Seasonal Pond Tips

Beneficial Pond Plants For Small Ponds

Despite the fact that many backyard water gardens are, in a sense, artificial and man-made, every one can be improved and made more natural and “wild” by adding pond plants. Plants provide a number of benefits to fish ponds and whether you live in California, Salt Lake City, Texas, or Orlando, there will be a pond plant that will fit your climate and local area.

Most folks are clearly aware of how much some well chosen plants can improve the look and appearance of a water garden. The eyes certainly don’t lie, and when a colorful selection of lilies, lotus, or iris are added, a pond can become a vibrant, living, breathing display of a nature. Plants however add more to a pond than just good looks.

Pond Plants For Shade

During the hot summer months, excessive heat and sunlight can take it’s toll on just about anything exposed to the elements, and your pond is no exception. Sun exposure in abundance can often lead to, or at least support green water problems in small ponds. This phenomenon is actually free floating, single cell algae of various species. In very small numbers you wouldn’t even notice them, but as they grow in number, their presence begins to tint the water with a greenish hue. As their density increases this tinting can become an outright solid green color much like pea soup.

Green water usually isn’t a problem for fish but most pond owners go crazy trying to fix the problem. In actuality this coloration may actually protect the fish because it does diffuse the light a bit. However floating pond plants are a better option because they provide protective shade for the fish but also limit some of the sun exposure that feeds single cell algae. A clearer pond and happier fish, all through the addition of plants!

Koi Pond Plants Provide Protection

Sun blocking is a pretty obvious benefit of pond plants but we can take their contribution to another level when we consider how they integrate naturally with fish and help in a process called the nitrogen cycle.

Fish must eat to survive but a byproduct of this of course is waste. In large waters, this waste is diluted so much that it isn’t a problem but in a small backyard pond, it can affect water quality dramatically. Normally as this excrement is broken down it will turn into ammonia. Naturally occurring or supplemented bacteria will break this down into nitrites, then to nitrates and these are consumed by plants for food. And fish will quite often feed on plants.

Ammonia and nitrites are actually toxic to fish and if they are not converted through the nitrogen cycle, levels can build up in the water and cause big problems. So, plants and fish have a symbiotic relationship where they can rely on one another for balance. Plants are natural cleansers of pond water and this is important. Poor water quality issues lead to a variety of problems that are best avoided and pond plants can help greatly.

Pond Plants And Algae Control

Buying Pond Plants

Caring For Pond Plants

Fish Pond Heaters For Winter Care

by Mark

A fish pond heater is an essential asset to water gardens or backyard ponds for maintaining healthy fish during the winter time, especially when the pond is shallow in depth. Not only do the heaters help in providing the appropriate temperatures for the survival of the fish during winter, they are also efficient in helping to discourage the development of the KHV disease, which is a common illness for koi fish during the Spring time. Due to the extreme change in water temperature between seasons, the new warmth allows for pathogens to multiply at a fast rate, which disables the immune system of the koi from retaliation. The pond heater lowers the risk of affliction by maintaining the same water temperature throughout the year.

Types of Heaters

When looking for the perfect pond heater, it is important to note the size and depth of the specific outdoor pond. In order to heat up around 250 gallons of water, it takes about 1000 watts of heat, which can help in calculating the specific size needed. Also, outdoor temperatures are an important factor in determining how many kilowatts are required and can vary, because the output of kilowatts are dependent upon the lowest temperature of the pond’s geographical location.

Submersible Pond Heaters

The most common form of pond heaters are submersible and must be completely engulfed within the water in order to properly function. These types of heaters benefit ponds that are large in size, because they are able to cover more area. Unlike pond deicers, standard pond heaters must be situated with an object to prevent the heater from touching the bottom and sides of the pond. In addition, they are also successful in keeping the whole area of water a consistent temperature, which is the healthiest option for the fish.

