restoring/troubleshooting a small inherited pond

[blil]

hey all. last august my partner and i moved into our semi-fixer-upper, which came with an existing little backyard pond. it had been untended for about a year before we bought the house, and then for various reasons we didn't focus on pond/outdoor matters until this summer. i'm more or less hyperfocused on it now, though!

ABOUT THE POND

• ~5½ ft by 4½ ft at roughly opposite points, max depth of ~18"
• unknown when dug & lined
• seems to have some amount of orange tarp underlayment, visible through tears
• as far as i can tell there are no planting shelves dug in, just seems to slope to the bottom
• has an upper tiny ~1½ ft radius pool/ditch with liner
• 1 goldfish left - i think there used to be more but. you know.
• no external electric available! i purchased a 360+ gph solar-powered pump and have been moving water with that when i can

ABOUT THE PROPERTY

• woodsy area within city limits
• close to huge park-like cemetery (home to many deer who come through)
• house next-door is condemned & currently inhabited by raccoons

my goal is to do whatever restoration/revamping i do on this pond with as much DIY and repurposed/free-sourced material as i can reasonably rely on.

i've been focusing on:

water quality improvement via...

• crude diy filtration setup
• aquatic plants (currently duckweed & water iris surviving)
• scooping out sludge/muck buildup from the bottom
• topping up water level from rain barrel
• beneficial bacteria added (not much, just a pouch of tetra from walmart)

crude filter v1

crude filter v2 (bright blue storage tub with window screen, quilt batting, dollar store scrubbing pads, etc.)

water level dropping issues:

• very visible tears near top edge BUT...
• have been losing seemingly more than usual in the last few days, and the liner is now billowing out from the pond depression. unsure if i introduced punctures while scooping, if the sludge on the bottom was dense enough that it was preventing water loss through existing tears, or if raccoon activity has caused new punctures

wildlife interference/activity

• deer (i've seen them drinking)
• raccoons (much more problematic - my best guess as to what decimated the water lettuce, water hyacinth, and the leaves of the water iris i put in)

raccooooooooons

this is the most recent photo, taken today. there's a LOT of water loss.

i was planning to ask about whether it'd be worth trying to patch the big tears, but now i'm thinking a full new liner is more or less required. though, input from more seasoned ponders is very much desired!

especially, right now, i'm wondering if i can house the goldfish in a large container of some kind while i overhaul this whole mess, or if i should find a way to re-home it instead?

the other big issue i'm considering is how to get a container bog filter set up - i've been watching youtube videos and am really into the style of filter ozponds uses:
[video]

wondering if anyone here has experience with this style of filter
thanks in advance for your input!!

 

[Jhn]

Would just get a new liner and redo the whole pond, if it is tearing that easy when you scoop out muck or developing tears near the edges it is most likely done.

ooohhh are you asking if anyone on here has experience with bog/wetland filters….. why yes, yes “come on down Billy we all float down here”…. hmmm that isn’t right… damn creepy ass clown movies.

yes many of us on here use upflow wetland filters as the only filter on our ponds. Do a search on here for bog filters, Addy1’s, poconojoe, broken sword, GBBUDD, lisak1, myself and many others all use bogs to filter our ponds and have build threads buried here somewhere.

If it were me I would tear out the old liner, get an excavator, and make the pond half my property with a large bog filter dumping into it….wait already did that…. but seriously I would redo the pond and incorporate an upflow bog (in ground or slightly raised above the pond) as the filter system gravity feeding back into the pond. It will do away with your green water issue and the raccoons can go romping in the bog, without destroying everything.

master of acronyms @brokensword will be along shortly and get the rest of the bog junkies in here to extol its virtues

 

[blil]

yes many of us on here use upflow wetland filters as the only filter on our ponds.

i've been doing my research for a few days on this forum before i posted, so i'm already familiar with for example addy1's setup and also poconojoe's (greatly appreciated insight!!)

my specific interest here is in creating a bog in a container, and what types of container would be best for that. just sent a message on fb marketplace about 44 & 32gal white rubbermaid brute trash cans for re-sale (which had only been used once for a wedding reception) that seem promising - but i'm chronically cautious and would love second, third, and tenth opinions

 

[Jhn]

can also use Rubbermaid stock tanks, can get them from tractor supply, they come in 50 gal., up to 300 gal. I have a 150 gal. Upflow bog stock tank on my turtle pond that works great., just a pvc grid feeding the bottom and pea gravel all the way to the bottom. You can do the graduated rock thing, but in a container I would just fill it with pea gravel.

 

[GBBUDD]

We are the ugly step children in the koi world we use natural products for our filters. basically a pit with some pvc at the bottom and we pump water to the bottom and keep pushing the water to where it lifts up though the gravel and into the plant roots. end result some clean clear water.

