Jim's Pond, Homemade Bio-Filter and DIY Venturi Spot

A spider made me late for work!

2010-08-23T21:58:00.000+00:00

Yes really!
It wasn't just some feeble excuse, it was true.

One morning this week we woke up late because the power had gone off in the house, stopping the alarm clock from waking us up. At first we thought it was a power cut. Then I discovered that it was something to do with the pond electrics.

After much faffing around switching off the various pumps, and other devices, and disconnecting the armoured cable at the pond end, then the garage end, I eventually traced the problem back to the short length of mains cable going from the wall plug, to the start of the armoured cable. Eh? How can that be, I thought.

When eventually I opened up the plug I discovered that a spider had crept inside the opening at the bottom of the plug, up into the fuse area, and must have bridged the gap between the Live and the Earth connections, and FIZZLE, BANG!!! One dead, exploded spider!

The trouble was that its mortal remains were still causing a connection across the terminals, that were sufficient to trip the RCD device. Finally I cleaned out the plug and power was restored without tripping the electrics off every time.

How bizarre!

Oops - My bad

2010-06-27T09:25:00.003+00:00

Oh dear. I've only just noticed that when Google updated and moved my blog, I totally forgot to update the new site address in my main site. Sorry! My Pond info web site should now be pointing properly at this blog.

This blog has moved

2010-03-16T22:52:00.001+00:00

This blog is now located at http://jims-pond-blog.blogspot.com/.
You will be automatically redirected in 30 seconds, or you may click here.

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Happy New Year

2009-01-06T23:16:00.002+00:00

First I'd like to say Happy New Year to all readers of my blog and website.

Next I thought I would add the following email I received from someone the other day about their pond planning:-

This filter stuff is getting confusing- I read Skippy's diy biofilter site. His claims are that his filter never needs cleaning, and that prefilter not necessary. I am told by others that a skimmer is a good prefilter, and that a commercially available biofilter falls unit is adequate. I do like the idea of a trickle tower,along with a traditional biofalls unit. Can your trickle tower or a commercially available one be incorporated either before or after a biofalls filter? How are the connections made? I am more inclined to buy these and connect everything rather than a diy configuration. Thank you Steve p.s I plan to build a 10x11x2-3 ft pond w/5-7 koi/other fish/plants

My reponse:-

Hi Steve,

I can sympathise with you!

Yes I also thought that a filter needs cleaning reasonably regularly. I
once wrote to the Skippy site and asked them the same sort of question,
and they said that a prefilter will help to prevent large amounts of crud
getting into the bio-filter.

That's why I designed my own DIY bio-filter to employ a pre-filter before
going into the main biofilter unit, and even then it has a section at the
bottom which I call the vortex area, where I angled the inlet pipes to
make the water spin around so that crud settles out into the large bottom
drain hole. Look at the photos on my site to see what I mean.

Both the pre-filter mechanism and the vortex section are quite good at
removing larger sediment, then the cleaner water goes into the bio-filter
media (green scrubbies) where the bacteria do their job to break down the
ammonia in the water.

I clean the pre-filter every few days, and drain the bottom section every
week, but the main bio-filter I generally leave alone and only actually
dismantle and clean once a year.

You will see that my bio-filter then exits the water into a homemade
trickle tower, i.e. the water comes out of the top of the bio-filter and
simply trickles down through some lava rock in the green trickle tower.

I would recommend that you get your pond setup and working with some basic
fish and plants to establish a good natural balance before you spend lots
of money on Koi which are generally far more sensitive creatures to
imbalances in the pond, or disease.

Also make sure that whatever filter you use (bought or DIY) is sized
sufficiently to cope with the amount of sewage (ammonia) the fish will
produce. Koi are voracious eaters and therefore produce a lot more
excrement than smaller fish! Small fish ponds with the traditional
goldfish can usually keep up with the natural filtration and biodegrading
of fish poop without the need for water pumps or bio-filtration. But not
so with Koi.

So the filter must be able to cope adequately. Another thing I say to
people is not to skimp on the water pump. I recommend a solids handling
pump that does not clog up with weed easily, otherwise it will lose
pressure and you forever be removing it from the pond to clean it.

If you intend getting Koi, I suggest you do plenty of homework on the
setup of your pond, and talk to your local aquatic supplier for advice, or
frequent some of the online fish pond forums to learn as much as you can
before going for expensive fish. While a DIY setup can be perfectly
adequate for the task, if this is the first time you've owned fish and
setup a pond I think you would be better starting off in a simple way, and
getting used to fish keeping in a pond for a year, before moving onto
larger fish.

Alternatively if you have the money and wish to pay for a professional to
build the pond and equip it, and advise you then of course go that route
and get some nice koi from the start. It depends on you aspirations and
current experience.

Personally this is the route I have taken, with my pond in its current
form for about 5 years now, but my fish keep having babies, and the two
ghost koi I have are now monsters, so I've got to a point where I am
considering upsizing the pond, making it deeper, and re-equipping with
some more pro kit.

However, in all the time I've had the pond the DIY skippy has kept the
pond clear and clean (although blanket weed will tend to be a problem at
times, simply because my pond is not deep enough, so sunlight causes it to
grow too fast).

If you're going for koi, I would try digging deeper than 2-3 feet. They
will need the depth to swim in, and a pond that shallow may have a harder
time with green water in the summer, and may suffer from wide temperature
variations which heightens algae problems, and oxygen deficiency resulting
in the fish gasping for air.

