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Pond Advice For Small And Large Ponds

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Pond Pumps And Quick Fixes To Keep Them Running

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If you want moving water in a pond, which basically means things like an active waterfall or an effective filtration system, a key component in all of this is the pond pump. Nothing really moves without a good pump.

Unfortunately like any mechanical thing, a pond pump can fail, become damaged or broken, or just not operate very well at times. Sometimes they may need to be replaced or upgraded. But before you go and toss your current hard working pond pump, make sure it’s really on it’s last leg. If the problem is minor one, or the pump just needs some simple cleaning and maintenance, you may be able to get get by with your current installation without spending any more money.

Let’s cover a few quick and easy fixes for a problematic pond pump.

Give The Pump A Good Cleaning

Pond pumps have just about everything go through them at some point in the cycle of water circulation. This includes debris such as leaves, algae, dirt, and anything else that might end up in the pond. All of this gunk can take it’s toll and end up blocking or plugging up part of the pump inlet. If this isn’t clear, you won’t be able to get the full volume of water running through the pump and your flow rate will drop.

A simple solution if things aren’t working quite right is to make sure the pump is clean and free of obstructions. To clean a pond pump you’ll want to unplug the device from the power supply, remove it from the pond (if it’s internal) and take the various pieces apart while checking for blockages in the intake or any part of the assembly. To clean it, simply use your existing pond water. Avoid using any harsh chemicals. Clean any pre-filter if one is included, and then put everything back together.

Pond pumps will vary somewhat in their construction so be sure to use the owners manual as a reference and follow their additional recommandations for cleaning and maintenance.

Check Your Water Level

Pumps of all kinds need a reasonable amount of water to work right. All pumps are rated for GPH or gallons per hour flow rate, and one of the common reasons that they may not work well is if the water level in the pond becomes too low or in short supply. If you have a skimmer in place and the water level falls much below this intake, you’ll never get enough water to keep the system operating normally and this isn’t good for the pond pump. One early warning is when the pump is emitting some odd noises or excess noise.

Be sure to check your water levels, particular in the hot summer months when evaporation can increase and regular topping off of the water level will need to be maintained with more frequency. Some pond owners use an automatic system for keeping the water level constant.

Listen For Odd Noises From Your Pond Pump

It isn’t always going to be a low water level that causes some odd noises to be emitted from your pump. But these sounds can be the first indicator that something is not quite right. Many pumps will vibrate a bit while in operation and if you find that these vibrations are causing some rubbing or bumping against the skimmer box, or basin, you can always cushion these with some rubber matting.

Once again the owner or operational manual for the pump is the best resource for troubleshooting or the suggested steps for routine maintenance and often times, a quick review of that literature will uncover ways to keep the pump running more quietly and efficiently.

Storing Your Pond Pump In The Winter

This won’t apply to everyone of course but in climates where the pond may freeze over in the winter, it’s often suggested to turn the pump off and actually remove it. This applies to submersible pumps in particular. Storage should be maintained in a warmer setting with the pump submerged in a water bucket, which keeps all the gaskets and seals in good shape.

Editor’s Note: As always, be sure to contact the pump’s manufacturer on what they recommend for off season storage. Some pumps are best submerged while others may not need to be.

Why would you want to remove it during cold weather? Well the truth is, that during the colder months sometimes it’s best not to circulate the water too much in a small pond. Fish will often find the warmer bottom water to be more comfortable and the added circulation from the pump will hinder that somewhat. Also should a pond pump ever freeze up, a great deal of damage can occur internally and you may never get it working right again.

If you do decide to keep the pond open and operational during the winter months you’ll want to continue to monitor and clean the pump as needed, despite the cold weather.

Pond Lighting For Small Ponds And Water Gardens

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Pond lighting is one of the very best ways to set a particular mood, or highlight certain areas around a small pond or water garden. In this article we’ll provide a few tips and suggestions that will help you choose the right accents for your pond, and we’ll discuss some of the installations that can be done yourself, or when you might want to hire a pro to help.

Pond lighting can add ambiance to your pond and your garden and allow you to enjoy your pond and relax by it after sunset. A pond light is not very expensive to incorporate. You can easily set one or two submersible 20-watt lights into your pond for well under $700.00. You must take care to include proper mounting brackets so that the lights remain in an upright position. These lights can enhance the look of your pond or exterior area almost instantly.

