General Pond Stuff

When Pond Dye Makes Sense

blue pond dye There 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?

A Brand New Look For Our Old Pond Blog

By Mark Leave a Comment

If you’re a long time reader of our Pond Blog here, you’ll likely notice that things a look a little different today.

Yes, it’s true, we’ve done a little revamping here and wanted to improve a few things on the site with the hope that it will be easier for you to find the articles and tips you’re looking for, and make it a bit easier to stay connected with each other.

Just to be clear, we haven’t changed any of the content. Everything you’re used to seeing or have read before is still in place and of course we’ll keep adding to this information as we go along. It’s just that the look will be different than what you’re probably used to.

We hope you like what we’ve done here and if you have any questions at all, just let us know…as always we’ll try to be of help with your pond!

Pond Aeration Using Solar Power

By Mark Leave a Comment

Solarpanel

Can I use solar power to run my pond aerator?

It’s a question that’s coming up more and more often. And I have to admit that I’d be asking the same question myself if I were in your shoes. Solar just makes a lot of sense when it comes to running something like pond aeration, at least on paper.

There are small pond fountains, in particular, that are running off solar, but what we’re talking about here is the concept of powering a large pond aeration system.

I’m not intimately familiar with all things solar and I wouldn’t consider myself and expert on the technology at all but I do have a few tips to share with you on the subject here.

I’m very pro-solar and admire the people who end up powering part or all of their home appliances with help from the sun. It’s a grand, eco-friendly idea and I hope that legislators and the powers that be will make this way of producing energy more affordable and accessible for everyone.

In terms of running a pond aerator with solar power, it’s certainly possible to do it. But there are some challenges to it and I wanted to address those below.

Dosing The BioSphere Pro Correctly

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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.

Can Acid Rain Affect Your Pond?

By Mark Leave a Comment

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?

Pond Air Pumps – How Different Designs Work Best

By Mark Leave a Comment

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.