Five Things Your Pond Builder Never Told You About

Before I build up a head of steam here let me preface this article by saying that I have the utmost respect for talented pond builders.  Like anything involving craftsmanship, this work is a true art form and many happy pond owners can attest to this fact.  So thank you to the pond builders, designers, and landscapers who bring more beauty into our world!

OK, with that lovey-dovey stuff out of the way, let’s get into the nitty gritty of all this.

Most pond builders and landscapers aren’t into managing or maintaining ponds.  They construct them. And while some companies will actually guide a new pond owner with some basic start up tips, and others may have follow-up maintenance programs, many simply do not.

So unfortunately for new and frustrated pond owners you’re somtimes left holding the bag you might say. 

Over the years, the comment has been commonly shared.  “The guy built the pond and then just left me with it.  He didn’t tell me a thing about how to take care of it, or what to do.” And that’s kind of sad because really, if you get started off right, you have a good chance of maintaining a healthy pond for the long term. 

But assuming that every pond construction outfit is going to handle this follow up care in the same way just isn’t practical in the real world so here’s a few pointers just in case you find yourself with a new hole in the ground, filled with pristine water, and don’t know what to do next.

1. Hopefully the builder has at least gone to the point of filling the pond with water and checking that all the mechanicals are functioning properly.  We’ll assume that’s the case anyway.  So the next step is to let the water settle in.  If you’re working off a municipal source of water you could dechlorinate if you’d like to get things rolling, but you could also let the chemical dissipate on it’s own in a few days.  However you go, let things settle in and then test the water using some 5 and 1 test strips to get a baseline reading on the pH, hardness, alkalinity, and nutrient levels.  Log this if you’d like to keep track of it for awhile.

2. Hold off on adding fish!  So many pond owners want so badly to get fish in the pond and who can blame them.  But they don’t come first, second, or even third in the start up phase.  My particular preference at this stage is to add a good quality beneficial bacteria to establish these good little cleaning microbes around the pond, in the filter, and so forth.  Remember if the installer put in a uv light, turn this off for at least 24 to 48 hours or longer to let the bacteria circulate around freely.

3. Add some plants.  Do a bit of research online or pick up a good book on aquatic plants like this one and learn about the various species that can end up adding a functional beauty to any small pond.  Plants are natural filters and balancers for ponds so in my mind they should come before any fish enter the water.  You can look for those that float and help cover and shade some of the pond, or oxygenating grasses that lie submerged.  All of them are beneficial.

4. Get into a routine of regular cleanings.  A pond net is a good thing to have on hand if you find leaves and other debris falling into the pond regularly.  Get anything that’s organic in particular out of the pond as soon as you can.  Do your best to slow this “filling in” down and limit any accumulations and build up at the bottom of the pond.  This muck and sludge can lead to a variety of problems including algae of various kinds.  Pond vacuums may be useful for cleaning too but they aren’t necessarily needed in every pond situation.

5. After a few weeks or so you should have a decent handle on managing the pond.  If you don’t find that you’re experiencing water quality problems such as string algae or green water and your readings appear fairly stable, then you can begin to introduce fish.  Keep in mind that they bring another dimension in the care of a small pond and they can affect water quality too.  The desired plants, good bacteria, filtration, and routine cleaning of the pond will help keep problems at bay.

Over time remember that fish will grow and multiply and as they do, they’ll exert more stress on the pond.  More precisely they’ll create more waste and this is often nutrient rich.  At some point a pond will only hold so many fish before problems develop.  So keep an eye on the population as time goes along.

Final thoughts.

Remember that once the pond is built, it’s really just the beginning of what we all hope will be a wonderful and sometimes relaxing adventure.  But you can’t simply leave things up to someone else at this point.  Be sure to continue to educate yourself on pond management, fish care, aquatic plant care and so forth.  There’s no need to be obsessive about it all (unless of course you want to be:) but you do need to have some basic knowledge about pond care and that’s all widely availabe online at sites like this one and many others.

P.S.  I’d love to hear your comments (you can enter them below) if you’ve experienced abandonment by the pond builder, or have other start up tips for new pond owners.