Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Creating habitat Concrete pipe

I have come into the chips...my pond is now dug and I just found out yesterday that I can get a chimney that is being demo'ed out of a nearby building. There is approximately 50' of pipe, all of it concrete surrounded by a metal sleeve. I believe it is in 4' sections, so I should have about a dozen of them total. The diameter is either 10" or 12", so a pretty nice sized opening.

I plan on taking them to my pond and putting them in for cover, but I have a couple of questions. My thought was to put them in what will be 9'-12' of water.

Should I concentrate them or space them out randomly? Should I leave them open on both ends or perhaps cover one end up? I was thinking about anchoring them in the slope of the bank and making sure they are set pretty level, with one open end. Any thoughts from someone that has set pipe in their pond(s)?

I am pretty sure they will be dominated by catfish.

We just rolled them in randomly. If you still have the hoe there and you can place them that would be best.

We left the ends open. Take pictures so you know where they are in the future when fishing so you don't get snagged up on them all the time.

Cheers Don.

in 9-12 feet of water, unless you are running a bottom diffusion aeration system, during the time that a thermocline sets up the fish most likely won't use them.

Anything that is laying on the bottom and is only a foot to 18" in height will eventually only look like a bump in the bottom of the pond as silt and sediment accumulate. I put some stuff like that spread around my pond bottom on shallower water than you and I don't think it does much good. I also cribbed up concrete foundation along with cedar trees in the middle (that go from the bottom to almost surface) and when I snorkel around these areas always see lots of small BG.

If it were me, I would stack it in piles that would go up the bank incline and reach up to within a couple feet of the surface. If aesthetics were unimportant I would go completely to the surface (but my wife did not want a trashy looking pond) but if you will have a boat out there keep it where it will not be a problem. I would pile them along an incline bank so there is everything from deep cover (for winter) all the way up to shallow cover (for summer). That way the fish have a choice to suit their needs depending on conditions. I would make 3 or more piles strategically located where I thought I would want to fish from the bank.

You likely will get catfish reproduction if you have cavities. I have stumps and concrete ledges in my pond that is three years old and in the last week have caught four 5" CC. So I know I'm getting reproduction. That is something you may or may not want.

essup, I want to make sure I understand your comment: Are you saying that if you do have a diifuser system, the bass will use the 9-12 feet of water? If you don't, a thermocline will develop and this causes the bass not to use the 9-12 ft, correct?

Yes I get that from his post too. When a thermocline sets up very cold water and very warm water hold much less O2. Fish will go to where life is easy.

In our pond at 12-15 feet it is blacker than a wolfs ass too. I not sure how much they use the structure in the dark.

Correct. If there is no or little O2 in the cooler water, the fish can't utilize it.

If you have a minnow bucket that will sink, put some shiners, some small BG or some small LMB in it. Sink it in the deepest part of the pond and pull it up 24 hr later. See if the fish are alive or dead.....

I am building a pond that is 15 ft at the deepest. I am having a diffusing system put in. Will that suffice for the fish to be able to use that deeper water?

Thank you

If the system is properly sized for the pond it should. How much the fish will use the deeper water depends on lots of things like species, clarity of water, fertility, etc. etc.

But your pond with aeration will definitely support more total pounds of fish than the same pond without.

After thinking about your question for a while thought I would share what I know which is not much. The guys that fish a lot and the experts will have a much better handle on which fish use which depths and how likely they will use your deeper water.

But I have went scuba diving a few times in my pond in the summer. My observations are these.

If you have a good algae bloom (say 2' for example which is about where mine is right now) or otherwise have turbid water, it gets dark very quick as you decend to depth. I was snorkeling the other day and dove down to see how clean the diffusers were. It was pitch black at 8-9'. That tells me it is unlikely that any sight feeding fish are going to be cruising at that depth for feeding at least. Maybe they go down there to rest, I simply do not know. Catfish that feed more by smell I would think would be more inclined to go down there if there was any food.

In the fall it gets clearer in my pond and I can see the diffusers and bubbles at that depth. It is kind of like twilight and pretty dark, but with my face a foot from the diffusers I can see them operating. I will say that last fall when I pulled the diffusers I pulled up bullfrog tadpoles that were under the diffuser disks lodged in between the disks and housing. Also this spring when I unscrewed the disks I found a dead dried up minnow making me think the minnow was using the diffuser as a refuge. So at least minnows and tadpoles were utilizing the 9' depth in late fall.

I know fish use the deeper depths in lakes that are more clear. Just not sure about ponds that often are not as clear.