- Joined
- May 20, 2019
- Messages
- 17
- Reaction score
- 13
- Country
To Rock or not to Rock?
- Thread starter SyracuseSteve
- Start date
That is the eternal pond question. My answer to you would be - totally up to you. Others will tell you specific reasons why you should avoid rocks - debris build up, harder to clean the bottom, you can't see them anyway so why bother, etc. - but we have a rock and gravel style pond and find it very easy to clean with a pool net in the spring, easy to maintain year round, and we like the look of it. Some people will tell you that the gravel bottom also gives beneficial bacteria surface areas to colonize - I'm not a biologist, so I can neither confirm or deny.
What kind of fish do you plan to keep? A pond your size (roughly 2000 gallons) could support several koi or a whole bunch of goldfish. What kind of filtration are you planning? Is this your first pond?
What kind of fish do you plan to keep? A pond your size (roughly 2000 gallons) could support several koi or a whole bunch of goldfish. What kind of filtration are you planning? Is this your first pond?
- Joined
- May 20, 2019
- Messages
- 17
- Reaction score
- 13
- Country
Thank you for yuor response. I was planning on doing a 10X10X2 popnd for goldfish but peopl on Facebook group told me to go 3ft deep at least for winter. I think I could add a koi or 2 to the pond when I'm done. Can you share a pic of your pond? You can email me at (e-mail address removed). Thanks.
Check my signature - there's a link to my showcase.
Good choice in going deeper with your pond.
In my first liner pond I covered the bottom with gravel, and rocked up the sides with larger rocks. It looked lovely and was a nice healthy pond. When I tore that pond out about 5 months later to put in a creek to a new larger pond, I must say that I was surprised by the amount of yuck that did collect under those stones in a short amount of time. So, in our new pond (which is in the shade so no worries about UV damage from direct sun beating on the liner), I left it bare liner and sprinkled some gravel here and there. It didn't take long for a nice film to build up on the liner, and everything looks natural.
I'm not sure what size of rocks you may be considering for your new pond, but one thing to think about is that if larger rocks are used, that does take away from your water volume and pond depth.
In my first liner pond I covered the bottom with gravel, and rocked up the sides with larger rocks. It looked lovely and was a nice healthy pond. When I tore that pond out about 5 months later to put in a creek to a new larger pond, I must say that I was surprised by the amount of yuck that did collect under those stones in a short amount of time. So, in our new pond (which is in the shade so no worries about UV damage from direct sun beating on the liner), I left it bare liner and sprinkled some gravel here and there. It didn't take long for a nice film to build up on the liner, and everything looks natural.
I'm not sure what size of rocks you may be considering for your new pond, but one thing to think about is that if larger rocks are used, that does take away from your water volume and pond depth.
j.w
I Love my Goldies
- Joined
- Feb 1, 2010
- Messages
- 33,055
- Reaction score
- 20,332
- Location
- Arlington, Washington
- Showcase(s):
- 1
- Hardiness Zone
- USDA 8a
- Country
If all your rocks are gonna be cemented together perhaps you won't have the gunk build up as it will be easier to stick a net in there and swirl it all up so filter can suck it up.
- Joined
- Jun 23, 2010
- Messages
- 44,400
- Reaction score
- 29,176
- Location
- Frederick, Maryland
- Showcase(s):
- 1
- Hardiness Zone
- 6b
- Country
I had a pond with rocks, they got full of junk. I was working at the time did not spend a lot of time cleaning it. Netted now and then.
This pond is just liner, the liner gets covered with a bit of algae, a bit of dirt, you can't tell it was liner. this is the 5 foot area.
bare liner
This pond is just liner, the liner gets covered with a bit of algae, a bit of dirt, you can't tell it was liner. this is the 5 foot area.
bare liner
I've done rocks on the bottom, was horrible to clean. I have bare bottom now and like it much better. If I ever do rocks on the bottom again, I will put a network of PVC underneath that I can back flush to be able to clean the rock.
Well, I'm with the no rock group. When you are trying to get the leaves out next spring you'll understand why. Even if you put a net on the pond it will get leave and other things in it. It's a nightmare trying to scoop the debris out with rocks on the bottom.
- Joined
- May 20, 2019
- Messages
- 17
- Reaction score
- 13
- Country
Thanks for your response. This is my first pond. I have owned large Aquarius in the past so I am familiar with fish care. My pond will be around 2,800 gallons. I intended to have a 2ft pond with just goldfish but I am closer to 4 ft now so I think I can have 1-2 koi with the goldfish. My local shop recommended a Atlantic Tidal wave TT 3000 pump with PondMax PF3600 UV filter.
- Joined
- Sep 16, 2018
- Messages
- 63
- Reaction score
- 90
- Location
- Panhandle of Texas
- Showcase(s):
- 1
- Hardiness Zone
- 7b
- Country
My first pond wasn't rock lined. So for my recently built pond, it's about looks. I built a nice size bog to hopefully keep clear water. My ponds only been running for a couple months and pretty clear so far. The center of the pond in this pic is 3 feet.
My shallow end is about 18 inches.
Other than wishing I had made my pond bigger, I happy with it. I am glad I rocked it.
My shallow end is about 18 inches.
Other than wishing I had made my pond bigger, I happy with it. I am glad I rocked it.
- Joined
- Sep 14, 2013
- Messages
- 6,215
- Reaction score
- 4,968
- Location
- Cincinnati, Ohio
- Hardiness Zone
- 6 A
- Country
I'm in the no rock group. When our pond was built we had a gravel bottom. It looked very nice and you could easily see the fish. Over time the gravel tumbled to the lowest point of the pond, depriving the fish of the deepest area of the pond during the winter. . It started to look dirty, so we decided to clean the gravel....once underway we realized how stinky and dirty it was, so did not add it back to the pond after we cleaned it. I much prefer the bare liner 
I'll add again that our experience with a gravel bottom pond has been completely different than what others have expressed. Our gravel is shallow - I can push it aside with one sweep of my foot and see liner - so maybe that's why. Again - purely a personal choice I feel, but I haven't experienced the issue of the pond being harder to clean, keep clean, or the build up of any muck on the bottom.
- Joined
- Apr 2, 2019
- Messages
- 1,461
- Reaction score
- 2,525
- Location
- Purlear, NC
- Hardiness Zone
- 7a
- Country
I love my gravel bottom pond. The gravel is only a couple of inches deep, and, if the fish do move it around or off a shelf & onto the bottom, it's super easy to simply scoop it up & put it back where it started. I'm pretty good at keeping large leaves & debris scooped out if the skimmers don't get them, but I haven't experienced a huge build-up of 'muck'. And, my biggest point on the 'plus' side for gravel vs bare liner - it's not slippery to walk on like an algae covered liner (or large flat rock, for that matter) I wade around in my pond all the time & I can't imagine I'd be able to do that on a bare bottom without killing myself!