 

[brokensword]

i've been doing my research for a few days on this forum before i posted, so i'm already familiar with for example addy1's setup and also poconojoe's (greatly appreciated insight!!)

my specific interest here is in creating a bog in a container, and what types of container would be best for that. just sent a message on fb marketplace about 44 & 32gal white rubbermaid brute trash cans for re-sale (which had only been used once for a wedding reception) that seem promising - but i'm chronically cautious and would love second, third, and tenth opinions

The thing is, if you're going to get a new liner, why not make it large enough to also incorporate the bog filter? You can then belong to the BFC. It's what I'd do because you're going to work out some sort of filter anyway, why not put the money+effort toward a final project that will keep you happy far longer than any mechanical DIY or purchased filter. It also gives you a lot more flexibility for plants and landscaping. Btw, though @Jhn is in denial, he SHOULD know where the acronym thread is and bone up a bit more than he has! (it's a sticky in the General Chat forum).

If you look at GB's and my vids showing the underwater clarity, it'll be hard to NOT want the same for yourself! I keep telling myself that...but don't worry, no one else around here bothers that I talk to myself...

 

[addy1]

Welcome to the forum!

I vote for get a bigger liner, dig in a nice hole with some dirt berm around it to make it slightly higher than the pond. Put in some pvc pipes, some pea gravel, plants and never look back. The liner will be not that expensive. No need to hide a container. And the plants grow like weeds in the bog and look great. And containers are a pita unless a good stock tank type.

I would also dig the pond deeper, don't worry about shelves. The fish will thank you and they will survive winter better.

Put a shallow shelf around the pond to lay rocks on that come up and out of the pond to hide the liner.

 

[brokensword]

Welcome to the forum!

I vote for get a bigger liner, dig in a nice hole with some dirt berm around it to make it slightly higher than the pond. Put in some pvc pipes, some pea gravel, plants and never look back. The liner will be not that expensive. No need to hide a container. And the plants grow like weeds in the bog and look great. And containers are a pita unless a good stock tank type.

I would also dig the pond deeper, don't worry about shelves. The fish will thank you and they will survive winter better.

Put a shallow shelf around the pond to lay rocks on that come up and out of the pond to hide the liner. View attachment 141193

@addy1 ; shouldn't you have your drawing stickied so you don't have to draw it all the time??

 

[poconojoe]

Welcome to the forum!

I vote for get a bigger liner, dig in a nice hole with some dirt berm around it to make it slightly higher than the pond. Put in some pvc pipes, some pea gravel, plants and never look back. The liner will be not that expensive. No need to hide a container. And the plants grow like weeds in the bog and look great. And containers are a pita unless a good stock tank type.

I would also dig the pond deeper, don't worry about shelves. The fish will thank you and they will survive winter better.

Put a shallow shelf around the pond to lay rocks on that come up and out of the pond to hide the liner. View attachment 141193

Especially take note on that last sentence and the drawing. Doing as addy suggests will hide the liner at the transition between the water and ground. No one wants to see 3-4 inches of exposed liner all around their pond!

 

[brokensword]

Especially take note on that last sentence and the drawing. Doing as addy suggests will hide the liner at the transition between the water and ground. No one wants to see 3-4 inches of exposed liner all around their pond!

you understand this will surely lessen a newbie's desire for LPS, right? I mean, without all that exposed liner, they'll have to justify SOMETHING else when they turn to their significant-other, shovel in hand...

 

[addy1]

@addy1 ; shouldn't you have your drawing stickied so you don't have to draw it all the time??

lol It is saved in my pictures on the lappy, just need to find it and post. Sort of stickied.

 

[brokensword]

lol It is saved in my pictures on the lappy, just need to find it and post. Sort of stickied.

well okay, I had nightmares of you trying to work that digital pen into such a complex and intricate design, over and over, for all the newbies! Figured to spare you some arthritic stress, don'tcha know!

 

[addy1]

well okay, I had nightmares of you trying to work that digital pen into such a complex and intricate design, over and over, for all the newbies! Figured to spare you some arthritic stress, don'tcha know!

lol appreciate the concern! I saved it, just always need to find it!

Like said by you all in @GBBUDD thread, maybe we need to work on a sticky of common first pond build mistakes. Put it in the construction thread. I could start it and add as comments are made so the first thing they see is a list of what not to do.

 

[GBBUDD]

More then half the posts here is i have been reading posts on this site i staryed digging . But what did i do . What do i do now . I did this but why isn"t it working .

 

[brokensword]

lol appreciate the concern! I saved it, just always need to find it!

Like said by you all in @GBBUDD thread, maybe we need to work on a sticky of common first pond build mistakes. Put it in the construction thread. I could start it and add as comments are made so the first thing they see is a list of what not to do.

well, I'm not sure the newbies would like to see THEIR mistake outlined in a thread especially for newbies. And the problem will arise as to 'what TO do' in that we all don't agree on the 'perfect' pond. Plus, how many do you think will take advantage to READ and research BEFORE then begin? Like GB said, they start, then ask/go looking. In a way, I think this actually helps the uninitiated to be better ponders. If I thought most would actually read before they dig, I'd be in favor of such a thread. Is there a way for you to monitor how many views such a thread has, at any given time? That might be the telling point as to whether it's a good idea or just wishful thinking.