This is why you will often see pro koi ponds with some kind of pagoda
providing shade and cover for the pond, to keep leaves and twigs out, fend
off marauding herons, and keep sunlight out so as to control the
temperature and photsynthesis of phytoplankton (algae) in the pond. If you
over feed the fish, you will end up with too much fish waste, or uneaten
food polluting the pond, and this provides nutrients for the phytoplankton
to feed on resulting in a bloom of these tiny living creatures. When
sunlight falls on them, they photosynthesize and turn from clear
transparent bodies to green, and this is what makes the pond water become
green and unclear, and now suddenly you can see only the plankton (algae)
so preventing you from seeing your fish, and in extreme cases using up all
the oxygen in the water, so suffocating the fish, causing them distress
and even death. Things have to be in pretty bad shape for this to happen,
so don't worry about that too much. The thing to understand is the natural
balance you are trying to achieve.

If you're trying to stuff too many big fish into too small a pond, with
too much sunlight, too much food, and not enough plants to oxygenate the
water to use up the nitrates before the algae can, that's when the trouble
begins! And that's when you need a bio-filter, pumps and venturis to
oxygenate the water and help mother nature keep the balance with good
bacteria to maintain a healthy pond.

There's a few things for you to think about. If you have any more
questions I would be happy to answer them.

Cheers
Jim

Picture of Damselfly

2008-08-09T15:14:00.002+00:00

Here is another nice picture of a Damselfly taken by my friend James Billings.

Advice for starting a new fish pond

2008-06-16T22:02:00.002+00:00

As we move into the year I often get queries from visitors at my web site about how they should set up a pond and whether they need a pump and filter. The following is a typical example, and my response:-

Hi Jim - Hope you dont mind this email but, Ineed your advice, I have a pond approx 1.50m x 1.50m and approx 1m deep. I have built this myself and I am now at the stage where I need to put a filter and a pump in, but can't seem to get the right advice, everyone telling me different ways, and the fact that i am a female is no help - they try to sell me items I just know are either to expensive or bigger than I need. After reading your site and looking at your bio-filters I am now wondering if you can help me, I hope to keep a small number of fish in the pond but thats another stage that I need to look at later, in the mean time any advice will be most welcome.
Many thanks.
Christina.

Here is my response:-

That sounds like quite a small pond, and if you're having just a few small fish in it, (goldfish, golden orfe, shebunkins, etc, but not carp which can grow too big), you may not actually need a pump and filter system because the pond will probably be able to obtain its balance on its own. A small fountain may be all you need to aerate the water. Unless of course you've built it with a waterfall? In which case you will need a pump.

Its only if you put too many fish in it, or feed them too much, and then have too much sunlight on it that you might have trouble with green water, or poor water quality. Blanket weed is nearly always a problem at some time of the year regardless of what you do, but a well balanced pond
suffers from it less. A pond is a man-made (or in your case woman-made!) enclosed environment, and if you put too much "life" into it, which creates too much by-products in the way of poo and ammonia because you fed them too much, and don't have enough plants to use up the excess nitrates produced by the bacteria in the pond (nitrification cycle), then you're gonna have to give nature a helping hand by adding a filter!

So I would suggest patience is the key. See how it goes on its own for a start (no pump or filter). Don't buy expensive fish just in case your pond isn't right and they die. Get some bacteria culture added into the water to get things building up the natural good bacteria in the pond. The fish
pee ammonia, which the bacteria can get started feeding on, and so the cycle begins. Add a few nice pond plants, lilies, marginals (shallow water), water hyacinths (these are great because they float on the top, and naturally prevent too much sunlight going into the pond, and can be easily removed if they grow so much as to cover the pond - which they do!). I use Bio-Claire Pond Conditioner bacteria (see http://leisure.prior-it.co.uk/pond-biofilter-bacteria.shtml).

Just don't overfeed! I just give one full handful of fish food pellets in the morning and one in the evening. I have about 20 fish in my pond, two of which are ghost-koi each about 1 foot long. Far too many for my pond really! But they keep having babies. The fish will feed on other life in the pond as well, e.g. shrimps, larvae, algae, etc. So don't worry about them starving.

Kids love to feed fish, and this is often where the problems start, they feed too much. The uneaten food will drop to the bottom and rot, producing food for phytoplankton (the little buggers who turn green in the sunlight, so giving you green water). The more food the fish eat the more they will excrete ammonia - fish pee thru their gills when they breath. This is what the bacteria feed on and turn into nitrites and nitrates (fertiliser). Pond plants like fertiliser - so do phytoplankton!

So take it slow and easy to start. See how the pond copes with the summer as it is. Add a small fountain if you like for effect and to help move and aerate the water. Moving the water helps regulate its temperature in summer, and oxygenates it - warm water doesn't hold oxygen so well, and this can make the fish gasp for air at the surface. I think that us guys like to play around with our equipment (ahem!), and can't help ourselves building pipes and waterfalls and filters and all that. I think you should just do it in your own way, and not be brow beaten into buying the latest big-bucks filter.

Unless I am totally wrong and you are more ambitious? In which case the only thing I have always recommended is not to go cheap on the pump. A decent solids-handling pump will run for years, and if its well-designed with a big plastic cage around it then it won't block up with weed too quickly. My Titan 8000 litres per hour runs for 2 or 3 months between me hauling it out to clean it. The power of the pump is important too, but this depends on whether you will have just a filter, or a waterfall as well.

Too powerful and it will push water thru the filter so fast the bacteria will say, hey here comes dinner, whoah, um there it goes, as it swoops past them. The water needs to go nice and slow through the filter. But if you've got a waterfall then you want it to look like a nice fall of water that gives some sound, not just a trickle. Thats why I use a ball-valve to split the flow two ways from the pump, one to the filter, one to the waterfall and I can adjust them just right. 8000 lph would likely be too much for your pond. Maybe 4000 or 5000 would be better.

Anyway, I think thats probably stuff for the future. Live with your pond first, see how it goes for a few months. If it starts to get murky, very green or the fish seem unhappy get a water test kit to check the pH and ammonia levels aren't becoming too high. If they are then it means the natural plant life and bacteria balance in the pond aren't able to cope, and you've reached that point when its time to consider adding a small sewage treatment works - yes, a bio-filter, then you can try building something like I've done, or buying one from the shop if you're not DIY inclined.

