Frozen sunburst

[koiguy1969]

PRETTY COOL!

 

[herzausstahl]

You could always fill your stream with gravel like I did. I used progressively larger rocks, up to 8-10", to create a dam to contain the gravel. It has worked to some degree, but the fish have knocked a bit down into the larger pond that I'll have to clean out this year. I'm also considering putting some drilled pipes under all the gravel, fed by another pump, to flush out the gravel from the underside and make it act more like a bog filter.

I thought about that, but wasn't sure if it wouldn't look natural. I did a little bit of a 45-90 degree slope for most of it, and used larger rocks and then filled in the gaps with smaller ones, but I was worried if I did this I would loose the effect of the running water. I have all my liners connected so the upper feeder pool is connected to the narrower stream liner, so I don't want to try to dig it all up and refill it. How full did you fill your stream with gravel? I like the idea of it acting like a bog filter and it runs down hill, but not sure if I want to try to figure out a way to 6-8" of gravel to it, although you have an idea of creating the damn for it. Will have to brainstorm now...

 

[sissy]

Uh oh I smell something burning ,oh herz must be your brain working LOL .I am going to make my little stream bigger this spring and add more gravel there to help oxygenate the water also and raise my one filter higher .

 

[Shdwdrgn]

How full did you fill your stream with gravel? I like the idea of it acting like a bog filter and it runs down hill, but not sure if I want to try to figure out a way to 6-8" of gravel to it, although you have an idea of creating the damn for it. Will have to brainstorm now...

I got my pea gravel from my sister's house - the previous owners apparently didn't like having a yard and completely filled in the front and half of the back with rock. It took a bit of sifting and washing, but I finished up with some good clean (free) gravel. My stream is only filled a couple inches deep with the gravel, so its just barley deep enough to bury some 3/4" pipe in. If you really want to fill in your stream fast, grab a load of some 6-10" river rocks (they sell here for around $22 per ton) from a landscaping place and put those down on the bottom, then fill it in with the pea gravel. All of my larger rocks in the stream are partially buried. Because of the restrictions in the water flow, the large rocks create some nice areas of fast-moving water.

You want to make sure you keep a fair amount of pea gravel over the top to prevent dead plant matter from getting in too deeply. I plan on running a small rake over mine in the spring to release any trapped plant material, but because its all pea gravel, there is almost nothing trapped in the rock - it all got washed downstream last Fall. I'm also counting on all the action from the Spring spawning to knock loose the rest of the decaying bits and really clean up the rest of the rocks.

 

[j.w]

So Shdwdrgn are you saying that when you made your stream you just laid the hose/pipe that brings the water from the pond to the head of the stream right in the gravel of the stream bed and then you cover it up so that then it just runs back down into the pond?
For some reason thought I would have to did a trench on the side of the stream to bury the hose/pipe and then allow the water to run back down into stream head and into the pond.

 

[sissy]

I did that with mine too so if the hose ever broke or leaked it would run right back into the pond .Some bury them under there streams also to protect them from freeze

 

[j.w]

Well if I do mine I'm putting it right into the steam bed under the rocks cuz we don't freeze hard here in the PNW. What a good idea.............thanks Shdwdrgn and sissy!

 

[addy1]

That would work well jw, mine is buried, easier than putting in the stream bed with all the twists and turns our stream took.

 

[sissy]

Yep doesn't really freeze much here either and when it looks like it's going to I just turn the pump off and let the hose drain .The hose I have is a thicker one .

 

[Shdwdrgn]

J.W -- No that is not how I did my main piping! The pumps feeding the waterfall are connected via underground pipes.

My reference to laying pipes down in the river bed is for an idea to turn the pea gravel in the riverbed into a more functional sort of bog filter. I want to take a couple of 3/4" sprinkler pipes and cut slits along the bottom of the pipes. Then they will be buried underneath the pea gravel in the river bed. The downstream end of the pipes will be connected to a smaller water pump, and the upstream side of the pipes will likely be plugged off. Then when the water pump is running, the water will be pushed out of the pipes through the length of the river bed, and flow up through the gravel.

Actually another idea might be using those drip-line hoses that are like an open-cell foam, where the water just comes through the entire length of the hose. That would probably be more effective.

 

[sissy]

Those kind of hoses may get clogged up .Thats why i gave up on the drip hoses in my landscaping .Any fine stuff from the well clogs the hose

 

[j.w]

Ok shdwdrgn I see what you are saying but still I think I could use the idea of just laying a hose down under a stream bed under the gravel so it just pushed water at the end and then back to the pond, no fuss no muss as long as it didn't freeze up but I would prolly keep it running here cuz it doesn't get that cold here for long periods of time.

 

[addy1]

I don't think I would use the that drip type hose, I used it one summer here, feed from our well, within a few months it was clogged up. We have debris in our well water when we have hard rains. From a pond you would have debris that would tend to clog it up also. Get some pvc and have a hole drilling party, or use some of that black drainage piping, but I think the smallest you can get is 3 inches, that might be too big. It does have a bunch of nice slots already in it.

 

[sissy]

Any hose would work as long as it is somewhat flexible and you can drill holes in it .Even a regular garden hose would work,flexible and cheap or you could go to hardware store and by something by the foot .

 

[herzausstahl]

there is a garden store that I can get mississippi river rock in 2 different sizes for about $3 a 5 gallon bucket so not too bad, but I like the idea of using the larger size as the filler. I want it to look and feel right when I do anything though and want it to be easy to take apart if I don't like it so I will probably wait until I can look at it more and then go from there in the spring. My only concern is having enough water run over the top of the rocks so it looks like a stream instead of just running through the gravel.