Funky Koi

Quality Pet, Pond and Water Garden Supplies in Massachusetts

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Monitor your water temperature and fish activity

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When your pond water approaches 50 Degrees Fahrenheit:

  • As spring approaches, monitor your water temperature and fish activity.
  • When the ice melts; remove leaves, sticks, and decaying plant material to help reduce nutrients which feed algae!
  • Keep aeration systems running.  Fish need air all year round!
  • Remove heaters and deicers.  Thoroughly inspect, clean, dry and store them for next season!
  • When the water temperature is consistently at or over 50oF –start feeding your fish and your bacteria (add bacteria to your filter media-click HERE)!
  • Start feeding your fish cool weather (easily digestible) wheat based food.  Click HERE for koi food.
  • Clean and seed the filtration system with bacteria (Gel type).
  • Add recommended dose of bacteria in your pond and on your filtration media to help keep single cell algae in control.  Bacteria has a 30 day life cycle, so keep “seeding” the bacteria colony so they thrive and assist in the algae battle.

Click HERE for our line of water treatments.

Do you have questions about how to open your pond?  Please email us at Sales@Funkykoi.com.

Protect your fish with aeration

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Why Aerate your Pond?

  • Aerators add valuable oxygen to your pond.
  • Aerators increase dissolved oxygen levels which increase the number of GOOD bacteria.
    • Good Bacteria helps keep your pond clean and clear with less organic build-up at the pond bottom.
  • Aerators replaces the need for de-icers and heaters during normal winters (severe winters may still need to add de-icers).  Bubbling / moving water does not freeze easily–therefore keeping a hole in the ice to allow toxic gases to leave the pond.
    • Toxic gases come from decaying organic matter and fish respiration.
    • Aerators save energy and your money when you can shut off your deicer.
  • Fish LOVE aeration.   Just watch them hover around the bubbles!

The Funky Koi – Fish, Pet, Pond & Water Garden Supplies

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The Funky Koi

The Funky Koi Pet, Pond and Water Gardening Supply Company is small business located in Berkley, Massachusetts.  We specialize in offering quality products Made in America for your pond construction, koi fish, aquarium fish, dogs and cats.   For local customers, we sell both Japanese and Domestic koi, goldfish and betta fish, too! We pride ourselves on offering you products with which we have had personal experience as we are Koi Pond owners, Water Garden enthusiasts and loving pet owners!

Supplies for Koi Ponds, Water Gardens, and Pets:

We have personal experience with Koi Ponds and Water Gardening and are pond enthusiasts and loving pet owners. We would like the opportunity to help others create their own pond and enjoy the year-round peace and beauty that it affords and  are proud to offer High Quality Grain-Free Limited Ingredient pet foods.

Our product line includes: Airmax Eco Systems, Atlantic Water Gardens, API Mars FishCare, Aquadyne, Aquascape, Aqua UV, Aqueon, Bayer Flea & Tick, BFF Weruva, Blue Buffalo, Caru, Dewitt Underlayment, Dr. Elsey’s Precious Cat Litter, e-Live Betta Products, Eukanuba, Firestone EDPM Pond Liner, Fromm, Front Line Flea & Tick, Hikari, Hunting Creek Fisheries Fish Food, IAMS, Kasco Marine, Kong, Laguna, Merrick, Microbe-Lift, Natural Balance, Natural Chemistry Flea & Tick, Nature’s Instinct, Nature’s Miracle, Nualgi Ponds, Nutro, Nycon, Nylabone, Ocean Nutrition, OASE, Orijen, Pet Guard Flea & Tick, Pondmaster, ProPlan, Royal Canin, Safe Paw, SeaChem, Sentry Flea & Tick, Shinju, Tetra, Tierra Innovations, Tyson True Chews for dogs, Vermont Naturals, Wellness Core and ZooMed.

Please contact us if you have any questions!

Shop.FunkyKoi.com for your Pond Construction, Koi Fish, Pond, Dog, Cat, and Pet food supplies!