So first relax, let nature do her job and only if she can't manage will you need to intervene. Keep it simple and natural to start.

Good luck
Jim

How to Build a Stream using Liner and Clay (Bentonite)

2008-06-07T23:17:00.002+00:00

I recently created a new page on my web site detailing the method used by a visitor to my pond web site on How to build a stream using pond liner and Bentonite clay.

This is a fascinating method because it is far more natural than say fibre-glass mouldings, permanent rock+liner, or concrete based stream beds, and it allows reshaping of the stream bed over time to block up leaks or obtain better levelling to create natural pools in the stream bed.

My new page can be found here:-
How to Build a Stream using Liner and Clay (Bentonite)

And you can see additional matured photos of this Zen-garden style stream here:-
Garden Stream Workshops

Blanket Weed under the Microscope

2007-07-10T21:12:00.000+00:00

Personally I use a concentrated liquid form of Barley Straw Extract at the beginning of the year to try and combat the worst of the blanket weed (although this liquid form can be expensive).

Barley straw is a more natural method of combating the blasted weed, but even at the start of the year before the various enzymes and bacteria start doing their work blanket weed can build up quite quickly in the pond.

In a stream you tend to get it all year long, simply because the water is shallow, and the sunlight has the most impact, therefore it has to be removed by hand regularly.

Like so many people, in the past I tried using chemical based products and solutions to treat blanket weed, but the main trouble with these is they just breakdown the structure of the blanket weed making it slippery and slimey and even more difficult to remove from the pond.

I prefer to let the weed grow to a suitable length, then use a cane stick to dip into the water and "twizzle" it in the blanket weed which quite easily attaches itself and wraps around the cane.

I just keep twizzling to "wind" in all the weed, which eventually breaks off leaving only short lengths attached to the pond sides and bottom.

After a bit of twizzling I then use a sharp Stanley knife to cut the blanket weed away from the cane. A twizzled lump of blanket weed is really very tough stuff and won't easily pull off the cane.

This cane method just isn't possible if you use chemicals to break down blanket weed.

Another alternative which I use is my pond hoover, but generally I use that to clean excess sediment, leaves etc from the bottom of the pond.

After physically removing as much as possible, I then give another good dose of barley straw.
After this first major growth in the spring, the pond balance and enzymes seem to get the upper hand and the blanket weed is much less of a problem for the remainder of the year.

Since building my DIY bio-filter I have never had a problem with green water.

Yes, blanket weed sometimes at the start of the year, but never green water all year long.

If this is your first year with a new pond, do not be surprised if you get a couple of green water blooms a couple of weeks or months apart as the pond and bio-filter all establish their equilibrium. Large pond plants are good additions but they need time to grow and then they will use excess nitrates (essentially fertiliser) produced by the bacteria life cycle in your pond, so starving phytoplankton of nitrates (they are the little blighters who actually make the water go green).

Did you know that phytoplankton is generally always there in your pond during the summer? It is simply "photosynthesis" caused by sunlight which makes them turn green, and when they multiply in their thousands and millions because of too much nitrate (think fertiliser), this is what causes your pond water to become green pea soup.

During daylight these microscopic plant-cum-animals absorb carbon dioxide and give out oxygen - good for your fish - but at night the reverse happens, and they take in oxygen, and give out carbon dioxide. This is when your fish can suffocate if you have a really bad green water problem!!!

Now to finish off you really should marvel at the beauty and mechanics of these tiny creatures.

Take a look at the Microscopy UK's wonderful "Smallest Page on the Net"
You will find some amazing micro-photography and learn a lot about what algae really is.

Absolutely fascinating!

Too much fish food!

2007-07-10T21:04:00.000+00:00

Grrrr!

Why is it my grandson insists on grabbing huge handfuls of fish food, and chucking it into my pond, the little blighter. I've told him not to do it before. I know he enjoys feeding the fish, but I don't think he takes on the fact they aren't as hungry as he can be :o)

Actually I think he must have realised his mistake, because I later discovered he had used the fish net to remove some of the surplus and had tried to hide it in the bin. But there was still loads of pellets floating around on the surface.

Ah well, I'll just have to remind him again!

Damsel Fly Photograph

2007-07-10T20:50:00.003+00:00

Look at this gorgeous Damsel Fly with its golden colours!

This photo was taken by a friend of mine (James Billings) who very much enjoys his photography hobby.

He says the mistake many people make when taking photos of insects is they rush towards the insect thinking that if they don't get to it quickly enough then it will be gone.

But insects are very wary of fast things approaching, and will take flight instantly.

The key is to have your camera setup ready for a shot (as much as you can) and to move very slowly into position for the shot. The camera he uses is a Sony Alpha A100.

Patience is the key.

Should I put scrubbies in the bottom of my Hozelock Cyprio bio-filter?

2007-07-10T20:23:00.000+00:00

Recently I got an email from someone asking about Cyprio bio-filters. It was much along the lines of the problems I have encountered and written about in my Ponding website.

"Hi ....just been reading your page on how to make a pond filter ...very informative ...wish I had found it before buying the Hozeloc Cyprio off Ebay , Although it seems to be working ok (I have checked size and thats fine) it does need the foam cleaning (I rinse it as instructions say using the water from the filter) every couple of days...my point in emailing you is to ask if you think putting some "scrubbies" in the bottom of the filter will help increase my bacteria population ? There are already some black ball things in there ....but not many......and not a lot happening to them....pond is new and has been going for about 2 months . I recently had the water checked and found I had traces of ammonia .25 . I was told this could sort its self out as the pond matures but thought I could give nature a helping hand !!"

Hi Christine,

The problem is always one of matching the right size pumps/filter for the size of pond. Unfortunately I think that the Hozelock Cyprios really are not man enough for the job, and their design is probably more suited to decorative feature ponds rather than ones that have fish in, because they block up far too quickly/easily.

