Introduction To Good Pond Keeping. Make Sure Your Water Garden Works Well

When a person builds a pond it is to achieve the vision of crystal clear water. The vision normally includes a pond full of colourful fish and attractive aquatic plants. Often the reality of a pond is something quite different ... a green smelly hole in the ground. This need not be the case.

This article identifies the really important factors that will result in a beautiful pond, something to be proud of and which the family can enjoy. Something to add value to your home and lifestyle. Before you dig the hole do understand that if you intend to keep fish then a pond filter must be installed. A pond filter can be a fairly simple box shaped container with a suitable pond filter medium inside it onto which bacteria can accumulate so that they can do the job of purifying the pond water day in and day out.

1. The job of the pond filter is to purify the water first and foremost. Fish excrete ammonia which if allowed to build up results in the fish poisoning themselves. The pond filter's secondary job is to remove solids. The best pond filter medium by far for conventional box-type pond filters is Alfagrog, a porous ceramic medium specially made for purifying fish ponds. Many people use plastic tubes, hair curlers, plastic coke bottle tops and the like.

2. Be aware that these media need to be used in quite large quantities to be effective at holding sufficient bacteria to ensure clean (biologically speaking) water. You will need 40 times the volume of plastic tubes as Alfagrog to achieve the same pond filter capacity.

3. If you want to ensure your pond always stays crystal clear then an ultraviolet light must also be installed since without this the risk of a pea-soup coloured water developing is great. Fish and pond filter bacteria need large amounts of oxygen to survive so a reliable pond pump which will operate 24 hours per day every day must be obtained. A pond filter even the very best (vortex type pond filters are the best but are difficult to install and are only necessary on large sophisticated koi ponds)

4. Once upon a time all ponds were concrete. Today unless you wish to have a very large or special pond concrete is NOT the material to use. It is simpler, cheaper, better and quicker to use pre-formed ponds or flexible pond liners. If you want a pond whose volume is larger than about 500 litres then it is best and most economical to use a black plastic liner designed specifically for pond building.

5. So you can already see that a pond is not just a hole in the ground you casually dig one day and then hope it will add value to your life.Without care and knowledge that hole in the ground will cost an arm and a leg and will not please you. Unless you go out of your way to learn the really important parts of pond keeping then do not even dig the hole ... it will not be worth it.

6. How To Avoid Problems and Hassles

7. When you have finished reading this article and if you are still not sure or would like some re-assurance ask someone who can provide the information and will give you sensible advice. If the advice is sound and makes sense and can be backed up by example or published information then it is probably good advice. However if something does not make good sense to you; if it is too general, like a pond filter must be 20% of the pond's volume for example, then maybe seek further advice and certainly probe the advice given. A bad installation is expensive to fix. 2.

8. Some general tips to start off with Problems can show themselves in many forms but the most obvious and frequently encountered is the dirty water pond. Unless you are prepared to install a biological filter I would strongly advise you to reconsider your intention to build a pond. Without a pond filter you will be almost certainly be disappointed with your pond and it will be a source of annoyance rather than a pleasure. I promise you that you will install one sooner or later.

9. The pond pump is the heart of a pond system. The chances are you will get poor advice from many retailers and be sold a pump which is totally unsatisfactory because some retailers themselves do not fully understand what they are selling. The cheapest pump to buy is often the most expensive to run especially with regard to larger capacity pumps and running costs can be very high. Every unit of electricity consumed by your pump will cost at least 30 cents if you live in South Africa.

10. Pumps should have at least a 2 years guarantee.

11. If you want a fountain effect in your pond choose a pump that comes with a fountain attachment. They can be expensive to buy later.  If you do not want a fountain in your pond then save yourself a tremendous amount of maintenance effort by buying a pump with an impeller that can run without the need for a strainer on the pump inlet. These pumps are sometimes called vortex pumps indicating the impeller can handle solids.

12. The only guaranteed way to avoid green water is to spend a bit extra on an Ultra Violet clarifier (UV for short). This keeps your pond from going green in summer. It will make a dramatic difference to your enjoyment of your pond and is the secret to crystal clear water.

13. Do not overstock the pond with fish. For the gardener with a small pond of say 1,000 litres or less goldfish are ideal. They are hardier than koi, eat less than koi and so grow more slowly. They do not destroy plants as many koi will do. However do not let me put you off keeping koi. These fish really are wonderful and beautiful fish. Put less rather than more fish in your pond.

14. Make it easy to maintain your filter, pump and UV. Do make access to the filter and UV easy.

15. Use good quality pipe fittings. These will cost more but will repay the investment many times over when the time comes to maintain the filter or UV.

16. When selecting hose keep the diameter as large as possible and minimise the hose length. Avoid piping that kinks and avoid bends and sharp corners because these can seriously effect the output from a pump. The ideal size pipe for most garden ponds of the sort we are discussing (up to about 5,000 litres ... say 3m x 2.5m 0.6 metre deep) is 25 mm internal diameter.

17. A waterfall is a source of oxygen for a pond. Unless you really enjoy landscaping and digging buy yourself a waterfall or stream made from glassfibre with a rocklike appearance. These are so realistic these days it makes no sense at all to me to go out and buy rocks and then engineer them into a waterfall using liners or concrete. A waterfall is a great way to introduce oxygen to the water which helps in the overall good health of the pond.

18. Very important ... feed high quality fish food Do buy high quality food. It probably costs a bit more per packet but repays itself handsomely in water quality improvement and reduced filter maintenance. Your fish will also benefit far more from this food and odds are at the end of the year you will have spent less.  Aim for a minimum of 35% protein and ash content less than 8%. Water or moisture content should be 10% maximum.

19. Aquatic plants make a pond special If you intend to put water plants in your pond and I highly recommend you do this then plant them in pots and in good quality soil without fertilisers and maybe a bit of bone-meal. Be aware that water lilies do not like turbulent water or splashing. Oxygenator plants are very good for any pond. Koi generally like to eat plants so protect them by using gravel on top of the of the soil after planting in the container.