In the 21st century, new technologies and understandings have made the hobby of water gardening all but maintenance free. This means it’s much more affordable, and it allows you and your family and friends to kick back and relax to the sounds and smells of Mother Nature herself instead of cutting back algae, testing for pH, or doing water changes.
- Myth 1. Predators will eat all your fish.
- Raccoons can swim but they don’t like to. They are much more likely to sit on the side of the pond hoping for a fish to swim within reach of a paw swipe. The fish, on the other hand, are generally acutely aware of the presence of predators and when the raccoon comes a calling, the fish generally swim to the bottom of the pond and hang out until the threat moves on to another location.
- Heron, on the other hand, have legitimate predatory credentials. With long legs and large beaks, the Great Blue can easily swoop in, wade around and catch lunch. There are various solutions ranging from scarecrows (some are made to look like alligators) to laser equipped motion detectors that are poised to fire intermittent streams of water at offenders who trip the sensor in hopes of scaring them off.
- Fish Caves are the best solutions to the heron dilemma, and can easily be made part of any well-conceived water garden during the installation process.
- Plant coverage helps the fish get to their fish caves with a little extra protection
- Myth 2. Rocks and gravel make it difficult to clean your pond.
- The conventional pond style presumes that the conventional accumulation of muck on the pond’s bottom will become all the worse with rocks and gravel.
- The ecosystem pond style concentrates instead on maintaining a natural balance in the water garden, which in turn allows Mother Nature to do most of the maintenance work on her own.
- Bacteria colonization occurs readily on the rocks and gravel because of the increase in surface area and helps the muck/debris to biodegrade/breakdown
- Natural biodegradation turns muck and debris into nutrition that plants (including algae) can use to grow strong and healthy
- The aquatic circle of life occurs when the fish eat the plants, produce waste that falls to the bottom of the pond and, along with the debris biodegrades into nutrition that is used up by the plants which are eaten by the fish, etc., etc., etc.
- As long as the pond is in balance and the infinite aquatic circle of life is in process, the pond owner will experience very few maintenance problems
- Myth 3. Using UV lights is the best way to keep your water clear.
- A UV clarifier or UV sterilizer (the sterilizer’s wattage is significantly stronger), affects only the algae that physically passes through its beam, while most algae clings to a surface and is never directly effected
- The best goal is a naturally balanced pond in which the aquatic circle of life that we discussed previously is kept alive and well, allowing Mother Nature to do the clean up work that she does so naturally, with almost no effort on her part
- An imbalanced pond will require the aid of unnatural solutions such as UV lights
- Drawbacks to the UV solution include the fact that when algae is killed, it often falls to the bottom of the pond, which in turn breaks down and creates more available nutrition, and encourages an even greater algae bloom as the result
- Your pond can actually develop an addiction in which it needs more and more UV clarifying in order to keep up with the increasing algae growth
- UV lights require continual maintenance
- Myth 4. A pond must be at least 36” deep to keep koi.
- The Earth’s insulation allows ice to only freeze up to 8 inches thick
- This leaves 16” in which fish can safely hibernate over the winter
- Building codes traditionally consider 24” to be a landscaping feature
- A 24” deep pond also requires less work and costs less in the first place
- Myth 5. Koi cannot be kept in a pond that contains plants.
- Koi and plants actually complement one another in nature, as they do in ponds
- Koi are happier and healthier when they are kept in a natural setting
- Koi should be kept in ponds that contain plants
- Myth 6. In cold climates, you have to bring your fish inside for the winter.
- Mother Nature does not bring her fish inside
- Aquariums are different because of their small bodies of water
- But a pond is a relatively large body of water and the rules apply differently
- Mother Nature allows her fish to hibernate at the bottom of the pond
- Your fish will be healthy, happy, and very anxious to see you in the spring
- Myth 7. You must test your pond water for pH daily.
- Small bodies of water like aquariums, require lots more testing than larger ones
- Generally speaking, the larger the body of water, the less testing is required
- In Mother Nature’s large bodies of water, she doesn’t test
- A naturally balanced, water garden/ecosystem should not require testing
- Myth 8. Ponds attract MOSQUITOES!!!
- Mosquitoes love stagnant water
- The trick is to make sure that your pond water is moving constantly
- If your pond water is moving, mosquitoes will be much less interested
- But just in case, skimmers sweep mosquito larvae in and drown them
- Fish consider them a delicacy and pick them off the pond surface like candy
- If you have a correctly constructed pond you can expect the mosquito population in your backyard will actually be less than without a pond
- Myth 9. You can’t have a pond in the midst of trees.
