Building Your Pond
This section was developed to help answer some of the questions you may have about everything from building a pond or pond-less waterfall to pond supplies like water fountains, free standing waterfalls, and pond pumps and pond filters, to green algae control, Koi and Goldfish health to water quality and water lilies to lotus.
Pond Algae comes in many different forms, even different colors (green Algae, red Algae, brown algae). The two kinds of pond algae frustrating backyard pond owners most often, though, are “green water Algae” and “string Algae” (also called “blanket weed” or “hair Algae”). More Info.
Beneficial Bacteria are essential helpers in the garden pond and for pond filters. They munch on pond fish waste and other organic matter and convert deadly ammonia into first nitrites and then into nitrates thus being an integral part of pond filtration. The nitrates are taken up by the pond plants. This cycle makes the Beneficial Bacteria essential to the health and well being of the water and the creatures of the pond including Koi and all other pond fish, it also helps reduce algae. More Info.
Pond Filters are generally required to keep a Garden Pond or Water Garden healthy and clear. A Koi Pond requires more filtration than a Water Garden or a Goldfish Pond due to the large mature size of these beautiful Pond Fish. More Info.
Pond Fish are cold water varieties and can remain in the pond during the winter with proper preparation, as long as the pond is deep and large enough and care is taken that it does not freeze completely. Koi, Goldfish, & Orfe. More Info.
Pond Fish, like all living creatures, require that certain conditions in their environment be met to sustain their health in Ponds Koi, due to their mature size and their longevity, need a little more care than goldfish. More Info.
A Water Fountain in your Garden Pond lends a touch of elegance to a garden pond or water garden as well as to larger water features such as farm ponds. It also adds much-needed oxygen to the fish pond to aid the filtration of the water and keep pond fish such as Goldfish, Golden Orfe and Koi healthy (and alive) during hot summer days. More Info.
How to Clean Up and Maintain Large Ponds
Visit our knowledge base and click on the above link for all kinds of information on pond plants. The terms “Aquatic Plants” and “Pond Plants” represent a wide range of Plants growing in several habitats. Some Aquatic Plants grow in deep water. Lotus and Water Lilies (Deep Water Plants) are the most famous of this pond plant group. Others grow in the shallower margins (Marginal Plants) of the pond. Many pond plants like the growing conditions in the moist bogs (Bog Plants) on the rim of the pond and another group grows completely submerged in the pond water (Submersed or Oxygenating Plants). Still, others just float on the surface of the pond (Floating Plants) and need not to be rooted in anything at all. These plants are all important to the natural balance of the garden pond. More Info.
Good quality Pond Food is formulated to keep pond fish healthy and helps maintain the quality of the pond water. Pond fish live in a special environment that allows only limited chances of finding natural food that would satisfy all their nutritional needs. It is also important that pond food be easily digestible to limit organic waste (which turns into Algae Food) produced in the pond by using ingredients that are easily and more fully digestible by the fish. More Info.
How to Install a Preformed Pond and a Pond Using EPDM Pond Liner
If using a preformed pond, select a quality Garden Pond that will meet your needs. Many Ponds and Pond Kits are available. Look for features such as plant shelves for aquatic plants. Good pond kits contain Pond pumps and separate Pond filters. More Info.
Pond Pumps are re-circulating, and most often submersible pumps that power Waterfalls, Water Fountains and Pond Filters in garden ponds. Pond Pumps are the heart of the pond and should be chosen with care. More Info.
Pond Ultra-Violet Clarifiers expose water to ultra-violet light that clumps algae particles together to make them large enough to be picked up by the Pond Filter. There is also some evidence that they are beneficial by keeping the pond water healthier for the pond fish. More Info.
A backyard pond or water garden is a little world and eco-system we created that may need our help occasionally to achieve the natural balance necessary to sustain pond life and healthy pond fish. This is usually not difficult. More Info.