Green Pond Water Control in Florida USA
The book will put all you need to know in a single convenient easy to access and read place. Green Pond Water Control in Florida USA
A person in Florida wrote to me with an interesting observation which I would like to share with everyone. Readers who have been with me since the beginning and who have read my book will understand that it is totally unnecessary to have a green pea-soup like pond. It is also unnecessary to keep adding chemicals to kill the algae responsible.
Florida temperatures are very pleasant year round. Apparently the general advice is to build ponds about 18 inches deep.
This is a bit on the shallow side but OK. The trouble with shallow ponds is that they go through significant temperature cycles. They warm up quickly and cool down quickly. Fish are not fond of change ... they like steady state systems.
In Florida ponds would tend to remain at a relatively high temperatures. Goldfish and koi like warmth. Algae also like warm water and sunny climates. As such ponds would have a tendency to green easily and quickly in Florida type climates. This is what the reader and her friends had experienced and had begun to accept as being normal. The Florida resident through reading my book learned about UV and is now well on her way to enjoying her pond the way it should be enjoyed.
There is no reason why any pond should not have crystal clear water all year round. The solution is simple, effective and not too expensive. I have no doubt this lady will now provide really good practical advice to her friends and make pondkeeping for those friends the pleasure it was meant to be. I remain amazed that so few people are aware of the Blue Light Miracle Worker.
An UV clarifier or sterilizer as some people call them is an absolutely essential component of an effective fish pond installation. I am amazed because most pond keepers have the pea-soup problem year in and year out. Because they just do not know about UV. Does the problem lie with us in the trade either retail or wholesale?
Is the reason the preference to sell chemicals (a temporary solution at best) rather than provide the consumer with the best advice and good case studies? Is there just insufficient simple believable information available out there? Pond keeping is fun, it is simple, low cost and rewarding if done properly.......
The alternative is a stinking, expensive green or murky brown eye-sore.
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"A Crystal Clear Pond" with beautiful healthy fish and/or plants
3. ALGAE ON SIDES OF POND IS NORMAL
Two readers on the same day posed the same question. Both were concerned about algae growing on side of the ponds. They wanted to know how to get rid of it. The answer was very simple ... you cannot get rid of it permanently; and more importantly you do not want to get rid of it either.
All garden ponds develop a growth of green algae on pond surfaces ... this includes walls, pumps, pipes, stones on bottom of pond and so on. This algae is up to 1 inch long but rarely more than that. This is NOT blanketweed or string algae. This miniature 1 inch forest of plants is a haven to natural food sources in a pond. You will notice fish "grazing" on this underwater pasture. If you empty the pond and scrub the walls down it will soon re-appear.
The query however raised another important matter. If you ever empty a pond what do you do with the fish? How to empty a pond a care for the fish Let's say you have a crack or leak in a pond and you have to empty it to make repairs then it is important to plan ahead. Some people will arrange for their fish to be kept in someone else's pond but this can be bad for both parties and should be avoided if at all possible.
Here's what you need to consider ....
1. Stop feeding fish one week before time to empty pond
2. Get as large a temporary pond on site (above ground kiddies' vinyl swimming pools could be a possibility) as you can.
3. Clean out the pond using pond water.
4. Arrange to buy, borrow or hire as large an air pump as you can with a mechanism for distributing the air such as air stones.
4. On the day you plan to empty the pond pump pond water into the temporary pond and start pumping air into the water.
5. Do not overfill the pond since fish when stressed tend to jump and you do not want them jumping out of the pond
6. If the fish are to remain in this new home for a while then make sure about 50% of the water is replaced every day with fresh water .... 2 changes of 25% are better than a single change of 50%. Remember there is no biofilter so toxic ammonia/nitrites if present will build up. This is why you stopped feeding to minimise chances of toxic build up.
7. Keep a close watch on the fish ... any signs of unusual behaviour then change portion of water immediately and make sure air pump is working
8. People with serious koi collections may well decide to have an ammonia remover like Amquel available ... just in case.
9. On refilling the main pond it would be a good idea to add a chlorine removing agent to the fresh tap water and in any case rather spray the water into the pond .. this will help the chlorine to evaporate
10. Take advantage when refilling the pond to measure your pond volume ... see below QUICK TIPS MORE ON CHEMICALS
The first point to bear in mind if you succumb to the temptation to add something to your pond is ...... you MUST know and know ACCURATELY the volume of water in your pond which includes the volume in the waterfall, filters (if large) and streams etc... in other words ALL the water in your system and not just the pond.
You must then be able to measure the dose based upon the total volume and the instructions. This can be difficult for many because of poor instructions and mixed units on the container. If in doubt ..... seek advice
Pond conditioner chemicals for removing chlorine and chloramines in fresh water being added to a pond are commonly available and sold in large amounts. In my opinion these chemicals are not really necessary but at least they do perform a specific function and do little harm.
Any chlorine in pond water will normally have disappeared naturally after short time.
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QUICK TIPS QUICK TIPS QUICK TIPS QUICK TIPS
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Today's quick tips ..........
A. Use black or opaque pipes in your pond instead of transparent low cost plastic tubing. Since light cannot penetrate the black piping the algae growth inside the pipe will be very considerably reduced. This means less maintenance and also less expenditure on replacing transparent pipe when it becomes clogged with algae.
B. Measuring pond volume in USA .... Burt Ballou pointed out that in USA most homes have a water meter which can be accessed readily. This makes pond volume measurement simple if you start with an empty system. Just make sure that while filling the pond nobody uses then toilet, takes a shower does the washing up etc. All you have to do is then record the start and finish readings from the meter to get a very accurate indication of pond volume.
C. Measuring pond volume using science .. this is worth pointing out for its simple but brilliant bit of chemistry. Once more I am grateful to a reader for pointing this out to me. This method depends upon a pondkeeper using salt in the pond water. By measuring the salt concentration in the pond water before and after adding a known amount (lbs) of salt to the pond it is possible to calculate the pond volume very accurately and easily assuming the salt hydrometer is also accurate.
If you want to know more e mail me by clicking link below mailto:info@pondsandpumps.co.za?subject=saltvolume and I will send you a calculator
A list of quick tips is maintained at http://www.practical-water-gardens.com/tiptrick.htm
6. Expert Articles .............In case you are not aware of the articles we publish by leading experts in the water gardening field take a look at: http://www.practical-water-gardens.com where you will see the list.
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We will try to answer personally but if this proves to be not possible because of large volumes of e mail we receive we will certainly answer in future Gazettes.
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