Back To Basics Garden Fish Pond Keeping Refresher Hints And Tips
Get Rid Of Pond Problems And Hassles The Right Way
The aim of building a pond is create a focal point and pleasing distraction from life’s everyday routine and hassles. The last thing you want is to create another hassle for yourself! By reading this article you will hopefully create a beautiful pond, something to be proud of and that the whole family can enjoy.
All garden ponds from small preformed patio ponds to large Koi ponds require a biological pond filter system in place with a suitable pond filter media, on which nitrifying bacteria can live. These bacteria convert highly toxic ammonia, from fish liquid and solid metabolic waste into nitrates. Without a pond filter you would not be able to purify your pond water; unless that is you have a veggie biofilter in place.
A biological pond filter, as a secondary function will also remove organic waste, such as leaves and metabolic waste.
TIP: You can vastly improve the performance of any box type filter or pressurized pond bio filter system by replacing the plastic pond biomedia with Fishmate Supra pond filter media. This porous filter media is available in different sizes and will offer between 40 times and 90 times the surface area of conventional plastic coils. All this at a low cost as well!
Sand filters are bad … When I hear about mechanical sand filters being used in fish ponds as a means of purifying the water I cringe. Please read this article to find out why YOU MUST NEVER USE A MECHANICAL SAND FILTER in a fish pond. They are excellent for purifying swimming pool water but are disastrous for fish ponds. They cause more harm than good and are actually very poor at purifying pond water.
Have you ever wondered why during the summer the color of your pond water starts to turn a green or murky brown color. The reason for this is due to microscopic algal cells, known as floating algae, planktonic algae or pea soup algae. They are known as pea soup algae because they eventually make your pond look like a bowl of pea soup. The only really effective measure of controlling this is to install an ultraviolet sterilizer or ultraviolet clarifier. These systems bombard the algae with UV light, causing them to die and stick together. The once microscopic cells, once clumped together become much larger and can be filtered out of your pond by your biofilter or skimmer filter.
All backyard water gardens and fish ponds need as much oxygen as you can supply them with. Atmospheric oxygen does not dissolve in still water very easily. It is the purpose of a pond pump to supply much needed oxygen into the pond system and to ensure that your pond filter beneficial bacteria are supplied with a constant supply of oxygen.
In bygone days the choice of material for making a fish pond was concrete. Thankfully this is no longer the case and there are other alternatives, such as preformed fiberglass ponds and flexible liner ponds. Flexi liner ponds are made from EPDM rubber, PVC or butyl rubber. The easiest to install is the preformed pond. These small ponds are also finished in many cases in rock or slate effect. Any pond above about 120 gallons will need to be constructed from flexible liner or concrete. Flexi liner is the most cost effective and will also allow you to experiment with shapes far more easily.
So you can already see that a pond is not just a hole in the ground you casually dig one day and then hope it will add value to your life. Without care and knowledge that hole in the ground will cost you time, effort and money. You may in fact get so frustrated that you decide to fill it in.
The Secret of Avoiding Water Gardening Problems
The most commonly pond problem encountered by pond keepers is dirty pond water. I have consistently reiterated the following point in many of the articles that I have written relating to fish pond keeping … Always use a well specified biological pond filter; trust me if you want to keep Koi and goldfish or any other pond fish for that matter then you will need one … No ifs … No buts. Select the right pond biofilter in the beginning so as to avoid hassles further down the line. Would you buy a new car without an engine?
The second piece of pond keeping equipment that is a MUST HAVE is the pond pump. Depending upon the size of the pond you will either use a submersible pond pump or an external centrifugal pump. The latter is usually only needed in large Koi ponds, requiring large volumes of water to be pumped. Always look at the particular pump specification, taking note of the power consumption. Many cheap pumps will cost you a lot more to run than a more expensive model. The number one consideration when choosing between peer pumps is the running costs. Remember that a pump needs to run 24/7. Do not buy a pump until you know how to select the right one. As a rule of thumb a 2 year warranty is needed and a 10ft long power cable should be supplied. In some countries it is illegal to sell pumps with less than 10 meters of cable.