Pond Lighting Options

Floating lights can also be used to improve the look of your pond and the area nearby. This type of pond lighting and underwater lighting can be either solar or electric. There are several types of led and floating lights available today that can be used to adorn gardens and ponds.

Bright LED lights and stellar lights can be placed anywhere without transformers, cords or electrical circuits. You can really set off your landscaping by using solar lights such as stellar lanterns along the path leading to the pond. Pond lights brighten up the surrounding areas and keep frogs and bugs out of your way while you are enjoying your evening snack in the garden. A pond light such as a rock light can give a whole new look to your pond because of its novel rock-shaped design. These low voltage lights can set the mood for the evening by greatly enhancing a plant or rock landscape.

Fiber Optic Pond Lighting

Another new concept when it comes to pond lighting or submersible lighting is fiber optic garden lighting, which can be very useful if your garden has a waterfall. In this case, light is transmitted to the water through cable; a color wheel is also used. However, the disadvantage of using this method is that it can be quite expensive since fiber optic cable itself is expensive.

Landscape Lighting Around The Pond

Oil lamps and candles are inexpensive ways to light up a garden. These minute lighting elements can add great ambiance to the entire setting without increasing your power bill drastically. This type of lighting also suggests that not every form of light needs to go in the pond itself. Much of the mood, as well as safety around the pond can be enhanced through the use of well placed landscape lighting. Some of these lights can be hidden in faux rocks, and conventional solar lighting can be used near walkways to create a safer environment.

Halogen Or LED Pond Lights?

Halogen lights cannot be considered superior underwater lighting because they may not last for a long time. When they fail, the pond has to be drained because it may not be safe to leave a failed garden lighting element in the water for a long time. LED lights that go in the water are a cost effective and viable alternative to halogen bulbs. The best advantage of using LED lighting for ponds is that it can emanate an array of colors and make all the other decorative pieces such as fountains and statues glow in splendor.

Individual features such as sculptures, rocks and waterfalls can be accentuated through various types of lighting. These lighting elements can cause a waterfall to sparkle or illuminate pieces of rock most appropriately. Most landscapers use pond lights such as LED lights for homes because of their economical nature. Pond lighting even with safe LED technology is a task that you must leave to the professionals. An experienced landscaper best installs these lights. He will mount them in the correct locations to get the desired results.

Do Homemade Pond Filters Really Work?

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One of the most popularly searched on pond topics today is for plans or designs on diy pond filters. Homemade pond filters offer a potential cost savings over commercially made filters but a question that many people wonder about is are they any good? Do they really work all that well?

The short answer to this question is that yes, in many cases, diy pond filter designs can and do work quite well. However there are some variables that really need to be explored in a bit more detail to get a clear picture of what may work best for your pond.

Commercial pond filters are offered in quite a few configurations. You’ll find these in the form of pressurized bead filters (most expensive) down to a very simple biological filter, and most anything in between. A popular trend today is the combination of a biofilter and a uv light all encased in one single unit. For very small ponds, mechanical filters that simply filter sediments out of the water are very common and inexpensive.

Homemade Pond Filters Use Biological Filtration

For the purposes of comparison it’s important to realize that when we talk about a homemade pond filter and the commercial one’s, we’re specifically talking about biological filters. Regardless of the manufacturer, meaning you or someone else, all of these filters use a form of beneficial bacteria, which is housed in various kinds of media (we’ll talk about this more in a moment) and it’s these good working bugs that do most of the clean up work.

When a person is comparing a diy pond filter such as the Skippy design, or something like a 55 gallon barrel filter, vs. a waterfall filter, or a box type filter, these are all very similar in the processes they use to clean the pond water. The container or shell of them may look quite a bit different but the processes inside are virtually the same.

Biological Pond Filters And Media

Upon looking in any typical biofilter you may or may not find several prefilters which are pads of various densities that will catch some of the larger pieces of debris that will flow through the pond. After this stage, you’ll then discover the water flowing into a biological chamber which holds some type of media material that provides a home to the beneficial bacteria. Good examples of this would be sponge like pads, plastic coiling strands, small tubes with ridges on them, among other things. All of these provide a place where bacteria can set up shop, build up, and be somewhat protected from the water flow.

