A pond that includes the modern equipment that has been around for about the last five years requires very little ongoing maintenance. I estimate that you might spend about five to ten minutes each week taking care of your pond.

If you think about how much maintenance a piece of lawn takes mowing, edging, thatching, aerating, fertilizing, watering, and weeding, or the same sized planted garden bed that needs to be weeded, fertilized, mulched, and pruned, you can see that a pond will be much less maintenance.

Typical pond maintenance includes the following tasks:

Spring Cleaning: If you have fish in your pond we suggest that you should drain and clean your pond once each spring after the water temperature is above 50 degrees. This task will actually take a few hours and it isn’t always necessary or practical. If you pond is in an area where it doesn’t get much debris in it, or if you just have inexpensive feeder fish you might get by cleaning your pond every few years. If you have expensive Koi in your pond then it’s a good idea to drain the pond and clean it every spring because you want to give your fish the best possible environment to thrive. Some pond builders will tell you that a properly designed pond never needs to be drained. The reality is that we are trying to mimic nature in a pond but we are doing it on a very tiny scale so it’s very difficult to achieve a perfect pond environment that wouldn’t benefit from the removal of all the sludge that can build up on the bottom of the pond.

During Season: Check you skimmer periodically to make sure the pump isn’t clogged and that there isn’t a lot of debris in the skimmer net. Fertilize your plants once each month or two during season. Add Algae-fix once a week if necessary. Backwash your biological filter if you have one once each six weeks or so. Trim dead plant material from the aquatic plants. This all goes so quickly that you will honestly spend less than 10 minutes a week taking care of it.

Fall Maintenance: If you have a lot of trees over the pond you might want to install a pond net for the autumn until the leaves are off the trees. Or you can check your skimmer more frequently during the leaf drop and empty the net more often. Cut back all the plant material when the aquatic plants start to die back for the winter. Turn off your biological filter and UV sterilizer if you choose to do so and you’re done!

So now that you see how much less maintenance a pond will be over the lawn, start thinking about taking some of the lawn out and making room for a beautiful water feature. If you have a pond without modern equipment like a skimmer, you can usually retrofit an existing pond with a new skimmer and reduce your pond maintenance.

Remember we have everything you need to do it yourself at the nursery or our installation division is happy to install a beautiful pond for you. We also offer spring cleaning and ongoing monthly pond maintenance.

I’ve got Green Water and slimy algae in my pond….now what?

There are three types of algae that can grow in your pond:
Planktonic Algae: This is a free swimming algae that grows in warm water and turns the water a pea-soup green color so you can’t see the bottom or the fish.
Filamentous Algae: Also Known as Hair or String Algae or “mossy” algae.  It is fixed in place and grows like coral, one body on top of the other until it creates large long strings. This type of algae likes moving water and will grow in the areas that have the most current.
Short 1/4” Algae: This algae grows on the sides of the pond and on any wet surface including the rocks.  This algae is actually beneficial for the pond.  It helps moderate the PH of the water, it provides oxygen for the fish and they eat it.  It also competes for the same food that the other types of algae want.

Understanding Algae:
Algae growing in the oceans of the world produce more oxygen than all the trees on all the continents and are also eaten by fish so it is beneficial but unsightly in our ponds.
Algae are like dandelions in your lawn.  Given light and fertilizer the algae will grow until a more beneficial organism competes for the light and the fertilizer.
To combat algae in our ponds we remove the light and/or the fertilizer.

Planktonic Algae Remedies:
• Shade, Starvation, UV sterilization.
• Shade the water in the pond by using a water tint.
• Shade the surface of the pond by installing aquatic plants that cover about 60 to 70 percent of the surface of the pond.
• Do not cover more than 70 percent of the surface because gas exchange must be able to occur.
• Install a biological filter that grows beneficial bacteria.  The beneficial bacteria consume the “fertilizer” that the algae would otherwise consume thus starving the algae.
• Install a UV sterilizer for guaranteed results with planktonic algae and to sterilize the pond water and kill other harmful organisms that can attack your fish.

Filamentous Algae Remedies:
• Use Algae-Fix every week.

Spring Tasks:

• Drain and clean the pond.
• Clean the Skimmer and Biofalls.
• De-chlorinate the water before returning the fish to the pond.
• Check the PH of your pond water BEFORE and AFTER the water change.
• Add Beneficial Bacteria.
• Fertilize the plants.
• Begin using your Algae-Fix.
• Use cool season fish food when the water is above 50.
• Start the UV about a week or two after the bacteria.

Supplies:
• De-chlorinator
• PH Test Kit
• Cool Season Fish Food.
• Beneficial Bacteria.
• Plant Tab fertilizer.
• Underwater light bulbs.
• Thermometer.

Pond Cleaning Made Easy:
• If you have fish wait for the water temperature to be above 50.
• Don’t chase your fish.  Drain the pond down to a few inches and then wade in and pick up the fish with your hands or a quality fish net.
• Fill a big container with pond water while your draining the pond to keep the fish in.
• Cover the container with pond netting after you put the fish in to keep them from jumping out.
• If it’s sunny outside cover your aquatic plants with wet newspaper and keep them in the shade.
• Use a soft bristled nylon brush.  Don’t worry about scrubbing all the algae away.
• Clean the Skimmer and Biofalls.
• De-chlorinate the water before returning the fish to the pond.

How does a Biological Filter work? And why do I want one?
• The filter grows a large colony of beneficial bacteria which consume fish waste and other “fertilizer” keeping your fish healthy and starving algae in the process.
• All the beneficial bacteria die when the water temperature drops below 40 degrees and you should jump-start the colony each spring with new bacteria.

How does a UV Sterilizer work?
• The wavelength created by the UV light bulb kills Algae and other harmful organisms like parasites and harmful bacterium as well as Giardia.
• Water is pushed by the pump over the light bulb which kills the Algae.
• The light bulb has a one year life and must be replaced to function properly.