- Use caution when adding pebbles to your pond.
In this three part series we are going to look at the proper pond setup and what is needed to keep a healthy ecosystem. With pond season upon us it is time to make the necessary changes to our ponds. Especially if you are currently in a new build, take these tips into consideration and you’ll save yourself money and a lot of headaches in the future.
Let’s explore the idea of pebbles at the bottom of the pond. If at all possible it is best to keep the inside of the pond simple. The focus of the koi pond should be just that – koi. The outside of the pond can be landscaped however you’d like, but on the inside it should be smooth with minimal obstructions. The reason for this is for easy removal of detritus and debris which, if left to decay, will cause problems in the future. As a maintenance specialist, I’ve seen ponds with pebbles and rocks on the bottom operate flawlessly for 3 all the way to 5 years! Then I’ll receive a call which sounds something like,”I don’t know what happened, but my pond is black! I haven’t had any problems for 3 years now everything is black and I can’t see the bottom.”
This is a culmination of: improper setup and a lack of proper maintenance. These ponds usually have pebbles on the bottom that give it a “natural” look. If the pond was built properly from the beginning it should be 36″ deep and the sides and bottom painted black, so when you look from the top you are not able to see to the bottom. The koi then become the focus, and not what is at the bottom of the pond. If you are so inclined you can mount stones along the sides of the pond, like tiles in a pool. This technique gives you the natural stone look at the surface of the pond, and the bottom of the pond is still simple and clean ideal for maintenance and koi health.
If you need to have stones at the bottom of the pond then following these guidelines will help you in the long run.
1. Choose larger rather than smaller stones. Using stones that are about 5-6″ across is much better than using small 2-3″ stones because it is much easier to remove the debris from in between the larger stones. Besides, the smaller stones get stuck in the pond vacuum making it much harder to perform routine maintenance.
2. Routine maintenance is key. Vacuuming the debris caught in between the stones is essential to preventing future problems. A pond vacuum, and a reputable pond service specialist is highly recommended to perform this laborious task weekly or bi-weekly.
3. Do not use stones with sharp edges. Koi have been known to injure themselves on the sharp edges of the rocks, so don’t take the chance, only use smooth stones.
Hopefully these tips will help you when designing or maintaining your pond. I’ve seen too many people with ponds that have been setup incorrectly. It is a burden to both the homeowner and the koi pond hobby as a whole. It is very discouraging to deal with an imbalanced pond. Most will give up on the pond and turn it into a planter. Don’t let that happen to you. It doesn’t cost anything to follow these instructions, knowledge is power, and in this case it’ll save you money.
Check back soon for proper biological filtration requirements, and proper acclimation/quarantining of new koi.
Love Your Fish.
Who could resist the temptation to feed these guys?
Did you know that a majority of fish sicknesses can be avoided by proper feeding? If you’ve kept fish for any amount of time you know that fish get sick, and it is no easy task to nurse them back to health. Walk into any pet store and take a look at the fish medication isle and you’ll notice that there are multiple medications for the same illness! So what should you do? The best method is prevention, and one major factor that is often overlooked is proper feeding. Not only is quantity important, but the quality of food is also important. Proper feeding will allow you to reduce the time you spend on maintenance, keep your fish healthy, and give you more time to enjoy your fish.
Now we’re just talking about the dietary requirements of fish, not corals or other invertebrates. Within the category of fish, there is a huge variety of different types of fish, but this article will only be limited to commonly available freshwater aquarium fish. The majority of fish need 2 different types of foods, one to provide protein, and the other to provide vegetable matter. Some fish require more of one than the other, but for the most part a combination of the two will give your fish a well balanced diet. There are the “all in one” foods that are available which can be good depending on what brand of food is used. So the following information is based on my experience and does not mean that I am promoting one food over the other, but I have found that O.S.I. foods and Omega One foods are good staple fish foods. The Tetra brand food is readily available at many pet stores, but I prefer the O.S.I. and the Omega One foods. These foods are good for most livebearers, barbs, tetras, and most other community fish.
