Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Creating habitat using tires for habitat

Good morning,Am collecting items and ideas for habitat in my 2 acre pond to be dug soon.I have read some of the threads about using tires.A friend of mine closed down a old Western Auto store and I have acess to approx. 500 old used tires. Mostly automotive.They are only one mile away and easy acess.My question is with having this much available would I need any other type of habitat. How many tires do most recommend per structure? How far apart should I place them? And what is the very best way to put them down{ do I need to concrete them}? What is the very best material to strap them together? Are tires going to be ok for lmb and perch? Any advise is greatly appreciated before I go hauling tires. Thanks

They have to have at least one hole drilled in them at the top to let out any gasses that accumulate or they'll float.

Have you looked in the cover/structure thread that is in the archives?

Flame, I take 3 tires, wire them together in a triangle, cut holes in the sidewall near the tread on each one to let out any air, and sink them in 5-6 feet of water. Hold them down for a few seconds and then let them sink. I started in a pattern but soon just put them in at random. Makes it harder for the grandsons to find the fish cover.
Tom Sterling (Shelby County)

I don't know this for certain, but I was thinking a local official type person told me that technically EPA forbids putting rubber tires in BOW's.

Don't know if it is public waters, private waters or maybe they don't even have jurisdiction. Just what I was told by one local government official.

Funny thing is, a guy that works for me now used to work for a state public lands dept and he said they made great big tire piles for structure in public waters. Go figure. Don't think they do that any more.

Don't take my word for it. Maybe someone else knows for certain. I suspect we all break some law at least once a day, knowingly or unknowingly, there are so many of them.

Just thought I would bring the subject up, in case it could be a problem down the road.

I used tires in my pond 15 years ago and so far everything is OK
I tied my in a pyramid shape similar to the shape below using polypropylene rope. It's a synthetic and it doesn’t absorb water, it resists rot, mildew, oils, acids, etc.

I put my pyramid together on the ice and it dropped through when it melted. I drilled holes in the tops of all the tires except the top two so air wasn't trapped in them. I filled the bottom tires with rocks to sink the tires and left the top two tires with no drilled holes so the air collected in the tops held the tires upright when they sank.

It looks like my little drawing isn't going to show up in a pyramid when I submit this but you get the idea.

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I think it is a good use for them. I've been scuba diving since 1968 and have seen hundreds of tires under water, both salt and fresh water. I've never seen any ill effects from them as far as the environment goes. They might not look too nice if dumped out on a reef somewhere they shouldn't be, but the reef eventually claims them and the fish and critters don't seem to mind using them. In ponds and lakes I've never seen anything oozing from them or wildlife or plants avoiding colonizing them.

I just brought the EPA subject up since it might be something we as pond owners ought to be aware of. I wish I knew for sure what the law was on the current legality of using tires as structure in private ponds.

Thanks everyone!! I read here somewhere bass don't like to travel far from structure to structure (down their hiway)so how far apart should I set 3 tire piramids.I am NOT stocking catfish. Also I plan to install all these before the pond fills. I assume I will still need some tight meshed cover for perch habitat. Is that correct? I plan to put them 3/4th way around the 2 acre pond in 6-8 ft. water. How many hiways to the 12 ft core do you think I need. If I set the piramids out on the dry botto do I still need to weight them? Thanks

I doubt that anyone could correctly answer to such question - how far these tires should be installed - each one has it's own solution (it depends on the amount of usable material and the ideas of pond creator).
The amound of them is also arguable. I think than the more you put them there, the better fish feel in these shelters but too much such obstacles have also a disadvantage. Fishing can become really hard and maybe swimming as well.

Flame,
CC will spawn in old tires so don't use them if you have CC and don't want them to spawn

I don't have any fish or even a pond yet. They start clearing the site next Monday. I do not want catfish and will not stock them.Arent any other fish going to use the tires? Will nature produce me a stock of unwanted catfish> I don't think you can stop pollywogs from getting in there but they should not be too big a problem will they?

If you don't stock them, there is no body of water that drains into yours, nobody bucket stocks for you, and you take a close look at the fish that you do stock, they should never get in there.

I did what Shelby County described above. Also took a bunch of tires and wired them together 'poker chip' style in order to create an artificial hollow 'log.' Got that idea from seeing them in ponds at a nearby state fish and wildlife area.

The tire structures aren't that close together although the pond is only 1/2 acre. Not sure how effective they've been since I keep my pond 'wild' and there is a lot of organic structure.

I have used quickcrete poured in and around the tire standing between peg molds. Once it dries you can remove and drop the tire in the pond and it will stand vertical this way with the cement to the bottom.