I think part of the problem is that because they are pressurised units with no settling area for fish waste, debris and weed to "settle out" to a drainage point, all that muck just becomes compressed in the foam filters, to the point where they almost feel "solid" when you squeeze them out!

The idea of the bio-balls in the bottom of the filter is to provide high surface area for the bacteria to develop on. I think that if you put scrubbies (green kitchen scouring pads) in the bottom of your Cyprio (which is essentially a sealed unit) you will just end up giving the filter even more material to clog, and for you to clean.

Probably more important to help your pond mature faster is to give regular fresh doses of bacteria. I use both a solution type for "injecting" into my bio-filter, and a granular type for spreading in the main pond.

See my page http://leisure.prior-it.co.uk/pond-biofilter-bacteria.shtml for details of bacteria.

I wonder how many and which type of fish you have? During early pond maturation stage you should just have smaller, hardy types of fish, goldfish, shubunkins, to help build a mild ammonia level for the bacteria and bio-filter to start building up the nitrification cycle. It is only later when the pond has an established eco-cycle that you should put larger fish (more susceptible to disease and less tolerant of ammonia) such as koi.

Really your Cyprio will probably perform the job it needs to do, as long as you keep cleaning it out, but my feeling certainly with the smaller models of the Cyprio is that because they clog so quickly, and you have to clean it out every couple of days, then you are constantly disturbing the bacteria trying to develop inside it, and so this type of bio-filter really only ever acts as a mechanical filter, and I believe doesn't deserve to be called a "bio" filter.

As mentioned above a settling tank or section within the filter setup plays a major factor in helping remove solids waste, and letting the scrubbies in my own filter design do their work without becoming so clogged. Yes - the scrubbies do become filthy over time, but it is extremely fine sediment, which the bacteria is working on and turning back into minerals.

Also consider increasing the number of large plants in your pond, and also you might think about a "veggy" filter as part of a waterfall. A veggy filter acts both as a mechanical filter with its fine root system, and as a bio-filter where bacteria can feed on the fish waste and ammonia, turning it into nitrates which the plants in the veggy filter can then gobble up as fertiliser. In my pond I have plants in the top of my bio-filter, more scrubbies and cress inside the decorative water urn at the top of my waterfall, and then a bog area in the lower section of the stream. You probably don't have a stream, all I'm saying is that each of these features helps aid the growth of even more bacteria and plants, so I'm maximising mother nature to the full!

Do you have some kind of pre-filter cage on the pump in your pond? Something there could help to reduce the amount of muck going directly into the Cyprio.

Overall I think its the sum of many things which help keep a pond healthy and clean and bright.

Jim

Gravel coated uPVC / Butyl pond liner

2007-05-15T07:05:00.000+00:00

Today someone emailed me asking where they could get the gravel coated uPVC pond liner that I use in my ponds stream. When I originally got this for my stream I had found some at my local garden centre, but I must admit that I have not seen it for quite a while now. So when I was asked about it I made it my mission to locate it again!

A quick Google search and a few web sites later I have found it. Not very easy to find, but I first came across this stone gravel lined pond liner in the Oase Living Water site, which is a German company. A bit more digging and I then found the UK section of the Oase web site.

Anyway, you can find more details about the Stone Liner as it is called, and links to the correct section in the Oase web site, on my Build a Stream page.

Oase do 3 sizes of this pond liner, and say....

Stone liner
The perfect solution for edging of lined ponds or also for installing a watercourse.

The 0.5 mm thick, black PVC liner is treated with a coating of fine pebbles via a special technical process.
Ideal for the natural transition from pond to garden.
We always recommend using normal pond liner under the stone liner, and fixing the edges with pond liner adhesive.

Hope that helps someone!

Cheers
Jim

Update on Creating Backwash With Pump Timer

2007-02-03T16:19:00.000+00:00

Previously, in my Creating backwash with pond pump on timer article, I explained how the use of a timer on an "in-pond" pump could help to keep the pump pre-filter cage free from clogging. This was from a suggestion by a fellow ponder.

Since that post in November I have had my pump running on a cheap pin-style timer, to switch off for 15 mins in every hour.

The method works quite well, with the pump filter cage remaining fairly free from matter, although this has been during winter when there is less plant growth, and muck to filter. I will give another update in a few months time when the pond is really active again.

One thing I have noticed from using this idea is that sometimes the water is slightly murky, or a slight film of silt appears on the surface of the water near where my stream and bog area enters the pond. This is due to the bog area draining of water during the 15 minute "off time", when the water stops flowing. Although the bog-area always retains water, the level goes down far enough for some of the fine silt/sediment to be uncovered and get washed into the pond. This results in the murkiness or film on the pond surface.

It is not a major problem though, and only appears to be worse if we have rain as well, as this tends to dislodge the uncovered sediment, and wash it into the pond.

I have not yet made up my mind as to whether I dislike the "drained" appearance of the stream and bog on such a regular interval, and I may dislike this more in the summer. For people without streams this aesthetic may not be a problem. Of course another way of dealing with this would be to reduce the frequency of the pump "off-time" (and hence how often you would see it empty). For example; off for 15 minutes once in every 3 hours, although the benefit of savings on electricity would not be as great then. I will see how it goes this year.

Another minor point is that whenever the pump turns back on it makes quite a loud rude gurgle, as the pipeline re-fills with water and evacuates the air from it. I shall see if anyone makes comments on this when we have garden parties or barbecues!

Watch this space.
Jim

Spring fish pond maintenance

2007-02-03T14:58:00.000+00:00

Hi all,

Well this first weekend in February (2007) has turned out to be a nice fine, sunny weekend, and so I thought it was an ideal opportunity to get out in the garden and do an initial cleanup on the pond now that the weather and daylight hours are on the up again.

