Pond liners - Biologists discuss Fish pond liners to fishing pond liners

Biologists' advice on pond liners from garden pond liners for ornamental ponds, fish pond liners and large fishing pond liners.

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Spring Creek Aquatic Concepts 'bringing water to life' Lake and Stream • Planning • Design • Construction • Management

Our Thoughts on Pond Liners     Introduction to pond liners The seal of a pond or lake is similar to the foundation of a building; what happens here affects everything above the liner or seal. Most people think a pond liner has but one function: to hold the water in the pond. In reality, there are other important functions that help keep water clean. We do not need to get into the science of sediment chemistry here since the intent of this discussion is simply to help people decide what method to utilize to seal their pond. Why would you want to consider what Biologists think of pond liners? We design ponds and lakes everyday and just as important, we do not sell pond liners. That sets us apart from most people in the pond and lake industry. Our job is to develop the best man-made aquatic habitat you've ever seen, it isn't to sell any products. Different pond liners for different ponds To select an appropriate pond liner, the goals of the pond or lake project need to be considered carefully. Aspects of the pond such as size, quality goals, budget, property value, species of fish, longevity, geology, wildlife, maintenance need and the level of knowledge of the pond designer need to be considered. The following section describes the benefits and weaknesses of three categories of pond liners. Pond liner longevity is a very important consideration in pond liner selection. Synthetic pond liners are usually warrantied for twenty years. While it is nice for the pond liner manufacturers to offer you a new liner, do you really want to go to the work to reinstall it? We don't see many plastic or rubber pond liners standing up to sharp animal claws or hooves, nor should the manufacturers be expected to support their products under these circumstances. Rubber or plastic pond liners are relatively inexpensive for small ponds. They also are not generally expected to last more than ten years in a casually constructed garden pond that is exposed to claws and hooves. If you know you will build a more permanent pond later then a plastic liner may be the way to go. If you are building something to last a lifetime, then you should consider one of the enhanced earth or clay pond liners. Any large pond or lake project should be built with the idea of the seal lasting at least as long as a well built house and not just twenty years. Do people invest in a quality home expecting it to fail in twenty years? The same can be said for moving into a community on a man-made lake that is sealed with synthetics or plastic. Unbeknown to so many homeowners in these residential developments is they are either going to incur much higher costs to keep their lakes full (including purchasing additional expensive water rights), or they are going to have to reseal their waterfeature. We have yet to see a residential developer offer to rebuild a lake after the property is sold. A lake will become an appreciating asset if it is expected to last lifetimes. if it fails within a decade or two, it becomes a cost instead of an investment. While Spring Creek may be the only company building natural clay lined small ponds, sealing a pond with concrete is another sealing method that, when properly built, will last quite a long time under normal abuse. We say properly built because poorly installed concrete is not a good choice for longevity. They may be more expensive to install than plastic liners in small ponds, but they pay off over the life of any pond built to survive more than ten years. Types of pond liners Synthetic pond liners These days when pond liners are mentioned, most people think of the various forms of rubber and plastics that have become popular in recent decades. Synthetic pond liners have allowed a vast number of inexperienced landscape contractors and hobbyists to create inexpensive small ponds. The reason we point out the small ponds is because as the size of the pond gets past the backyard "puddle" size range of most garden ponds, the cost of installing these liners, along with careful ground preparation and a protective underlayment, becomes increasingly expensive. Extreme care is also required when placing habitat features such as stones or logs over the top of these liners. Small ponds designed as fishless water gardens lend themselves to synthetic liners since their health is not being challenged by elevated nutrient loading associated with artificial feeding in many ornamental ponds such as koi ponds. These supplementally fed fish ponds are the situations where most people employ various forms of filters. It is also important to note that synthetic lined ponds where fish are being fed, can be expected to require periodic cleaning - often annual cleaning in poorly designed ponds. Plastic or rubber pond liners do not easily lend themselves to a natural look nor a naturally functioning pond habitat even though there are many who claim these ponds are "natural", at least for marketing purposes. They tend to be very slick and do not easily hold natural elements in place. More than any other type of pond, we hear about owners cleaning their plastic ponds out once a year or more. Again, this will depend upon the quality of the pond design. Yet from a budget outlay standpoint for small ponds when the goals are more short-term, synthetic plastic pond liners may be a good choice. Enhanced soil pond liners Soil additives such as sodium bentonite clays and a chemical product known as ESS13 are much less expensive than synthetic liners. A partial drawback to this type of material is the requirement for an experienced applicator in order to ensure a quality seal for the pond or lake. This will reduce the cost savings of soil sealants over the synthetic liners, but even with the professional help, these soil sealants are usually significantly less expensive to use than the synthetic liners. Reiterating from earlier, soil and clay liners in the right hands will produce a several lifetime seal when property investment is important. There are a couple other advantages to soil sealants and natural clays in that they offer an ability to absorb and trap huge amounts of excess nutrients, plus a thick layer is going to be much more cow, deer, moose and elk hoof-proof. Natural clay pond liners When high quality clay is available it forms a nearly bullet proof pond or lake seal. It is less tricky to install when compared to bentonite clay or ess13, but finding quality clay and importing it to a site can become a costly proposition. These clays weigh much more than ess13 or bentonite, so in order to compare favorably with the enhanced soil sealants, clays need to be on site or in close proximity. The quality of the finished seal is on a par with the enhanced soil sealants, so the decision usually comes down to economic factors. On some small ponds, we will often spend more money to find a high quality clay since the cost of importing small amounts of sodium bentonite or ess13 can be relatively expensive. We use different and very specific techniques to seal various size ponds with clay or soil sealants. In summary, regardless of which method is selected to seal a pond, the design requirements to achieve a completely naturally appearing body of water follow similar scientific principles. While a synthetic liner may generally produce a body of water that appears more clear over the short term, time will catch up with this sort of pond liner in that they tend to exhibit even more problems with weed growth than the other pond sealing methods. Natural clay and enhanced soil pond liners are going to require skilled hands to install, but offer long term positive investment instead of cost. As always, the goals of each project will dictate design and construction methods. Our goals and our typical clients' goals tend towards longer term investment. Everyone's goals are unique.     LINK BACK TO US Linking codes for Spring Creek Aquatic Concepts       We look forward to discussing the possibilities of bringing your water to life!

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Rubber lined ponds are fine if you only expect the seal to last ten years or less. Since all of our clay lined pond projects are designed to last several lifetimes, we prefer to line ponds with clay. POND DESIGN Pond design from fish pond design to trophy fishing pond design by Biologists. Pond design advice and tips. lakefront property - waterfront land ponds for sale - fly fishing property for sale earth ponds & clear water ponds landscape ponds & swimming ponds ponds trophy trout fishing ponds pond construction fish pond construction garden ponds ponds ponds and lakes pond construction... pond construction fish ponds trout fishing building lakes fishery consultants lake consultants trout ponds aquatic consultants trout habitat lake construction trout pond trout ponds building ponds building lakes farm pond construction pond construction trout ponds trout pond trout pond trout ponds .. building ponds pond habitat .. Oregon Kerr Contractors
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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