I made a terrible pond . . . fixes?

[Sam]

We built a house and there was so much to think about. The water feature was a last minute idea and it shows! It is a ridiculously shallow concrete pond, all one depth 5-6". It has about 25 s.f. of surface space. Is not protected from rains or sunshine. And everyone overlooked my request that it have a gravity drain to make cleaning easier. So, it is basically a rectilinear concrete dish, which I can't keep dry when it rains.

For what it's worth, it was intended to hold rocks, water and a water fall, so I don't feel bad about creating a bad habitat for creatures. But what I did create was a terrific habitat for algae and mosquito larvae.

Right now, to clean: we drain it as much as we can with a utility pump, and shovel the rocks out to clean the bottom muck.

I am hoping for ideas for easier maintenance.

I considered algae and mosquito fish, but I don't think I have the necessary depth.
I considered a bottom vac drain, but the rocks sit on the bottom, and the darn thing isn't sloped, so there's no accumulation of debris in any one spot.

Aargh!

Any of your thoughts are welcome, unless it's just outright scolding! Thanks. Sam

 

[taherrmann4]

Sam first welcome to the forum.

I would not add fish to a pond that is only 6" deep especially if you live where it freezes as they will not survive the winter plus wildlife that eat fish this will make it an easy meal to catch since they will have no place to hide. Adding fish will only compound your problem unless you install some sort of filter. I would get rid of the rocks on the bottom as it just makes it harder to keep clean as you have attested and it will also add some depth to your pond. It sounds like you basically have a water feature and if you are not putting in any plants or fish you could treat with some chemicals. Peroxide will help get rid of your algae.

 

[addy1]

Maybe chip away one end, make it fall into the ground, but into a pondless water feature, like a big bucket with a submersible pump that will pump the water into the upper edge of the pond and start all over. You will have running water that the mosquitos hate, could put in some plants.

 

[Sam]

Thanks for your replies.

tahermann: Yes, I guess if you add fish to eat algae and mosquito larvae, you'd then need another fish that eats fish poo, for true maintenance freedom. Never heard of a species like that! I agree that the rocks are the most difficult part of the maintenance. Without them though, it is a very unattractive grey trough of water. Maybe I could paint or tile the bottom, and add some water plants? Are there vacuum systems for pond muck sucking? Maybe my shop vac could do it. Unfortunately, it wouldn't separate the muck from the water.

addy 1: Unfortunately the concrete pond is landlocked with other hardscape on grade so it's not possible to make a spill over effect. But it got me thinking that maybe I can add some more pump action to better circulate the water. The fountain pump, though rated for many GPM, isn't doing the job. Probably because the "pond" is kind of L shaped to begin with, and has a walk over paver rising up out of the bottom of the L, effectively making a donut of water around it. (Imagine a lower case "d" shape) Maybe I could find something to disguise another pump to create a current around the donut. Any ideas for very low profile circulator?

 

[herzausstahl]

Sam,
Is it possible to post pictures of your pond? Also what hardiness zone are you in? That will help everyone on here brainstorm ideas for you to consider as you plan the future of your water feature. Don't worry, I'm new to the forum also, but there are a lot of people on here who have been doing this for a long time and can help you find solutions to your problems, or think up creative solutions to them.
Nathan

 

[fishin4cars]

welcome aboard Sam, I agree pics, where you live/hardiness zone, and specific size of pond ?' long x ?' wide by 5-6" deep, would be good information to pass on for more assistance.

 

[addy1]

You could take your pump output, stick a piece of pvc, vinyl tubing something over the outlet, run that item along the bottom of you pond. Put multiple holes in the tubing (which would be better than pvc, in thinking flexible, it would follow the outline of your pond) You would need to space them out so it would create flow along the entire bottom.

But like said above, pictures, more information would help.