 

Water Pond Tips

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Not too tidy
A good wildlife pond has a mixture of different habitats for animals to live and hide in so don’t over-manage it. A mixture of mud, leaves, twigs, stones and lots of plants provides plenty of places for wildlife to live and overwinter in.

Mix up the plants
Plants are important habitats; aim for a good mix of underwater plants (submerged), plants with floating leaves and plants that grow out of the water (emergent).

Buyer beware
Some non-native aquatic plants can be invasive and prevent others from becoming established. A selection of native aquatics is preferable. Given time, your pond will colonise naturally.

Profitable margins
A broad margin of plants around the edge of the pond acts as a filter and removes nutrients and chemicals from the water. Bankside plants are also important as they provide shelter and food for animals living in the pond and those that visit, including dragonflies, damselflies, mayflies, frogs and toads.

A question of shade
Trees and tree roots can provide shelter for pond animals, but too much shade will reduce plant growth and fallen leaves may lead to a lot of decaying organic matter in the bottom. Try to have a balance of shade and sun.

Not too deep
A mix of shallow and deep water provides a variety of habitats for plants and animals but a pond need not be too deep. For a small pond, 1ft deep is enough for wildlife to flourish. The edges should also be gently shelving.

Care with chemicals
Be careful when using pesticides, fertilisers or other chemicals near a pond. Water draining off the land will carry these chemicals with it and if you use sprays near water they can easily drift. Small ponds are not able to dilute toxic chemicals sufficiently so they will have a big impact on plant growth and animals.

Avoid tap water
Tap water can contain high levels of nutrients such as nitrates. Using it to fill your pond will encourage algae and may turn it a murky green. Use rain water if at all possible. Water levels in ponds fluctuate naturally so don’t be worried by falling levels in summer. However, if you want to top up the pond you could harvest rainwater in a water butt.

Fish or no fish?
Many people enjoy seeing fish in their ponds, but they do not mix well with other wildlife. If you want a good wildlife pond, which includes frogs and newts, avoid fish. Don’t transfer fish, plants and frog spawn between ponds as this can introduce disease and problem plants.

Enjoy your pond
Ponds are wildlife-rich, so they are the perfect place to have a bench or seat so you can enjoy the dragonflies and the frogs.

First Steps to Designing Your First Water Pond

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Once you have decided to add a water feature or pond in your yard,  you will need to decide on the location and size of the feature.  If you want fish and a variety of plants, it would be best to have a larger in-ground pond.  Or you can decide on a smaller preformed pond, half-barrel or other type of patio-deck water container garden.  The possibilities are only limited by your imagination and budget.   You can also plan the water feature out in steps (adding rocks, plants, waterfalls, streams) to the base size.

There are several steps to building your pond.  Including but not limited to: Planning, Calculating, Purchasing, Construction and Finalizing.

The planning phase –put it on paper first.   Don’t dig anything, Don’t buy anything–not yet.  This is the best first step for designing your pond—a plan!

You can use Google Map to get a birds eye view of your yard, if it is not covered with trees.  You can use that Google Map photo to ‘draw’ a pond in that precise spot in your yard.  Or you can draw out a base map of your yard then draw in the shape of the pond.  Draw out several designs and when you have what you think is ‘right’.  Then, go outside and take your garden hose.  Yes, a garden hose!

Pond Safety:   Be sure to follow your local building codes to protect children (yours or others) from falling into pond and drowning.

If you have children or small pets, consider purchasing Terrapin’s Safety Turtle. The Safety Turtle personal immersion alarm is an effective “last line of defence” to protect your child against water accidents. An alarm sounds at the base station the instant he or she falls or ventures into the water. The Safety Turtle wireless gate alarm extends this protection to the perimeter pool fence by reinforcing its weakest link – the gate.   http://shop.funkykoi.com/Safety-Turtle-s/67.htm

Calculating – Before you start digging, calculate the approximate gallonage.  This will be needed for selecting the right size skimmer, filter, UV light system, etc.  Use the calculator in the Help Section (buyer’s guide): http://shop.funkykoi.com/help_answer.asp?ID=15#6

Purchasing:   This is also the time to determine what kind of material your pond will be constructed of.   There are many options—depending on the size of your pond and your budget!

