Page 10 - AFD Pond Owners Handbook

well-conceived, naturally balanced
water garden normally requires no
“Why believe us? testing either.

We have over A pond in your backyard
means you will have a lot
of mosquitoes.
Mosquitoes will generally only lay
experience building their eggs in still, stagnant water. If
the mosquitoes happen to lay eggs in
your pond and the mosquito larvae
Pond water gardens!” hatch, the fish in your pond will
and maintaining
consider them a treat and will pick
them off the water’s surface with
great enthusiasm.
Myths You cannot have a pond

in an area where there are
a lot of trees.
Yes, you will have more leaves
in your pond in the fall but, by the
same token, the shade provided by
the tree(s) will help minimize the
algae bloom in the summer. If you
Common Ponderings have a skimmer sucking the top
quarter inch of water off the top of

ABOVE: Rock and gravel bottoms offer a natural your pond, it will pull most of the
fish waste and debris that would place for bacteria to break down waste and debris. leaves and related debris into the
I want my pond located in It’s necessary to drain and and just as healthy as they are in otherwise accumulate in the pond skimmer net.
the lowest part of my yard. clean your pond regularly. traditional koi ponds – and you’ll love and turn into sludge. Koi can’t be kept in a pond
This is probably the worst location If you decide to work in harmony them just as much! that also contains plants. Having a pond may decrease
for your investment because of with Mother Nature instead of doing UV lights such as those in In a naturally balanced ecosystem, the value of your home!
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the run-off that can creep its way battle with her, then draining and Predators will eat the UltraKlear UVC are the koi and plants complement and need Everyone knows when it comes
into your pond. When your pond is cleaning your pond should take place best way to keep your pond one another. In nature, fish feed on to the resale value of your home,
positioned near your house, you can only once a year (at most). Clean-outs Fortunately, most fish will swim to water clear. plants. As a result, the fish produce a swimming pool can be deadly.
take in the beauty and tranquility of should occur in the spring. a deeper, more protected part of the UV clarifiers are one of the ways waste, which is broken down by However, in the opinion of some real
your pond when entertaining friends pond when a predator is threatening to keep your pond water clear, but aerobic bacteria on the bottom of estate agents, ponds can be a great
Pond Myths You can use a timer the better the pond. sensing sprinkler that can be set up arguably not the natural way. The fertilizer by the plants to grow and even pay dividends. Pond Myths
addition to your home that might
your pond, which, in turn, is used as
certainly not the only way, and
or lounging on your deck.
them. The Scarecrow, a motion-
produce more natural fish food.
Believe it or not, you can over-
fact of the matter is that if you have
alongside your pond, ready to fire a
on your pond pump.
safety concerns!
Not true! Your pond is a living, filter a pond. Tight filter pads in your steady stream of water at a heron, a pond that’s naturally balanced, you I have liability or
has had some degree of success in
don’t need a UVC at all.
skimmer pick up the smallest particles
breathing ecosystem that needs of debris, requiring you to constantly warding off these curious critters. inside for the winter. It’s natural to have these thoughts
constant oxygen, just like the clean the filtering mechanism. If you Plenty of lily pads or even some pond Your pond must be at least Fish do fine during the coldest of and concerns, but it is important
human race. If you shut your can see a dime on the bottom of the caves give the fish some protection three-feet deep in order to winters as long as you give them two to remember that a professionally-
system down at night, then you pond, then the water clarity is just and will work to minimize attracting keep koi. feet of water to swim in, oxygenate installed water garden has steps
can never have sufcient growth of right for your fish and filtering past a heron in the first place. There are thousands of two-foot the water, and keep a hole in the ice leading into the pond. The first
benecial bacteria to ght algae that creates headaches, instead of deep ponds around the country, full with a de-icer, allowing the naturally shelf is only ankle high once the
blooms, and your nned friends eliminating them. The presence of rocks and of happy and healthy koi. produced gasses to escape from gravel is laid down. The next shelf is
will have a hard time breathing. The water in a two-foot deep under the ice. up to your knee, while the smallest
You can shut down a Pondless You can’t be a koi hobbyist clean your pond. pond will generally only freeze eight area in the bottom is just above your
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Waterfall system, however, and a water gardener. Rock and gravel bottoms offer a inches down, even in the coldest of Your pond water must be knee, so it is not constructed like
whenever you’d like because there You can raise koi and have a natural place for aerobic bacteria to climates, because of the insulating tested on a daily basis. a swimming pool. If liability is still
is no ecosystem depending on beautiful water garden. The koi colonize and set up housekeeping. qualities of the earth that surrounds Mother Nature never tests her water, a concern, consider the option of a
the circulation. can grow up to be just as beautiful This bacteria breaks down the the pond. and her ecosystem does just fine. A Pondless Waterfall.
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