amazing weather...well, in New Hampshire it's suppose to be 83 today!!