It's still a little bit unpredictable here in the UK. Warm one day, then cold/rainy the next (as usual!!), still getting some frosty days, and a week or two back we had some snow too, so its hard to know exactly when to get things going in the pond again. It may still take a turn for the worse.

Anyway, it seemed like a sunny day was the best time to make a start. So this is what I did today:-

Normal routine of cleaning the bio-filter (clean pre-filter and foam pads). Although I am not going to do a major dismantle and clean for another couple of weeks yet. During the winter I don't have to do that much cleaning of the bio-filter because there isn't so much waterborne muck in the pond to filter out.
Removed any dead vegetation from the stream and pond. I had done a fairly major cleanout before winter, but it still helps to remove any recent rotting plant matter if you see it. For example we have had some water hyacinths floating on the surface of the pond which have lasted the winter quite well, but lately they have been looking very weary, so I decided to remove them. When I did this I noticed hundreds of their tiny seeds come off and float on the water. This is good, because it means they will hopefully grow a new season of baby hyacinth plants when the weather turns warmer. Also by removing them now, it will let more sunshine into the pond to get the water warmer, and get the life-cycle going again.
Cleaned the pond lights to remove the algae film that has built up on them. I have done this on a regular basis through the year, and particularly in the winter because my ghost koi love to warm themselves under them, and it must give them some relief from the cold in the winter. I know fish are cold-blooded, but even so they do like warmth!
Added a 0.1% dose of aquatic salt to the water as recommended in my previous blog post Happy Fish Ponding in 2007, and as explained in my First Aid For Fish article, this will act as a general tonic to help the fish build up their mucus coating/immune system, and also kills some types of parasites. 0.1% is fairly weak and ok as a tonic (a 0.9% or 1% solution is strong enough to consider removing plants in the growing season because it could harm them). Also if there is another freeze in the next few weeks before spring is fully upon us, the increased salinity will help to prevent the pond freezing over - a natural "anti-freeze". I add the Interpet Pond Guardian salt granules to a bucket of pond water, and use my wifes kitchen blender to rapidly mix and dissolve the salt in the water (yes, she moans at me!). Then I pour the salt solution very slowly into the pond, and at the same time I have my in-pond venturi running to circulate and mix the saline solution.
Added some bacteria solution to the bio-filter, and bacteria granules to the pond itself. Even though the water temperature may be a bit too cold currently, this will help to establish some good bacteria in the pond ready for when the milder weather comes.
Added a small dose of "barley straw" solution to help prevent blanket weed before it even starts growing. Blanket weed usually strikes the worst at the start of the year before the bacteria and natural enzyme processes within the pond get properly started. See my main web site for more information on preventing green water and blanket weed the natural way with a homemade DIY bio-filter.

My fish have been swimming around watching me, and seem to know that spring will be on its way soon. I gave them some fish food (wheatgerm pellets which are more easily digested at low temperatures), but they aren't really interested - just a little nibble. Currently its still too cold to give them any food really, because their digestive system relies on the temperature being high enough to help digest the food.

That's it for now. How's your pond doing?
Jim

Happy Fish Ponding in 2007

2007-01-04T22:13:00.000+00:00

Hi All and a Happy New Year to all my readers!

I hope 2007 will provide you with many hours enjoyment looking after your fish ponds and cultivating your natural habitat for healthy fish.

At this time of year, with our typical unpredictable British weather you can't quite be sure when is the best time to do some preperation for your pond. We may still yet get a freeze over!

Winter, to very early spring, is the time to consider dismantling and thoroughly cleaning your bio-filter setup while the natural bacteria is dead/dormant due to the low temperatures. If you have left your pump and filter running over winter, it may be best to leave it alone or do a more gentle cleanout so as not to kill off any remaining bacteria, however if water and oxygen has not been flowing through the filter because you turned the pump off, then you need to clean and prepare it for the new season.

A useful rule of thumb so as not to disturb the life within your pond, is to carry out any maintenance when the water temperature is cooler than 10C.

Early spring is also a good time to consider adding some pond salt as a general tonic to the water. Salt helps kill off parasites which could attack the delicate skin of your fish (they get in under the scales), and it also helps build up the mucous coating on the fishes body, helping their immune system. You can learn more in the following post: First Aid for Fish and info about Salt

Consider getting some Anti-Parasite and Anti-Fungal/Ulcer remedies from your aquatic store. This way you will be ready to deal with any problems if you notice fish becoming ill, which is something that can happen at the start of the year when the water is too cold for their immune system to work properly, but warm enough for parasites to become active.

The three factors you need to keep a lookout for are:

Changes in behaviour in any of your fish
Hidden sores or ulcers and other tissue damage
Deterioration in water quality as a result of new filter syndrome.

With a cautious attitude to pond keeping over the first month or so of fish activity, you should be able to wean your fish and pond of their winter habits, introducing them to the joys and prospects of the new year.

You may find the following resource at Pond Doctor useful as a checklist for preparing your pond for spring:
Preparing the Water garden Fish Pond for Spring

Happy Ponding in 2007!
Jim

Geeks T-Shirts

2006-12-11T19:52:00.000+00:00

Calling all computer tech geeks freaks.

Compgeeks think geek !

Looking for some really geeky and nerdy clothing?

If you're stuck for gift ideas for friends this christmas, why not check out this new page I've added to my site. I know its not quite fish ponds, although you might consider yourself a fish keeping geek!

If so check out the cool Geeks Wear on my geeks T-shirts page.

Take a look at the best apparel for all you quality geeks and nerds out there! GeekVogue is the ultimate geek chic shop.

Hey - Geeks Rule ! Its time for nerds to take revenge on the world. Wear your favourite slogan with pride.

You will find the ultimate international online geek boutique shopping store for all the strangest and absurd slogans, logos and catchphrases you could ever want to look for. Fashions and designs, bags, scarves, gifts and sexy underwear to suit both girls and geezers.

Its Beauty and the Geek all over again!

