Posts (page 173)
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Four score and seven years ago our forefathers knew nothing about ponds or filtration. In fact, the early pioneers of the ornamental pond and koi-keeping hobbies were taxed to find methods to keep their water clean and clear and their prized fish healthy. Even now, with all our modern technology, we still find it difficult to create and maintain a healthy, clean pond environment. What we have learned is that it takes filtration - and lots of it!
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It sounds as if we’re always pushing large ponds that cater to the health of fish. This may be true. We simply adore the little babies. Some folks, however, prefer a smaller or less complicated pond system or a simple water feature in the garden. They want a spot in the garden that hardly ever needs tending where they can sit and relax without having to worry about biological filtration that converts ammonia to nitrites, etc. for the sake of the fish in the pond. We know just the thing for these folks. A small waterfall, a pleasant pool filled with natural greenery or an elegant fountain hidden in the garden’s secret room are all ways to enhance the garden with water features without all the work. If an occasional frog inhabits the pond, well, that’s okay too.
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Building a pond is very similar to buying a house. Your first home (or “starter home”) traditionally is smaller. You live in it for a couple of years, noting the things you’d change about it if you could. It gets smaller as time goes by and you yearn for a little more storage space or an office or den that you presently don’t have.
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Many folks come into the store with desperate looks on their faces and woeful tales of a favorite fish that has met his maker. They don’t understand what happened to their friend and come to us for answers. The very first thing we ask is, have you tested your water for pH, ammonia or nitrites? A concentration (or any measure of) these two substances is dangerous to fish.
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You may not want to hear this — but it’s time to get off your duff and stop procrastinating. There is no better time than NOW to complete or start that pond project that you’ve been putting off. At this time of year pond waters are cooling, the weather’s not too hot and you stand a better chance at booking a more qualified pond builder. The cooler waters of autumn and winter hold dissolved oxygen better than warm water. This makes it less stressful to house koi and goldfish in smaller tanks while their home is being refurbished. Fish stop eating as much and as often, requiring less filtration, thus causing less load on temporary filters.
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Often writers of books on pond building reinforce a misconception that ponds should be built in the sun. Place the pond where you’ll enjoy it most keeping in mind the pros and cons of sun versus shade. Waterlilies bloom best in the sun but so does algae. Trees shed their leaves so ponds in the shade are typically harder to keep clean but nothing compares to the serenity of lounging by the pond in the coolness of the shade.
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I normally prefer the ‘old school” way of doing a lot of things. It’s usually based on common sense and reasoning. The old style of business management appeals to me — you know — before everything became a committee decision and before the word “brainstorming” first appeared. I don’t, however, care for the “old school” way of constructing ponds. The “old school” preaches that filtering pond water is unnecessary — that nature takes care of all that. The pump of choice is a submersible pump and a healthy pond is completely lined with rock. Yeah — and the check’s in the mail.
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There’s been a lot of articles written lately encouraging the practice of lining the bottom of the pond with gravel or rocks. We DO NOT encourage it. Here’s why. Debris that gets trapped between the rocks is a breeding ground for bad bacteria. Deadly to fish and obnoxious-smelling to us, this mulm is guaranteed to turn what used to be a lovely ornamental pond into a cess pool.
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You’ve got to give it to them, the companies presently running these wonderful marketing campaigns. They hold seminars that lure in the landscaper and other entry-level pond builders and convince these innocent people how simple their product is to install and "teach" them what an effective job their product does. Their product is the handy-dandy all-in-one filter / skimmer / pump combination. Just dig the hole and line ‘er up with the pond and your job is halfway done — And it’s affordable!
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A UV is a bulb inside a PVC tube that is protected from water by a tube of glass. Water flows through the PVC tube and passes by the long bulb so that the ultra violet rays emitted from the bulb can sterilize microscopic algae that flows along with the water. This prohibits reproduction and growth of the algae and it quickly dies back. A UV is not effective against string algae because this type of algae attaches to the sides of the pond and rocks in the waterfall and does not pass through the light.
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Components of a pond system are ugly. You’ll get no argument from me about that. The filter is a very necessary part of a healthy pond and the only filters we’ve seen that are easily hidden within the landscape (submersed and the side-skimmer) are not considered “good” filtration methods. Whether the “good” filtration method is a large settling tank nestled on the slope of the backyard or an egg-shaped canister seated on the hill just above the waterfall it takes imagination and a little ingenuity on the part of the installer or landscaper to make it blend into the surrounding environment. This is where the backyard pond mechanic is separated from the professional pond installer or landscaper.
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It’s amazing how little the average Joe knows about water and it’s behavior. What I know has taken me years to learn. It’s a plumber’s job to know what each valve does and which size hose should be used. It’s a pond professional’s job to know specific plumbing techniques used in pond filtering systems. Water flows can determine whether equipment on the pond will perform as they should or become expensive wastes of dollars.