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How
can I save Tropical plants during the winter?
You must remove
them from the pond, trim the foliage, and store, in water, in an environment
above 60*F. A green house or sunroom is great. Tropical water lilies can
be wintered by removing from pot and trimming all leaf material & dead
roots. Then store in a pot of sand & peat moss in an area that stays above
60*F.
What
do I do with my hardy plants during the winter months?
These plants are
easy to take care of for the winter. Trim back the foliage on the plants
to about 3", if the plant is root-bound, repot now. Then just sink
the plant to the deepest part of the pond.
Can I use rubber roofing
or pool liner as pond liner?
Roofing material
and swimming pool liner are not recommended to use as water garden liner. Pond liner,
swimming pool liner, and roofing
material are manufactured in different ways. Pond liner is produced to be a
fish safe material. Rubber roofing may be a little cheaper in the beginning,
but the cost of replacing the entire liner after you find that your fish are
dying because of the toxins in the roofing material leaching into the
water. Swimming pool liner is produced
with algaecides imbedded in the material, which is not good, when you want to
promote the growth of fish and water plants.
When
do I Stop Feeding My Fish?
You have to check the water temp. When the temp drops below 52*F, the metabolism of
fish no longer digests food. They will however continue to eat, but they will not be able to process any nutrients. So when the water temperature
drops below 52*F, stop feeding your fish.
How
do I keep/scare Heron away from my fish & pond?
First and foremost is to cover the pond with netting. The type used in the fall to keep leaves out. This will keep the fish you have safe from the
Heron. Some people have tried the fake fish in the pond, and others have put the
Owl on a pole. These solutions depend upon whether or not the heron has seen these tricks. (these birds are very smart)
One of the full proof way to keep the heron out of your garden area is to use a product called the Cypri-Gard Heron Scarer it is a little pricey, but
if you have a lot of money wrapped up in your fish it is worth it. This scarer is a motion & heat sensor that when alerted gives a quick burst of
water over the protected area.
I have a pond that is approx 10,000 sq ft. What type of fish will control
mosquitoes? The pond is not a hobby and will be left as natural as possible. There are some sunfish and possibly bass. The property has been unoccupied for 2 years, so nothing has been done for at least that long.
Any fish in the pond will help in controlling the mosquitoes. What may be happening is
there may not be enough fish in the pond to fully control that pesky population. A good place to start with a natural pond is to contact your
local extension office of the State Agriculture Office. The people there will be able to give you a better plan for your pond. i.e. The types of fish
& plants that are hardy for your temp zone.
What causes green “Pea
Soup” water?
An excess of nutrients
in the water causes this. These nutrients can come from a number of different
sources. Debris build up on the bottom of pond, over population of fish, not
enough plant material, none or not sufficient filtration, or run-off of fertilizer
from surrounding garden or lawn. Dealing with any one or a combination of these
sources can solve this problem. But remember you have to give Mother Nature
a chance to balance out the pond environment. In a new pond, you should give
the water a few weeks to get into balance.
How many gallons of water
are in my pond?
This is a simple
math problem:
Take the
Average Width x Average Length x Average Depth x 7.48 = Gallons of Water
Do I need a filter with
my pond?
The basic idea
behind this is if you plan to have fish in your pond, you should have a filter
of some type. But if you have a water garden with just plants, you should plan
to have water movement of some type. If there is enough plant material in the
pond, they will keep the water nice.
How many fish can I have
in my pond?
Well this depends
on the type of fish you are going to raise. Remember that Koi will continue to
grow, no matter the size of the pond. On the other hand, gold fish in general,
will only grow to the proportion of the pond size.
A simple guideline
for stocking fish can be as follows:
Koi – 1 Koi
for every square yard of pond surface.
Goldfish
– 2 inches of fish length for each square foot of pond surface.
How can I get rid of
filamentous algae?
There are a number
of solutions to this problem. Many companies have chemical products available
to remedy this, but there is also some natural ways to deal with this type of
algae. First of all, you must be sure that you have enough plant material in
the pond that can absorb the excess nutrients in the water. A natural way is
to add something called “Barley Straw”, which is available through many retail
stores and M/O Catalogs. This type of straw releases a special enzyme when
the straw begins to breakdown. This enzyme depletes the nutrients that the
algae absorbs out of the water.