Enjoy!

Jim

Creating backwash with pond pump on a timer.

2006-11-11T21:17:00.000+00:00

One thing that was suggested to me by one of my readers recently, who finds this technique useful is creating backwash on a regular basis to help keep his fish pond pump and pre-filter clear.

All he does is sets the pump on an automatic timer so as to switch off the the pump every couple of hours for 15 mins (or sufficiently long enough for the water to stop backwashing, which may only take 1 or 2 minutes). Electronic timers can be set to the nearest minute, but even the simpler mechanical "pin operated" timers can be set to switch at 15 minute intervals.

Before this he had to clean pump pre-filter sponges every couple of days and now only does a maintenance clean very rarely.

The backwash from water returning down the pipe to the pump pushes any debris away
from the intake, before it gets a chance to get stuck too firmly against the pre-filters.

Turning the pump off frequently is sufficient to dislodge and free up any muck around the pre-filter, which is then better able to be sucked up to the filter when the pump turns back on.

The method is most effective if you set this cycle in motion after first having given the pump and pre-filters a good clean to start. So if you are thinking of trying this method you should clean your setup before adding the timer into the pumps electricity supply - its best to go from clean!

Since this is occurring at regular intervals all day long, it constantly helps keep the pump free from clogging because weed and sediment is always being pushed away.

This can be thought of almost like the tide on a beach which is a natural cleaning process.

Another benefit to adopting this method is that if you turn off the pump for 15 minutes every 2 hours you are reducing your electricity running costs by 1/8th. And if you turn it off for 15 minutes in every hour, this effectively reduces the running costs by one quarter.

One disadvantage for me is that my waterfall, stream and bog area runs out of water at regular intervals, although not long enough to become dry. Sometimes it confuses the birds in the garden who like to come and drink or take a bath in the stream because they wonder where the water has gone!

Would you believe? A Levitating Frog !

2006-10-30T00:34:00.000+00:00

This is really quite amusing, poor little fellow!
Mind you, he does learn not to kick out pretty quick :-)

Ladies & Gentlemen - Introducing the amazing floating frog...
Check out this short movie clip:-
http://www.hfml.ru.nl/pics/Movies/frog.mpg

If you want to know more about what is going on, read this at Wiki.....
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic_levitation

Filter media for Skippy biofilter

2006-09-20T07:51:00.000+00:00

Quite often I am asked by folk where they can find suppliers of the cheap green scrubbies, green nylon scrubbing pads for the filter media used in homemade DIY biofilters (Skippy style). Lots of people seem to use and recommend this stuff. Despite its rather innocent normal purpose, it has a high surface to volume ratio of 300:1 making it a very good surface for bacteria to colonise.

The type of scrubby you want for filter media is generally 15cm x 12cm x 1cm thick. The length/width don't matter, but the thickness is reasonably substantial for use in a bio-filter.

To buy these from your normal household store would be ridiculously expensive, because to fill a biofilter you need quite a lot, so it is much better to search out some filter media from a bulk supplier, and generally janitorial suppliers provide this.

Anyway, you can find details of some links on my biofilter web page in the section for filter media for a biofilter.

Cheers
Jim

Where to find terracotta Grecian Urns?

2006-08-15T20:50:00.000+00:00

In the past month two people have asked where I got the grecian urn that I use at the top of my ponds waterfall.

The urn was nothing special, we just hunted around for something suitable in our local garden centre. It is approx 20 inches tall, 15 inches largest diameter, and the neck in the top is about 6 inches diameter, where the water comes out. I suggest going to a fairly large garden centre that will have a good selection of large pots of various types.

We selected a brown clay (terracotta) grecian urn, its sides are about half to three quarters an inch thick, so as to be fairly robust, and withstand the ravages of winter freezing because it will be wet most of the time.

Regarding the issue of "freezing", I only suggest that as something to consider. In fact my urn has survived 4 years of English winters now. Running water doesn't freeze as easily as still water, and our British winters are generally mild compared to other countries.

Of course the decision of which kind of pot to use also comes down to how much the pot is going to cost. You might take the view that it's worth trying and if it comes to an early demise then you just buy another! But if the pot is horrendously expensive then that may not be such a good idea.

The following page which may be of interest to you....
http://www.taylorsgardenbuildings.co.uk/store/customer/product.php?productid=19774&cat=811&page=1

Perhaps you won't need the sump and pump, but they may be able to point you to the suppliers of the actual urns which appear to be specifically designed for water feature use.

An alternative plastic (hmmm?) urn can be found here...
http://www.heavens-solar.com/Waterfeatures/grecianurnwaterfeature.htm

The following web site also looks like it could be useful too. They say they offer the best selection of pots in the UK, including what look like some very nice grecian style urns, terazzo, cretan and spanish terracotta. Could be worth a look. Checkout the "Old urns" section, they are based in Horsham, West Sussex, and will pack and ship anywhere you like.
http://www.terradecorltd.com/

You may be able to ask them about how freeze resistant they are, and also whether they already have holes drilled in the bottom or not. Preferably without so you can drill exactly where you want, otherwise you may have to plug any existing hole.

The tricky part I found was making holes in the bottom for the pipe from the filter. I used 1 inch flexitube piping into it, so it requires a hole of at least that diameter to be drilled. I actually used one of those circular "saw" type hole drills to carefully drill through the clay pot, but this did ruin that particular drill blade (it was an old one so it didn't matter too much). Obviously make sure you mark the pipe inlet hole in the right place, before you start drilling, as a mistake could be costly!

Once it was placed how we wanted it, and water was coming out of it nicely, I added some of the same nylon green scrubbies that I used as the filter media in my main filter, and put them in the "bottom" of the urn (now that it is on its side), so as to allow the urn to also provide a home for bacteria/algae, which aids the bio-filtration process.

The problem with sexy Frogs in the Pond !