Now that you have an idea about what to feed, you have the power to feed whenever you want as much as you want. This is the area where most aquarists will go wrong at least once in their fishkeeping careers. If the fish are looking at you and are coming to the glass, following you from one corner of the tank to the other; this does not mean that they need to be fed. This is what leads to overfeeding, and some fish in some aquarium will eat 8-10 large meals a day with plenty of leftovers on the bottom of the tank. Fish will not eat until they explode, rather they will stop eating altogether. The leftover food will start decaying which will spike the ammonia and then nitrites. This will stress the fish, and unlike people, when fish are stressed they will stop eating. So rather than feeding your fish whenever they come to the glass, feed them small portions at regular intervals once or twice a day. A good rule of thumb is that a fish’s stomach is about the size of their eye, so only feed them enough food that will fit into that space. Needless to say, unless you have a fishroom, a small can (not a tiny can) of fish food will last about a couple of months.
Keeping fish can be less difficult if proper feeding schedules and routines are kept. This is just one of a few important things that are needed to keep fish. A proper setup, regular feeding, and routine maintenance is all it takes to keep fish.
Saltwater fish tank before using the design techniques.
Decorating your fish tank is not as easy as it may sound. Take a look at the picture to the right. This tank is actually situated in an office! With that being said, a little design knowledge, a modest budget, and a lot of practice can make your tank look world’s apart.
The same fish tank after usin the design guidelines.
1. Don’t use a lot of substrate (i.e. gravel) when setting up your saltwater fish tank. It’s okay to use more gravel in a freshwater tank.
2. Create holes in the rockwork to give the fish places to swim through and create interest to the viewer.
3. Build up rather than building across. If you have limited rocks, stack them in piles throughout the tank rather than lining them up lengthwise in the aquarium. (note: don’t stack them too high. In the event that they should tumble over it might cause serious damage to the tank.
4. Use a few colors and repeat them throughout the tank. If you have the option of buying different colored corals, buy a few corals of the same color. Place these throughout the tank rather than clustering them together.
5. If you only have rock and fake coral don’t use too much light. Less light = less algae = less maintenance.
Koi fish amongst lilly pads.
The importance of a surface skimmer in a pond is one of the key elements when it comes to pond filtration. It helps to keep the water circulating, and it skims the debris off the top of the water. In some ponds excess foam is caused by the waterfall and the surface skimmer helps to keep that to a minimum. Although, too large of a skimmer will hurt rather than help the pond in that it’ll skim the food right into the filter. Otherwise, a properly sized surface skimmer will do wonders when it comes to catching debris before it has a chance to sink to the bottom of the pond and become harmful.
There are many designs when it comes to different styles and types of skimmers. Some have an integrated UV light in the skimmer. This is pretty chic
A typical pond surface skimmer with basket.
because it hides the light and it’ll keep the water looking clear rather than turning green. Most designs are pretty much the same in that the water comes in from the pond, and it goes through some sort of mechanical filter to trap leaves, branches and other large pieces of debris, and then it goes to the pump and/or other parts of the filter (i.e. sand filter). Each manufacturer has their nuance difference that puts them at the top of their competition, but with that being said, it is much better to have a skimmer than not to have one.
Without a skimmer the pond water has the potential to become stagnant, which will aide in algae growth. When the surface of the pond isn’t agitated either by a skimmer, aerator, or anything like that the CO2 in the water doesn’t have a place to go. Since it stays in the water the algae will have an endless supply of CO2 to thrive off of. To put things in perspective in a planted aquarium the less surface agitation the better because more CO2 is left in the tank for the plants to feed off of. In a pond it is the opposite, and one wants to make sure the CO2 levels are low. This is also good for the fish.
Too much CO2 means the oxygen levels in the pond is probably not as high as it should be. You can tell when the fish start to pipe (pop their heads out of the water and gasp for air) that the oxygen levels are too low. As a koi owner as well as owner of a koi pond maintenance company (Aquatic Federation) I know that when it gets to this point it is usually fatal. So in order to prevent this situation from happening, make sure the water is well aerated by surface skimming and keeping the water well circulated.
Understanding the basics of filtration and why we need these elements really improves your long-term success when it comes to your pond. Not all of the things being sold on the market today are helpful, so keep checking back for more helpful tips that will save you money in the long term.
Love Your Fish.
