Small Ponds

Advice for small pond owners

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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A Leading Cause Of Algae In Fish Ponds

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As far as small fish ponds go, pond algae is a pretty common problem. In truth, you don’t necessarily need fish to have algae issues but there’s no question that our finned friends add another dimension into a water garden that may promote the growth of algae. I say “may” because you can’t correlate fish and algae blooms 100% of the time. Nevertheless, the two go together often enough to encourage us to look into the reasons why.

There’s good news here too because for the most part, as the pond owner, you can control most of these things in one way or another and that means you have a direct influence on these frustrating algae outbreaks.

How Many Fish Is Too Many?

This is what I call the “sardine can effect” and it comes from watching my father-in-law snack on sardines and crackers. Have you ever noticed how many fish are crammed into that tiny metal canister? It ain’t pretty.

Believe it or not, a similar, although less dramatic event can happen in a small pond. Every pond, no matter it’s size, will only be able to safely hold so many fish. There are limits to everything. The overall gallon volume and size of the pond will be the first limiting factor.

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Keeping Your Koi And Other Pond Fish Healthy

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You know, there are days when I envy a fish. I never have been that good of a swimmer and it must be nice to just cruise around under water and enjoy your life. I have to admit though, I wouldn’t want to live in some ponds. They just aren’t very accomidating.

I’m not talking about a small pond with little bit of green water or a spiff of string algae in a few spots. It’s the things you can’t usually see that will kill you. As a pond owner, and a fish care giver (sorry I can’t think of a better description at the moment) it’s important to know how to keep your fish healthy, and in simple terms, that often comes down to keeping their home, i.e. water in a healthy condition as well.

Let me say that again…healthy water usually equals healthy fish.

So let me leave you with a few fish friendly tips for healthy pond management.

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How To Tell If Your Beneficial Pond Bacteria Is Depleted

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Beneficial bacteria for ponds is impossible to see with the naked eye. These little good bugs do a lot to help keep a pond cleaner and clearer, and we owe a lot of thanks to Mother Nature for giving us the head’s up on just what these microbes can do.

In ponds that are naturally clear, it’s a pretty good bet that good bacteria is playing it’s part in the equation. Without it, the pond bottom will accumulate stuff to the point where you’ll end up with a lot of muck or sludge, and water quality problems, like algae, will start to develop out.

But beyond the obvious issues that come from poor bacterial performance, we often get the question…”How can I tell if my pond bacteria is depleted?” It’s a good one to ask, but a bit tougher to answer, but I’ll try to do justice to the question below. Namely, I want to discuss how pond bacteria can be damaged, diminished, or wiped out due to some simple pond management mistakes.

In all man-made ponds and particularly those you’ll find in the backyard, it’s long been suggested to add some beneficial bacteria to the water once a pond is started up. This goes for new installations and for upstart ponds that are coming off a long winter season of little to no activity.

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Running A Marathon With A Bag Over Your Head

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Can I be honest. I’m not a fan of running in the first place.

Yes, it’s true that if something bigger and meaner than me is in pursuit, I’ll run fairly quick, but that’s about it.

Needless to say I’m not into marathons either. For those of you that are, I applaud your efforts because anyone can certainly understand that running 26 miles, all in one attempt, takes true endurance and stamina, oh and a bit of determination too.

Now just for the sake of discussion, how do you think you would perform with a plastic bag over your head?

If it’s sealed reasonably well at the bottom, and has no leaks (or as I call them, cheater holes) my best bet is you won’t get very far at all. Try as you might, you’ll probably drop in the first 1/4 mile and if you don’t, you’ll certainly be struggling along as if you were dragging an elephant by the tail. Suffice it to say, you won’t finish. But YOU might be finished when all is said and done.

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Updated Information For The Laguna Pond Aerator

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We’ve recently gotten several questions related to the Laguna Small Pond Aerator that we wanted to address here. First, since the unit is intended to be used to help keep ice from forming on the surface of a pond the question came up about cold weather operations and winter use. The Laguna will work well … Read more