- Trees and ponds actually complement each other very nicely
- Trees can be the most interesting plants around your pond
- In the fall they will cause you to empty your skimmer daily
- If it’s a magnolia, you’ll have to empty the skimmer daily in the spring too
- But shade from trees help to discourage algae growth
- And sitting under the shade of a tree, on a hot summer afternoon listening to the sounds of your waterfalls is heavenly
- Myth 10. You can’t keep koi in a pond with rocks and gravel.
- People who are involved in “showing koi” on a competitive basis, see their pets with a different set of eyes than water gardening people see them, however…
- Koi are bottom feeders and they encounter rocks and gravel constantly in nature
- Koi are scavengers and naturally swim along the bottom, grazing on everything
- Koi are bored stiff with an unnatural, rubber lined bottom, and they’ll act bored in an unnatural setting
- Myth 11. It’s okay to use chemicals in your pond.
- If you have a swimming pool in your backyard chemicals are required
- If you have a small body of water like an aquarium, chemicals are occasionally required as well
- But to presume that what’s good for your swimming pool or your aquarium is also good for your pond is a mistake that you should try to avoid
- Products such as algaecide (copper sulfate) and fish antibiotics are sometimes used as quick fixes for imbalanced ponds
- But in the long run, when you contradict Mother Nature, she wins and you lose
- Duplicate Mother Nature and you’ll never lose
- Myth 12. Having a pond may decrease the value of your home.
- In general, waterfront property commands more money
- Recent surveys show ponds (and decks) to be the most desirable landscaping available in today’s market, so the odds are against losing money on a pond
- Surveys also show that if you want to dramatically increase the value of your home, the best investment you can make is in well-conceived landscaping
- Myth 13. Ponds create safety and liability issues.
- Historically speaking, a correctly constructed pond (with shelves that step down into the pond) have proven to be safe
- Educating kids about ponds is important if they’re going to be close
- But if you’re still concerned, and you still want a water feature, a Pondless® Waterfall (just the waterfall) may fit your needs better
- Myth 14. My pond should be located in the lowest part of my yard, right?
- Generally low areas of the yard collect water/run-off that make your liner bubble
- The lowest part of the yard is usually not close to your house, so that’s not normally where you’ll want to locate your pond
- For the sake of convenience and accessibility it’s important to locate the pond up close to the house, most often beside a patio or a deck
- In order to maximize your enjoyment, the pond should also be situated so that it’s easily visible from inside the house
- A professional consultation will help you to get the right answer to this question
- Myth 15. Using a Timer on your pond is a great idea and saves you the hassle.
- Using a timer to turn your pond off during the night is counterproductive because in the process you’ll lose oxidation in the water, kill off beneficial bacteria, and create all kinds of maintenance problems
- The only time you want to turn your pump off is in the winter or when someone is performing substantial maintenance like a spring cleanout
- The only timer we suggest is the one that turns your underwater lights on and off when the sun goes down in the summertime.
- Myth 16. Draining and cleaning your pond must be done on a regular basis.
- If you build your pond so that it’s working against Mother Nature, draining and cleaning it out will be a regular task
- If you build your pond so that it’s working in harmony with Mother Nature, you can look forward to draining and clean-out once a year…max
- Cleaning a pond out in-season kills the good bacteria that you’ve carefully cultivated all spring, which makes regular clean-outs counterproductive
- Some ponds don’t even require an annual cleanout
- Myth 17. Bottom drains work best if you have koi.
- If you have rocks and gravel in your pond to break down debris, then a bottom drain is not necessary. The beneficial bacteria that seeds within the gravel will remove any build-up that occurs over time
- There’s little difference in oxygen levels two feet down and two inches down, which eliminates one of the arguments favoring bottom drains
- They also tend to promote leaks and raise the possibility of land-locking your koi
- In clean, clear pond water, bottom drains look unnatural and detract aesthetically
- The combination of a skimmer and BIOFALLS® match Mother Nature the best
- Myth 18. More filtration in a pond is always better.
- If you’re in the drinking water industry more filtration is always better
- If you’re in the swimming pool industry, more filtration is always better
- But if you’re in the pond industry, more filtration is not always better
- You can over-filter a pond and create maintenance problems that are best avoided
- Mother Nature keeps her koi in some pretty unclear water (not enjoyable for us)
- If you can see a dime on the bottom of your pond, it’s more than good enough
- Myth 19. You can’t be a water gardener and a koi hobbyist simultaneously.
- If you’re in the hobby for the sake of the relaxing lifestyle and to enjoy your pets, combining water gardening and the hobby of keeping koi is a wonderful thing
- Knowledgeable water garden enthusiasts almost always keep some koi in order to have a naturally balanced system
- Koi add a sense of life and color and are the “jewels” of water gardening
- Myth 20. “High-tech” offers the right means to controlling Mother Nature.
- The essential ingredient in any successful water gardening experience is understanding Mother Nature and cooperating with her in every possible way
- Water gardening offers a way to reconnect and cooperate with Mother Nature