I'm Finally Doing It!!!

[Pond skipper]

I am a huge proponent of gravel bottom ponds. The mini pond has a fully graveled bottom. and my large pond has all of its shelves with gravel and the deeper 3 foot area is bear liner. However, after seeing how well the shelves have done with gravel the past 3 years I am planning on getting in and placing gravel on deep area of my pond as well. that way plants can be better established at the deeper levels and have rocks to root into.

From what I have seen gravel does great in that it gives additional surface for algae and beneficial bacteria growth. It gives hiding places for small organisms that the fish in turn enjoy hunting and searching for. And most importantly it gives a good substrate for plant roots. I have my pond just about fully planted. I love the natural look of the plants rather than rocks everywhere. On 2 of my 3 shelves you cannot even see the gravel bottom as it is completely grown in by versalles grass which the fish hunt in constantly for bugs and tadpoles. They also much on the grass in the afternoon.

However, please keep in mind that I do not over feed my fish, i don't have 2-3 foot long koi and my pond is a sustainable ecosystem pond with no chemicals and no mechanical filtration. This is how I wanted it and was my choice. If you are wanting a pond to house large koi that you wish to see at all hours of the day and keep nice clean rock ledges and sides and maintain water quality with a UV light or chemicals that will result in large wastes from algae kill offs than it may not be the right choice for you.

I love it and would whole heartily suggest it for anyone with an ecosystem pond.

Hope this helps....

Thanks for the great info! My pond is only 18x7 and 1.5-2' deep max.. I have only 8 goldfish because I can't overwinter fish in the pond sure to how shallow it is I didn't get koi. I figure 8 larger goldfish are ok in my 20 gal tank over the winter.. I only feed them once or twice a week when they are in the pond. So far in the water o I only have a couple of hyacinth. I want more but only bare root stuff and haven't figured out what to try.. I made what I think you poke folk are calling a Skippy filter.. garbage can with sponges etc and it supplies my waterfall and that feeds into gravel bog then back to pond.. do you think that arrangement would suit a gravel bottom?

 

[ROW FISH]

It hard for me to say as you are in Canada and I am within 50 miles of the gulf of mexico. LOL

vastly different weather. I would say that without established plants that feed on stored nutrients within the gravel I would be weary of the amount of crud build up over time. However, if you are housing your fish in the winter this could easily be solved with an annual spring clean out.

Overall I believe gravel does more good than bad for a pond. Regardless of setup and geographical location. Those two factors simply determine the amount of maintenance that will be required to ensure water quality and health of the ecosystem.

-ROW

 

[Pond skipper]

It hard for me to say as you are in Canada and I am within 50 miles of the gulf of mexico. LOL

vastly different weather. I would say that without established plants that feed on stored nutrients within the gravel I would be weary of the amount of crud build up over time. However, if you are housing your fish in the winter this could easily be solved with an annual spring clean out.

Overall I believe gravel does more good than bad for a pond. Regardless of setup and geographical location. Those two factors simply determine the amount of maintenance that will be required to ensure water quality and health of the ecosystem.

-ROW

Lol slight difference in the geographicals... I understand what you are saying about the build up. I was figuring to clean it out once a year just trying to figure out the best way.. my thought was to use some coarse quite mesh to fashion a cap to go over the shop vac hose. Hopefully it would let most of the gunk that would be settled in the gravel pass through and keep the gravel where it belongs. Thanks again

 

[ROW FISH]

Spent the weekend sprucing up the space around the pond. Ran across a great deal on a ceramic bird feeder for $35. Also added a bird feeder and windchimes that I had lieing around. My wife and I also built an outside end table that I decided to put out front.

When I had originally built the pond I measured it out to include a bench on the extended patio. However we discovered that we enjoyed sitting on the ground to be closer to the fish. Especially since it is all small tropicals. So we added pillows to sit on instead. Which actually keeps the space much more open.

