As spring time temps keep warming up, we are moving into the seasonal period when folks need to start watching out for problematic algae blooms. More specifically, toxic algae or cyanobacteria is becoming more widespread.
Small Ponds
Small pond and water garden topics
The Best Pond Vacs For Water Gardens And Ponds
The latest offerings of pond vacs and vacuums in 2019 encompass a pretty wide range of prices and capabilities. When evaluating the various models, one thing can be certain…they are not all created equal.
Ultimately choosing the proper vac for your needs comes down to the size of your pond, the depth you’re dealing with, and the particular substances you’re trying to remove from the pond itself.
If the work is fairly light duty, with some minor leaves, a bit of muck or debris, or uneaten fish food, then all of the vacuums listed below should handle that job alright. This is assuming the pond is fairly small…say 1000 gallons or smaller, with a moderate depth of 2 to 3 feet at the most.
As the debris load gets heavier or larger, and the pond size increases in both depth and surface area, the demands on the pond vacuum will go up. And so that all needs to be taken into consideration.
The Best Koi And Fish Food For Maintaining Healthy Fish
If you have Koi or Gold fish, most likely you work pretty hard at keeping your pond in a good, healthy state. Of course some of this effort is designed to help the pond’s appearance, but the health of your fish is likely a big part of it too.
It’s easy to feel a connection to our fish, and of course, in some cases, we’ve had them for years…possibly even decades. So in this article I’m not going to suggest you’re doing anything wrong or poorly when it comes to your fish…I just wanted to remind everyone that along with a clean, healthy environment, what you feed them will matter a lot too.
Although we could talk about good fish food in depth…and the discussion could take the better part of a book…I’ll try to keep this simple and to the point…while covering the essentials of a good quality Koi food. Ideally the formula should provide support for growth, good color, and a strong immune system.
Effective Solutions For Green Water In Small Ponds
Green water in a small pond can be one of the most frustrating experiences for the pond owner.
Once established, and you should know, it doesn’t take very long for that to happen, some folks end up trying all sorts of remedies and potions, without seeing any positive results.
So before we dig into the best ways (I think) to deal with green water problems, just know you’re not alone. It’s a common problem that may have any number of solutions that can end it. I’ve included a video here where I’ll cover the steps that we take to deal with green water problems in a small pond.
A New Chlorine Filter For Fish Ponds?
You don’t have to be involved with fish ponds very long to learn that city water ain’t the best water around. Granted it’s nice to have it in easy reach, and it’s been cleaned and processed to remove a lot of potentially problematic things that could harm folks. But for fish (and plants), it’s got some problematic things in it.
Most notably chlorine and chloramines.
These disinfecting chemicals serve a purpose as noted above, but they don’t belong in your pond…fish can die from pretty low concentrations, which is why pond care companies offer up both liquid and tablet products to dechlorinate your pond water. When shopping around you absolutely want to be sure that not only is the product rated for chlorine, but chloramines as well (like this one). It’s really the latter that’s the biggest problem…or maybe it’s better to state that’s a longer lasting problem.