Building my first pond and maybe I put the cart before the horse. I dug the hole, put the liner in and I’m ready to rock. But after a few weeks of searching I cannot find a reliable source of rock larger than 8” that is under $500-$700 per ton. I had kinda grazed and thought I’d find a decent selection in the $150-$200 per ton range. Thinking I might have to line the walls with red brick in order to stay within a reasonable budget. I expected to pay about $700 for stone, but at the price I’m looking at $2000-$3000. Ouch
Sourcing rock
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Line the walls? In the pond? My walls are naked and after time look natural.
That would be great to skip the large rock. This is my first fish pond so still learning. But I thought I needed to line the pond with rocks so there is enough surface area for good bacteria. It’s gonna be an 8’x12’ tiered to 18” so about 1,000 gallons. Wanted to add shubinkin. Bog a trapezoid about 270 gallons empty so I have a good size there at least. Was looking at the 12-18” as a way to face the vertical side I actually have lots of cobble, gravel and river rock in my yard already
My water has become so transparent I can see fabric areas poking their little heads out. The bio film has become so short that the colors of the rocks are visible again. .
There are advantages to both the naked allows debris to slide to the bottom and not get tied up in the rocks. Saves on cost and labor. I would cover even a baldy with fabric to protect the liner. It will also make it easier for bacteria and others to cling on.
Rocking the sides with big boulders can't be beat visually. Yes the time energy costs to do it today add up now. But you'll be looking at this for years decades to come.When the liner is behind stone sandwiches between hd fabric it's a insurance policy that the pond will be around for years and years. But I am a tad obsessed. This video is a few years old now the water uality and bio film have only gotten better.
I posted on your other post about trying to beat the middle man to the punch getting rock from developers or contractors
The way the wife even sees it now she didn't so much when the dollars were flying out the window. The pond we built is truly an oasis and a homecation right in our back yard. 3000 k is peanuts compared to us going out looking for something to do day after day week and week month after month over the next 20 to 30 years. Compared to looking at grass in the back yard just doesn't cut it any more.
There are advantages to both the naked allows debris to slide to the bottom and not get tied up in the rocks. Saves on cost and labor. I would cover even a baldy with fabric to protect the liner. It will also make it easier for bacteria and others to cling on.
Rocking the sides with big boulders can't be beat visually. Yes the time energy costs to do it today add up now. But you'll be looking at this for years decades to come.When the liner is behind stone sandwiches between hd fabric it's a insurance policy that the pond will be around for years and years. But I am a tad obsessed. This video is a few years old now the water uality and bio film have only gotten better.
I posted on your other post about trying to beat the middle man to the punch getting rock from developers or contractors
The way the wife even sees it now she didn't so much when the dollars were flying out the window. The pond we built is truly an oasis and a homecation right in our back yard. 3000 k is peanuts compared to us going out looking for something to do day after day week and week month after month over the next 20 to 30 years. Compared to looking at grass in the back yard just doesn't cut it any more.
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Stubn
Rule one in the natural pond building and keeping is patience. Lots and lots of PATIENCE. When I found this site and aquascapes 6 years ago now . The one reacuring thing I kept hearing was you build three ponds in a life time big see if you will actually like it and for many that's just not right, they don't like it they love it and build a second pond. But still reasonable. And then they say ok we really should have pulled the trigger and built our dream the cost is supplemented by not wanting to go anywhere else.
Where are you located @willc ? Cost of rock varies from one area of the country to another - here in the midwest we did pay in that $150 a ton for granite, but it's plentiful here. The more expensive moss rock that we loved was about double that because it's brought in from other areas of the country.
I know there are different grades of rock - and different costs. I've heard several different pond builders say to remember that the underwater rock will not be as visible as that above water, so you can spend a little less on it. Where I am, in the southeast, that has worked out. Our rock supplier had a neat option called Pond Rocks. It was pallets of a mixture of rocks -- medium to large, rounded cobbles, along with some larger boulders - nothing sharp. I got a couple of these pallets, along with several pallets of bigger, flatter fieldstone boulders. The total cost was expensive. But the stuff used to line the pond was less costly.
California. Stone is plentiful 2 hours away in all directions but my local sources are limited. I’ll just pay more for this project and next round I’ll have rock before I start digging I guess
"can’t wait to get to that level. I agree rock can’t be beat visually and your pond is exactly what I want to attempt. Since I want to finish in next few weeks". A few weeks he says. You might want to fill that hole in now I think most here never stop tinkering . I'm on 6 years now. Hard to believe it's been that long already as I'm still planting.
The one MAJOR trick to pond building is to build your shelves and ledges to the size of the rock that you already have on hand. Don't dig your shelves before you get your rock. Rock doesn't stretch very well.
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Agreed because once things start to get normal it’s hard to see the walls! Home Depot sells stuff like bags of rock but not large rocks luckily previous owner had stacks of rock