Is
there any special care for my pond over the winter, some of my fish have died?
One of the most important things to do in the
winter when ice forms is to make sure there is a hole in the ice so that gases
can escape.
This gas exchange is very important because even though it is very cold, organic
material is still decomposing on the bottom of the pond. The gases
released are toxic to fish and need a place to escape.
You can keep a hole in the ice with a pond deicer or a air pump &
stone. These items are available through any of our hard-goods suppliers
listed in the directory.
How fast
should I filter my water?
As a general rule of thumb, you should pump
your pond water through a filter once every two hours. For example with a
1000 gal. pond, you should filter about 500 gal. an hour. This is just a
general rule, you will have to adapt this formula to specific
situations.
When
should I start feeding my fish?
You want to start feeding your fish when the water temperature gets above 53
deg. F. Waiting until the water warms up to this temperature will ensure that
the fish are able to absorb the nutrients in the food.
Will
it hurt to cement my pond it is a bog hole that fills with water about 16x20x8
and what’s up with so many different types of filters I have fish and plants
it is still yucky I am confused?
You
can certainly use cement in your pond.
Two flags pop up.
One you have to seal it and the second is it's expensive.
If you can get away with it I would try a liner.
I know what you mean when it comes to filters.
The reason is that special word marketing! And the fact that people want
to have really cool looking filters.
If you want one that works great try the Cyprio green machine! With the
size of your pond you may have some difficulties with a store bought filter.
I
have tiny black bugs on the tops and bottoms of my water lilies and they seem to
be killing the lilies. They are as small as a pinhead and are great in number.
How do I get rid of them?
You have aphids. You can use a number of products however Aquarium
Pharmaceuticals sells a product that will kill them.
This product contains natural ingredients and seems to work pretty well
although we have not tested n enough to give it the thumbs up or down.
There is also a home remedy of a few drops of Ivory Soap and some vegetable
oil to a gallon of water. I would feel better telling you to purchase a product
so you don't add to much soap and kill your fish!
My
water hyacinths have turned brown and mushy and my water cabbage a white and
simply dissolved. The water is lightly green but relatively clear. I currently
have 5 Koi approx 8" in length, I had 6 but one came belly up. I have a
mechanical/biological filter and pump in the pond. I believe that the pond holds
approx. 800 gallons of water. The surface was covered with plants approx. 65%.
What is wrong? Please help.
Probably
what happened is that the koi and other fish like hyacinth an other floaters.
They eat the roots and I would venture to guess that the roots of the
plants are very small instead of several inches long.
The plant debris probably sank to the bottom and started to decompose,
thus your water quality failed. I
would purchase a test kit and check your ammonia levels and PH.
The best result for this problem is to do a water change and clean off the
bottom as best you can. An
800-gallon pond is not that major a problem and you may consider draining down
and cleaning off the bottom refilling with fresh water.
Always make sure that you add water conditioner to new water!
WE'VE
JUST COMPLETED OUR POND WHAT'S THE BEST PLANTS TO START OUT WITH? HOW MANY DO I
NEED? OUR POND IS 4X8.
A good start would be 1 lily, 6 marginal, 5 floating plants (water
hyacinth or water lettuce).
I
have a problem with my ph I can't seem to lower it what do I do? I’ve already
put ph down in it I doesn’t seem to work I’m trying to get my pond ready so
I can put my fish back in it. So please write back if you can help me.
If
your water is alkaline and you have goldfish they generally will be ok and with
them in the water thru time the ph will start to drop. You can also purchase a
product called buffer up at your local pet store or garden center. This will
allow the ph down to work better. If your fish are already in pond be sure to
adjust the ph gradually or it can kill your fish.
Is there a solution to this without us having to empty the pond and start
from scratch.
There is. Most likely you have string algae
and you can take care of that with a new product that we like to recommend
called Green Clean. It is a new product that is environmentally safe which
we like! Many of the algaecides can kill small birds that drink from the water.
A few applications of this product and you will be good as new!
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