If you want a fountain effect in your pond choose a pump that comes with a fountain attachment. Submersible fountain pumps are a popular pump variety and there are many to choose from. Make sure that the particular fountain pump model includes a strainer device. This prevents the fountain nozzle from becoming blocked by pond debris. The strainer device will also prevent damage to the pump impellor from twigs.
If you do not need a fountain display in your pond then a filter pump is a better choice all around, as there is physically less that can go wrong. You will not have to worry about a broken impellor or blocked up nozzle for example. These pumps do not have a strainer cage fitted to the pump inlet and are also vortex pumps, stream pumps, waterfall pumps or solids handling pumps. They are fitted with a much tougher impellor that will not damage or break easily. A filter pump is the preferred choice of submersible pump for use with modern pressurized pond filters, such as the OASE Filtoclear range or Fishmate Powerclenz models.
Maintain clear pond water … The only reliable way to keep your pond free from green pond algae is to use a UV sterilizer or UV clarifier. This can be a stand alone unit or incorporated into many modern UVC pond filters. Please note that I am talking about suspended floating algae and not blanket weed or other string algae variety.
Get rid of blanket weed for good … Blanket weed is the stuff of nightmares for those unfortunate pond keepers who have the misfortune of having it in their fish ponds. It has been the reason for many a pond keeper giving up the joy of pond keeping altogether. This does not have to be the case … Viresco Koi and Viresco Aqua, produced and manufactured in the UK, but available for shipping all over the world, at very little cost is a miracle filamentous algae exterminator. This wonderful product guarantees to remove blanket weed from garden ponds. It does this by removing the food source (nitrates and phosphates) from the pond water. The algae literally starve. Barley straw products have been used extensively as a cure for string algae for many years and have been known to be quite successful.
Don’t have too many pond fish … As stated earlier in this article it is the job of the biofilter to convert ammonia produced by fish and decaying vegetation into nitrates. You can do yourself a considerable favor by not overloading on the number of fish kept in your pond. The more pond fish, the higher the ammonia and solid waste produced. This places more strain on the biofilter. If you have a pond that is about 250 gallons (1000 liters) then I would suggest that you keep gold fish and maybe a couple of small Koi. Goldfish are tougher than Koi and also eat less. For this reason they grow more slowly. For some reason goldfish tend not to interfere with aquatic pond plants. Koi are the inquisitive naughty ones and will often try to dig up or eat water plants. This said Koi are magnificent and all ponds should have at least one!
Avoid the hassles of bad piping … Ensure that the access to the filter and UVC is accessible. Use good quality pond hose or pipe fittings. They cost more but will save you a lot of time and effort in the long run. When selecting hose keep the diameter as wide as possible and length as short as possible. The ideal size pond hose for the majority of garden fish ponds is 25mm internal diameter.
Waterfalls add oxygen to pond water … If you are given the choice then always add a waterfall to your pond. There is no need to build one. You can simply purchase one. A waterfall is an excellent way to add oxygen into the pond system as well as creating a wonderful effect and sound.
Feed high quality fish food … Always purchase high quality Koi food and goldfish food. It costs more but will reward you handsomely in terms of reduced water quality problems and reduced biofilter loading. Your fish will also benefit far more from this food and odds are at the end of the year you will have spent less. Only buy branded fish food from reputable suppliers. The products offered on this site are high quality fish foods with the necessary levels of protein, vitamins, minerals and color enhancers. Aim for a minimum of 35% protein, with a total ash content of less than 8%. Water or moisture content should be 10% maximum.
Aquatic water plants add beauty and function … If you intend to put aquatic plants into your fish pond then it is advisable to plant them in pots and in good quality soil without fertilizers and maybe a bit of bone-meal. Plants are a great way of removing excess nutrients from the pond water. They also add oxygen into the pond water during the day.
