Outdoor Fish Ponds – Thoughts About This Past Year
These are just some random thoughts about outdoor fish ponds and some things I experienced over the past year. Hopefully they can give you some insight into your own backyard pond.
The longer you have a pond, the more established it gets. Let me explain. When you first put in a pond, everything is new. The liner, the stones, the plants and flowers, etc. As your pond gets established, things settle in, things sorta grow into each other, giving it a more natural look to it. You’ll see what I mean as the years go by.
Your pond supplies and equipment should last you for many years. I had to replace one of my original pond pumps that I had for almost 15 years. It was a Mag Drive Pump made by Pondmaster. It was like the energizer bunny, it just kept running and running year after year. If you’re in the market for a good water pump, I highly recommend a Mag Drive.
During this past year, late spring, early summer, we lost quite a few fish, if I remember right they were all Comets and one of our big Koi.. They all looked perfectly healthy, but for a stretch of about 2 weeks, we would find a fish or two floating. The only thing that we could think of that could possibly cause this was for the first time we hired a lawn service to fertilize our yard. We think maybe some of the fertilizer got into the pond and killed the fish. My wife drained about half the pond and replaced it with new fresh water. The fish have been fine ever since.
The pond plants and the flowers around the pond really flourished this year. By the middle of August we were throwing Lettuce and Water Hyacinths out on a weekly basis because they were taking over the pond. They really grew fast.
Important note about leaves in the fall. You want to try and keep them out of your fish pond. They’re not good for the water or the fish. We use a net while the leaves are falling and take it off when they’re done. Saves you the trouble of scooping them out with a net. Keep it in mind for next year.
As far as the winter goes. It’s a good idea to keep a small hole when the ice starts to cover your pond. This allows any gases to escape and thus keeping your fish safe.
I hope all of you have a great 2010. Thanks for stopping by and be sure to visit my main site Backyard-Pond-Guide.com to learn more about outdoor fish ponds.
Having an outdoor fish pond will bring you years of enjoyment.
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