Bubbler Information

Rock bubblers are one of the easiest ways to add a feature to your yard in a very economical fashion. A lot of people believe that the bubbler itself is going to be a lot of work, really it is not it is the farthest from work. The only thing you will do is entertain or relax by your soothing feature. Remember that the water is in a hidden basin that does not see much sunlight. The only problem that you could run into is having the bubbler itself grow a little algae on it. To prevent this use various beneficial bacteria to compete for the nutrients in the water that the algae want as well. If you are to late in this process simply turn the bubbler off on a warm day and let it dry off. Then fire it up and scrape some of the the dried material off, simple as that and you maybe have to do this once a year depending on where you live climate wise. Lights can also be placed in the top and around the rock bubbler which creates a amazing feature for both day and night.

Water Pots

Water pots area a for of bubbler in which you have a pot in which water flows over. this is more of a formal feature that will not make as much noise but still provides a water feature to a landscape. Light can be added in much the same way that they are added to a rock bubbler, LED works best. Often pots are made in make-shift ways as the pots that are made to have the water come up are very expensive; however, any ceramic pot will work. One extra thing to worry about with this feature is that the bottom of the pot doesn't let the water leak out, otherwise the water will run out of the pot and overflow the basin. in addition, some pots can not withstand the expansion and contraction of winter. Ask your local dealers if the pots purchased can stay out through the winter.

Winterizing Rock Bubblers

Winterization deal with climates in which the water will freeze over the winter months.

Winterization of this feature is just as easy as the other maintenance. All that has to be done is the water drained from the basin and the pump taken out for the winter. Most basin's have a hatch that is easily accessible after moving a couple rocks. To drain the basin an extra piece of hose can be used and connected to the pump to get most of the water out, not all the water must be emptied, the basin's are designed to withstand expansion and contraction to some extent (depending on which one you have). Then everything is ready for the winter, wait for the snow to melt and it can get going again in spring.

Caring for Rock Bubblers

These features should be ran 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This helps to keep the oxygen content up in the water and keep algae down. Beneficial bacteria can also be added to the equation to further prevent the water from going green. Beneficial bacteria eats  away at the nutrients in the water. Resultantly, the less nutrients in the water the less that algae has to feed on. Follow directions on the beneficial bacteria bottles, additional bacteria will not help as only so much can live in the water based on oxygen levels. As such, if you shut the feature off for a while a lot of the bacteria will die and more should be added when you start if up again.

Install a Light

Lights are a great way to enjoy this feature throughout the night. LED lights seem to work the best and are connected to the top of the hose. The only catch is the power has to be run through the hole, so it must be installed right when the rock bubbler is first set up. Surrounding lights can also be installed, often solar lights are used in this situation. When different color lights are used the bubbler can be a spectacular night feature.

Helpful Tips

One helpful tip has to do with the installation of the hose through the rock. Some rocks have valves that can be connected to at the base of the rock, others are just drilled straight through. For the ones that are drilled straight through, electrical tape can be used at the top of the hose and then be pulled back into the rock to prevent water from going back down the hole. The hose will never come out once installed so take your time in making sure that the hole is sealed, this way you can enjoy the maximum water flow from this feature.

Another tip is to position the rock so that the water will flow off all sides or one side, depending on the effect that you are looking for.

Last tip, watch the wind, often if the wind picks up the water can blow out and empty the basin quickly. Some people put a pond liner a couple feet outside the basin. This way any splash that comes from wind and rocks will also be collected.

Rock Bubblers

Rock Bubblers are one of the most popular water features installed today. They are the lowest maintenance features and provide instant water sound into any yard. In addition, they take up relatively low space. All rock bubblers have a basin that is dug into the ground and a pump to circulate the water. This feature takes much longer to have algae develop because of the fact that the water rarely has direct contact with daylight. Rock bubblers are relatively low in cost in comparison to the other forms water features. Materials needed include:

• A Basin
• A Pump 
• A drilled rock
• Hose from pump through rock
• Rocks to cover basin