2006-08-12T09:23:00.000+00:00

I received another amusing tale from a reader which went like this:-

Although my wife and I are keen on native flora and fauna we have a problem with frogs invading the fish pond.

Recently it has been cleaned out with netting secured at the base and also over the top of the pond. Having recently restocked the pond she is extremely peeved that the little blighters are finding a way in. Whether or not they are to blame at the moment for the few dead fish she has found is open to doubt. We do know that during the mating season the frog will jump almost anything that moves and fish suffer as a consequence!

Any ideas about how to keep them out and where can we ship them with out killing them off?

My answer:

We always have frogs at our pond, but not necessarily in it.

You may have seen from my website that the layout is such that we have a top pool and water urn which feeds a waterfall, stream and bog area. The frogs frequent these nice damp places where plants provide cool and shade without them having to use the pond. Therefore the upper areas of the pond provide the main habitat for the frogs.

I can't say that we've ever had a problem with oversexed frogs "jumping" the fish though! We get frogspawn in the pond each year, but not much survives because the fish eat it. Obviously enough do actually make it though because we always have plenty eager to jump out at my wife when she's gardening!

Of course frogs help to keep other garden pests like slugs and insects down, so rather than fighting nature, work with it by giving your frogs their own damp/wet area to live in.

Is it OK to turn off my fish pond pump at night?

2006-08-12T08:58:00.000+00:00

I recently got the following question from a visitor to my web site:-

> Jim, great website, the bio filter has truly helped my pond at home,
> turning green water to clear water in under a week, thanks. Couple of
> questions for you if you don't mind!
>
> Is it ok to turn off the pond pump during the night and how often do you
> run your pump at home?
>
> Again, thanks for the great idea, I passed it onto a mate of mine, who
> built his own, he in turn passed the idea onto a friend of his and all
> have been converted away from chemicals. Won't be too long before they
> are everywhere!!!!

This year I have been particularly pleased with my bio-filter setup (detailed in my main web site) as the water in my own fish pond has remained gin clear since spring, even during the summer months.

I think this is probably a question a few people often wonder about, so thought I would post it on my blog. I now have a Titan 8000 which I let run continuously 24/7/365. If I shut it down then my stream would dry up.

Also at night time the photosynthesis process of the plants and algae in your pond reverses (just as for normal land plants). During the daytime plants absorb carbon dioxide and produce oxygen, but at night they absorb oxygen and exude carbon dioxide. So at night your plants and algae are using the oxygen - as well as your fish!

For people who have a major algae bloom in their ponds at night time this can reduce the amount of available oxygen to dangerously low levels, suffocating the fish, and they end up gasping for air at the surface of the pond.

So if anything, its more important to keep a pump running at night. This could be the pump feeding your waterfall, fountain, or even a dedicated in-pond venturi. If you have clean, healthy, clear water, and not too many fish in the pond then its not so much of a problem.

The key is to know and watch your fish at night. My wife and I go into the garden each night (she needs her bedtime fag), and to look at the fish (I have several lights in the pond), and maybe give them a bedtime snack! Night time we find is often the best time to watch them because you can see right to the bottom of the pond, and any baby fish which are normally hidden during daytime.

I have never had any problems with fish suffocating by keeping my main pump running all the time. It keeps the constant filtering and oxygenation of the water going.

I have an in-pond venturi too, which is timer controlled to run from 10am til 3pm. As well as providing air, the fish love to swim against the current it produces, and the motion of the water helps move sediment around in the pond and so get sucked up by the main pump to the
filter.

There you go!

Jim

First aid for fish. Dying pond fish, illness symptoms bloated/floating/ulcers.

2006-06-09T06:28:00.001+00:00

A couple of weeks ago I had a problem with some fish in my pond. Two of my sarasa comets were showing signs of distress. One had a red blotch developing on its side, and another was having trouble with its bouyancy, and seemed very lethargic. Although she was able to swim and move around the pond, when she stopped she would slowly float up to the surface, and go upside down. Also she looked very bloated.

I know of two very helpful websites which I immediately visited to learn what the problem was.

These are www.fishdoc.co.uk and www.ponddoc.com. Both sites provide excellent advice on how to diagnose illness and disease your fish may have, and what to do about it.

I have learnt a lot about the problems my fish were having, and why too. The quality of my pond water is normally very good - clear and clean, with virtually zero nitrates levels, and perfect pH balance (acidity/alkaline). Also we have quite a few baby fish hatched, so this in itself indicates that the balance of the pond is comfortable for the fish to do what comes naturally! Some tests to check the water-quality proved everything was ok and within normal ranges, so this was not the cause for my ill fish. After reading up on the FishDoc and PondDoc sites this is what I found out:

Your fish are most vulnerable to parasites and disease at the start of the year, when the temperatures are not stable and high enough for your fishes immune systems to "get going". This year in particular the UK has had a slow start to the spring/summer season, with temperatures fluctuating wildly. Bright sunny, almost summer days early on, but then dropping back to almost freezing again a day or two later. This means the water temperature in the pond has been sufficient for the lower life forms to come out of hibernation (e.g. bacteria and parasites), but it has not been a consistently high enough temperature for the fish to develop their own immune systems properly.

The result is that tiny critters have been able to cause problems before the fish are strong enough to defend themselves. Particularly since the fish have been staying low at the bottom of the pond during the winter where parasites can attach themselves to a fish, and wait until warmer days when they begin doing their damage!

One of the things both FishDoc and PondDoc recommend is that you do not jump to conclusions when diagnosing your fishes illness. It is far better to be sure about the kind of disease before attempting to provide a cure.

In the meantime they recommend that you take some initial "first aid" measures to help start your fish on the road to recovery. A salt bath is a good initial treatment for fish. It helps to kill external bacteria and parasites, and helps increase the natural mucous film coating on your fish. It is better to use something like Interpet Pond Guardian Salt which is designed for use in ponds, but you can use either sea-salt or table salt instead. Do not use salt containing anti-caking agents such as sodium ferrocyanide (yellow prussiate of soda – this can release hydrogen cyanide when exposed to sunlight).

