I originally hoped to float the rocks out, but ended up carrying each one out. It was a lot of work, but worth it for me. It will actually be submerged a couple of inches when I finish bringing up the water level next year. I bought it up 7" last year (this picture before that) and will bring it up an additional 5" next year. I had good luck on my first pond by starting 12" low and gradually raising the water level over a few years. This seemed to help establishing emergent plants and bald cypress.