So I've been all over the place on my thoughts about how to best construct a floating island/wetland for one of my ponds. I have to admit that the product put out by Bruce Kania at Floating Islands International looks to be simply fantastic. Of course, the pricing I am finding is also simply fantastic, but not in a favorable way for a small farm pond.

I have beaten my head against the proverbial wall trying to locate a material similar to what FII uses for its island products, all to no avail. I have found tons of other things that might work, though, and wanted to bounce the idea here. I'm also awaiting some info from forum member Peepaw, proprietor of Fishiding, as to a source for the material.

In the meantime, I was at Joann Fabric with my wife today. While meandering through the store, trying to find something redeeming about the experience aside from spending time with her, I came across furniture foam and the wheels starting turning. My big question is whether or not the wheels are turning in such a way that they're about to fall off!

This foam, which I've found through other sources online, comes in thicknesses of 1" to 5" and is advertised as a high density foam. Here is a link to one site that sells it in lengths longer than the fabric store had in stock.

My thinking was to get perhaps four sheets of this stuff in the 108" length at 30" wide (it also comes in 24" wide pieces) so I would have a 9x10 platform for a floating island. Then, to somewhat mimic the concept behind FII's products, I would add several inches of poly batting to the bottom for a more effective growth media to get the periphyton action started. I was thinking something like this might be good material.

I would need to find a way to bond the batting to the foam and would likely also consider building a frame of pvc with a couple of cross members for overall added buoyancy additional support. I suspect the batting would become extremely heavy once waterlogged and, in addition to the weight of the soaked foam and the topsoil on the island, the thing would be a real bear in terms of weight.

Anyway, my question is: what do you guys think? And no, I'm not asking what you think about my spending time in a fabric store and perusing online craft/sewing websites. I already feel bad enough about that aspect of this project so cut me some slack! One good point today was when I told the lady at the fabric store what I was thinking about, she commented that she had never had anyone ask about the foam for that sort of use, so I did feel a little bit redeemed!

Anyway, share your input with me on how this might come together. I think if these materials were suitable, I could do the whole thing for under $600 depending on how thick I would want to go on the foam - that is a huge variable right there. In any event, even with the thickest foam, I think it would be easy to stay under $1000.

Ideas?


Todd La Neve

[Linked Image from i108.photobucket.com]
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1.5 & .5 ac ponds - LMB, BG, RES, YP, GC, HSB