Water Garden Blog Water Lilies and Pond Plants » Cleaning a water garden

Activated Carbon for filtration?

admin — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 06:14:37 +0000

Activated carbon or activated charcoal called by some has been used for many years in pond filtration. Known mostly for its properties as an agent that can grab almost any chemical and contain it it makes a great water cleaner. I recently learned about just how good a bacterial agent it may be as well. According to reports just 1/2 ounce has the same surface area as the Melbourne Cricket Ground (one of the 10 largest soccer stadiums in the world).

To use in a water garden simply fill a cheese cloth sack or some stalkings with a couple pounds of activated carbon or charcoal, tie it, rinse very well or your pond will turn black in seconds. Once you rinse until clear place in a skimmer, filter, or where the water is moving and your pond will be rid of toxins very quickly. Remove before treating with a chemical or fish medicine as the carbon will absorb it in its entirety. Change the charcoal every 6 -12 months, you can rinse a few times during the year with clean pond water or well water.

Ornamental Backyard Water Garden Algae Bloom vs Chemicals

admin — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 04:30:02 +0000

There is no water garden that should ever need a chemical to control Algae. If you have a balance of plants and fish you wont commonly get much algae growth as plants can keep the pond in check except during a few weeks each spring plants may be slow to grow and algae can have a short bloom.

More commonly we as water feature owners supply either

Too many fish
Too few plants
Over feeding our fish
Some or all of the above.

If you have no fish or plants, you have a fountain or water feature, there you may need chemicals. There are plenty of fish safe algaecides but not all work well. My favorites include the new Algaway 5.4 from ecological laboratories. This fairly potent algaecide is safe for fish and plants. 1 Gallon jug can treat a 2,000-40,000 pond. Smaller ponds it will treat for a year or more, larger ponds it will treat a few treatments. Unless you are growing fish for sport (ie Koi hobbiest) I would focus more on whats causing the alge problem than treating it weekly.

There are plenty of bugs and algae all koi and common goldfish will nibble on on the side of the pond. There is rarely a need to supplement a fish’s natural diet. You will never see a fish food company tell you fish survive on a natural diet. Most foods tell you to feed 1-4 times daily. If I didn’t know it I’d say fishfood companies were in the business of marketing fishfood!

Green Clean, a heavy peroxide based chemical (nothing like the low dose in the drugstore) is another common algaecide. It works instantly and does a great job. If your difficulty is on rocks like in a waterfall turn off the pumps for a few minutes, sprinkle the product on the algae and after 5 minutes hit it with some broom bristles, this will knock off the dead algae. Make sure you have an adequate filter to collect dead algae or it will reappear in a few days as the chemical dissapates. Dead Algae is pur nutrients, add sunlight and water and about 5 days aftertreatment a new bloom can occur. A vicious cycle.

Barley straw is a natural substance that has an enzyme that is released as it breaks down. This enzyme retards algae growth. Note liquid barley extract works better than the bundles and a little better than barley pellets.

Skimmer Filtration?

admin — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 13:57:22 +0000

Pond Clarity, 1. Dont sub natural fish diet with fishfood 2. Proper Plant Coverage (40-60% ssurface) 3. Proper Filtration

By far the easiest way to keep a pond clean is by having a skimmer as part if not all of your filtration.

There are many inferior skimmers out there. Atlantic made some very flimsey skimmers a few years ago and though I know they have improved there are better ones on the market. Two brands I like are EasyPro and my favorit Savio. Savio could still be improved, I would like to see a model with more than one filter mat inside! Instead a few years ago I bought 2 skimmers for a couple’s pond in town and added a pump to each as I gave them two waterfalls.

This woman is sitting on the savio skimmer, feet on savio compact skimmer.

The savio and easy pro are both sturdy. I am a big guy and can easily stand on the savios lid without it moving or bending one bit. I always use the 16″ skimmer faceplate (sold seaparatly for $18-25). They have a 6″, 8.5″ and 16″ faceplate all available for the same skimmer ao you dont need to decide what model to buy.

Skimmer in ground next to dug pond before liner is added.

