New TV Show - Pond Stars

[morewater]

I stopped drinking, except for the occasional binge.

I only fool around on my wife on days that end with "y".

 

[tbendl]

I stopped drinking, except for the occasional binge.

I only fool around on my wife on days that end with "y".

Whew, I was afraid I was the only sober binge drinking wife cheater with a rockless rock bottom.

 

[JBtheExplorer]

My fear of rock bottom ponds is everything getting trapped under the rocks. With a bare bottom pond, I can see everything that's in there and scoop it out. Addy's photo is another reason I like bare ponds, it really does look natural even though its liner!

Kind of off topic, but since we are talking about rocks, does anyone know if lava rocks will be ok in an indoor filter? I'm working on filters for my stock tanks and I happen to have some lava rock on hand.

I think it is time for several members to chill out before they get a time out. If you don't have anything constructive to add to this thread, then just read and do not post until you do.

Don't worry @DrDave, it cooled down days ago. I put myself in the corner and didn't come out until I behaved!

 

[addy1]

does anyone know if lava rocks will be ok in an indoor filter?

I used lava rocks in a bucket as an filter for my 55 gallon tank while I had shubunkins in it over winter. Darn gold fish poo a lot compared to small tropicals. It work great, kept the water in good shape.

 

[Lisak1]

@Mucky_Waters so that is really what they recommend? If I had to empty my pond and clean bottom rocks every year I would not have a pond or if I had tons of money to pass out I'd pay someone to do it. I like the look of the clean rocks but too much work for me and I do enjoy watching the show but I'll stick to my rock-less bottom

Many companies that build ponds offer spring and fall clean outs. Some people like the look of the rocks all fresh and clean in the spring and are willing to pay for it. Other people do it themselves. We like the way it looks so we just leave it alone. To me it's like many things in life - some people pay to get their house cleaned (or their car washed or their dog groomed or their nails done or whatever), some people do it themselves, and some just leave it alone! Is it another income stream for pond builders - sure. But that's business.

And it's true AS doesn't focus on high end filtration systems, but they also don't build koi ponds. They build water features and garden ponds.

Our pond is completely rocked - big boulders ("two and three man" rocks) line the walls with a shallow layer of gravel on the bottom. We've had no issues with keeping our pond clean. A good pool net is about all it takes to scoop the bottom in the spring and fall. We've never emptied our pond - heck, we don't even do water changes!

 

[Lisaebetten]

I have their skimmer and falls box but I did all work. Foamed my rocked walls together, No gravel other then the stream. Used a single layer of kewanee flats on plant shelves. Wish I would have made the winter whole larger so me, the fish hide and my net could fit!

I know what you mean but it made me chuckle. Hehehe..

Haven't you talked about peoples bottoms before?

 

[DrCase]

Just looking to who see what's going on

 

[Lisak1]

My fear of rock bottom ponds is everything getting trapped under the rocks. With a bare bottom pond, I can see everything that's in there and scoop it out.

I think that's where the confusion comes in - it's not really a ROCK bottom pond... it's a GRAVEL bottom pond. It's a rock-sided pond with a shallow layer of gravel covering the bottom layer. The bottom of the pond is still flat and easy to scoop. I wander around in my pond all the time stirring up the gravel. There's not much down there - just a fine layer of sediment that settles quickly once I get tired of wading around!

 

[addy1]

I have ours set up, that when we have a good rain, the water flows in one end and out the other. You can see the water get cloudy if it rains hard enough, stirs up any stuff hanging out on the bottom of the pond. Does a nice flush of the pond. Within hours to a day or so the water clears up beautifully.

 

[Jeff Zimnisky]

I don't understand. What's wrong with having over a ton of river rock at the bottom of my pond?

 

[addy1]

I don't understand. What's wrong with having over a ton of river rock at the bottom of my pond?

Nothing if you like it.

I had river rock in part of my arizona pond, the way that pond was set up it was hard to keep the muck from collecting in the rocks, string algae grew like trees out of the muck. I finally pulled them could not see them anyways after they got covered up with muck.

It is each persons individual choice, river rock, gravel, bare liner, all need to be kept somewhat clean in some sort of manner.

 

[Mucky_Waters]

I don't understand. What's wrong with having over a ton of river rock at the bottom of my pond?

Nothing wrong with it, in fact I have a ton of rocks all over my living-room floor. It's impossible to keep the carpet clean, and guests are always tripping and falling over the rocks, but I really like the look of the rocks.

 

[j.w]

The show is on tonight at 7pm here. I wish they would do a show on someone getting a clean out of their pond w/ all the big rocks. I wonder how much they charge to do these clean outs?
Doing a pond and pergola tonight taking only 48hrs to build. Also the football guy is getting a pond and also a big bench made from a tree for an arena.

@Lisak1 I can see where yours w/ just the thin layer of gravel and rocks only along the sides would be easier to deal with but the ones w/ the big rocks all over the bottom would need the clean out control like they suggest. I know my fish like picking at any gravel or kitty litter that falls on my pond bottom and that stirs it up some so the filter can then suck it up. With you getting in there and walking around stirring it up helps too.
I could also see someone putting rocks all around a shelf in the pond and being able to prolly stick a hose in there and swoosh all the stuff that gets in-between pushed out and down to the bottom where it could then be scooped up if you either have a gravel bottom or bare liner. I might think about putting a few larger lifting size for me smooth rounded rocks around my shelf to hold the lilies in place instead of the baskets. Then I could try the hose cleaning method to clean out anything stuck in those rocks. But my lilies did not do well at all w/o media in the pots so giving one more year to see if they do better and then back to media and fert. Got to try these things or you never know if they work or not, well at least I do. Inquiring minds need to know as they say

 

[JBtheExplorer]

Did anyone watch the show last night and laugh when they had to stop constructing the pond until they got a koi cam? because, you know, it would be impossible to install a koi cam once the pond was already complete...

It turned out pretty nice though!

 

[j.w]

Yep I watched and did you notice the lady who got surprised by the makeover of her yard w/a pond? They mentioned something about the fish and she said she didn't want to ever have to touch them. Guess she won't be a hands on pond owner