Convert swimming pool to natural pool/pond

[sherry]

Hello everyone, I'm a complete newbie here. Tried to do some search of how to convert swimming pool to natural pool/pond here, but did not see one in the same situation. Anyway, I have a swimming pool (used to be chlorinated, but haven't maintained or added any chemicals for over a year now). The water has turned green with lots of algae. The size is about 18ftx24ft with about 6ft depth, and it's made of concrete and lined with tiles. It has pool pump and vacuum. There are a 18x5 area with 5in depth, and a few steps of 2ft or 4ft depth in the four corners.

Now I don't want to add any more chemicals to the water (kids and myself are very sensitive to chemicals). I want to convert it to a natural pond. If we can still swim in it that would be fantastic. But I don't know how to get started. Should I start with cleaning the algae manually? Then bring in the plants? Should I add pea gravels or sand bags to build a plant area? Any suggestions are welcome. Thank you!

 

[sissy]

Welcme and there are lots of videos on youtube how to do it .Have you thought of changing the pool to a salt water pool .I have a friend back in NJ that changed hers and she loves it and she says much cheaper to maintain and safer ,she changed it because she wanted a pool in the new house and got it but found out what it took to maintain .She went to a pool supply house and they gave her info and lots of support .She now has her dream pond with less work and smell

 

[Mmathis]

Hello and welcome! Where are you located? Are you going to have fish?

Yes, there are lots of YouTube videos out there, but I have no real advice for you other than that.

BTW, algae is your friend, and in a pond, it’s going to happen — part of the ecosystem.

 

[j.w]

@sherry
Others here have done this. Do a search on swim pool or something similar.
Here is one: https://www.gardenpondforum.com/showcase/my-organic-swimming-pond.51/
and one more: https://www.gardenpondforum.com/threads/converting-an-in-ground-pool-to-a-garden-pond.16738/

 

[sherry]

Welcme and there are lots of videos on youtube how to do it .Have you thought of changing the pool to a salt water pool .I have a friend back in NJ that changed hers and she loves it and she says much cheaper to maintain and safer ,she changed it because she wanted a pool in the new house and got it but found out what it took to maintain .She went to a pool supply house and they gave her info and lots of support .She now has her dream pond with less work and smell

Thank you for your reply. I thought about changing it to salt water pool, but learned that it's just a different way of generating chlorine for the water -- I completely hate chlorine. So I was so happy when I found the option of using plants to regulate the pool environment.

 

[sherry]

Hello and welcome! Where are you located? Are you going to have fish?

Yes, there are lots of YouTube videos out there, but I have no real advice for you other than that.

BTW, algae is your friend, and in a pond, it’s going to happen — part of the ecosystem.

Thank you! I am in North California. I don't want fish, as I read that fish gives more trouble if we still want to swim in the pool.

I watched some videos, but almost all of them drained the swimming pool water and dug everything out and applied a new pond liner... I don't want to go through that much trouble, I really wonder if there is a convenient way for me to skip those steps (as I already have a pool there) and just work on building the ecosystem.

I am ok with algae. Actually my pool is full of algae now. If I bring in plants now, will they clear up the algae (at least to a degree that one can swim in safely)?

 

[sherry]

View attachment 135827@sherry
Others here have done this. Do a search on swim pool or something similar.
Here is one: https://www.gardenpondforum.com/showcase/my-organic-swimming-pond.51/
and one more: https://www.gardenpondforum.com/threads/converting-an-in-ground-pool-to-a-garden-pond.16738/

Thank you for the links! I see both of them put a lot of hard work into the conversion. I wonder if it is possible for me to just add the plants directly to the water, maybe add some pea gravels here and there, add some air pump and bio filter and then wait for the water to be clear?

 

[j.w]

Plants will grow in gravel, 100% clay kitty litter etc. but would have to be secured so as not to float away. In pots or w/roots down it the medium, whatever it is to anchor them. A rock or a few could be placed over the plants roots too to hold them in place. W/o fish to fertilize the plants you will have to add plant food somehow so they get nutrients I would think. I'm no expert on swim pool ponds tho.

 

[addy1]

Welcome!

A nice wet land filter/ bog / a pump water flow and should have a nice set up. The main thing is to have good filtration.

 

[brokensword]

Plants will grow in gravel, 100% clay kitty litter etc. but would have to be secured so as not to float away. In pots or w/roots down it the medium, whatever it is to anchor them. A rock or a few could be placed over the plants roots too to hold them in place. W/o fish to fertilize the plants you will have to add plant food somehow so they get nutrients I would think. I'm no expert on swim pool ponds tho.

as j.w said; without fish or some sort of animal inhabitants, the plants will not do well. You'll always have some algae, maybe just not the free floating kind. Algae is like cockroaches; indestructible but can be managed. JMHO

 

[sherry]

Plants will grow in gravel, 100% clay kitty litter etc. but would have to be secured so as not to float away. In pots or w/roots down it the medium, whatever it is to anchor them. A rock or a few could be placed over the plants roots too to hold them in place. W/o fish to fertilize the plants you will have to add plant food somehow so they get nutrients I would think. I'm no expert on swim pool ponds tho.

Thank you for the reply. I'm okay with putting plants in pots, or adding a few rocks to hold them in place. I just don't want to add like ~10yards of pea gravels into the pool.

 

[sherry]

Welcome!

A nice wet land filter/ bog / a pump water flow and should have a nice set up. The main thing is to have good filtration.

Thank you! Could you please suggest what filter and pump I can use?

 

[sherry]

as j.w said; without fish or some sort of animal inhabitants, the plants will not do well. You'll always have some algae, maybe just not the free floating kind. Algae is like cockroaches; indestructible but can be managed. JMHO

Thank you for the information. I thought plants alone would be enough. What fish should I introduce to the pool? With the whole pool water being green right now, do I need to clean the water with some pool vacuum first, or just directly add plants and fish? Thank you.

 

[addy1]

Thank you! Could you please suggest what filter and pump I can use?

I only filter with a bog type filter which is pea gravel and plants. You could make one in your pool and or outside of you pool.

Bog building, also called upflow filter, eco filter, wetland filter

I was asked to start a thread on how to build a bog. This is my rendition on bog building 101............. Building a bog: Before you decide to build a bog, you need to know what you want its primary purpose to be. Total pond filtration bog filtration combined with another filter. If you...

www.gardenpondforum.com

The pump you need is based on the amount of water in your pond. My bog filter is big I turn over my pond water about every two hours.

 

[j.w]

@sherry I love the Shubunkin type goldfish. They aren't a lot of money as Koi are and they are very pretty w/their various color combo's.