Small Ponds

Advice for small pond owners

Act Now: Proposed Regulation Could End Access To Koi

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For pond owners who love to work with Koi, this is important information that you need to be aware of. Here’s some background on what’s going on and what you can do to protect your access to a variety of high quality Koi.


Injurious Species List

The Center for Invasive Species Prevention (CISP) has petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) to add 43 species of fish to the Injurious Species list. Included on the list is common carp, or koi.

If these fish are added to the Injurious Species list, it will be illegal to transport them across state lines. Importation and production of koi will no longer be economically feasible. Koi retailers will likely lose their businesses and pond owners will no longer have access to the variety of koi they currently enjoy.

In response, the National Aquaculture Association as well as other groups are formulating a plan to fight and oppose this regulation.

Your Help is Needed

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How To Set Up A Hydroponic Pond

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Hydroponics…it’s a word you might hear from time to time, particularly when you’re buying a vegetable at the store. I remember the first time I came across a hydroponic tomato…I had no idea what it was. Then there were cucumbers, lettuces, and other plants, all coming from hydroponic operations, so of course it peaked my interest.

It turns out, and you probably now know this too, that plants can be grown in any number of contraptions and environments…they just need some water and a nutrient source.

Does this sound familiar? Sounds almost like a pond to me!

Nowadays, it’s getting quite common to hear about people building a hydroponic system that use a fish pond or holding tank as the complete nutrient source. You feed the fish a good healthy diet, and they in turn will feed the plants with their waste. And like any good aquatic plant, in return, the plants will clean the water and keep it healthy for the fish!

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Don’t Do This When Winterizing Your Small Pond

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For the water garden or small pond owner, plants, meaning desirable plants can be a very good thing. They’re natural of course, and along with adding a natural appearance to a pond, they also do a lot of other good things. If you want to ward off algae, certain plants like lilies or hyacinths can … Read more

Can You Spot Treat Pond Algae?

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Filamentous algae06

Here’s another good question from the old Pond Q&A mailbag and I think it can be applied to just about any size of pond, even though in this particular case the question was about a 3 acre pond.

The gentleman described his situation as having some reasonably heavy string algae around the perimeter of the pond and wondered what he could do about it.  He wanted me to put all the options on the table so to speak and so I did that, and I admit, I hedged a bit on the fact that the pond was so big and that if costs where a consideration, I’d try to include some reasonably affordable options too.

After sending the email out however I began to realize that I may not have talked about this much on the blog and so today, it’s a good opportunity to cover it.

So, when is it a good idea to spot treat an algae bloom?  When does it makes sense, versus treating the entire pond? Or do you always have to treat all of the pond to get a good effect?

And my answer, definitive as it may be is…it depends.

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Nitrate Levels And Your Pond – One Example From Iowa

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7 5 11 flooded field

Whenever we talk about pond algae and pond algae control, there are a few things we almost always focus on.  One of those things is nutrients that feed the plant growth.  Of course, these same nutrients feed other plants too, but by and large, it’s the free-floating plants that get the most of it.  This includes algae of course, but also duckweed and watermeal too.

Interestingly, a recent MSN article out of Iowa discussed a current, state-wide situation there where one of these types of nutrients, nitrates to be precise, is affecting the drinking water in the state.  I’ll include a link at the bottom of this article to that one so you can look it over.

In a nutshell, it provides an interesting example of the way weather can affect our ponds and waterways, and how some of the things we do around these aquatic environments affect them as well.  

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UV Clarifiers And Sterilizers For Your Green Water Problem

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Planktonic algae02

Green water in a pond is one stubborn critter sometimes.  

It’s not really unusual to have this type of pond algae crop up and bloom once the days get a little warmer and sun shines a bit brighter in the spring or summer.  And unfortunately for the small pond owner who’s plagued by it, their first reaction is often to drain all the water out of the pond, clean things up and then start over.  But that’s not usually a good idea because the green water usually comes back very quickly.

Green water is caused by many individual single cell algae of various species.  They tend be very quick to bloom and multiply and they respond very favorably to sun exposure.  The rays of light really ramp them up.  

So I guess the next question is, are there better options than draining the pond and starting over?  You bet there is, and we’ll cover a few good ways to deal with this type of algae right here.

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