HEY!! Hip, hip hooray!!
 

My pond is almost finished. The landscaper and two helpers arived about
8:00 yesterday morning and got the hole and waterfall area manicured. Put
in the carpet for underlayment, then the liner. Then got several tons of
stone and lined the darned thing. Haven't heard of that one but I figure
they know more than I do.

Anyway, even the waterfall is done, the filter and skimmer are installed and
working.

It started to rain and we were put under yet another flood watch so they had
to quit before entirely finished. But they'll be back as they left some of
their equipment and aren't paid yet. I think he's coming back to day (on
Sunday) to finish.

My husband says that I dare not ever again start a big project. And I
agree.

Thanks to everyone for their suggestions and help. Has anyone ever heard
from Rich Toybox????

Pixi

HEY!! Hip, hip hooray!!
 

stone inside the pond???? I would tell him to get the stone OUT of the pond. it is
not recommended for ponds that are going to have fish. it is fine if no koi or
goldfish are going into the pond. no, they dont know better than the people on this
group. Ingrid

"pixi" wrote:
Then got several tons of
stone and lined the darned thing. Haven't heard of that one but I figure
they know more than I do.
But they'll be back as they left some of
their equipment and aren't paid yet. I think he's coming back to day (on
Sunday) to finish.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.

HEY!! Hip, hip hooray!!
 

I agree with Ingrid on this one! Tell the guy to remove the rocks
that are IN the pond.

Nedra
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Pines/4836
http://community.webshots.com/user/nedra118

wrote in message
...
stone inside the pond???? I would tell him to get the stone OUT of the
pond. it is
not recommended for ponds that are going to have fish. it is fine if no
koi or
goldfish are going into the pond. no, they dont know better than the
people on this
group. Ingrid

"pixi" wrote:
Then got several tons of
stone and lined the darned thing. Haven't heard of that one but I figure
they know more than I do.
But they'll be back as they left some of
their equipment and aren't paid yet. I think he's coming back to day (on
Sunday) to finish.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.

HEY!! Hip, hip hooray!!
 

wrote in message
...
stone inside the pond???? I would tell him to get the stone OUT of the
pond. it is
not recommended for ponds that are going to have fish. it is fine if no
koi or
goldfish are going into the pond. no, they dont know better than the
people on this
group. Ingrid

"pixi" wrote:
Then got several tons of
stone and lined the darned thing. Haven't heard of that one but I figure
they know more than I do.
But they'll be back as they left some of
their equipment and aren't paid yet. I think he's coming back to day (on
Sunday) to finish.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.

HEY!! Hip, hip hooray!!
 

Why should the rocks come out? How can they harm the fish?

I said that I thought he knew better than I do. And for the most part he
probably does.

I hate to tell him to get the rocks out. I checked out the waterfall this
morning and most of the water is going behind and not down the rocks where
it is supposed to so he has to fix that. He aint going to be happy.

Pixi

wrote in message
...
stone inside the pond???? I would tell him to get the stone OUT of the
pond. it is
not recommended for ponds that are going to have fish. it is fine if no
koi or
goldfish are going into the pond. no, they dont know better than the
people on this
group. Ingrid

"pixi" wrote:
Then got several tons of
stone and lined the darned thing. Haven't heard of that one but I figure
they know more than I do.
But they'll be back as they left some of
their equipment and aren't paid yet. I think he's coming back to day (on
Sunday) to finish.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.

HEY!! Hip, hip hooray!!
 

Hi Pixi,

With rocks in the pond the gunk, especially fish poo, settles in between the
rocks and goes sour.
Anaerobic bacteria, bacteria that thrives without oxygen, and gives off an
awful smell. Goldfish and koi are carp, bottom feeders and snufflers. They like
to mess around looking for food and will stir it up and all the nasties down
there with it.
Successful rock lined ponds must be really cleaned every spring. That means
pumping out the water, removing the fish and taking a power washer to the
rocks, pumping out the dirty water, rewashing, repumping, until the gunk is
removed from the rocks.
The demo pond at a nursery here does that every spring. It takes
about three strong young men a good day to do the work.
Most of us find that too much work.
When we cleaned our pond this spring, we pumped out the water, removed the fish
and then my DH and two teenager boys scooped out the muck. Didn't have to slide
around on rocks and it went pretty quickly.
Lots of folks use a shop vac and get the muck out that way. Bottom drains make
it even easier.

With a skimmer and diligent trimming of your dead plants in the fall before
winter sets in you will have a lot less muck to deal with.
A pond's mission is to fill in. The dead plants, the fish poo, the blown in
sand and dirt, the runoff will do the trick.
Our ponds we want to keep a pond longer! So we have to deal with some way to
keep it from filling in.
Bottom drains, skimmers, smooth bottoms and cleaning make it easier to keep
ahead of the muck building up.