The skimmers go into the ground in a small hole next to the pond. The face attached to the liner and you simply bolt the plate on and use a boxcutter to remove the liner inside the faceplate. There are no glues or adhesives with the savio so the unit can be used with more than one liner if need be to increase the size of the pond later!

The pump sits in the back of the skimmer this extends the life of the pump as the water is always clean when it enters the pump, the filtration occurs before the water gets to the pump. You also dont have to look into the pond and see a pump and hose. This too frees space in the pond for fish or more plants.

When you turn on the pump water is pumped out the back where the pump is located and pond water begins filling the skimmer with new water from the pond. Water flows first through a basket which catches any leaves, fish waste, or garbage in the pond like seeds from trees. Every so often just like in a pull you can take the lid off the skimmer and bull out the large basket and dump it into a garbage bag or compost pile. After water leaves the basket it flows through filter material (a woven fabric) which beneficial bacteria grow and remove the small particles and nutrients from the water. As the good bacteria multiply the mat gets heavy, simply remove the fabric inside its compartment and hose off as needed. If you feed your fish a lot this may be every few days. If you dont feed your fish or feed them less often then it may be many weeks or a month before you need to hose out the filter.

The skimmer here is located to the right of the green shrub behind the fountain.

If installing a new pond bottom drains can be connected to the skimmers to remove debris from the pond bottom. Remember skimmer remove 85% of debris before they can sink to the bottom anyway. With a bottom drain you should approch 99%. Place a skimmer on the opposite side of the pond than the water fall to get full filtration of the pond.

The SPRING Algae Bloom

pondplants — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 05:20:41 +0000

What causes algae blooms? Sometimes natural causes, runoff of nutrients from around the pond after a storm or rain. Most common culprit of Algae blooms is the pond owner him or her self.

Algae is the result of nutrients, sunlight, and water. As a pond owner, I never recommend algae products as it is a vicious cycle. A balanced ecosystem of plants and fish can lead to a simple pond to enjoy rather than fool with. The number 1 problem with water gardening is feeding the fish. Read on my friend…

Feeding fish before the water temperature is above 55 degrees is always a bad idea, in the winter fish go into a hibernation -like stage. Their stomachs are inactive. Pellet or processed foods are dry and if fish eat them too early in the spring you can actually rupture a fishs’ stomach ,as the food expands quickly inside the stomach and shortly after feeding ,your fish can go belly up.

Also ,before you plant your pond plants in the spring, you will foul the water by feeding the fish. Pond fish “NEVER” need to be fed. Yes ,every fish-food container will tell you to feed fish 2-3 times per day, but take a second to figure out how they make their income. . . . Fish can eat 10 times a day –they do this at fish farms. However, this is normally too much waste for a pond and the extra waste produces a quick bloom of algae.

String Algae

Fish, including koi and goldfish, naturally eat string algae and bug larvae and insect eggs ,keeping mosquitoes and gnats to a minimum. Supplementing their natural diet not only stops that part of the natural ecosystem, but adds to the nutrients for algae. Adding Submerged plants can highly reduce algae. Hornwort, red star ludwigia, lemon bacopa, and anacharis, all help starve algae and can even work in cooler water before floating plants like hyacinths and lettuce can takeover on the surface.

Water Hyacinths #1 Selling Pond Plant in America! (Eichhornia crassipes)

pondplants — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 23:06:55 +0000

Water Hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) are truely an amazing species. They are extremely easy to grow. I have talked to a few people who have managed to let these plants not perform well or die, but it’s rare. They grow so well and so quickly that they cannot be shipped to 11 states. You can still have these plants in many of these states, just keep them in private waters. The trouble comes when plant loving people take the extras to waterways and release their excess into no native waterways. The good news, in more than 90% of the united states gets a hard freeze each year, one hard freeze zaps these wonderful plants and they will no longer be a problem. This means they are annuals and must be replaced each year. Not a problem for most as they cost about $2-$3 and if you buy in quantity, can be as low as $1.50 each.

These plants are amazing filters of the water, in Europe in fact huge vats and greenhouses of Hyacinths are used as primary water treatment tanks. They grow and multiply so quickly and absorb almost all nutrients in the water.