 

[HARO]

Sam; just an idea I've tried in the past: a large, rough-textured rock such as the limestone sold at larger garden centers with a hole drilled through it top to bottom to accept a flexible hose. The rock is placed in the "pond", and a small water pump circulates water to the top, where it flows back down to be re-circulated. I've drilled many of these rustic rock fountains, using a hammer drill and a 16" long concrete bit. It takes less than a minute to go through a 12" or so rock. The pumps I use put out from 125 to about 200 GPH, just enough to bubble up about an inch or so over the stone, and all kinds of birds love to drink and bathe at these fountains. John

 

[Sam]

Thanks everyone.

Here are the details and hopefully I have managed to attach the pictures.

The vertical part of the "L" shape is 12 feet long by 2 feet wide.

The horizontal part of the "L" is 13 feet wide, but the large walk across paver leaves only 6" of circulation at the top and bottom and 24" of circulation the sides of it.

The depth is closer to 7 total inches empty, but you can only go to six unless you want to walk on water.

I live in coastal so cal, so 70's average, and milder winter and summer temps than inland.

The obelisk at the top of the L is a rock fountain - a tall version of what HARO describes. The paver at the top part of the L is to get to an office area attached to the garage.

The pond has no shelter over it.

I know, I know. . .

[that is our dog]

 

[addy1]

Sam; just an idea I've tried in the past: a large, rough-textured rock such as the limestone sold at larger garden centers with a hole drilled through it top to bottom to accept a flexible hose. The rock is placed in the "pond", and a small water pump circulates water to the top, where it flows back down to be re-circulated. I've drilled many of these rustic rock fountains, using a hammer drill and a 16" long concrete bit. It takes less than a minute to go through a 12" or so rock. The pumps I use put out from 125 to about 200 GPH, just enough to bubble up about an inch or so over the stone, and all kinds of birds love to drink and bathe at these fountains. John

Here is a similar rock, we used it for our deck pond

 

[sissy]

welcome sam and can see you were going for zen thing and very modern look

 

[Shdwdrgn]

Since you said there is no cover over the pond, I assume it gets lots of sunlight? Obviously large fish are out of the question here, so why not go for more of a water garden? I'm thinking this could make a really interesting bog... There are others here that are more qualified to fill in the details, but basically what I'm thinking is you lay down some PVC pipes that have holes drilled along the length, arranged so that the water pumped through the pipe causes some flow around the entire area of your pond. Fill in the pond with 1/2 to 1 inch diameter gravel and allow room for 1-2 inches of water standing on top of that. Now plant the whole area with various bog plants. Once the plants get growing, the whole thing should be fairly well self-maintaining. Optionally (depending on local predators), you could include a school of small minnows and/or leopard frogs in this pond which would provide some movement in the water -- rosy red minnows are sold in pet stores as feeder fish and generally only grow to about 2.5".

 

[Sam]

I know less about fish rearing than pond construction, if you can imagine. The water evaporates very rapidly from this feature. Could fish tolerate a lot of topping off? Also, I remember my brother's aquarium set ups. He had filters hanging off the side, or under the gravel, but in any case, he always "enlisted" my help in draining the aquarium and rinsing the poop from the gravel. That would seem like I'm back at the same problem of frequent emptying of water and gravel, with no drain.

I read another post on the forum about a "live birth" breed of japanese snails. If I got over the creep factor, would they be the poo eaters missing from the equation?

 

[Shdwdrgn]

The water evaporation could be an issue, but if you treat the water to remove chlorine as you top off, the fish should have no problems.

The reason I suggested a bog-style setup is because of your original mention of the cleaning issues. A bog is nothing but a big biological filter. The pipes running under the gravel force water up through the gravel and help prevent too much waste from settling into the gravel. Then you plant heavily, and the plant roots complete the cycle for cleaning the water. There are a huge variety of bog and marginal plants available - flowering and non-flowering, tall, short, grasses and vines - so you can let your creativity flow when you decide how to add plants to the different sections.

You are talking about live bearing trapdoor snails. Yes they are great scavengers, and will clean up your pond nicely. There are also other types of snails with more of a horn-shaped shell which are able to crawl down through the gravel and clean in the deeper layers. However as I mentioned above, a bog is just a huge filter, so snails would not be required - but it never hurts to have a greater variety in your pond.

 

[taherrmann4]

Sam did you seal your concrete with anything?