Hello from Coyote Vallye

[sesen]

Hello all,
I moved into a home that has a pond last Dec. This is the first time I have ever had a pond and I hope I will never be without one in my front yard ever again. We have about 25 Koi, Crayfish, water hyacinth and water lilies, bamboo and some cattails. We fill our pond with ag-water and so have quite a few crayfish. Also, our Koi have propagated. I hear this is not so common in domestic ponds.
It is so beautiful in Spring and Summer. Right now everything is in the process of going dormant.
I am very concerned, however. I have noticed that the pond has been requiring a lot of water and have noticed a number of huge tears in the pond liner. This is not so easily mended. The pond has a lot of rocks around and in it. The liner has a lot of algae growing on it and of course there is the life growing in the pond. Also, the pond is pretty large. About 50 ft. x 20 ft. and about 5 ft. deep. I don't know what to do. We really cant take the liner out. Please see photo
http://picasaweb.google.com/Tracy.Epperson/TheFarmPix32408#5216086161651863666
http://picasaweb.google.com/Tracy.Epperson/TheFarmPix32408#5216087477263682370

Does anyone have any advice?

Thank You. I look forward to seeing your posts!

 

[DrCase]

welcome to the fourm...sesen .....enjoyed all the pics...very nice place..and pond...take some pics of the rips in your liner...do you know what kind of liner it is??

 

[sesen]

All I know is it is a soft liner. I can try to find out more info. and take some pictures tomorrow. Thanks for your response and the complement on our property!

sesen

 

[DrDave]

Welcome to the Forum! Can you measure the thickness of your liner? When you say soft, is the material like an innertube for a truck tire?

If you have to replace the liner, I would set up a temporary pond for your fish and plants. You will have to drain the pond and I would put the new liner right over the old. It will help protect the new one from damage.

Can you tell if the rips are by aging material, rocks or another outside source?

 

[sesen]

Re: Hello from Coyote Valley

The liner is like an tire intertube.
The liner is only about 6 yrs. old.
The neighbors dog has gotten in to pond several times. Some of the rocks have spilled over into the pond. There are other rips besides just the ones caused by heavy rocks. Not sure how they got there. My brother in law was in the pond last year trying to pull out cattails. I bet some damage was done at that time.

Sounds like it will be a pretty major undertaking to get it fixed. Otherwise, we will just have to keep filling the pond a couple hrs. a day. I wonder if that much water under the pond will start to undermine the structure eventually. We have black Clay soil.

 

[DrDave]

Dogs and ponds are not a good scenerio. Thier claws can and will puncture it. Likewise with rocks. The only rocks I allow in mine are ones that are rounded and have no sharp edges.

When I go into my pond, I wear waders that have rubber feet that are rounded and have grippers. I stay away from the edges so I don't run the risk of stretching and possibly tearing my liner.

EPDM liners are supposed to be good for 50 years if you don't abuse them. They are .045" to .060" thick and are made by Firestone.

Re-filling the pond is not going to end. I hope your water is free, in So Cal we have a shortage and water is getting expensive.

You can get EPDM patching material from Firestone but it sounds to me like your problem is only going to be fixed by a new liner and careful managment after that to prevent this from happening again.

 

[sesen]

Re: Hello from Coyote Valley

Thanks so much for your input!

Of course, not exactly what I wanted to hear-
Reality Bites!!!

 

[DrCase]

dont want to just keep your hopes up...but how big are the rips?? like DrDave said they do have patch tape

 

[sesen]

They're huge.
Some are about a foot long.

 

[DrCase]

the last linner i bought, i got a roll off tape with it ...its 6" wide...i never had a hole in my liner, but if i had a ft long rip ,and it was straight i would try the tape..it might buy you some time