If you have never done a salt bath before here are some tips:-

The amount of salt you use in a container or holding tank does look like a lot of salt! It has to be sufficient concentration to make it effective for a short term bath of maybe 20 minutes. The page at the link above explains why you need this much, and diagrams show how the salt bath works on your fish.
Use a white container to put the fish in for its salt bath (I use a 10 litre empty fish food tub, but this may not be large enough if you have bigger fish). This will help to "light up" the fish and make it easier to inspect the general condition of its body, scales, etc while it is having the bath. Have the container filled, ready and by the pond so you can transfer the fish quickly and easily.
Have a decent size net with a good long handle. Use it with slow and gentle movements to catch the ill fish. Once caught, lower the whole net into the container and down and away from the fish, rather than just tipping the fish into the container because you run the risk of the fish struggling and falling onto the edge of the container.
The fish may float in the bath. This is to be expected, and occurs because of the concentration of the salt making it more bouyant (think how it is easier for you to float in the sea in comparison to when in a swimming pool).
After this high concentration salt bath (do not leave the fish in it too long, generally 15-20 minutes, and certainly no more than 30 minutes, depending on the strength of the fish), you should consider adding some salt as a general tonic to the main pond. This will help all your fish build up their natural slime defence on their bodies, and help to weaken parasites.
Follow the instructions carefully for any other disease treatment that may need to be added to the pond once you diagnose what the problem is. Often parasite and disease treatments contain formaldehyde so you must not overdose the pond.
If you add salt to the pond, more than say 1% solution, you should consider that some species of plants cannot tolerate salt and may be best removed from the pond and put into another container for a couple of weeks.
After 1 or 2 weeks, perform some water change topups in the pond to weaken the salt solution. This will probably occur naturally with regular topups and rainfall.

My two fish turned out to have different problems; one had an ulcer on his side under a scale, which had swollen up and become infected; the second fish had a systemic bacterial infection (meaning the bacteria have infected the internal systems of the fish), called "dropsy". This is when the fishes kidneys are overcome by a bacterial infection, and are failing to remove excess water/fluids from the fish inside, and this causes its body to swell and become bloated, and as this becomes worse it affects other organs such as the swim bladder, and makes their eyes bulge out (known as "pop-eye"). Unfortunately by the time this kind of infection makes itself apparent in this way, it is usually too late and too far gone for the fish to recover.

I used some Interpet Anti Ulcer which acts against systemic bacterial infections, but as I feared, it was too late to have any effect, and I had to put my fish down. This article probably covers using the clove oil/vodka method is most detail: What is the Most Humane Way to Euthanize a Fish by wiseGeek.com. Of course this should be a last course of action after you are certain there is nothing else that can be done for the fish.

Thankfully the other sarasa comet who had the ulcer is now looking much healthier. The redness on his side has gone, and the puffed up scale is going back to normal.

This is the first time I have had to be doctor to my fish. Perhaps if I had been more aware of some of the common fish disease symptoms and cures beforehand I might have noticed and been able to save my other fish. I can only recommend that you too read up some of the pages in these two excellent web sites. Perhaps you should consider adding some salt to your pond at the start of the season as a general tonic to help your fish build up their immune systems. At least have some salt available for any emergencies, and consider having some of the more common parasitic and bacterial cures on hand too.

Beckett foaming venturi nozzle fountain head

2006-05-13T16:21:00.000+00:00

For more pond aeration I recently tried out a pond fountain nozzle that a friend sent to me. This particular unit is called a foaming fountain head nozzle and it's made by the Beckett Corporation. It works on the venturi effect to suck air in and mix it with the water being pumped through. This creates thousands of bubbles in the water and greatly helps to agitate the water and oxygenate it which all helps keep your pond and fish in a healthy state.

Personally I still like to use my in-pond underwater venturi (the Beckett won't work underwater) because it creates a current in the pond for the fish to swim against, and play in the bubbles. Keeps them fit see!

There are some pictures on my main web site as usual showing the Beckett nozzle in use. Just click here for the Becketts foaming fountain head nozzle page, where you will find further information and locations where you can get this nozzle and similar ones from other manufacturers.

Cheers
Jim

Build Pond Cover / Prevent Herons / Stop Sunlight

2006-05-09T00:30:00.000+00:00

Hi friends,

I thought I would just take a moment to tell you about an idea I had for a novel "drawbridge" style pond cover, which I have now built and posted some pictures of on my Ponding web site.

For a while now I have been toying with the idea of building some kind of wooden cover for my pond.

For a long time we have used netting over our pond to prevent herons stalking and catching our fish, ever since we lost 3 of our fish very early one morning when a heron came and had some breakfast!

Herons are very early risers, generally attacking ponds at the crack of dawn, and you may not even know or notice you have lost some fish for a couple of days, unless they are particularly greedy and eat many of your fish in one sitting!

Whenever I wanted to work on the pond it was a bit of a pain having to unpeg the netting, lift it off all round the pond, then fasten it all back over when finished.

Also I had in mind that having some other kind of solid cover would not only prevent herons from attacking but also;

will offer the fish some shade from the summer sun; and
also help reduce algae forming green-water; and
slow any blanket-weed growth; and
in addition it is strong enough to prevent our small grand-children from falling in the pond.

I have seen some koi keepers build complete pagodas/houses over their ponds to provide permanent shade, but I can't really afford an elaborate structure. However previously I had built an archway-pagoda next to the pond for my wife to grow clematis against, and I thought that this might provide a suitable fixing for a rope and pulley to hoist a hinged pond cover.

So, this is the result....perhaps it might give you some ideas too?
For more details and pictures go to my Build a Fish Pond Cover page.

Cheers
Jim