How did this pond used to operate?

[joywrex]

Hi!

This house came with a pond and fish! The previous owner did nothing for 4 years but get it cleaned before the sale. The owner before them loved and built the pond originally. Two years later, I finally decided to start maintaining it and drained it now I’m wondering how to set up originally worked.

1) should the pump be in the deep end under the waterfall? That’s where it is currently.

2) The out pipe has a hose attachment, but it’s closed…what’s this for an aeration system in the past?

3) Is the end of the pods curled step area supposed to be a bog filter of sorts? Should I pour river rocks in that area?

Thanks for any insight!

 

[Mmathis]

Hello and welcome!

Lots of pond experts on here to help you. I have my pump on an opposite side from the waterfall, or wherever the pump/filter setup discharges. You get better water circulation, especially with larger ponds…..but also, the deep end is a good place for the pump, sooooo….

Elevate your pump off the bottom (plastic milk crates work well, depending on depth) so that in the event the pond runs dry (yes, it happens to everyone), there will be a little bit of water to keep the fish wet until you can fix the problem. Yes, the pump will probably be ruined at that point, but you might not lose all of your fish.

There are so many variables and combination, and since no 2 ponds are ever alike, sometimes you just have to experiment to see what works best for you. We all have situations where we have to compromise. Never stop learning!

 

[j.w]

@joywrex
My pump to my waterfall is way at the opposite end of my pond also to circulate better. It's not hooked to a filter tho.

 

[addy1]

Welcome to the forum!

Nice kitty!

 

[GBBUDD]

Sorry to say but i would not trust the builder of the pond. liner showing , rocks hap hazzardly stacked , no liner protection. i would start from scratch and rebuild the pond

 

[joywrex]

Sorry to say but i would not trust the builder of the pond. liner showing , rocks hap hazzardly stacked , no liner protection. i would start from scratch and rebuild the pond

Well yes, That is accurate... But considering getting it even cleaned professionally isn't in the budget...
I don't even know there is something called liner protection. I have no idea how old this stuff is, and I'm basically hoping it lasts a while with moderate upkeep.

 

[joywrex]

Ok. Here's what I did.
I drained the pond with only hoses and the power of science! That took hours.

I have one large and one small goldfish left. A Heron came and ate the 3 other big guys last year...
In the background of some pictures you can see the deck part that covered the AC power. It went over the pond and the fish could hide under there. I used some flagstone to make a larger protective area for the fish. Yes it doesn't match anything else.
I grabbed buckets of rocks and muck from with my hands like a maniac and put in buckets. Then strained them with chicken wire. That was exhausting.
I used the worst shopvac ever to suck some muck.
Preassure washed the liner.
Refilled it, added the anti-clorine stuff. Re-introduced the sad fish population.

The TT4000 pump has some wear on the intake bits so I ordered the parts and will have to get in there and replace them later. With a longer pipe, I got the the filter to the other side of the pond. ON ITS SIDE. (is that ok?)
I installed a cheap waterfall filter at the top, necessitating some goofy plumbing.
I'll wait to see if my plumbing leaks so i'm done for now.

Here it is now:

ok. what did I do wrong?

thanks!

 

[GBBUDD]

Before you spend time and energy into this project do you know of the pond hold water. ? Fill it up see if the water drops in 24 or 48 hours?

 

[joywrex]

Before you spend time and energy into this project do you know of the pond hold water. ? Fill it up see if the water drops in 24 or 48 hours?

Yes it's been holding water up to the attached image for a few years now.
There are some holes at this height from either rock rubbing against retaining wall bricks they used under this area, and/or from an animal nipping at it.
I need some seam tape to repair this area. I haven't found any other areas with this much damage anywhere else on the liner. And it lookes like this hole was patched with literal duct tape years ago.

How high do you think the original waterline was? Should none of the liner be showing? The water would almost be up to ground level.

 

[j.w]

@joywrex it looks much better now. Too bad you didn't dig out some shelves around it before you put it back together. Shallow shelves would have hid the liner as you put rocks down on the shelf and then various sizes and colors of rocks or whatever, driftwood, etc. on the top of those. Since you didn't do that you can put plants all around the edge that like to crawl down the side and cover the expose liner. The higher you can raise the water the better. Liner protection is what you put under the liner before you install the rubber liner. Can be carpet leftovers (w/o tacks) or towels, blankets anything soft so if there is ever anything sharp under there the liner is protected better. Starting off by emptying your pond could hurt the fish if all new water is added. Sounds like you did good by saving some of the old water. As for the heron you will prolly need to add a net over it, sorry to say. I have a high one over mine up about 4ft attached to a short wire fence w/s hooks. Works great and no fish loss from heron or raccoons anymore! I can just detach the s hooks from the net that attaches to the short wire fence and get into the pond if needed for maintenance.

 

[joywrex]

@joywrex it looks much better now. Too bad you didn't dig out some shelves around it before you put it back together. Shallow shelves would have hid the liner as you put rocks down on the shelf and then various sizes and colors of rocks or whatever, driftwood, etc. on the top of those. Since you didn't do that you can put plants all around the edge that like to crawl down the side and cover the expose liner. The higher you can raise the water the better. Liner protection is what you put under the liner before you install the rubber liner. Can be carpet leftovers (w/o tacks) or towels, blankets anything soft so if there is ever anything sharp under there the liner is protected better. Starting off by emptying your pond could hurt the fish if all new water is added. Sounds like you did good by saving some of the old water. As for the heron you will prolly need to add a net over it, sorry to say. I have a high one over mine up about 4ft attached to a short wire fence w/s hooks. Works great and no fish loss from heron or raccoons anymore! I can just detach the s hooks from the net that attaches to the short wire fence and get into the pond if needed for maintenance.

View attachment 162418

Nice pond!
Water plants climbing down is a good idea. I will add plants later on.

The pond is completely under trees, so it took more than 4 years for the heron to find it. I'm not sure if I'd rather just not put a net up and lose a few fish once in a while... Is that bad to say around here? They're just goldfish.

 

[j.w]

Nice pond!
Water plants climbing down is a good idea. I will add plants later on.

The pond is completely under trees, so it took more than 4 years for the heron to find it. I'm not sure if I'd rather just not put a net up and lose a few fish once in a while... Is that bad to say around here? They're just goldfish.

To me they are my pets and I'm in charge of their safety. You can do what you want tho as they are your fish.

 

[joywrex]

The

To me they are my pets and I'm in charge of their safety. You can do what you want tho as they are your fish.

The heron looked really hungry and I'm in his home

 

[joywrex]

I repaired the pond liner and then filled it up a lot more. It's never been this high since I bought the house!
We will see if it holds.
In the picture with the red line drawn, is this where a skimmer could go?

Orignially there was a big flip up deck that covered this whole area, but I don't like that.

A few ferns were added.

 

[YShahar]

Hi Joy,

Yes, that area that you've circled in red does look like where the skimmer would be. You could easily build a tiny intake bay/skimmer in that way using recycled materials. Check out this video by Ozponds for instructions:

Over time, you may want to gradually change out the haphazardly installed rock edge with blockier rocks that you collect on your own. You can also use driftwood for the edging to add a bit of variety. And of course, lots of plants really makes a pond look like it belongs!

Enjoy!