Garden Fish Pond ideas and tips

If you are sick and tired of looking at debris on the bottom of your pond then consider buying an electrically operated vacuum cleaner. Just make sure that it is safe for pond use. OASE make the one that is best known. For people who do not like to get their hands too mucky when cleaning out a pond there are sepcially made long length gloves extending right to the shoulder. If the water is a little too cold then the fishermen amongst you could easily use those waders to enter the water if cleaning has to be done.

1. If you pond or water feature is losing water then do a quick check by shutting down the pump. If the level stops falling then the leak is outside the pond itself. If the level continues to fall then obviously the leak is inside the pond itself.
2. At higher temperatures oxygen concentration in water falls. In high summer this can create serious problems if there is a lot of green algae in the pond.
3. To determine an approximate average depth of your gold fish or koi pond whose depth is not constant take a stick and mark it in intervals of say 3 inches with an indelible ink pen. At 10 different places in the pond insert the stick and record the depths (10 numbers). Add the numbers together and divide by 10. Use this answer as the average depth of the pond.
4. Water has a maximum density at 4 degrees centigrade, about 39 degrees Fahrenheit so when a pond has a frozen surface the water at the bottom of the pond is normally at this temperature (water freezes from the top down for this reason). Only in extremes of climate or in very shallow ponds therefore does a pond completely freeze solid.
5. Koi will normally stop feeding around 8 degrees centigrade, 46 degrees Fahrenheit.
6. Many people use salt in their ponds. I do not recommend it but the reason is supposedly to help prevent bacterial diseases. It is important not to overdose and if the intent is to remove infection from individual fish then rather place the fish in another small temporary pond loaded with salt for a few minutes. Use about 2 lbs per 20 US gallons of pond water as a general treatment. For a short term soaking outside the pond itself and in order to treat individual fish use about 3 times as much salt as above.
7. Adding pond start bacterial mixtures can do no harm I am not too sure they do any good although some people swear by them.
8. If you are installing a new pond and arranging for a supply of electricity to it then do add any extra power point for possible future use.
9. Avoid spreading fertilisers around the pond area and do your best to prevent water run-off from the garden into the pond. This is often the source of high phosphate content in a pond and the cause of bad algae problems.
10. To correct pH problems in a pond use dilute solutions of vinegar, or lemon juice for high pH readings and baking powder for low pH readings. Make sure you do not add too much at once. The procedure is add some, wait, test again. It is important to always test at the same time every day since the natural pond cycle creates pH changes at different times of day. For example as carbon dioxide is released by plants the pH may well decrease, When the plants absorb carbon dioxide the pH could rise again. About 10am is a good time to test.
11. Testing pond water. This is straight forward and is done by using special kits. Look out for expiry dates since chemicals used for testing are sensitive to time. Do not get carried away with the test results. After all they are indications only. The good reason for testing is to check stability or consistency and not absolute values. If your fish and plants are thriving and your pH for example is consistently on high side .......... so what? When you see a definite change in fish behavior then start testing.
12. For potential new pond owners do site your pond correctly. The most important location for your pond is where you can enjoy it the most and also most of the time. Other than that the following need serious consideration. Full sunlight for at least part of the day is necessary for the benefit of all the plants, fish and other inhabitants. Flowering water plants will not easily flower without sufficient sunshine. Shade in moderation will provide respite for your fish during the heat of the day and this can be provided with plants.
13. Your pond will cost you money so location can also be a means of saving money. Bear in mind you will need electricity .. how far from the source of power will your pond be? Avoid treed areas and especially deciduous trees whose leaves will pollute the water in autumn. Remember also some leaves are even poisonous to wildlife. In cooler climates avoid exposing the pond to prevailing winds. Site and landscape your pond to avoid surface water from rain pouring into the pond. Smaller ponds heat up and cool down quickly and as such the inhabitants are exposed to significant temperature cycles.
14. In cold climates typical of lots of the USA, Canada and Northern Europe tankless pond water heaters are used extensively. In top koi ponds the water heaters are in fact highly sophisticated automatically controlled gas fired tankless water heaters in many cases. For smaller ponds and larger fish tanks immersion or tank water heating is used. In countries where ponds freeze over it is important to keep a hole open in the ice to allow toxic gases to escape. You can easily make a hole (DO NOT BREAK THE ICE AND MAKE NOISE) by placing a pan of boiling water on surface of ice ... this will melt a hole into surface.
15. In ponds that are about 3 feet deep it is possible that only the upper layers will freeze .... the reason is that water at 4 degrees C (40 degrees F) has a maximum density and as such water at this temperature sinks to the bottom of the pond. It is insulated by the ice at the top of the pond and thus does not freeze (except in extremely cold, long cold period areas) and fish can survive the winter by remaining virtually motionless at the bottom of the pond .... in this circumstance it is important to release toxic gases occasionally that build up in the water so a small hole in the ice is ideal (you can make a hole in the ice by using a saucepan filled with boiling water and placing the saucepan on the ice surface). The more sophisticated way is to use an electrical device freely available in garden centres and pet outlets. These are normally small heating elements that float on a pond. They have just sufficient power fed to them to keep the area around the item free of ice and this allows noxious gases to escape. The general name is a de-icer or floating de-icer and cost about $50. They would typically use about 1 to 1.5 kilowatts of power. Covering the pond will also reduce the tendency to freeze
16. A venturi in a pond system works by making water flow through a constricted passage (that's why there is a sometimes a valve to adjust this passage on some venturis). At this exact constricted point water pressure drops (because velocity increases dramatically in order to get through this very small opening) enough that atmospheric pressure forces the air into the tube down into the water and the air is then discharged with the water. Venturis are noisy for this reason

Pond conversion factors ...

To complicate matters further there are imperial gallons and US gallons. Inevitably you will come across both in pond keeping so use these simple conversion factors if necessary ..... people who buy my book, "The Complete Pond Solver" how to get clean clear healthy pond water all the time get a series of 12 Excel pond calculators free.

• To convert gallons to litres multiply by 4.54
• To convert gallons to US gallons multiply by 1.2
• To convert US gallons to litres multiply by 3.78
• To convert cu.feet to gallons multiply by 6.23
• To convert cu.feet to US gallons multiply by 7.48
• To convert inches to cm multiply by 2.54
• To convert feet to metres multiply by 0.305
• To convert pounds to kilograms multiply by 2.2
• To convert sq. feet to sq. Metres multiply by 0.093
• To convert cu metres to litres multiply by 1000

Of course to convert in the other direction you divide by the factor. For example to convert litres to gallons you would divide by 4.54