Beneficial bacteria will naturally break down any organic elements in the water and it’s one of the most powerful, natural ways that a pond owner can keep a pond in better shape. A typical homemade filter will often fill up from the bottom of the chamber. At the very bottom is a settling basin or area for non-organic particles to drop into. Things like sand, small rocks, and non-decomposing debris ends up here while other material that can be broken down will eventually decompose with the help of the bacteria. As the water rises in the filter it’s pushed through the bio chamber area, filtered and cleaned, and then it exits somewhere near the top. It can flow directly back into the pond at this point.

Sounds a lot like a typical waterfall biofilter doesn’t it?

This is why we say that some very good homemade filters will do just as good a job as many commercial versions. There are many similarities between them. What’s most important for a biofilter to work well isn’t really the shape of the design but how it’s managed by the pond owner. For the best performance you ideally want the full gallon volume of the pond to pass through the filtration system about once per hour if possible. This flow rate can vary a bit of course but ideally you want quite a few passes through the filter in a 24 hour period.

Tips For The Best Pond Filter Performance

It’s important to always remember what the real power of a biofilter is, and that’s the bacteria that’s inside it. If this get’s depleted or low due to something like a random chemical treatment, or perhaps the pond has been shut down for awhile for repairs, then some degree of priming or adding bacteria in the water will be important to make sure you have a lively colony working within the biofilter. Adding bacteria to the water from time to time is always a good idea to make sure the bacterial density is in great shape.

Unlike a pressurized filter, most homemade pond filters don’t have any way to backwash or clean out the insides of the filter. However this may not be necessary or advised once everything is set up and running well. One mistake many new pond owners make is to keep cleaning out the entire biofilter on a weekly basis. The fact is, the system is designed to operate without much cleaning if the bacteria is doing it’s job. There is evidence that many of these filters could actually work continuously for several years of continuous use without cleaning. It’s important to remember though that it can take something like six to eight weeks for everything to build up to the point where the filter is functioning at full capacity. In the early weeks it’s critical to try to remain patient despite the fact that your water may be emerald green. Eventually, it will usually clear up on it’s own.

Comparing Costs Of Filters

DIY projects are obviously very popular simply because there is the perception that they may save a lot of money over simply purchasing something off the shelf. I use the word “perception” intentionally because there have been many occasions when a do-it-yourself effort ends up costing more money in the long run. Pond filters are no exception to this so it’s important to do your homework before you proceed with any project.

  1. Be sure to get a solid, proven pond filter plan in place.  (you’ll find many online)
  2. The plans should have a detailed list of parts and ideally sources for those as well.  Add up the costs and don’t just assume you will be saving money!
  3. Get a very clear idea of the filtration needs of your pond such as the full gallon volume and the potential fish loading that you may one day have to deal with.
  4. Find and use a good quality beneficial bacteria product that’s appropriate for the season and temperature.  Supplement with these as needed, such as following any shutdowns of the pond.
  5. Avoid routine cleaning of the filter (and particularly the biological chamber) and remain patient in the early weeks of setting a new filter up.

Commercial pond filter designs will likely continue to get more and more complicated and along with this, one would expect improved and more efficient performance.  Like everything else in the pond care industry, new technology will continue to advance the hobby forward.  Nevertheless, there are times when the tried, true, and simple systems will win out and be a great option for many people.  Creative minds are always coming up with great diy projects that work very well.  You can be assured that homemade pond filters are on that list and are providing some great results for many pond owners.

Do It Yourself (DIY) Pond Filters – Our Favorite Designs

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Of all the pond devices that you’ll see used in a small pond, few have ever been reinvented or replicated as much as a pond filter in the diy realm. DIY of course stands for do-it-yourself and the relatively simple design of most biological pond filters easily lend themselves to someone who wants to build one from scratch.

The purpose of any pond filter is to help remove physical and elemental contaminants from the water. For instance pieces of leaf debris or single cell algae particles would be considered physical in nature. Elemental substances by our definition would include things like ammonia or nitrites that are created from the breakdown of fish waste. The reduction and elimination of these is very important because they are toxic to fish.

Pond filters in a broad sense, come in two varieties. Some may be physical filters only. Like an oil filter in your car, for example, these are simply designed to take out some of the larger particles of stuff that are floating in the water. This debris get’s caught in the mesh or foam, and filtered water is allowed to pass through. Many very small ponds, and those without fish, may use these and they can be helpful at keeping a pond cleaner.

A more powerful, and we think, useful pond filter is the biological filter. This particular filter may or may not have a mechanical pre-filter included in it, but within a biofilter is material that will grab some of the organic debris that passes through it. The important part though is what’s also inside the filter. The “biological” component is actually beneficial bacteria and this is the real cleaning tool of the device.

