I put some river rock (2-6 inch in size) around 90% of my pond. Pond is in the woods, will have very little wave action besides aerator and maybe small fountain. The other 10% of the edge I have some nice pea gravel several inches this for an area that hopefully my kids and dog would enter without wrecking the rest of the sides of the pond.

I have a decent amount of extra pea gravel....is it worth spreading/shaking the rest of the between the big river rock or will that ruin some of sides and make the larger rock gradually fall in?

Or should I dump some piles of the gravel in the shallow slopes for spawning sites?

Does anyone have any other ideas for pea gravel use. I probably have a couple tons left.

Depends on your goals and pond. See below for info. How deep do you have gravel now? Up to 4 ft + deep will be used.

Mixed road gravel a little bigger than pea gravel is best.

8 - 32 mm is optimum

See this thread.

http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=199269&page=1

Role of Male Parental Care in Survival of
Larval Bluegills
MARK B. BAIN AND LOUIS A. HELFRICH
Department of Fisheries and Wildlife Science�
Virginia Polytechinc Institute and State U niversity
Blacksburg, Virginia 24061

Abstract
Mortality of larval bluegills Lepomis macrochirus from predation was measured in 56 nests
guarded by males and 21 nests from which the male guard was removed. Mortality was s ignificantly greater in unguarded nests(median= 68%)than in guardian nests (median= 14%).Fish
traps placed in unguarded nests captured significantly more predators than traps placed in
guarded nests. Bluegills( 3-12 cm total length)w ere the most abundant nest predators Pumpkinseed Lepomis gibbosus (7� -11 cm),largemouth bass M icropterus salmoides(4- 5 cm),and whitefin
shiners Notropis niveus(5 -6 cm) also were nest predators. Nest preparation by male bluegills
exposed coarse gravel( 8-32 mm diameter)and pebbles(3 2-64 mm) in nest substrate and removed particles smaller than 2 mm. Particles larger than 8 mm provided suitable interstitial
space to accommodate bluegill larvae. Survival of larvae was directly correlated with the proportion
of coarse substrate in the nest.


Some points of interest:

Our data from
Virginia implicated juvenile bluegills as the major
predators on bluegill larvae, followed in importance
by pumpkinseed. Dominey (1981)
drew the same conclusions from a New York....


In addition to direct protection afforded larval
bluegills by nest-guarding males, nest preparation
by the male parent influenced survival
of larvae in Lake Caroline. The availability of
suitable nesting substrate has been recognized
as a major factor affecting reproductive success
of centrarchid fishes (Breder 1936; Kramer and
Smith 1962; Muncy et al. 1979).

In laboratory observationss,
coarse particles provided suitable interstitial
space to accommodate yolk-sac bluegill larvae.
That coarse substrate may function as protective
shelter for larvae was supported by field
data: ....


Although
other factors undoubtedly influence
mortality of tested larvae, our data suggest that
predation, particularly intraspecific predation
(cannibalism), can be a major cause of early
bluegill mortality.

Last pic shows rock size.

Thanks, the pea gravel now is 3-4 feet deep out there, but it’s likely to be use to walk into the pond or use a kayak to get on the water. I could definitely use this gravel and put it in some spawning circles elsewhere.


Is that better use it for spawning areas than continuing to spread it mixed with the large rock on the shoreline?

Any smaller rock you can add to the larger shoreline rock will help it lock in and stay more put. That's what I'd do with it, but I don't need more gravel beds. I guess that is up to your and your best guess whether you need more beds.

Actually, if I had 2 tons of pea gravel...my landscaping would improve around the house...lol!

Yea we are currently in a new build for a house and have some landscape to do when it’s done but the pond is my baby right now.

I may spread it over the larger rocks and see what I have left for any gravel beds. Thank you.