1. Predators will eat all of your fish!
There is a constant fear in the water gardening
community that raccoons & other four-legged predators will go swimming in
your pond, & while they're in there, they'll help themselves
to some of your prize koi, shubunkin, or goldfish. When you go
out to your pond in the morning and discover you're missing a fish
or two, it is very tempting to blame it on such critters, especially
if you didn't see it happen. There has to be a reasonable explanation,
and predators are as good as any right?
However, take the following facts into consideration before you
jump to any conclusions. Raccoons generally will not swim. That's
not to say they never swim, or couldn't stand on the side of your
pond and take a paw swipe or two at your fish. Fortunately, most
fish will swim to a deeper, more protected part of the pond when
a predator is threatening them.
The one predator with legitimate credentials is the blue heron.
These tall, long-legged, big-beaked birds can easily wade into
your pond, help themselves to any fish they think look tasty, and
fly away with their bellies full. They are a protected species,
so they are off-limits if you're thinking about taking revenge
on them. However, a scarecrow, a motion-sensing sprinkler that
can be set up alongside your pond, ready to fire a steady stream
of water at a heron, had had some degree of success in warding
off these curious critters. It's a good idea to move the sprinkler
often though, to keep them guessing.
Giving your fish a place to hide dramatically helps their odds
of survival. Plenty of lily pads give them some protection and
will work to minimize attracting a heron in the first place. Other
protection measures include a cave-like structure that can be built
in during the pond's excavation, or if you already have a pond,
they can be added with a little pond remodeling.
Rocks are essential in creating these hiding places in your pond.
Crevices, or miniature caves, can be created within the rock walls
of your pond.
The possibility of pond predators seeking out your pond is, indeed,
a valid concern in terms of the safety of your pond's inhabitants,
but the possibility shouldn't be a reason to avoid building a pond.
2. The Presence of rocks and gravel make it difficult
to clean your pond.
You are susceptible to buying into this myth
if, and only if, you've never experienced pondering with rocks
and gravel in your pond.
If you have a smooth-bottom pond, and each season you're amazed
at the amount of much and grime that collects on the bottom,
you automatically rule out rocks as a solution. You keep visualizing
that same amount of muck on top of the rocks and gravel and say, “NO!†to
even considering them. It's understandable. It seems logical...
until you learn the rest of the story.
Rocks and gravel offer a natural place for aerobic bacteria to
colonize and set up housekeeping. This bacteria breaks down the
fish waste and debris that would otherwise accumulate in the pond
and turn into sludge. Regardless of your pond's location (i.e.
close to trees and loads of leaves), or how many fish you have
in it, you'll find that having rocks and gravel in your pond not
only makes it look better, but makes it healthier as well.
So contrary to the myth, having rocks and gravel on the bottom
of your pond actually allows Mother Nature to clean up after herself,
saving you headaches and hours of work trying to keep the bottom
of your pond muck-free.
3. UV Lights such as those in the UltraKlear
UVC are the best way to keep your pond water clear.
UV Clarifiers are one of the ways to keep your
pond water clear, but certainly not the only way, and arguable
not the natural way.
The fact of the matter is that if you have a pond that's naturally
balanced, in which the aquatic circle of life is rotating the
way that Mother Nature intended, you don't need UVC at all. In
this
naturalistic setting, the fish eat the plants, then produce waste
that gets broken down (along with other pond debris) by aerobic
bacteria that's colonized on the rocks and gravel below, and
then it's taken back up as nutrition by the plants, continuing
the cycle.
A naturally balanced pond is a low maintenance pond because Mother
Nature is doing the maintenance work for you. Pretty good deal,
don't you think?
