Lots of Help Please

10 years ago

Hello Everyone, new poster here.

I am going to get some pictures to help with any advice up later tonight. I am just so lost with this thing, I came from North Dakota and if you had a pond it would freeze solid in the winter, to Idaho where the top barely had ice on it.

Dimensions are roughly 4.5 feet wide by 7 feet long and it goes from 4 inches on one end to about 2.5-3 feet deep at the deepest.

We bought a house last August and are having some problems with our pond this year. The first issue I discovered is 3 big holes in the pond. I believe the previous owners dog played in it and tore the liner. I have this handled, I am getting my EPDM primer so I can put patches over the tears with double sided tape. I also might put the 6" tape over the edges just for extra measure.

My next issue was the water quality. After reading these forums I have decided to remove the rocks from the bottom of the pond and just have the liner there. My concern with this is starting this week we have 10 straight days of 95+ degree weather and it will be like that for 2 months easily, how do I stop the fish from cooking in there? Should I put a shade over it for this year and next year plant lilly pads? Any advice here will help greatly.

The next issue I have is they had a sumpump plugged in for aeration. I have been reading about Skimmers and Pumps now for awhile and am trying to figure out how they all work, it is very confusing. I should also mention there is a waterfall feature so I would like to get something that I can plug into there as well if the desire comes up to have the waterfall running.

The waterfall is an issue for another day, supposedly it leaks but who knows since the people before us did not even know about the tears. My first priority is getting the fish back into the pond with the rocks out, and then finding a pump/skimmer.

I also have some general questions, without rocks am i supposed to be feeding the fish in the pond? How much and how often?

What does an air stone do, does it just spray water into the air and circulate it?

How many fish is a good number in the pond, how many is to many?(Dimensions Coming)

We really appreciate any help and I am sure as I solve these issues many more will arise.

Thanks

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Comments (3)

chas045
10 years ago
I have to admit that I have always been worried about dogs tearing up my pond but my dogs have never jumped in. My concern for you is how you would know whether you have found all tears. It might be a pain and an expense, but adding a second liner might be a solution.

Many of us don't have rocks in the bottom of our ponds (I don't), and our fish aren't baked. It will be in the 90's here and my fish are fine. Part of my pond is 3 feet deep. I suspect that it helps. It is not clear to me that rocks would do anything to keep fish cool anyway.

I suppose you should follow the feeding directions on the food container. You haven't mentioned how many fish are in your pond now or their size. My pond is a little bigger than yours and I only have goldfish. I probably have 18 or so having started with three. I think new eggs get eaten. If you have fish in there now, that is probably the right number.

I don't quite understand how no one noticed the big leaks before. How fast was the water going down; does it stop at some level? I suppose that there are other useful sites here, but I used a long post by cliffandjoann about how their pond is set up as an introduction to fancy plumbing and filtering.
SAVAGEINJIN
Original Author
10 years ago
To find the leaks I removed all the rocks from the edges and worked my way around the pond after letting the water sit for 2 months. I found where the water level stopped dropping and then could tell any less water was evaporation. Now once I have the liner clean and patched I can fill it with water again and I will know if anything still leaks.

Now after removing 90% of the big rocks I find that the liner has spots where it looks like things are sticking out and about to pop through, not what I wanted to find but I will be able to at least pull it up and remove those things.

What a stressful feature in a yard. If it was not for the 15 foot waterfall I would probably be taking the whole thing out.
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User
10 years ago
Savage,
You can make a water garden out of it and you won't need a filter at all.
The waterfall will also provide plenty of oxegen for the plants.
You don't have to have fish in the pond. It will still be beautiful and there are so many plants that love full sun that bloom, you really won't miss the fish anyway.
Just a suggestion.
Buy plants that will come back every year also, that way you won't have to keep buying them and they will get bigger every year.
Find a pond store near your home, ask questions, they will explain everything to you.