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De-Icer’s and Heaters

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Pond De-Icer’s and Heaters

Keep a hole open on your pond during freezing weather!  It is very important to keep a small hole open in the ice to allow gasses to escape.  These gasses will kill your pond creatures!

Pond Heaters and De-icers do not heat the pond, they are designed to just keeps the immediate area from freezing over to allow toxic gasses to escape.

Options to keep the hole open in the ice:

  • Pond Heater / de-icer will keep the water temperature around 40 ºF around the unit, therefore keep the hole open in the ice.
  • An aeration / air pump and air stones (make sure it is protected from the elements).
  • You can also use child’s bouncy floating ball to keep a hole in the ice.
  • Warning! Never bang the ice to open keep it open, this can kill your fish (concussion).

Benefits of Lighting in and around your pond or water feature

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Benefits of Lighting

“While you might think pond lights are just for decoration, they can actually serve a greater purpose in your backyard. Usually, people who invest in pond lights and spotlights are hoping to add a focal point to their backyard pond.

In the evenings when it gets dark, it’s still important to let your pond act as the center of attention. You invested a ton of your time and money into creating your dream backyard water garden, so you should definitely want to show it off!

Floating pond lights and underwater lights are often used for this purpose. They can create an attractive feature that personalizes a backyard pond while also adding color, pattern and light. By using a combination of different light sources, you can illuminate your pond and your water features.

However, pond lights are actually more useful than you may think. They offer a layer of protection to your guests and your pond. It’s important that everyone in your backyard is aware of where your pond is and maintains a safe distance. Pond lights help keep your guests and your pond safe and sound.

Lights can also help to keep unwanted predators from attacking the fish in your pond. Animals will be less likely to try to get too close to your pond if it is well lit.”

Thank you to Pondliner Wholesale team for providing this valuable information for all pond owners!

 

The image below is IlluminFx Fiber Optic Lighting.

Uplight Blue-Green Falls

Why is aeration necessary in my pond?

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July Pond Tips:

Why is aeration necessary in my pond?

The Importance of Oxygen!

Fish, snails, and tadpoles all need oxygen to survive underwater. The invisible life, like bacteria, that keep the pond water clean also require oxygen to keep the pond healthy. Oxygen enters the pond by diffusing into the water from the atmosphere. Submerged aquatic plants also produce oxygen during the day.

Decomposing algae and fish waste, plus the normal respiration of aquatic life, use up the oxygen faster than it can diffuse back into the pond water.

Importance of oxygen in ponds:

This is especially true during hot summer months. The warmer the pond water is, the less oxygen it can hold.

You must run an aeration device like a fountain or waterfall 24-hours a day, especially in summer.

Do not turn off the pond pump at night. The pond will continue to use up the oxygen. Turning off the pond pump during this crucial time could result in finding dead fish floating on the pond surface.

Pond plants provide oxygen during the day and give off carbon dioxide when the sun goes down.   If you pond does not have enough dissolved oxygen, you will notice your fish ‘piping’ at the surface–they are suffering and could die.  Oxygen is very important to all aquatic creatures!

Here’s a Pond Tip About Water Changes

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What do you know about Complete Water Changes?

Are you thinking about doing a complete water change because your pond has too much muck and algae? Before doing that, you may want to consider what will happen to the good bacteria keeping your pond ecosystem balanced.

It is important that you do not completely change the pond water! Doing this will result in the loss of all your “good” bacteria and this has been known to make algae problems worse! Without the “good” bacteria in place, your pond is no longer a balanced ecosystem. You tend to see less algae in mature ponds because the good bacteria has been allowed to grow and multiply for years.

Try to avoid Complete Water Changes and your pond will become balanced, keeping your fish happy!

How to prepare your pond for Hurricane Sandy

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Preparation and supplies needed for Hurricane Sandy

Here are some steps and suggested supplies to prepare your pond for Hurricane Sandy.

During storms, your fish will most likely move low in your pond so it is very important to keep aeration running.   In heavy rain the water column will flip; bottom water will go up, top water (full of oxygen) will go down.   This is known as Pond Stratification.  Without aeration, especially in deeper ponds,  the fish may suffocate as the bottom water moves to the uppers surface where fish usually swim.

For more information on Pond Stratification, here is a good link from Ohio State University http://ohioline.osu.edu/a-fact/0007.html.

Hurricane Sandy will provide heavy rain–prepare for pond stratification by using your aerators through the storm.

Prepare for Hurricane Sandy

  • Test your present water quality parameters to get your baseline numbers on pH, Hardness, ammonia, etc.
  • Remove anything around your pond that can blow in, such as chairs, tables, umbrellas and potted plants.
  • Ensure the pond is sufficiently buffered (high hardness) as the water (acid rain) will affect your pH. While I am not personally a fan of using baking soda, in an emergency, use 1 cup of baking soda per 1000 gallons of water. Buffering a pond will protect the pH from crashing. Adding baking soda at this rate will increase your pH to approx 8.4. Keep that in mind so you can adjust after the storm.
  • Reduce runnoff–if possible, from your rain gutters from going into your pond as it contains things, such as leaves and dirt, etc.
  • Cover your pond with a net, secured with stakes.
  • Stop feeding the fish. This will reduce waste and ammonia productions should the filtration be compromised. They will be fine if you do not feed them.
  • Tie things down. If you cannot move / put away things which can blow around, secure them with bungee cords, rope, etc.

 

Protect the pond power.

Get a generator to keep the circulation and air pumps running.  If you cannot get a generator, you can get creative based on your situation.  Inverters, Universal Power Supply (UPS) used for computers, marine batteries may be good alternatives.

Suggested supplies.

Ammonia test kit / strips
Nitrite test kit / strips
KH/TA test kit / strips
Baking soda
Pond Salt
Ammonia binding dechlorinator
Activated charcoal
Koi clay (calcium bentonite)
Net to cover the pond
Power Generator, inverter, etc.
Sand bags to protect the pond from runoff.
PVC pipe, fittings, glue, etc. to make repairs if necessary
Extra air stones and air pumps with appropriate size tubing.

 

After Hurricane Sandy, clean up as normal and the water quality of your pond.  Adjust the pond water as necessary to get the pond to it’s pre-storm quality.