 

[Sparky]

Here are the promised pics of the area.

Um, literally screaming put pond here!

 

[herzausstahl]

Nothing better than the sound of water.

This is probably why mine has so much of it lol

 

[herzausstahl]

Spent the weekend sprucing up the space around the pond. Ran across a great deal on a ceramic bird feeder for $35. Also added a bird feeder and windchimes that I had lieing around. My wife and I also built an outside end table that I decided to put out front.

When I had originally built the pond I measured it out to include a bench on the extended patio. However we discovered that we enjoyed sitting on the ground to be closer to the fish. Especially since it is all small tropicals. So we added pillows to sit on instead. Which actually keeps the space much more open.

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Nice build! Looks really cool! Will you have to relocate all the tropicals in fall? Too bad it would probably be too difficult & costly to heat the pond over winter.

 

[ROW FISH]

Nice build! Looks really cool! Will you have to relocate all the tropicals in fall? Too bad it would probably be too difficult & costly to heat the pond over winter.

Yes I am planning on purchasing a large 60-90 gallon tank to house my "keepers" over the fall. I will re home or sell/drop off the remaining fish at one of my local fish stores. I have experimented over wintering tropicals in my large pond for 3 winters now and only had success with some danios which when i say success I mean a dozen out of about 200 survived. Heaters take so much energy to run that I would prefer to just spend that money on a new tank set up. So that is the current plan. Right now the pond has 200+ fish in it. About 15 of which are adult Mollies, Platties, and Swordtails.

 

[herzausstahl]

Yes I am planning on purchasing a large 60-90 gallon tank to house my "keepers" over the fall. I will re home or sell/drop off the remaining fish at one of my local fish stores. I have experimented over wintering tropicals in my large pond for 3 winters now and only had success with some danios which when i say success I mean a dozen out of about 200 survived. Heaters take so much energy to run that I would prefer to just spend that money on a new tank set up. So that is the current plan. Right now the pond has 200+ fish in it. About 15 of which are adult Mollies, Platties, and Swordtails.

Sounds like a great plan! I have a 55 gal I eventually want to put cichlids in but for now just did fancy guppies knowing they'd reproduce, be colorful & give my kids something to look at. I fully understand with the heater. How cold does it get in winter where you are?

 

[ROW FISH]

Sounds like a great plan! I have a 55 gal I eventually want to put cichlids in but for now just did fancy guppies knowing they'd reproduce, be colorful & give my kids something to look at. I fully understand with the heater. How cold does it get in winter where you are?

We usually only get 2-3 freezes a year with 1 being a hard freeze. The past 2 years my large backyard pond actually put on a layer of ice over 80% of the waters surface, which I never thought would happen in Houston,TX. I have debated leaving them outside and only running the heater when absolutly necessary but I dont know how much it would stress the fish turning it on and off.

 

[herzausstahl]

We usually only get 2-3 freezes a year with 1 being a hard freeze. The past 2 years my large backyard pond actually put on a layer of ice over 80% of the waters surface, which I never thought would happen in Houston,TX. I have debated leaving them outside and only running the heater when absolutly necessary but I dont know how much it would stress the fish turning it on and off.

The fish and your electric bill! Lol not sure I'd know what to do with all the warm weather

 

[ROW FISH]

Finally purchased a diamond core bit to make a bubbling rock for the front pond. Here is the results. My wife likes it a lot better than the blue pot.

 

[addy1]

a bubbling rock for the front pond

I have a bubbling rock for my deck pond, love it.

that looks great!

 

[GBBUDD]

Chasing a couple leaks found one in the upper pond. I have an area where I alow water to wheel from the upper pond to the lower pond that let's water drain down more like just keeps the down slope damp. well it looks like a chipmunk or something got in there. ripped out the liner and installed 8 oz non woven in a full sheet more ariving Tuesday. Now that the Covid Panic is lessening and as we hopefully get back to work.