Hi all, I'm new to this forum. I'm just starting to plan my pool to pond conversion. My biggest question is where to put the plants. I have swimming dogs so they'll mess up any plants in the main pool. However, I have some big planter beds right next to the pool. I'm tentatively planning on sealing the beds at the bottom so water can't leak into the earth, and then carving a channel between the pool and the beds so water can flow back and forth. So, couple of questions : 1. Will it be a problem if the plants are outside of the main pool area since there will be limited water flow between the two areas? I could potentially reroute a waterfall feature to flow more water through the planters. I suppose that would filter more water, but is it worth the hassle? 2. How deep should the sealed planter beds be, and can I just put in dirt with gravel or rocks on top to keep it fairly clean. Any general advice would be appreciated too.
Plant Placement
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tbendl
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Have you looked at creating a bog? That kinda sounds like what you are talking about but would involve some plumbing to keep the water circulating and not stagnant.
If you search for bog's in the search box, you will find a bunch of information on it.
If you search for bog's in the search box, you will find a bunch of information on it.
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How are you going to prevent water loss in your connecting channels?
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Can't tell from the photo, but does your pool have an attached 'spa' area?
yes it does now, but it should be fairly easy to separate the to plumbing systems and water supplies.
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I consulted on a pool to pond conversion where the 'spa' was retrofitted as a Phyto-filter ('bog').
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It's not the drop that matters, it's the plumbing that needs to happen.
Meyer Jordan
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A difference in elevation is not necessary, making the connection between the existing pool and the proposed planting area leakproof...is!
Are you planning on having fish? If so, keeping the 'spa' connected to the main plumbing for the pond is not the healthiest route.
Are you planning on having fish? If so, keeping the 'spa' connected to the main plumbing for the pond is not the healthiest route.
Are you talking about cutting a hole in the side of the pool for water to flow back and forth?
Is this a liner pool or a gunite one? Not that it really matters but I would think long and hard before converting it. That is a huge investment that someone in the future may really want. If you do convert it then I would spend the money on a liner and reline it, make it black. I would also fill in parts of it and reshape it to something more pond like. (you could also ask for a tax cut since you no longer have a pool) A swimming pool used as a pond is going to look like a swimming pool only with fish in it. A white or blue pond is not going to look right (IMHO). You are going to want slime to grow on the sides and that slime will never come off the pool once it starts so the pool will be ruined. The filter for the pool will have to go, it won't work on a fish pond. You mentioned that you have a bio filter, for a pool that size depending on the number of fish will have to be a huge filter. You will also need a huge mechanical filter. I don't think that the idea of putting the plants outside will do much good. The plant roots should be in the water or in a bog and you won't have enough water entering a small cut out to do much good. Plus if this is a liner pool then water can and probably will get behind the liner and your pond will leak. You could go with a lot of floating plants. If you plant in the pool than use kitty litter instead of dirt. It's cleaner and the plants do well in it.
I have a little more leeway here since I'm in this house for the duration, so how this might effect resale value is not important to me.
Anyway, the pool is a gunite one, with black pebbletec exterior, with a bunch of fake boulders on the outside. It already looks fairly pondy. We've let the pool go before and the slime died and came off once we added chlorine and turned on the pool sweep. It looked pretty good IMO as a psuedo-pond, but needed more plants around it. Nice if the water was a little less green too.
I had a consultant come out and he told me we could add a bio filter for $2000 that would do the trick. Ultima II 20,000 Filter 2" Head A50119 $2,008.99 Does that sound about right to you? We'll just use the existing filter for the spa, which has a distinct plumbing system
I think you are right about the planter plants. I'll just have them there for decoration and not worry about making them filter the water. Maybe put some chained logs to separate an area for floating plants, so my dogs can't get at them
I have a waterfall feature too, that has a holding pool a the top. Maybe about 100 gallons. Could I could turn that into a gravel bog? I guess the water would have to flow out the bottom?
Anyway, the pool is a gunite one, with black pebbletec exterior, with a bunch of fake boulders on the outside. It already looks fairly pondy. We've let the pool go before and the slime died and came off once we added chlorine and turned on the pool sweep. It looked pretty good IMO as a psuedo-pond, but needed more plants around it. Nice if the water was a little less green too.
I had a consultant come out and he told me we could add a bio filter for $2000 that would do the trick. Ultima II 20,000 Filter 2" Head A50119 $2,008.99 Does that sound about right to you? We'll just use the existing filter for the spa, which has a distinct plumbing system
I think you are right about the planter plants. I'll just have them there for decoration and not worry about making them filter the water. Maybe put some chained logs to separate an area for floating plants, so my dogs can't get at them
I have a waterfall feature too, that has a holding pool a the top. Maybe about 100 gallons. Could I could turn that into a gravel bog? I guess the water would have to flow out the bottom?
Yes on the holding pool for a bog. The filter I'm not so sure about. You only need the bio filter for the fish and with the size of the pool I'm guessing that you could get away without one if you were to keep the fish load low. The mechanical filter is what would keep the pond clean and you would need one of those. The bog idea might work with enough material put into it. Is it possible to pump into the bottom and let the water flow out the top?You will be fighting green water no matter what type of filter that you use. I'm not sure if you could get a UV light big enough to handle the volume of water in the pond buy you should look into it.
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If you plans for using this as a planting area is purely for aesthetic purposes, it would look nice. As a 'bog' for providing filtration, it will, but the amount of filtration that a 100 gallon 'bog' would provide would be negligible for a 20,000 gallon pond. This is why I inquired in an earlier post about the spa area which would be of a size that would impact filtration.
The Ultima II filter is a good filter but the 20000 model is rated for ponds of 10,000 to 20,000 gallons so it is at best marginally large enough. I would recommend the 30000 (about $700 more) that is rated for ponds of 20,000 to 30,000 gallons.
So the mechanical filter or bog would keep the water more clear? I don't mind a moderate amount green - its just algae right? I do want to keep fish in the pool - normal local pond fish like minnows, shad, bluegill, and bass. I'm not planning on putting many in, but I assume they'll procreate and find a natural balance. I figure the minnows and shad will eat the algae, and the bluegill and bass will eat the minnows and shad.
I have about 60 square feet of surface area planter for the planters. I could make them a foot deep without a problem ( which I guess is recommended), and plumb it so water came from below and pushed out to the top. I could also make a 4ft x 4ft x 4ft holding pond in my waterfall, and also push water up from the bottom.
The pool is about 50,000 gallons.
Would that and the bigger bio filter do the trick?
I have about 60 square feet of surface area planter for the planters. I could make them a foot deep without a problem ( which I guess is recommended), and plumb it so water came from below and pushed out to the top. I could also make a 4ft x 4ft x 4ft holding pond in my waterfall, and also push water up from the bottom.
The pool is about 50,000 gallons.
Would that and the bigger bio filter do the trick?
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No sugar coating....probably not in the long term.
If you were also to heavily plant the pond itself, you would then have enough bioconversion to handle a reasonable fish load. It really depends on how many and what specie fish you are planning on having to determine an initial fish load (Total mass). This total mass figure is used to determine exactly how much surface area you will need for adequate bioconversion (nitrification). It is really the fish load (mass) that determines how much supplemental filtration you would (will) need.