New pond gravel on bottom?

[rebelangel_3733]

alright fellow ponders...question to ponder for my new "bigger" pond...would you put gravel on the bottom to cover the liner? Pro's/Con's to this. Idea's needed on this as I'm about to embark on the new pond in the next two weeks. It will be 15' x 10' with a waterfall (I believe) excluding the waterfall which will be about another additional 3'-4' area no more than 2' higher. Thanks!

 

[sissy]

no gravel it just holds the bad stuff and after awhile they get covered in muck any way and you can't tell you have rocks down there .They all start to look black

 

[rebelangel_3733]

thanks sissy...thats what I was wondering. I've been watching utube pond building and many have rock/gravel on the bottom. My thoughts were what you stated. How the heck does nature keep streams so clean? lol

 

[sissy]

I fell for that and put rocks in my pond and after 2 months they looked all black and the were grey .What a mess under them when I took them out too .Took me 4 hours to get them out .I spent good money on them too .That water is always moving and plenty of wild life to eat the muck also .I have lots of streams and ponds by me and you can see the rocks and not an ounce of algae or muck .Maybe bear pee and deer pee helps :cheerful:

 

[rebelangel_3733]

lol well I dont foresee any bears ever in my backyard...have had a deer once and I live in town (theres country about 4 blocks south) but dont foresee that happening again as I think that one was totally lost lol. I know I'll have rocks cascading the sides of the pond like I do mine as those only get a small amount of algea growth and the fish seem to keep that pretty well nice looking. Darn it I want to start digging right now, but have the house to finish (remodeling) and I have an old concrete pond to remove that was there (we found it because I saw a line of concrete horseshoe shaped and just dug and found a concrete one burried) which has to go first. And have to fence off the whole yard yet! Way to many projects to do to move into my ol house, but have to get the idea's flowing on the new pond build too cuz my fish kids want out of their winter housing tank on the porch! I dont want to put them out into the pond we have here at this house and totally confuse them (and chase them) to move them into the new pond!

 

[sissy]

have friends have a digging party and barbecue .There reward is food after they take the old pond out and dig the new hole .You need a shovel to come to the party .

 

[rebelangel_3733]

lol idea! just have to have them bring sledge hammers too to bust out the old concrete pond

 

[sissy]

tell them it is good exercise and it will build muscles .CHEAPER THAN A GYM .

 

[Big Lou]

alright fellow ponders...question to ponder for my new "bigger" pond...would you put gravel on the bottom to cover the liner? Pro's/Con's to this. Idea's needed on this as I'm about to embark on the new pond in the next two weeks. It will be 15' x 10' with a waterfall (I believe) excluding the waterfall which will be about another additional 3'-4' area no more than 2' higher. Thanks!

IMO, no to the gravel bottom. It will ultimately turn into a mucky, smelly mess. With that said you can and I do have large stones, boulders about in the pond. My water is crystal clear so we enjoy seeing them down underwater. I do wish there was a way to disguise liner. Now, your pond bottom will have natural debris hide much of the liner. Hate seeing any liner especially on steep sides without dug in shelves. Have no alternative, I guess. HOPEFULLY, some brilliant soul can teach a trick or two.

As for the filled in pool. I suggest you contact the previous homeowners and ask if the bottom and sides of the pool had sections (or holes) busted out for water drainage. If not, the current site would be soggy or spongy underfoot. Is the site retaining water? If the pool fill is retaining water one solution may be to have large drainage holes drilled through the pools bottom and sides. This will require a professional and expensive but digging out and removing the old pool will be very, very expensive.

Good luck.

 

[j.w]

I put gravel on the bottom of my bath tub pond and it was a bad idea cuz it turned all black and yucky and then I had to work to get it all outta there. Never will do that again.

 

[sissy]

I bet it smelled bad too

 

[HTH]

One can paint liners. I forget what paint to use but a bit of searching should turn up info from people who have done it.

 

[ALLINKDUP]

the muck in the bottom can contain hydrogen sulfide and when it is stirred up or turned over, it is very toxic to your fish...do you have bottom drains???

 

[Litzi1964]

My concern about rocks or gravel on the bottom is safety. If I have to walk around in my pond to access pumps or filters, it's too easy for the rocks or gravel to shift and I could lose my footing. Walking on rocks or gravel is also really hard on your feet. I only wear chest waders when it's too cold to go in barelegged and barefooted.

 

[HTH]

How big will the new pond be?

Is there any chance to use the existing concrete pond as a bog garden/filter or do you have to remove it to make room for the new pond. Whatever sort of filter you choose will take some pace.