There are several drawbacks to the UV solution though. First,
no matter how intense, UV clarifiers don't affect string algae
at all, and so this problem is not addressed. Secondly, after the
regular algae is kicked, it generally falls to the bottom of the
pond, biodegrades, and provides another wave of nutrition for another
(often larger) algae bloom. It you're not careful, it's easy to
encourage larger cycles of algae blooms by using a UVC. If your
pond in unbalanced, the choices are minimal. The third, and most
obvious drawback is that a UVC isn't cheap, and the bulbs usually
require replacement every season.
4. Your pond must be at least three-feet deep
in order to keep koi.
There are thousands of two-foot deep ponds around
the country, full of happy and healthy koi. A common myth is that
ponds must
be built at least 3-feet deep, especially if they contain koi
and or are located in a colder climate. You see, the water
in a two- foot deep pond will generally only freeze eight inches
down, even in the coldest of climates, because of the insulating
qualities of the earth that surrounds the pond.
5. Koi cannot be kept in a pond that also contains
plants.
In a naturally balanced ecosystem, koi and plants
complement and
need one another. In nature, fish feed on plants. As a result,
the fish produce waste, which is broken down by aerobic bacteria
on the bottom of your pond, which, in turn, is used as fertilizer
by the plants to grow and produce more natural fish food. It's
known as the circle of life, and to imply that koi and plants
shouldn't co-exist is to ignore nature.
6. You have to bring your fish inside for the
winter.
Fish do find during the coldest of winters as
long as you give them two feet of water to swim in, oxygenate the
water, and keep
a hole in the ice with a bubbler, allowing the naturally produced
gasses to escape from under the ice.
Otherwise, you let Mother Nature do the rest. The fish will spend
the entire Winter hibernating at the bottom of the pond and then
they will slowly wake up as the water warms in the spring.
7. Your pond water must be tested
on a daily basis.
This myth comes from the aquarium
industry and it has a lot to
do with the fact that an aquarium is a much smaller body of
water and the small size makes it more difficult to balance. Mother
Nature never tests her water, and her ecosystem does just fine.
A well-conceived, naturally balanced water garden normally
requires
no testing either.
8. A pond in your backyard means
you will have a lot of mosquitoes.
Mosquitoes will generally only lay their eggs in still, stagnant
water. If the mosquitoes happen to lay eggs in your pond and the
mosquito larvae hatch, the fish in your pond will consider them
a treat and will pick them off the water's surface with great enthusiasm.
A properly designed pond will turn over all the water at least
once per hour, so then your skimmer will sweep up whatever the
fish miss.
9. You cannot have a pond in an
area where there are a lot of trees.
In nature, ponds and trees go together
like ham and eggs on a breakfast
table. Yes, you will have more leaves in your pond in the fall
but, by the same token, the shade provided by the tree(s) will
help minimize the algae bloom in the summer. Furthermore, if
you have a skimmer sucking the top quarter inch of water off
the top of your pond, it will pull most of the leaves and related
debris into an awaiting net. This takes about 30 seconds to
empty, and it can be a daily task in the fall if your pond is close
to trees. Add it all up and it's a trade-off that most full-sun
water gardeners would love to have! So don't worry about trees
and ponds. They're fine.
10. You can't have koi in a pond
that also has rocks and gravel.
Koi are actually just a fancy variety
of carp, and all carp are
bottom feeders. They love to swim along the bottom and scavenge
everything that is available on and in-between the rocks. In
nature, it's not uncommon to find ponds, lakes, or rivers with
rocks on the bottom. It's more like their natural environment
than an exposed rubber liner, so why even think about doing
battle with Mother Nature?
11. It's OK to use chemicals in
your pond.
This one comes from the swimming
pool industry. If chlorine is
good for humans in the local swimming pool, then chemicals
must be okay for fish and the plants in the pond. Products like
algaecide(copper
sulfate), dechlorinator (sodium thiosulfate), and the fish
antibiotics are commonly used as quick-fix solutions to balance
related problems.
