Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Creating habitat Garden hose for fish structure

Now that pond is dug and I'm waiting for it to fill, I have been making structures for the fish
Has anyone used garden "soaker hose" for the branches in a structure?
I have made a few pieces out of cinder block and sprinkler hose and those turned out fine but i have a bunch of old soaker hose so I thought I would try that.
I guess my worry is that the hose would break down in time because it seems to be made out of a porus type material......
maybe I"m thinking too much into this..
thanks

I have used cut off pieces of garden hose in some of the cover I have built. The heavier hose works better for what I have done. As far as soaker hose, I would think it was made to handle water, so I would not expect water to break down the material in a short time. For me it has been more about how rigid the hose is. The heavier, stiffer hose has worked better than the cheap flimsy water hose. And the porous soaker hose, I would think would be better than slick plastic or rubber type material for algae or such things that grow on the cover you add to a pond. I have enjoyed building cover from things that others might discard. One mans trash is another mans treasure, so to speak. Some of the things I have added water hose to has been old deer feeder drums, old tires and flower pots that came from transplanting 6' pecan trees etc. It kinda of fun to see what I can put together for fish cover, fish attractor.

I agree with Tracy and have many manmade structures using old waterhose and pvc pipe in my 2 year old pond. I catch fish by them all the time.I have old black soaker hose also but did not use because it did not seem as rigid as the other type hose and had the tendency to "kink and bend over" easier. Maybe mine was a too small of width hose. But it all will work to some extent in my opinion. Good luck!!

https://www.dripdepot.com/item/polyethyl...CFUO4wAodUwUFuA

This type hose is the cheapest hose/pipe I have found for building structure.

Any issues with using large wire spools?
i have an almost endless supply of them..... I am guessing I would have to weight them down with cinder blocks.
Also, how much cover is too much??

I believe if I used a large spool I would drill it full of holes and stick plastic hose all over it. To hold it to the bottom of the pond drive a pipe thru the center hole and into the pond floor.Just some ideas.

BrianL, I think that is a good price for 1/2" rolled tubing. And I have used 500+ feet of 1/2" so far. It's easy to work with. One of the easiest to make so far is I take a bag of Kwickcrete and then using a 1/2" knife blade, I will cut an X into the bag. I will repeat this around 20 times across the bags upside. I will cut 20-3' sections of pipe and force each one into the cement bag where I made the cut. Making sure each pipe is pushed to the bottom of the bag and then I add water using a garden hose to saturate the cement. I will let it harden and then place these on the bottom of the pond, usually in a group of 3 or more. My cost per piece is around 14 bucks or so using box store prices. And 58er, I understand the recommendation of 20% cover is the norm. But I think, it depends on what your goals are and why one is adding it in the first place. My 38 year old son has made the comment to me that I have to much in the 3.5 acre pond, but I continue to add to the spots and will until that spot is thick with cover.

Nice work, good link. Thanks Brian L. I also use this exact size poly tube, housed in PVC, and it works great.

I like your abundant cover strategy. I have the same "go for structure" philosophy depending on goal for the pond. I want to create "fish cities" as discussed in previously article this year. I'll be interested to see how it affects your catch rates, growth rates, etc..

CC, I am also interested on how this will effect my catch rates with lmb. I don't fish much for lmb now, just a sample every 6 months to check growth. I built this 3.5 acre pond with underwater structure. A road bed, underwater points, 5' shallow flats with steep 5' drop off. Cover is lay down trees on the bottom away from shoreline and a few trees at the waters edge. Several large tree root balls and several pvc structures including vertical pcv trees and horizontal pvc cover and a few tires bound together in different shapes. 20% cover is quite a bit of cover if you think about it.

Sounds like you've got it going on!