We have built a pool that is more of a pond. It's 65' x 85', mostly oval, with tiers. It was built to replace a sick looking area on the west side of our rustic-type home. The area wouldn't grow anything, and the dirt smelled nasty. We tried to put a dry riverbed landscape there, but nothing would grow. I had an epiphany (haha) that a natural pond would look good, and fit in with the house.
Then our daughter got engaged, and she said she wanted to get married by "the pond" that I had envisioned. So now we were committed, and under a time constraint.
Fast forward, the wedding was lovely, the pond looked A-mazing. I had plants in, and they were blooming, and all was right in the world.
Fast forward again, the next Spring brought much string algae. We tried to control it with manual removal, but it was just too much. The water was super clear, and you could see to the bottom of the 6' deep area. I finally gave up, and pulled the plants (stuck them in our farm pond), and started shocking it. It's keeping it pretty well algae free, but I need to get in there and use my Leaf Master to get the dead stuff off of the rocks. There are frogs and tadpoles in the pond, but no fish. That's one of my rules--NO fish. I didn't invite the frogs, but they came, nonetheless. I don't mind them, per se, but if they go away, I'll be okay with that, too. I thought the bleach would kill them. I did have a mass murder of tadpoles. That was completely gross, by the way. There were....a hundred or more...floating, bloated tadpoles, clogging up the filters, floating in the skimmer boxes, and some along the edges. Nasty.
The bottom is river rock and flat stones. You can see what I mean in The Pond album: The Pond, overview - Google Photos
The pond is oval"ish", and tiered. 65' x 85'. The first step down is only about 10" deep, and is about 1/4 of the pond, with most of it at one end. Each step down is all the way around the pond, but more area towards the house. You can see that in the pictures better than I can describe it. The second step down is about 2.5' deep, and is about 1/4 of the pond, maybe a little more. The 3rd step is about 4' deep, and is a smaller portion of the pond. The 4th step is a half circle, and is about 6' deep. That's by the dock.
There are 3 skimmers with pumps, set fairly evenly around the pond. The 1st skimmer/pump is on the West, by the dock, and has a 3" flex pipe running out into the deepest part of the pond, as well as a 3/4" pex pipe running around to a rock that we drilled a hole in. So it's dripping off the edge of the rock into the pond. The 3" pex pipe at the deepest part was meant to keep the bottom moving. And it does. The 2nd skimmer/pump is on the east side of the South bank, and it also has a 3" flex pipe, this one running into the 3rd step down, the 4' deep. It's pointed opposite the 1st flex pipe, in hopes to keep it all stirred up. It seems to be doing that. The 2nd pump/skimmer also has a 3/4" pex pipe, but right now I've just got it laying there, running off a rock. It was originally going to be a fountain, but I'm not sure we need it, so I haven't made it into anything. 3/4" isn't very much water. The 3rd skimmer pump is on the north side of the East end, in the shallows. It only has one 3" pipe out, and it runs up to my waterfall. The rise on the water fall is about 8', and it's perfect. I have a Eco-Series Waterfall Diffuser- 16", and it's just what I wanted. That creates great movement of water in that shallow area, which is what I was going for.
I'm here learning from all of your experiences, trying to come up with a long term plan.
We own a chemical manufacturing company, so I have ready access to chemicals in quantities that most people don't have. I'm currently trying to decide whether I should get Sodium Hypochlorite, or Calcium Hypochlorite.
Anyway...hello. Thanks for all of your posts, as they have been remarkably helpful.
Then our daughter got engaged, and she said she wanted to get married by "the pond" that I had envisioned. So now we were committed, and under a time constraint.
Fast forward, the wedding was lovely, the pond looked A-mazing. I had plants in, and they were blooming, and all was right in the world.
Fast forward again, the next Spring brought much string algae. We tried to control it with manual removal, but it was just too much. The water was super clear, and you could see to the bottom of the 6' deep area. I finally gave up, and pulled the plants (stuck them in our farm pond), and started shocking it. It's keeping it pretty well algae free, but I need to get in there and use my Leaf Master to get the dead stuff off of the rocks. There are frogs and tadpoles in the pond, but no fish. That's one of my rules--NO fish. I didn't invite the frogs, but they came, nonetheless. I don't mind them, per se, but if they go away, I'll be okay with that, too. I thought the bleach would kill them. I did have a mass murder of tadpoles. That was completely gross, by the way. There were....a hundred or more...floating, bloated tadpoles, clogging up the filters, floating in the skimmer boxes, and some along the edges. Nasty.
The bottom is river rock and flat stones. You can see what I mean in The Pond album: The Pond, overview - Google Photos
The pond is oval"ish", and tiered. 65' x 85'. The first step down is only about 10" deep, and is about 1/4 of the pond, with most of it at one end. Each step down is all the way around the pond, but more area towards the house. You can see that in the pictures better than I can describe it. The second step down is about 2.5' deep, and is about 1/4 of the pond, maybe a little more. The 3rd step is about 4' deep, and is a smaller portion of the pond. The 4th step is a half circle, and is about 6' deep. That's by the dock.
There are 3 skimmers with pumps, set fairly evenly around the pond. The 1st skimmer/pump is on the West, by the dock, and has a 3" flex pipe running out into the deepest part of the pond, as well as a 3/4" pex pipe running around to a rock that we drilled a hole in. So it's dripping off the edge of the rock into the pond. The 3" pex pipe at the deepest part was meant to keep the bottom moving. And it does. The 2nd skimmer/pump is on the east side of the South bank, and it also has a 3" flex pipe, this one running into the 3rd step down, the 4' deep. It's pointed opposite the 1st flex pipe, in hopes to keep it all stirred up. It seems to be doing that. The 2nd pump/skimmer also has a 3/4" pex pipe, but right now I've just got it laying there, running off a rock. It was originally going to be a fountain, but I'm not sure we need it, so I haven't made it into anything. 3/4" isn't very much water. The 3rd skimmer pump is on the north side of the East end, in the shallows. It only has one 3" pipe out, and it runs up to my waterfall. The rise on the water fall is about 8', and it's perfect. I have a Eco-Series Waterfall Diffuser- 16", and it's just what I wanted. That creates great movement of water in that shallow area, which is what I was going for.
I'm here learning from all of your experiences, trying to come up with a long term plan.
We own a chemical manufacturing company, so I have ready access to chemicals in quantities that most people don't have. I'm currently trying to decide whether I should get Sodium Hypochlorite, or Calcium Hypochlorite.
Anyway...hello. Thanks for all of your posts, as they have been remarkably helpful.
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