Floating Pond Deicer

One type of fish pond heater is a floating pond deicer, which works by floating on the surface of the pond, while using heat to keep the area covered from freezing over. The deicer comes equipped with thermo-regulators that automatically turn on when there is a shift in water temperature. This helps in preventing the built-up of gases that get trapped beneath the icy surface, which can result in the fish becoming seriously harmed. In addition to being detrimental to fish, the freezing of the water can result in cracks and other damages to concrete ponds. This could prove to be very costly in the long-run and can be avoided through the purchase of a deicer. Also, unlike standard pond heaters, deicers are easier to install and are usually a cheaper option.

Preparing Your Pond For Fall

by Mark

Fall is one of the most beautiful times of the year in most parts of the country but for pond owners, it can be a time of great challenge. With every change in the weather, your pond can be affected too.

While it’s not possible to hold off what Mother Nature brings along for your pond, with some simple steps you can deal with just about anything and keep your water garden in good shape. This is really important if you have fish or other living things in the pond because they’ll be more affected by seasonal changes than anything else.

So how do you prepare your pond as you move from summer and fall and into winter? Let’s assume for the purposes of this article that you have fish and are planning on keeping the pond open year round. The following tips should help.

Clean The Pond

Generally speaking a clean pond is a healthy one. We’re not talking about something that looks like a swimming pool by any means, but to be a great pond cleaner you’ll need to remove dead plant material, decomposing organic matter, and other accumulations that fall into the pond.

Dead plants, including algae, will pull oxygen from the water as they die off so they are best removed before they decay or get too far gone. You can trim back some plants like lilies and leave them in the lower parts of deeper ponds over the winter and as long as they don’t freeze up they should be fine.

Organic material such as dead leaves can build up at the bottom and should be removed as much as possible. As this material decays in the pond it will release nutrients into the water that feed algae growth and for most folks ,that’s something that is unwanted. Although a little bit of algae is actually a good sign for the most part.

You can use a pond net or pond vacuum to help remove some of this debris and the more you can take out of the pond the better. A skimmer may help remove some of this as it falls in the pond but even with a good skimmer you’ll still likely need to do a bit of work to clean up the bottom.

Use Pond Netting

When the leaves really begin to fall and blow around, many owners will use a pond net or netting to cover it. If you can keep leaves from falling in the water in the first place it just makes the clean up more easy.

You’ll want to find something that will adequately cover the surface area of the pond and ideally find netting with a reinforced edge as these tend to be more durable and hold up better, particularly if you know a lot of leaves will fall. This same pond netting can be used to help control some avian predators that may bother your fish. By propping up the middle of the netting with some type of support, birds like herons will not be able to land in the water and go hunting.

Use A Cold Water Beneficial Bacteria

If you have fish, one way to ensure that you never have a spike in ammonia or nitrites (both of which are toxic to fish and come from their waste), is to use a form of beneficial bacteria that’s designed for cold water.

Historically most bacteria, and those that are found in ponds naturally, will really slow down once the water temperature drops below 50 degrees. This coincides nicely with the normal feeding habits of fish during the winter too…since they also greatly reduce their feeding in cold water.

Yet for small backyard ponds, a bit of supplementation may be helpful to keep the pond in balance. Look for an all season, or cold water blend of bacteria that will work below 50 degrees and you should be fine.

Add A Heater To Your Pond

A pond heater is a simple little device that can either float on the surface of the pond or be placed at the bottom. These create an area of warmth that will keep a portion of the pond open and free from ice.

When a pond is completely covered with ice, it’s possible for gases to get trapped in the water and it’s helpful to keep the exchange of these gases and fresh air going throughout the winter. Most heaters will do an adequate job of this but you’ll want to get one that’s rated for your temperature zone.

In really cold climates some pond owners have unfortunately found their fish frozen with sustained cold temps and it goes without saying that a pond heater will help avoid that malady. For the most part they are very safe and affordable to operate.

It’s suggested that a pond be at least two feet or deeper to safely overwinter fish in them. Deeper ponds tend not to freeze completely from top to bottom which is really a worse case scenario. Regardless of the depth though, it’s a great idea to keep a bit of the surface open and a pond heater is the best tool available to do that.

As you can see by taking a few simple steps, most pond owners will avoid any major problems during the winter months. It’s important to keep an eye on things of course, and you’ll want to monitor operations even in the dead of winter, but all in all, your pond and your fish should do just fine.