Swimming pool to pond conversion

[LizL]

On June 1st, 2024 my husband and I made the decision to turn off our pool equipment in order to create a pond. The pool is about 30 yrs old, our children and grandchildren don’t live close by so the pool gets very little use. We’re located in N E Florida and winters do get too cold to swim so the pool just sits there using electricity and chemicals and quite frankly it’s boring to look at. We’ve been monitoring the chlorine levels daily and adding well water daily. In this heat it evaporates quickly. I have some marginal pond plants from a friend’s pool and some floating plants. we’re going to build a bog filter and have a lot of plants.
My Question is has anyone else in this group done this? if so, what suggestions do you have? What would you do differently now?
We are keeping the existing pool equipment in place in case someone in the future wants to convert back to a pool and so if necessary we can run it.

 

[hamstermann]

I've not done it but I know Modern Design Aquascaping and Team Aquascape on YouTube have done it - check out their builds when you get a chance.

 

[JRS]

Welcome to the forum. There have been others on the forum starting to plan pool conversions but it does not seem like there have been many end results. Some of the threads are linked here:

Pool to pond

Hello everyone. I'm new to this group and I'm looking forward to learning as much as possible from you guys. While I do not have a pond currently, I do have a pool that I'm tired of. Nobody uses the thing, it's costing us a small fortune to maintain, and I'm simply tired of doing all the work...

www.gardenpondforum.com

 

[j.w]

@LizL

 

[GBBUDD]

The bog is a good start . building on the pool deck and building it up allows for waterfalls. the hard part with pool conversions is the limited depth under 3' where plants can be placed in the pool

 

[Mmathis]

Hello and welcome!

 

[LizL]

I've not done it but I know Modern Design Aquascaping and Team Aquascape on YouTube have done it - check out their builds when you get a chance.

Thank you. We have been YouTubing like crazy here really like ozponds the best. I’m looking for real life experiences as well. Have a great day.

 

[jdale]

That's a nice looking pool, it will look great with fish and plants!

I am pretty far north of you, in Massachusetts, but my pond is a converted pool. It was a semi in-ground pool, so not as pretty a surround and I had to do more work on that. Also, it had a liner which I eventually had to replace, so that's not something you have to worry about. I'm still using the original skimmer though, so I was able to take advantage of that pipe but I run the return through a waterfall filter. It did not have a bottom drain so I added a retro bottom drain which goes to the canister filter and a gravel filter/bog in the raised box (it's about 3'x6'). Waterfall is not visible in these pics.

and

I'm not even sure what those reeds on the left are. The shorter ones are irises and the taller ones seem to have settled in on their own.

I think the main limitation of a converted pool is that it may lack shallows. I have some steps (with irises on them) but aside from that everything is at least 4' deep. That limits plant options. Since you've got a concrete base, you have more options for building things up if you want.

 

[LizL]

That's a nice looking pool, it will look great with fish and plants!

I am pretty far north of you, in Massachusetts, but my pond is a converted pool. It was a semi in-ground pool, so not as pretty a surround and I had to do more work on that. Also, it had a liner which I eventually had to replace, so that's not something you have to worry about. I'm still using the original skimmer though, so I was able to take advantage of that pipe but I run the return through a waterfall filter. It did not have a bottom drain so I added a retro bottom drain which goes to the canister filter and a gravel filter/bog in the raised box (it's about 3'x6'). Waterfall is not visible in these pics.

View attachment 163984

and

View attachment 163985

I'm not even sure what those reeds on the left are. The shorter ones are irises and the taller ones seem to have settled in on their own.

I think the main limitation of a converted pool is that it may lack shallows. I have some steps (with irises on them) but aside from that everything is at least 4' deep. That limits plant options. Since you've got a concrete base, you have more options for building things up if you want.

It’s very beautiful. Yes we are finding marginal plant placement a challenge. Hope to have a lot of submerged oxygenators and floaters. Husband is planning on creating a bog filter using a 300 gal stock tank. We’re not using any of the original pool equipment.

 

[jdale]

I've seen people say they were using plastic bookshelves underwater to have something to put plants on. If you have a flat area of the bottom you could do something like that.

In my second picture above, there's a rock slab in the water with some plants growing in it. It's actually a floating island from Universal Rocks, so that's an alternate approach. That one is about 4' across. I actually only just added it, which is why one space is still empty and waiting for a plant to be added.

 

[j.w]

I've seen people say they were using plastic bookshelves underwater to have something to put plants on. If you have a flat area of the bottom you could do something like that.

In my second picture above, there's a rock slab in the water with some plants growing in it. It's actually a floating island from Universal Rocks, so that's an alternate approach. That one is about 4' across. I actually only just added it, which is why one space is still empty and waiting for a plant to be added.

We all do whatever works and won't rust or contaminate the water. Anything w/o sharp edges, it's all trial and error.
When it doesn't work it's off w/it's head

 

[AP1]

Would you be up to draining it, building a wall out of cement blocks (may need to mortar?) a couple of feet away from the pool walls and then filling the space between walls and blocks with dirt？ As long as the weight didn’t. crack the floor this might be an option for creating a great marginal area？Just an idea from someone who has never done anything remotely like it before!