If you want to keep the rocks don't put in goldfish and koi. Instead buy some
rosie red minnows, usually sold as feeder fish at petstores. They are light
orange, stay small, easy to see and very playful.
Don't feed them much, if at all, keep their fish waste at a minimum. Trim all
dead plant material before it can sink to the bottom, make sure the skimmer
gets all the leaves or net the pond if you have a particularly heavy leaf fall
this fall.

kathy :-)
k30a

HEY!! Hip, hip hooray!!
 

Hi Pixi,

Ponds always (well, often, anyway) have problems starting out - probably at
least half of us have had the problem of water going under the rocks instead
of where we want it. But we usually make that mistake only once! An
experienced pond builder should not have this kind of problem, at least not
to any great degree. I'd insist that he fix it right, whether it makes him
happy or not - YOU are the one who should be happy, paying good $$$ for a
pond! And that is also why so many of us do it ourselves, it's a labor of
love. Of course I understand that mostly it's HARD labor, so by all means,
pay for what you can't do yourself, but make sure they do it right, not just
a lick and a promise...

Happy ponding, Tim

Pixi wrote:
I checked out the waterfall this
morning and most of the water is going behind and not down the rocks where
it is supposed to so he has to fix that. He aint going to be happy.

Pixi

HEY!! Hip, hip hooray!!
 

For waterfalls,
Most folks use that black expanding foam,
put rocks down in the waterfall, fill in gaps
with smaller rocks.
What is that stuff called?


k30a

HEY!! Hip, hip hooray!!
 

Gosh, I can't remember, but it's really Great Stuff!
Tim

P.S. It literally sticks to *everything*, wear gloves and old clothes that
you wouldn't mind throwing away...

"K30a" wrote in message
...
For waterfalls,
Most folks use that black expanding foam,
put rocks down in the waterfall, fill in gaps
with smaller rocks.
What is that stuff called?


k30a

HEY!! Hip, hip hooray!!
 

"pixi" wrote in message
...
Why should the rocks come out? How can they harm the fish?

Hi Pixi--

I have a small pond of about 500 gallons, 20" deep and it is lined with
river stone. I have a skimmer and filter system. I have 3 sarasa comets
and a goldfish. My lilies and anacharis are rooted directly into the rock
at the bottom of the pond. I have had NO PROBLEMS ever with this setup.
My water is always gin clear, and aside from string algae every spring, I
have no algae problems, either. My plants and fish are very healthy.

If you have a similar sized pond to mine, I don't see a problem with rocks
inside it, but I can only speak to small ponds such as mine. I am also in
zone 5b if that is also a factor. The river rock in the pond makes it very
attractive. Every couple weeks I go in and rake around the rock using a
small kidsize plastic rake and stir up stuff that is then taken in by the
skimmer and filter. No big deal.

NJ

HEY!! Hip, hip hooray!!
 

"pixi" wrote in message
...
Why should the rocks come out? How can they harm the fish?

Hi Pixi--

I have a small pond of about 500 gallons, 20" deep and it is lined with
river stone. I have a skimmer and filter system. I have 3 sarasa comets
and a goldfish. My lilies and anacharis are rooted directly into the rock
at the bottom of the pond. I have had NO PROBLEMS ever with this setup.
My water is always gin clear, and aside from string algae every spring, I
have no algae problems, either. My plants and fish are very healthy.

If you have a similar sized pond to mine, I don't see a problem with rocks
inside it, but I can only speak to small ponds such as mine. I am also in
zone 5b if that is also a factor. The river rock in the pond makes it very
attractive. Every couple weeks I go in and rake around the rock using a
small kidsize plastic rake and stir up stuff that is then taken in by the
skimmer and filter. No big deal.

NJ

HEY!! Hip, hip hooray!!
 

"pixi" wrote in message
...
Why should the rocks come out? How can they harm the fish?

Hi Pixi--

I have a small pond of about 500 gallons, 20" deep and it is lined with
river stone. I have a skimmer and filter system. I have 3 sarasa comets
and a goldfish. My lilies and anacharis are rooted directly into the rock
at the bottom of the pond. I have had NO PROBLEMS ever with this setup.
My water is always gin clear, and aside from string algae every spring, I
have no algae problems, either. My plants and fish are very healthy.

If you have a similar sized pond to mine, I don't see a problem with rocks
inside it, but I can only speak to small ponds such as mine. I am also in
zone 5b if that is also a factor. The river rock in the pond makes it very
attractive. Every couple weeks I go in and rake around the rock using a
small kidsize plastic rake and stir up stuff that is then taken in by the
skimmer and filter. No big deal.

NJ