Koi Pond Repairs

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Aquatic Edge is your local Koi Pond and Water Feature Repair Professional.

"Can My Old Pond Be Repaired?"

Some problems are relatively simple to fix, like low edges in a liner. Others can be quite extensive or may take some investigative work to figure out. Either way, we’ve likely seen it and have probably fixed it before.

A properly designed and installed water feature should require about the same amount, or less, maintenance as your lawn and landscape. If you’re spending time every few days cleaning out filters, removing debris from your pump intake, or fixing rockwork, then you’re definitely not ENJOYING your water feature! We can make your water feature an enjoyable part of your landscape, and it may just become your favorite part.

"What Sort of Repairs do You Do?"

Common repairs that we tackle include broken plumbing, securing loose rocks, replacing waterfall filter boxes and skimmers, pump replacement, and leak repairs. 

Do you have a pond, pondless waterfall, or other type of water feature that needs professional help? In the Western PA areas of Greensburg, Pittsburgh, and surrounding towns, call on our expertise to take care of the problem.  If you are having trouble keeping your pond full, your fish alive, or your water clear, contact Aquatic Edge today.

Lava Rock - One of the most common Pond Mistakes.

Lava rock has been a popular, low-cost filter media for pond hobbyists for decades. Its open pores provide places for beneficial nitrifying bacteria to colonize, and for many pond owners it felt like an obvious, natural choice. Over time, however, the pond-keeping community and pond builders have shifted toward an engineered media (Aquascape bioballs). These alternatives are easier to maintain, offer more effective usable surface area, and last longer — which is why the traditional “lava rock bog” is no longer recommended for koi pond filter systems. 

Why was lava rock used in the first place?

Because it’s porous and cheap, lava rock naturally became a go-to for early and budget pond filters. Hobbyists used chunks of scoria or pumice in sumps, media nets and trickle filters — it was abundant, intuitive, and provided more bacterial habitat than plain gravel. You’ll find decades of firsthand reports of lava-rock filters keeping ponds clear.

The problems with lava rock (what you’ll actually notice)

While lava rock can host beneficial bacteria, it has several practical drawbacks that make it inferior to Aquascape bioballs and potentially harmful for your fish:

1. Pores clog and are hard to clean.
Over time (1-2 years in most cases) the pockets and channels in lava rock trap fine detritus, biofilm and muck. Once those pores are clogged the “usable” surface area drops substantially and flow can be restricted, resulting in “channelizing” of the water (which essentially bypasses the filtration). Cleaning requires physically removing and power-rinsing each piece — a slow, heavy, messy job. Effective cleaning of a large lava rock bog is nearly impossible and extremely labor-intensive.

2. Less effective surface area per volume than engineered media.
Bioballs are designed with microscopic, regular porosity to maximize accessible surface area inside a compact volume. In practice you need far more lava rock by volume (and weight) to match the effective bacterial habitat of Bioballs.

3. Heavy and bulky. And Sharp!
Lava rock is extremely dense compared with Bioballs. That extra weight makes maintenance awkward (lifting heavy bags or nets), increases stress on filter boxes and waterfall filter trays, and complicates seasonal cleaning. Lava rock can really do a number on your hands, too!

4. Dust, fines and potential water chemistry effects.
Landscape lava rock (especially lower-grade material) can contain dust and small fines that temporarily cloud water or irritate gills if not washed thoroughly before use.

5. Irregular shapes and wasted space.
Because volcanic rock pieces are irregular, much of the rock’s internal porosity can be sealed off when pieces compress in a net or bog, reducing the fraction of truly usable surface compared to Bioball media whose channels remain accessible to flow and bacteria.

Why Aquascape Bioballs are better

Bioballs were developed to target the exact weaknesses above:

• Higher usable surface area per cubic inch — the key is in the usable surface area for the beneficial bacteria to thrive. Bioballs don’t compress together, so their already high surface area stays high even when they are stuffed into a media bag.
• Easy maintenance — Aquascape Bioballs rinse clean in minutes and can be left in the media bag for routine flushing; they are lighter and easier to handle than lava rock. 
• Durability and consistency — Bioballs won’t break down over time, leach minerals, or vary batch to batch like lava rock. Bioballs last forever and never need to be replaced.

Bottom line

Lava rock earned its place in pond history because it’s cheap and genuinely porous, and many hobbyists ran successful systems with it. But compared with purpose-designed Aquascape Bioballs it’s heavier, harder to keep clean, and less space-efficient for beneficial bacteria. Today, for ecosystem koi ponds and their filter designs, Bioballs media offer better performance, easier maintenance, and infinite service life — which is why lava rock is no longer recommended as a choice for pond filter systems.

Do you have heavy bags of lava rock in your waterfall filter? If so, it’s time to replace them with Bioballs!

We frequently replace lava rock with Bioballs during a spring pond cleanout. It’s an easy swap. But if your pond has an old lava rock bog, there are some extra steps to upgrade your filter. A large bog may contain a ton (literally!) of impacted lava rock that needs to be removed and disposed of, and there may be a need for additional work to make the new filtration zone suitable…. but it’s worth the effort to reduce your longterm maintenance and keep your pond and fish healthier.