Keeping Your Pond Clean
The big misconception in the pond industry is that you can get away with doing a once a year cleaning every spring to keep your pond looking great year round. In fact this is what most contractors are trained to believe from the various pond product manufacturers that sell them the vary products they use on their daily installations, and it's what most of them do when they offer cleaning maintenance for their customers ponds. Infact this is how they instruct their customers on how to take care of their pond.
The truth of the matter is it's not enough. Think about it, your pond is an enclosed mini ecosystem just like the aquarium you may have in your home. Aquariums and water gardens are similar and both rely on biological filtration, mechanical filtration, and making sure you do your weekly or semi weekly 1/4 water changes. When doing aquarium maintenance, you vacuum your gravel in the bottom of the aquarium to remove excess fish waste.
You also clean your aquariums filter once per month with aquarium water "not tap water" so you don't kill all the good bacteria living inside your filter media. Tap water contains high amounts of chlorine which is toxic to good bacteria, good bacteria are responsible for breaking down waste in your aquarium or water garden. If you have ever owned an aquarium you know that following these practices ensures crystal clean water and minimal algae in your aquarium.
We also know what happens to our aquariums when we get lazy and decide not to clean them for a month. You get excessive algae growth from all of the build up of fish waste which acts as fertilizer. You also get cloudy water and your fish may start to get sick from a decline in water quality. This is exactly why most back yard water gardens look bad, because they sit for a whole season and never get cleaned. Everything I just said for aquarium maintenance holds true for proper pond maintenance.
Your ponds gravel needs to be vacuumed once per month to remove excess fish waste that will otherwise contribute to algae growth. Your water garden filter, and filter pads, need to be cleaned once per month with pond water so you don't kill the good bacteria living in your filter material. The whole key to success is nutrient control, the more of this we remove the healthier your pond becomes. This whole cleaning process only takes about 1 1/2 hour once per month. Doing this will save you money vs buying numerous pond products that only treat the symptoms and not the cause of the problem.
If you’re reading this for the first time you’re probably sitting at your computer going wow! That’s why my pond looks bad year in and year out. Well you’re not the only one in fact most home owners are taught this once per year cleaning service and can't understand why they can't keep their pond clean & not green. Now you know why.
The truth of the matter is it's not enough. Think about it, your pond is an enclosed mini ecosystem just like the aquarium you may have in your home. Aquariums and water gardens are similar and both rely on biological filtration, mechanical filtration, and making sure you do your weekly or semi weekly 1/4 water changes. When doing aquarium maintenance, you vacuum your gravel in the bottom of the aquarium to remove excess fish waste.
You also clean your aquariums filter once per month with aquarium water "not tap water" so you don't kill all the good bacteria living inside your filter media. Tap water contains high amounts of chlorine which is toxic to good bacteria, good bacteria are responsible for breaking down waste in your aquarium or water garden. If you have ever owned an aquarium you know that following these practices ensures crystal clean water and minimal algae in your aquarium.
We also know what happens to our aquariums when we get lazy and decide not to clean them for a month. You get excessive algae growth from all of the build up of fish waste which acts as fertilizer. You also get cloudy water and your fish may start to get sick from a decline in water quality. This is exactly why most back yard water gardens look bad, because they sit for a whole season and never get cleaned. Everything I just said for aquarium maintenance holds true for proper pond maintenance.
Your ponds gravel needs to be vacuumed once per month to remove excess fish waste that will otherwise contribute to algae growth. Your water garden filter, and filter pads, need to be cleaned once per month with pond water so you don't kill the good bacteria living in your filter material. The whole key to success is nutrient control, the more of this we remove the healthier your pond becomes. This whole cleaning process only takes about 1 1/2 hour once per month. Doing this will save you money vs buying numerous pond products that only treat the symptoms and not the cause of the problem.
If you’re reading this for the first time you’re probably sitting at your computer going wow! That’s why my pond looks bad year in and year out. Well you’re not the only one in fact most home owners are taught this once per year cleaning service and can't understand why they can't keep their pond clean & not green. Now you know why.
