What to do if liner is leaking

[Gerk]

My first pond is very near completion
Couple of questions, any help would be greatly appreciated

I filled it last night and think maybe the level dropped slightly overnight
How could I check if there is a rip in the liner anywhere?
And if there is, how can it be repaired

Also, I was thinking of putting small pebbles on the bottom, is this ok?

Cheers

 

[Mayfly]

Before you do anything make sure you have a leak and it's not just the liner settling into shape therefore changing the water level!

My liner got ripped when a stray dog decided to go for a swim in my pond, you can buy double sided tape especially for ponds to patch repair much the same as a bicycle tube repair. Tho' I did double patch it to be safe.

I simply cut two squares of left over liner one 2" larger than the other. I placed tape over the rip, then placed the double sided tape on the edges of the first patch and stuck it over the rip then placed the larger patch over that making sure the liner in that area was clean and dry. I assume you have some left over liner? if not you can buy a patch repair kit.
Make sure the tape covers all the edge of the patch, if you have even a small gap water can still seep out which is why at the corners of the patch I made sure the tape was double layered.

The rip really took a lot of finding I filled the pond then left it to leak - when the water level stopped going down I searched around the water line - but it took a lot of finding, I couldn't 'see' anything and had to 'feel' for it with my finger tips.

The biggest problem I had was to stop myself sliding head first into the pond as I stretched to reach the rip!!

 

[addy1]

Agree, most likely your liner is settling. Fill it have nothing running, watch your level. It will lose a little from evaporation, but not fast if no heavy wind. If you lose a lot see where it stops like mayfly says.

The small pebbles will just get covered with pond muck and make it hard to keep clean. They won't be seen in a while. I would suggest best not to.

 

[Gerk]

Cheers folks
I found the problem, liner was not sitting right in one little spot

Addy - you suggest anything on the bottom or just leave the liner?

 

[taherrmann4]

Cheers folks
I found the problem, liner was not sitting right in one little spot

Addy - you suggest anything on the bottom or just leave the liner?

I would just leave the liner it will get covered with algae and muck and you won't even notice after a while and if you add lillies and other plants you won't even see a lot of the bottom of the pond.

 

[Gerk]

Ye that's the plan

Anyone know any good places to get the plants in Ireland????


Sorry for all the questions, I am a total novice and am quite excited about my new project!!

 

[j.w]

For plants you can look on-line for them and see what fits your pocket book. Never been to Ireland...........maybe check the bonnie, bonnie banks of Lock Lommen :regular_waving_emot

 

[koiguy1969]

do you have craigslist or something similiar?

 

[j.w]

Yes Craigslist is international and just looked and found it in Dublin :regular_waving_emot

 

[mogsie]

sorry to disagree with you J.W but i would advise against buying plants online, i did this at first, when i done my pond and all of them were very poor specimens of plants, and of-course you cannot view the plant you are purchasing until you receive it, i would advise you to look and see if you have a local garden centre, then you can view the plants and pick your own specimen, and also the people who work there can give advice on planting etc, plants from garden centres are usually a bit more established then the infant plants you would recieve buying online.

 

[j.w]

Only thing they sell locally here is Waterlilies, cattails, and Pickeral Rush at Lowes. They used to sell Water Hyacinth at a grocery store here but they don't do well here and they quit selling them. Can also check the lakes and ponds for things also but must clean them before putting in your pond. Found tons of duckweed and azolla along a bike path........going to go back and get more w/ a net this time.
I've gotten some good plants online and it just depends on the reputation of the site. I got some wonderful Parrots Feather online and when I had my aquarium up and running I bought tons of good ones online. I like to ask others first what web-sites have good reps first tho. I like to get my plants from forum members the best and either trade, buy or postage with them. Got tons of wonderful Anacharis etc. from a pond member on another forum. We have freecycle.org here also and you can ask for anything or give away anything and pond plants are free also if you can find someone and then you can trade back and forth locally w/ those you meet who have ponds :regular_waving_emot

 

[mogsie]

oh well, ime pleased you had more luck then me, i purchased mine from a few differant websites, most were i believe garden centres with online sales also, but the plants i recieved were very poor, maybe the plants thet they were struggling to sell in the garden centre ?? i originally purchased online as i thaught it would be cheaper, luckily i have 3 garden centres all within 5 miles of my home, so i ended up spending twice for more established plants, atleast i wont need to buy any next year,

 

[taherrmann4]

I have purchased my oxygenators online every year as they are half the cost of what it would cost me locally and have never had any issues with them. Now the lillies and some of the bigger plants I have only bought from a local pond garden center.

 

[shakaho]

It looks like you have better local garden centers in the UK. There is no decent source of water plants anywhere in the Orlando area. And that includes the pond stores which have only a few incredibly overpriced specimens. Even with high shipping I can get better plants on line for less than half the price.

 

[addy1]

http://stores.ebay.com/jandjwaterplants

http://shop.ebay.com/thepondplantgirlshow/m.html

http://www.ewaterlily.com/

I have heard these groups have good plants. I bought some from pond plant girl show, there were nice healthy plants.