  1. Liner: Some of your options are preformed or prefabricated shell, flexible liner, concrete (it MUST be lined or covered with protective fish-friendly coating!).  Firestone EDPM PondGard liners are the perfect choice for water feature designs such as; Decorative Ponds, Fountains, Hardscapes, GoldFish ponds, Koi Ponds, Reflection Ponds, Streams, Water Gardens, and Waterfalls.  http://shop.funkykoi.com/category-s/38.htm
  2. Filtration: There are three types of filtration, they can be pressurized and have UV lights incorporated in them or they can be non-pressurized.   http://shop.funkykoi.com/category-s/41.htm
    1. The basic types are Mechanical, Biological and Chemical.
      • Mechanical: Most filter media have a mechanical function. Filter media is used to drag the solid waste out of the water.  Some mechanical filters are pressurized and incorporated UV lamps to clarify the water.  This type of filtration works best to keep the ponds clean and are often used in conjunction with biological and chemical filtration.
      • Biological: Use of plants and bacteria-seeded filter media to support bacteria colonies which convert ammonia from fish and plant waste to less dangerous nitrates.
      • Chemical: Activated carbon removes phosphates, ammonia and other organic waste products by adsorption.  Zeolite removes ammonia and nitrite from the water and can be cleaned by soaking in salt water (6g per litter) for 24 hours and then reused.
  3. Pumps: There are four types of pumps.  They are Direct Drive, Mag Drive, Statuary, and External.  http://shop.funkykoi.com/Koi-and-Water-Garden-Supplies-s/37.htm
    • Direct Drive pond pumps use a powerful electric motor that turns an impeller to push your pond water in one direction. Best used for large waterfalls and streams.
    • Mag Drive pond pumps are more efficient than Direct Drive pumps but are not as powerful. Best used for waterfalls and streams that only require a moderate water flow.
    • Statuary Pumps, more commonly referred to as fountain pumps, are used to power fountains, spitters, and other stand-alone creative applications in your pond.
    • External Drive pond pumps offer lots of water flow and must be installed outside the water. This type cannot be submerged but it can be effectively hidden in a larger water application. They can also push large amounts of water and are an excellent choice when you need a pond pump with power.
  4. Skimmers:  Skimmers clear particles floating on the pond surface into a skimmer basket which is emptied and cleaned by the pond keeper. http://shop.funkykoi.com/category-s/40.htm
  5. Botton Drains:  Fixed bottom drains, if you decide to use one, must be pipe-fitted and installed at the construction phase of your pond.  Bottom drains pull waste from the bottom of your pond to your mechanical filtration.
  6. Aeration:  Dissolved oxygen is needed for fish health, improved bacteria colonies and to reduce algae blooms.   A air pump introduces air into the pond water and is used year round. http://shop.funkykoi.com/category-s/42.htm
  7. UV Lights:  UV lights changes the DNA of single cell floating algae-dropping it out of the water column.  It also kills parasites and bacteria, so placement is important.  An external UV lamp is usually placed after the skimmer and before the mechanical / biological filter.  http://shop.funkykoi.com/UV-Sterilizer-UV-Clarifier-Ultraviolet-s/96.htm
  8. Rocks and Boulders may be your most expensive and most difficult (physically) to move.  Keep this in consideration when you design your pond.  A pallet of stone could weigh up to 2000 pounds.   Research and speak with several rock dealers as they can offer assistance in this area!

Construction:  Depending on the size and complexity of your pond / water feature.  You can do it yourself (DIY) or hire a contractor.  If you hire a contractor, ask for references and look at the builder’s portfolio.  If you do it yourself, contact your local pond supply company or koi pond club to draw on their experience which could save you time and money on costly mistakes.

Finalizing:  This is the best part of this project.  Your pond construction is complete and it’s time to clean up the construction area (smooth out the ruts) and prepare to add plants and fish.   Before adding fish, test your water chemistry to insure your pH levels are in the right range (6.8-8.2) to support fish.   Before adding plants, be sure to use aquatic plants (in the pond) and fish safe plants, mulch and stone around the pond.

Happy Ponding!