Water Hyacinths Growing, To Flower let them grow in clucsters, fertilize with miracle grow, and they like sun and heat 85*+

These plants like still water, they like to grow in clusters, do not break old foliage apart only new if you must. They enjoy sunshine but will do well in shade. Add them only after wether is warm, cold night will prohibit growth for up to 6 weeks and cause yellowing! They love nutrients, you can add a granular fertilizer like regular old miracle grow to a pond. Fish wont notice anything and plants will thrive. Add a few tablespoons per week anywhere in the pond, THERE IS “NOTHING” SPECIAL ABOUT POND PLANT FERTILIZER. (it will contain no iron but thats it, most fertilizers dont contain iron which is a cause of algae).

Below is how a water hyacinth looks normally upon arrive. If too tall it may lay on its side for a few days but all new growth will be upright.

Water Hyacinth at arrival when ordered or bought from store. Buy in quantity for quicker blooming.

KEEP AWAY FROM SPLASHING WATERFALLS AND FOUNTAINS! A wet plant is an unhappy plant, they need to exchange oxygen through the leaves and water inhibits this process.

Water Hyacinth Farm

This plant will prevent algae and keepwater crystal clear once 30-40% of the pond has coverage by plants (lilies, lettuce, or hyacinth).

The roots are a great place to hide from herons and raccoons. An all around wonderful plant.

Anacharis (Egeria densa) Submerged Oxygenating Pond Plants

pondplants — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 05:33:59 +0000

The most popular and easiest growing under water or submerged oxygenating pond plant is anacharis (Egeria densa) though followed closely by a wonderful hornwort which shall be discussed soon. More info below the big picture.

Anacharis picture taken indoors.

Contrary to popular belief you probably do not need these plants in your water garden. A single pump of almost any size running even a spitter or tiny waterfall will add probably a million times more oxygen to the pond than the plants in an hour. HOWEVER there are numerous other benefits from this plant and I do suggest you having plenty of these plants at the bottom of your water garden. This plant is one of only about five that should be in your pond and not be planted in soil. A basket with pea gravel should be fine if you have no large koi (14″+) that will shred them.

Anacharis come in small bunches about 6-8 stems rubber banded together. Many on-line companies offer these with optional weights so they sink straight to the bottom and no planting or baskets are required. The weights are a malleable (bendable) heavy metal that you simply wrap around the area where the rubber band is already located at the bottom of the stems. These plants rob the water of excess nutrients rapidly and that is a great thing, they are a super filter and suck up fish waste like it was nothing. The second benefit, a superior hiding place for adult fish and baby fish fry. Baby fry grow up around anacharis and hornwort and stay hidden from larger fish that would eat them. The larger fish hide between anacharis clusters when Hawks, Raccoons, Possums, neighborhood kids with nets, or the big daddy pond nemesis the Heron come around. Having enough submerged grasses and also surface plants (water lettuce, water hyacinths, and water lilies) keep your pond from becoming the daily buffet. Anacharis should be added 1 bunch per 10 gallons of water in ponds under 5000 gallons, or 1 bunch per 20 gallons for ponds over 5000 gallons. Thats many bunches but this product is sold in quantity and is generally a one time investment. If you have enough surface plants in your pond and submerged plants you will never add a drop of chemicals to ward off algae saving you 1000′s of dollars over the years, 100′s per season so just do it right the first time.

Anacharis is winter hardy, sometimes fish nibble on it late or early in the year making it look like theres less in the spring butit quickly rebounds in generally days once thespring water temps are in the 60s. Hornwort can be used as an alternative also winter hardy.

Picture of weights to sinch submerged plants, 4" long they bend easy

Though they soak up fish waste remember the #1 cause of algae is feeding your pond fish. One or two meals per week is plenty. Theydont even need us to feed them as they live off algae and any bugs or larve inthe water. When we substitute their diet we upsetthe balance and cause an excess of waste. Waste + Water + Sunlight =Algae. If you dont feed your fish and have the proper balance of fish, you dont get algae and have clean water. The one or two meals a week are enough totrick the fish into never knowing whenit is you will feed them and they will meet you at the surface everytime you walk by the pond.