Why Pond Kits Might Be The Right Way To Start Water Gardening

Many beginners have the idea of installing a water garden because they've seen the experts do it so easily on TV. What these same people do not truly realize is that a pond is not merely a hole in the ground which you fill once with water and fish and everything then looks after itself for the rest of time. Pond kits are good starting points but only so long as you get a complete water gardening kit and this is especially true if you intend to keep koi or goldfish. I'd still recommend that newcomers start with at least a free basic introduction to pond keeping.

This is an image of a pond kit from an online water garden supplies company and while I can't see all the detail it does look like a good kit though so I'll use this to illustrate what you definitely do need (and maybe don't need when you buy a pond kit)

Contents of a good pond kit

Quite simply a kit MUST contains the following top of the range products from reputable suppliers

• A pond liner preferably Pondgard EPDM liner made by Firestone or Butyl rubber which is the most popular choice in the UK. Plastic liners are available at lower prices ... if you choose PVC or other plastic liner then go for at least 500 micron thick sheet.

• Pond liner underlayment ... products like this are to prevent stones coming up through the soil and puncturing the pond liner. The material should be durable and flexible and pond fish safe. The liner size should be sufficient to allow for a pond final depth of 2-3 feet minimum and about a 1 ft surround on which the final pond edging can be laid. You should allow more if you intend to create planting shelves using the pond liner itself

• A submersible pond pump correctly sized for the pond filter and waterfall if there is one included in the kit. A good all round pump for liner ponds between 250 and 500 gallons is a pond pump that will deliver around 300 to 500 gallons per hour at 3 feet height. A good quality pond kit will have the equipment all matched up for you. There a vast number of pond pump products so you need to be vigilant. Make sure you know how to specify the right pond pump for your intended installation

• Kink free flexible pipe that can be easily attached to the pump and other pond equipment easily using clamps

• The more expensive and up market pond kits will contain a pond skimmer but this s not essential in small to medium sized ponds although it would be nice to have. It makes pond construction much more difficult.

• A mini waterfall so that water can be circulated around the pond and allowed to drop back into it ... this way the water gets oxygenated at the point of flowing down the waterfall and impacting with the pond water.

Most Important Component

A pond filter and UVC combo product (or you can choose the items separately ... products like this are sold by numerous online suppliers.  This system will do 2 critically important things ... (1) the pond filter will purify the pond water and (2) the UVC (ultra violet light clarifier) will clear the water of suspended algae. Do not even think of installing a fish pond without these 2 pieces of equipment. Here's my recommended US online supplier with a range of models and types available

• UV + Biofilter for ponds to 1,000 gallons

• UV + Biofilter for ponds to 2,000 gallons

• UV + Biofilter for ponds to 3,000 gallons

• Combo UV + Biofilter for ponds to 4,000 gallons

• UV + Biofilter for ponds to 5,000 gallons

• UV + Biofilter for ponds to 6,000 gallons

 Fish-Mate Biofilter ONLY .... does not include UV Sterilizer. You will need to buy a separate UV unit 

• Biofilter (no UV) for ponds to 1,000 gallons

• Biofilter (no UV) for ponds to 3,000 gallons

• Biofilter (no UV) for ponds to 10,000 gallons

Fish Mate Pressurized UV+ Bio Filters make hiding filter easy

• Pressurized filters ponds to 500 galls

• Pressurized filters ponds to 1000 galls

• Pressurized filters ponds to 2000 galls

• Pressurized filters ponds to 3000 galls