Mark

The Best Way To Control Cattails Around Your Pond

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Cattails page image

Personally, if you ask me, I think one of the charms of a wild pond (even if it’s man-made) is the emergence of native grasses and plants that can come about just because you’ve created a sort of wetland area.  

And nothing seems more natural than cattails near a body of water.

To an extent I love them because they provide a natural beauty or accent to a pond.  They provide cover for fish and other wildlife, and they can help, as grasses to do, with limiting erosion around the pond.  

But like any good thing, cattails can be overdone.  Not intentionally of course.  What I mean is they can grow out in an uncontrolled fashion and become more of a nuisance pretty quickly.

So it’s no big shock when questions come in about the best way to control cattails.

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When Pond Dye Makes Sense

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blue pond dyeThere are pond owners that love or hate the stuff but the fact is, pond dye can be pretty useful from time to time.

Years ago, about all one had to work with was a vibrant blue coloring that often made your natural pond look more like the colorful waters you see around a putt-putt golf course or amusement park.  And in truth, some people actually like this look, while others simply can’t stand it.  

These days though, there are other options…thankfully.

These include a black colored dye, and a black-blue combination which when either is applied to a pond, it will create a pretty natural appearance.  You’d be hard pressed to find a person that would even notice it compared the blue color alone.

But here’s the question that comes up now and then.

Is pond dye really helpful or necessary to improve a pond’s appearance?

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How Long Should I Quarantine A New Fish?

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Dd1

For pond owners, there’s not much of anything that’s more exciting than bringing a new fish home and adding it to your pond or water garden.

In all the excitement, one thing that some folks do that’s really a bit of a risk it to just put their new friend right in the pond with all the other fish.  Sometimes you can get away with it, but other times, this will mess up everyone else in the pond that’s been doing pretty well all along.

What do I mean?  Well, it’s not a pleasant subject but I’m talking about fish diseases.

These can range from simple parasites all the way up to HPV which is a herpes virus that affects Koi fish.

And let’s say you put the newcomer into the pond and it happens to be infected with something.  Depending on the ailment you can expect many of them to spread and particularly affect any of the weaker or more stressed fish in the pond.

But there is a way around this issue that can safeguard all of your other fish and it’s called quarantine.

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How To Kill Algae In A Large Pond

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Algaecide spraying

Pond algae is just one of those things that most people want to get rid of.  If you’ve had it show up you probably know what I mean.  First there’s the shock of a once pretty pond turning into a green and slimy mess.  Maybe it will even smell bad which leads to even more frustration.

So really, who could blame you for wanting to learn how to kill algae that you find in a large pond?

Certainly not me.

But as I always do, I want to pass along a warning of sorts that sometimes killing things isn’t always the best option and it’s no different when it comes to pond algae.

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It’s Hot, It’s Summer, So Should I Treat My Duckweed Problem?

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Common duckweed04Really the title of this article says it all.  In the heat of summer, plant life in a pond will grow abundantly.  This can be good or bad, but in the case of duckweed, I have to admit that most people don’t really like it in their big ponds.  

Like it or not, that’s just a fact.  

I’m not insinuating that every single pond owner will want an absolute, pristine, perfectly clear pond where they can see every fish and all the way to the bottom, peering through water that is almost as clear as glass.  No, I’m not suggesting everyone is like this, but in truth, most of us want to see a little bit of the water now and then.

And Duckweed doesn’t always make this easy to do.

It’s a fast growing, nutrient gulping little pod of a plant that will bloom out and cover a big ole pond in a hurry when conditions are right.

And when that happens people (maybe you) have an urge to kill it.

But hold off on pulling the trigger on this plan until after we’ve talked about if first, OK?

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The Aquascape PRO 60 Aerator

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Pro60 1I think I’ve mentioned this before, but we’re always on the lookout for better products for both small and large ponds.  There’s no two ways about it, things are always changing and in many cases these adaptions lead to improvements.  And in the world of small pond aerators, the Aquascape PRO 60 aerator is no exception.  It covers something our old line of mid-sized aerators just couldn’t handle.

For some time now, I’ve been pretty happy with the aerators we’ve offered in our online store.  Most notable are the small pond systems which cover ponds a bit bigger than three to four thousand gallons.  This includes the Koi Air 1 and Koi Air 2 models which are rated up to 8,000 and 16,000 gallons respectively.

But there was one issue with both of these units and to me it stood out like a sore thumb.  They only work up to a depth of about 4 feet.  This isn’t a huge issue necessarily because many ponds would still fall into this range, but a fair number did not.  So we really needed to find something that would handle the greater depth, and with the PRO 60 we’ve done just that.

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