I experimented and wound up with something strange. I decided to leave the walls and surrounding patio intact when I filled in my pool. (I suppose I had visions of a humongous koi pond.) I had electricians and plumbers disconnect the electricity and plumbing, I drained the pool, then jackhammered holes in the bottom for drainage, then dumped 7 or 8 big truckloads of fill dirt into the pool, and finally dragged the old pool equipment to the curb. It cost only several thousand dollars, preserved the surrounding patio, and gave me soil deep enough for large trees to grow in it. But that huge underground concrete bowl tends to drain water very slowly. After really a heavy rainfall, the ground is covered with standing water for at least a couple days. Smaller puddles of water can sometimes remain for weeks. The soil can stay soggy sometimes for months. So what I effectively wound up with is what is called a "bog garden" or "rain garden". Only swamp-tolerant trees and plants will grow in it. It never needs watering, which is a positive. But it often looks like a swamp, which is not a common or even attractive appearance to many people. It is definitely providing a landscaping challenge! This post was edited by s8us89ds on Sat, Feb 16, 13 at 4:03

Here's a picture of the slide. The colors are just too busy and not what we were looking for. Their is also too big of a drop from the top down into the slide seat. They broke the top and created a step down so the kids can slide. Waiting on good weather to strip the slide where it is yellow and green/grays to change those colors a bit darker. We may end up redoing the whole thing in a solid color. Right now it's just really ugly to me and I've hardly taken any pictures since. Here is our grill they finished. It was a small 8 ft area but worked out perfectly for us :) This is the first half of the arbor. We are building another one right behind it that goes into the ground to support the entire thing. The second arbor will be for a hammock...totally can't wait. Looking from under the arbor back at the house. You can see our iron fence for the dog run is up and hubby got his Longhorn emblem made into the fence. A little path to our pool equipment behind the slide.

David, yes, I am very pleased with how it works! We were out of the chemical at the beginning of the season and I was getting eaten up. My husband went to a company that sells the chemical and bought it for $92 and put it in himself. It took about 4 or 5 days until I noticed a reduction in mosquitoes. I was outside in or near the pool most of today and didn't get bitten once. I'm trying to locate the business card to give you a name. I can't remember since I didn't arrange it, someone else did.I believe the value listed for taxes (we won a pool, kitchen and the mosquito system)was about $2000. The newer system chandlers is talking about sounds good. Our tank sits next to the pool equipment and when it mixes it's louder than the pump. Not a big deal though. I'll try to locate the name of the company although I think it was a small one just here in Houston.

You must have movement and not just aeration. If you wanted, you could get pool shock to clear up the water temporarily, but algae will come back if you have sun. Water movement, plants and a natural balanced ecosystem is the cure. Water lilies would help, you certainly have the room. This is too broad a subject for a simple Q&A... Spend some time reading the pond forums here and some videos on the net...