Need cheering up, just ruined my pond

[Cowgirl]

I feel sick! The water level dropped over the winter so I was trying to find any holes around the edge of the pond. I pulled up all the edging rocks, log rolls etc to get to the edge, thought that it may be under pebbled 'beach' area so decide to haul out the soil & stones. Used the garden rake (really gently) to pile the stones up, stupid, stupid woman!. Put several tears in the bottom. Tried to patch up using some fancy sticky black stuff in a cannister bought from the local koi shop. Not really working because to find the hole I had to haul the edge up which still had all the weight of the water. Have just left pond to find it's own level, then will have another go tomorrow. This is what it looked like before.


Too distraught to take a picture of after, feel like crying!

[loripo]

What a shame. I do hope you can fix it. Sometimes it would be so good to be able to turn the clock back wouldn't it? I always think that when I've thingied things up...

[Jez]

Sorry to read the sad news cowgirl, don't know what to say to make things better. Don't think anything will, though you have my sympathy!!! Will the liner need replacing?

I hope it's a straight forward task to fix right.

[Cowgirl]

Thanks Jez, Loripo, it's probably not as drastic as I'm making out, I'm just feeling a bit depressed that's all. I think I will be able to fix it given time. It's ripped on one of the ledges at least it's not on the bottom, then I would be suicidal! My fish are ok, that's the main. It's just that from what seemed a fairly straightforward task it's now turned into a much bigger job. If the holes wont plug I'll have to try & make the pond smaller & lift up the liner so that the undamaged liner will lay correctly, not easy with nearly 4,000 gallons sloshing about. Ideally I'd like to start again but I can't afford a new liner nevermind what to do with all my fish in the meantime.

Sigh, as they say....tomorrow is another day

[Elean0r]

Good luck with it.

Best thing is that the chances are the hole is somewhere in the bit you've damaged, thank goodness you didn't use the rake in the middle.

(Mental note to self - never use a rake on a pond liner, not even carefully).

[dampflippers]

Hi, what a shame!
I have just spent Easter helping sis find where B in L put a fork through when trying to contol some reeds. Luckily this was near the water level. They have now patched it with a repair kit consisting of some butyl liner and some flexible aquarium type sealant. You clean the area very well, cut a patch and put a thick bead of sealant around each patch. They did this yesterday but haven't tested it yet.

If you can't repair the rake holes, you may be able to alter the profile of the beach area by filling under and behind it with soil or sand so that the holes are above the water level and you convert the shelf to a vertical surface. It's worth a try, and better than having to reline the whole pond.

Good luck with it, and don't despair too much

ps When you do patches and repairs, the surface needs to be really really clean, but don't get any solvents or washing up liquid in the pond.

[Cowgirl]

Thanks all, well I've been out this morning & had a reassessment. I think the sealer has worked as there was no fresh water, tho difficult to tell as the whole area behing the liner is now mud! However it has prompted me to make some changes. When we built the pond I put a load of clay soil around the edges (thinking this would be good for the plants) however the water is constantly murky even after buying a bigger more powerful pump & filter (old one was way too small for the pond). It helped, & it almost cleared over the winter but then the koi woke up & just had to keep raking around in the mud, bloomin things . Anyway, I have emptied out the pond out just past the 1st level (so I can walk on it behind the liner & check for holes along the top edge while I'm at it) & rigged up my old pump & filter. I intend to take out a lot of the soil, clay & stones (put in an an attempt to calm the silty murk ) Fear not, I will be doing this BY HAND!!! I'm going to raise areas of my ledge as well. Big job but ultimely worth it I think. Because I have the pump & filter going it's not a rush job & hopefully any beasties which find themselves high & dry can escape to where there is water. It'll be a bit crowded for a while but I think this is the least stressy way for the fish & cheaper than a new liner! I will invest in some patches as well. Willl keep you posted on progress if you're interested.

[loripo]

Yes do. It would be nice to have updates and a photo when it's all perfect again

[Cowgirl]

Originally Posted by loripo

Yes do. It would be nice to have updates and a photo when it's all perfect again

Well finally have done it!

From this:
To this:

Stones just want setting in, water still a bit murky but hopefully will eventually clear & the plants are only just recovering from winter (bought end last autumn/ so they will fill out, but you get the gist of it

feel much better now it's done I can tell you, poor fish must have wondered what was going on!

[loripo]

Oh well done Looks really good.