Mark

The DynaTrap Flying Insect Trap Review

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Over the years I haven’t had too many problems with insects. I’m a live-and-let-live kind of guy. But in the last two years I’ve seemingly become a pin cushion for wasps.

Two years ago it was on the ankle, last year on the forearm, and in both cases, they hurt like hell and become so swollen to become worrisome. It kind of makes you not love nature so much at times like this.

This season I’ve kind of taken a new approach on wasps, mosquitoes, and other flying insects that bug me. We set up a device called the DynaTrap insect trap both in the shop, and out back of the house, and I’ve been pleasantly surprised at how well they’re working.

The DynaTrap is a bit different than most bug stoppers. It doesn’t zap, doesn’t use chemicals (and eliminated my need to use wasp killing sprays), and is devoid of sticky things. What it does use is a specially designed bulb that attracts the insects to the device. As they fly nearby, a built in fan sucks them into a catch basin at the bottom. Once trapped they can’t feed or get out and will die off fairly quickly.

The DynaTrap is particularly effective on wasps, mosquitoes, moths, biting flies, asian beetles, hornets, and yellow jackets,and no-see-ums. And as I mentioned before, we used the DT1000 inside and it’s worked great. If a wasp or moth comes in (our shop doors are often open during the summer) then they don’t last very long before getting trapped.

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Green Water Remedy That’s Simple And Free

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For some reason, there are times when a pond has green water and anything you try to clear it simply doesn’t seem to work.

Such was the case with a frustrated small pond owner who corresponded with me over the last few months. Marge is a pond friend who’s kept in close touch as she tried numerous remedies. Products like Algae Fix would work, but only for a few days and then the green water would come back. Add in the mix, barley straw concentrate, bacteria,and more.

Finally we discussed a few “back to basic” things that might help including shading, from plants or physical structure, checking on her pond’s fish load (of which she found she had too many) and feeding routines. But the real clincher was something so simple that most people overlook it.

What could this possibly be you may ask? Water changes. That’s it…just some simple water changes.

Ideally, the only thing Marge could have done differently is to start with partial water changes, reduction of fish, adding some desired plants, or creating some form of shade, rather than hitting it with chemicals right off the bat. But by the same token, we all learn, and evolve our understanding of things via one step at a time. The main thing was that she didn’t give up and wallow in defeat. She kept trying and kept experimenting with things until she found what worked for her pond.

So what’s with the water change thing working here?

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Simple Pond Aerator Repair

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Pond aerators these days offer some pretty dependable service. In my experience, they’re as good as ever in terms of running quietly, continuously, and reliably, often for years on end. It’s a good time to be a pond owner! Now before you think I’m just viewing the world in rose colored glasses, let me paint … Read more

Welcome To The New Pond Algae Solutions Shopping Cart!

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After months of toil and trouble, I’m happy to report that we have now gone live with our upgraded shopping cart at www.pondalgaesolutions.com. So why the change? Well in truth we were using a pretty old system and online shopping carts have come a long way over the years. Of course you’re used to these … Read more

Skippy Filter Update – Important Steps To Keep Any BioFilter Working Well

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By the looks of things, there’s a lot of do-it-yourselfers in the world.

A quick look at the stats of my Youtube video on the Skippy DIY pond filter design indicates around 220,000 views since it’s been up and running and it’s popularity is certainly indicative that people want to try some things on their own. I think this is terrific.

The Skippy homemade pond filter is probably the most popular of the lot when it comes to designs you’ll find on the internet. And so that’s where my focus for this article will be, but by and large, what I’m going to discuss will apply to any biofilter in general.

There are some important updates and for no better word, clarifications, that I want to make regarding biofilters and how you can get the best results with them, year after year.

The Simple Design Of A Biofilter

When you look closely at any biofilter they’ll all have a few things in common. And that’s saying a lot when you consider how many of them are found in the pond equipment market these days. In essence though, they work by providing a place good bacteria can set up shop, and also trap or capture various things that you don’t want in your pond. This can range from organic and inorganic material, to unseen fish waste and other elements.

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What Is A Pond Flocculent?

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It’s a fancy sounding word that a lot of pond owners may never have heard of, but it can do a lot for your water garden.

A floccu-what they may ask?

Flocculent. Look it up in any dictionary and you’ll get a variety of definitions.

The main one we’re concerned with though is the definition “to flock” or group together.

Flocculents create a chemical, and I use this term loosely because chemistry can involve organic substances too, but they create a chemical reaction that binds or groups various things together. Where this applies to ponds is in regards to floating elements like particulates that can lead to murky or cloudy water.

Green water, which we’ve talked about a lot before(namely here), is made up of many single cell algae, and these can be flocked together as well. But why would you want to do that?

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