The general public can be misled by these algaecide's because
of their quick results. However much like the UVC's that we
discussed above, they may initially kill algae, but it then drops
to the
bottom of the pond, biodegrades, and provides another wave
of nutrition for another & often larger algae bloom. In the
end, your best bet is to attack the root cause of the problem
and make sure that you have a naturally balanced pond that allows
Mother Nature to take care of all the maintenance issues.
12. Having a pond
may decrease the value of your home!
Everyone knows when it comes to
the resale value of your home,
a swimming pool can be deadly. However, in the opinion of some
real estate agents, ponds can be a great addition to your home
that might even pay dividends. With water features becoming
more and more popular, you can bet that the demand for them will
get
even bigger!
13. I have liability or safety concerns!
It's natural to have these thoughts
and concerns, but it is important to remember that a professionally
installed water garden has
steps leading into the pond. The first shelf is only ankle high
once the gravel is laid down. The next shelf is up to your knee,
while the smallest areas in the bottom are just above your knee,
so it is not constructed like a swimming pool. We do recommend
that you make your neighbors aware of the water garden and educate
your own children, friends & family about the safety of any
body of water.
14. I want my pond located in the
lowest part of my yard!
It makes sense to have your water
garden in this area because it
already collects water, however this is probably the worst
location for your investment because of the run-off that can creep
it's
way into your pond. Ask yourself this, “Do
I really want my pond located on the opposite end of my property?
Do I really want to miss the sights, sounds, and interactive
nature my pond will present everyday?†When
it's positioned near your house, you can take in the beauty and
tranquility of your pond when entertaining friends or lounging
on your deck!
15. You can use
a timer on your pond!
Not True! Your pond is a living,
breathing ecosystem that needs constant oxygen, just like the human
race. If you shut your system
down at night, then you can never have sufficient growth of
beneficial bacteria to fight algae blooms, and your finned friends
will
have a hard time breathing!
16. It is necessary
to drain and clean your pond regularly.
The reality is, if you fail to
set your system up using the five-part
recipe so that it's working in harmony with Mother Nature,
then you'll be asking for a lot of related problems that may require
you to drain and clean your pond out on a regular basis. On
the
other hand, if you decide to work in harmony with Mother Nature
instead of doing battle with Her, then draining and cleaning
your pond should only take place one a year (at most). Cleanouts
should occur in the spring, before the weather gets warm & the
bacteria has an opportunity to set up.
17. Bottom drains work best if you
have koi.
The claim by many koi keepers is
that the water will lack sufficient
oxygen at the lower levels, and this insufficiency can be detrimental
to your koi. The real fact is that if you avoid making your
pond any deeper than two feet, there is very little difference
in
the oxygen levels at the surface and at the bottom of the pond.
The problem with the bottom drains is that they have a tendency
to promote leaks.
18. The more filtration, the better
the pond.
Believe it or not, you can over-filter
a pond. That's right. Tight
filter pads in your skimmer pick up the smallest particles
of debris, causing you to be cleaning the filtering mechanism out
constantly. Now remember, we're not talking about drinking
water
here. What we are talking about is water clarity and water
that's healthy for your fish. Fish in the wild certainly don't
swim
around in bottled water. If you can see a dime on the bottom
of the pond, then the water clarity is just right for your
fish and filtering past that is overkill and will create headaches,
not eliminate them.
19. You can't be a koi hobbyist
and a water gardener.
Not true! You can raise koi and
have a beautiful water garden. There are koi hobbyists who have
perfectly balanced pond ecosystems
with no chemicals, no sterilization, and a nice assortment
of plants. The koi can grow up to be just as beautiful and
just as healthy as they are in traditional koi ponds - and you'll
love them just as much!
20. High Tech is the solution to
controlling Mother Nature.
More than anything else, being
observant and learning from Mother
Nature is what it takes to be a water gardener. Whatever She
does naturally is what you should be doing in your pond. Whatever
She doesn't do is what you should be avoiding in your pond.
If there is a Golden Rule of pondering, it is Not to Mess with
Mother
Nature because you'll lose!