As material get’s trapped, and this is specifically relating to organic material, this will be broken down, or in a sense, eaten by the bacteria. These good bugs will also convert ammonia and nitrites into harmless nitrates which is very important work for fish ponds.

Of course there are many commercial varieties of pond filters available and many of them are very good. Some, such as the fully enclosed bead filters can be quite expensive which is one of the reasons why many people want to save money and try to do something for themselves.

Of all the designs we’ve seen online, two stand out as being very good and useful although there are many that you’ll come across that will be quite functional, and who know’s you might even come up with something from your own creative mind.

DIY Barrel Pond Filter

The first uses a 55 gallon barrel. Often these are blue in color and can be found quite easily if you know where to look. Many factories and companies use these to hold liquids. Ideally if you know someplace that uses these for food grade products rather than chemicals of some kind you’d be better off. What’s nice about the barrels are their holding capacity and they can be found inexpensively. In some cases you might find them for free but you can also get them on ebay for around $20.

Barrels make good filters because of their round shape. This provide a very nice vortex or circular motion of the water internally which can help add a bit of oxygen to the water prior to it rising into the bio-chamber. Multiple barrels can be daisy chained together to help provide filtration to bigger ponds.

drum or barrel pond filterPvc pipe is installed internally within the barrel, along with some screen, filter foam or screen for prefiltering, and some type of media that can provide a home to the bacteria. The photograph included here show’s a nicely designed barrel filter in use in a fish holding tank. Water can be pushed into the filter by use of a submerged or external pump, and discharge takes place through an outlet pipe near the top of the barrel.

To get more details on this filter design and view more detailed photographs please visit this website.

The Skippy Filter

Perhaps the most popular DIY pond filter online is called the Skippy filter and this uses a stock tank for the filter body rather than a box or barrel. Stock tanks also provide some circulatory motion of the water much like barrels and they will also have water enter at the bottom of the tank and this will rise up through the filter media, which is made up of numerous brillo like pads that not only filter the water but they also provide home to the bacteria as well.

skippy filterOnce filtered, the clean water will exit near the top of the tank. In this way the Skippy filter can serve somewhat like a waterfall filter and it can be hidden behind rocks or plants.

Comparing the two designs you’ll find many similarities. Really the main difference is that the Skippy uses no prefilters or pads, just the loose scratch pads, to filter the water.

To get more details and information on the Skippy filter please visit this page.

One key point that you’ll read about concerning these biofilters is that they generally don’t require too much cleaning, in fact as the Skippy information will note, you may not want to clean them at all. It’s important to note that both of these designs and really any biofilter will need to be primed with bacteria and this is easy to do. Simply add your favorite blend to the pond water and it will circulate into the filter. This may need to be done from time to time to keep bacteria counts up, and it certainly should be done at every spring start up or following a period of downtime where water flow is not going through the filter.

The most important thing to remember is that you don’t need any great construction skills to make a good, useful DIY pond filter. With the information resources provided here, you can experiment and learn and ultimately create the perfect filter for your pond.

Pond Aeration Tips

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It may come as a surprise to learn that fish need oxygen too. Without it they, just like you and I, would die. Pond aeration, or in other words, using an aerator, is one of the best things you can do for a pond and for fish.

A pond aeration system is normally an after-thought for people who own ponds. Maybe this is because we assume that water doesn’t hold much oxygen or that fish don’t need it, but nothing could be further from the truth.

Keep in mind that what we’re talking about here is not quite the same oxygen that you and I breath out of the air. Water actually holds dissolved oxygen (DO) and it’s vital to a pond’s inhabitants and to the pond itself.

Fish Health And Dissolved Oxygen

Regardless of the species for those with fish ponds, our friends with fins are often important whether it be from the high cost of some koi, to the sentimental value of a gold fish. There’s a good bet that large pond owners have a vested stake in keeping their catfish or bass in good shape too, so every pond, no matter the size can be affected by poor oxygen concentrations.

Fish actually breath through their mouth and as water is sucked in, it’s forced to pass through the gills where oxygen is then extracted from the water. Fish actually have nostrils as well but those are only used for smelling scents, not for breathing. Fish are very capable at oxygen extraction. Water tends to hold much less oxygen (about 2 to 5% of the air we breath on land) so it’s important to be very efficient and fish pull about 85% of the available oxygen out of water.

