Mark

Dosing The BioSphere Pro Correctly

by

BioAquaSphere

For many years now, the Biosphere Pro natural pond treatment has been a mainstay for us in cleaning up ponds.  They’re natural in terms of what they use to do the work, which is various forms of beneficial bacteria, and these are uniquely time released to provide a consistent infusion of good microbes into a pond system.

Generally speaking, they’re very clean and easy to work with.  The Biospheres are pre-dosed for certain sizes of ponds and you simply pull them out of the box and toss them in the pond.  Once wet, they activate and will work for a full month at a time.

All of this probably sounds really good and they’ve done very well for many people who are trying to get their pond to look better and reduce unwanted plant growth, bad smells, and organic mucky build up in a pond.

But this is not to say they are perfect.  In fact no bacteria will necessarily be the answer to every problem that comes up in pond care, and there are times when they produce what could be called inconsistent results.  Because of this, we’ve always looked for ways to optimize the performance of these good bugs, whether it be in testing water parameters, or making sure there’s good levels of dissolved oxygen in the water and all that can be helpful.

However there’s one other simple thing that needs to be addressed to get the most out of any pond bacteria, and it’s not always noted directly on the instructions or product label.

Read more

The First Call Of The Season

by

dead fish

It always comes, and I hate it.  It’s that first call of the season each spring or summer when the temps start to rise.  It usually goes something like this.  “Hi, I need some help here, my fish are coming to the surface of the water and appear to be gasping at the air.  Some are dying and I need to try to save the other one’s.  What can I do?”

My first response is usually with a simple question.  “Do you have aeration in the pond?”  And usually the answer is…no.

In fact I can’t think of an instance, although that’s not to say it couldn’t happen, but I can’t remember anyone ever following that question with a “yes”.  

And therein lies the problem.

Without a pond aerator in place before the problem starts, you’re going to end up in crisis mode, trying to respond like a M.A.S.H. unit in a war zone.

To start with, I’ll cover what you might try to help curb the losses in the short term.  And then I’ll tell you how to end this tragic problem for good.

Read more

Can Acid Rain Affect Your Pond?

by

We don’t hear as much about acid rain in the news any more.  Certainly not like we used in to the 70’s or 80’s.  Back then, new research was emerging that indicated that rainwater was becoming more acidic due to emissions of sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxide.  Most of these emissions come from the burning of fossil fuels released by automobiles, or power plants that use coal or oil to generate electricity.  Nature can also produce some of these gases, such as when volcanos release various gases into the air.

The gases that are produced from these processes end up combining with water vapor in the atmosphere and form nitric and sulphuric acids.  So the term “acid rain” is actually quite accurate in it’s description.

But a question came up regarding acid rain.  Since we don’t hear so much about it anymore, is it still happening?  Is it a problem?  And specifically for a pond owner (which is who this article is mainly for), can it affect my pond in any way?

Read more

Pond Air Pumps – How Different Designs Work Best

by

I guess to most people, the act of pumping air into a pond doesn’t sound all that complicated.  And in truth it’s not really, but there are a few basics that are good to know if you’re trying to get the best aeration system set up in your pond.

I don’t usually get too hung up on some of the components.  On the airline I do suggest going with self-weighted tubing when dropping the line into the pond simply because it’s easier to manage, sinks on it’s own, and it’s quite durable.  In other words, the benefits outweigh the costs.

Diffusers come in a several kinds of shapes and sizes.  Small ponds use air stones in most cases and these usually work pretty well.  Large pond aeration systems use some kind of rubber membrane to diffuse the air.  It might be in the shape of a tube, or a plate, but for the most part the air output and diffusion is good with either type.

The compressor or pump however is another matter.  This really is the backbone of any good aerator system and it just makes sense to get a really dependable performer to fulfill this important role.

In this article I want to talk about the most common types of pond pumps, how their designed, and where each type is best suited for use.  Certainly each one will work best in a particular setting so I’ll outline those differences in more detail.

Along with that, there’s an “in action” graphic (compliments of Gast Mfg.) to show how easy of these designs works internally.

Read more

Another Option For Large Pond Aeration Layouts

by

In the last week or so I’ve been going over some optional ways in which an aeration system can be installed in a large pond.

By now you probably know of all the benefits of having an aerator in your pond.  The devices do so much for a pond it’s almost unthinkable not to have one running most or all of the time.  Dissolved oxygen is critical to the health of fish and certain species like trout or catfish seem to be more vulnerable when things drop on the oxygen meter.  If last year was any lesson for most of us, it’s that you can’t be too careful when things get hot and stagnant.  And you can lose a lot of big fish when things go wrong.

Along with this, a stagnant pond seems to have a lot more chronic problems with algae and just overall decay.  They can get stinky and messy and just be an eyesore after awhile.  A pond aerator may not ward all of the aging off that happens to a pond but it sure can slow things down a lot.  If good aerobic bacteria is stimulated enough, it can truly keep a pond cleaner, and that’s a good thing were algae reduction is concerned.

One of the real challenges with a large pond aerator though is in terms of it’s cost.  It’s just not easy to cover a big piece of water adequately.  Fortunately though, we are always looking for ways to make this effort more affordable and one way to do that is to look for alternatives when it comes to layouts and airline options.

Let me explain this in more detail and I think you’ll see why this optional layout might be a good idea for some large pond owners.

Read more

IonGen Pond Ionizer – What Does It Do?

by

IonGen G2

There was a time when about the only way you were going to stop algae from taking over a pond is to add more of the plants that you actually liked in order to try to choke the unwanted stuff out.  This isn’t such a bad way to go of course, after all it’s worked ever since people started to try and manage a pond.

As the years passed, as often happens with an adventurous and industrious group of deep thinkers, someone tossed some barley in a pond and that helped some too.  Maybe mix in a bit of lavender and you’ve got yourself some algae control.

Ah, the good old days.

Today however, technology will have a part to play, not only in our lives (think iPad) but also in our ponds.  And one of the newer pond algae control devices is called the IonGen.  In this article I’ll attempt to explain what it does, how it works, and why it’s useful in a battle against algae.  Oh, and I’ll through in a few tips on how to use it safely too.

Read more