What Creates Low Oxygen In A Pond?

Even with this capability, fish will still have problems if there is not enough oxygen available in the water. Several factors affect the oxygen holding capacity of water. For instance as the water temperature increases, and particularly as it goes above 78* F. the capacity for water to hold DO drops pretty fast. This is why very hot, prolonged summer periods can cause fish losses.

Other factors that create a DO deficit include other substances such as minerals, chemicals or other gases, may take up space that would normally be available. If plants of any kind are present in the pond, they add oxygen during the daylight hours and pull oxygen at night and periods near dawn are usually connected with the lowest levels of the day. And if they experience a die off they will pull oxygen rapidly from the water if the plants are abundant.

DO is measured in milligrams per liter and most fish will do quite well at any reading from 5mg/L and above. If the dissolved oxygen concentration get’s below this amount, fish begin to become stressed and some may die. Larger fish are particularly at risk because they require more DO to function and survive compared to smaller fish.

Why Pond Aeration Helps

Oxygen get’s into the water in several ways. First when there is agitation at the surface, either through wind, or some other “disturbance” it’s much like a barrier is being broken and an active exchange of oxygen goes into the water and other gases may go out. As mentioned plants that are going through photosynthesis also release oxygen into the water.

However plants provide a give and take when it comes to DO and there are times when the wind either doesn’t blow or the temperature get’s so hot that the water can’t hold much DO anyway. It should also be noted that unless the wind is blowing really hard, the deeper parts of a pond may still have lower DO content compared to the water at the surface.

Fish can certainly adjust their depth to find the best oxygen levels and they may even resort to gasping at the surface in very stressed conditions. Apart from this the pond’s health may suffer due to low DO levels down deep. Much of the cleaning bacteria that help to keep organics and rotting material from building up at the bottom are aerobic and this means they too require good oxygen levels to work well.

The real answer to guarding against low DO in the hot summer as well as maintaining good oxygen counts in deep water is submerged aeration. A typical aeration kit will have a land based pump (either electrical. solar, or windmill generated), an airline, and a diffuser system that sits at the bottom of the pond. This system drives air out the diffuser in a very fine bubble array that rapidly rises to the surface of the pond. This movement not only helps create a “break” at the surface to help with oxygen exchange there but it also creates a type of vortex of water movement that goes up to the surface, across the top of the pond, then back down to the bottom again. This allows a better, more widespread distribution of oxygen loaded water throughout the pond.

Many pond aeration trials have shown that fish loss can be either lessened greatly or eliminated entirely with adequate aeration.

Pond aeration systems are all similar in how they work. Most kits are rated in terms of the pond size and depth they they will work best at and to get the best results it’s suggested to consult the manufacturers recommendations on a particular system.

Costs will vary but most small pond systems are quite affordable and range from about $50 up to $500 while large pond systems can range from $600 or $700 up to several thousand dollars. Operational costs are relative to the size of the system but are generally affordable for most pond owners.

All Season Aeration

It may seem that the warm summer months are the best time to use aeration and while that’s true, there are also benefits of using pond aeration in the winter as well. In moderate climates an aerator alone may help keep the pond’s surface free of ice and at the very least it’s a good idea to keep a section of ice open even in the coldest conditions. Large waters benefit here too and the most effective tool for this work will be an aerator package.

Consideration should be given to the placement of the diffuser sitting at the bottom of the pond. In the summer it’s suggested to put the diffuser in the deepest part of the pond to allow full oxygenation and circulation. In winter, the diffuser should be moved to shallow water, not only for it to keep a hole open in the ice but also to allow the fish to go to deeper water and be undisturbed. Normally in winter, deeper water is warmer.

It’s unfortunate that many fish pond owners don’t make the move to add aeration to their pond until or after they’ve experienced some fish losses. It’s a hard way to learn a lesson but the promise of a healthier pond and fish can be the result after adding a good pond aeration system.

Pond Vacuum Reviews

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Pond vacuums are turning out to be one of the most useful tools in a small pond owners arsenal. By the same token it’s easy to see that in reading the various reviews on shopping websites that not everyone is happy with them.

The most important consideration when your choosing a pond vac is to determine the type of work you’re wanting or needing to do with one. Capabilities vary quite a bit depending on what the vacuum is powered by and the amount of suction it produces.
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