Pond Fountain Info

Bacteria are an essential component in breaking fish waste and decomposing organic. This process is part of the Nitrogen Cycle we kind of learned about in high school. As the organics break down they form ammonia. Ammonia is toxic to the fish. One group of bacteria breakdown the ammonia into nitrites: which are also toxic if they build up. Another group of bacteria breaks the nitrites into nitrates. These nitrates are not toxic and are available to plants

For more information about Pond and Fountain Pros, please check out our website at Pond and Fountain Pros.

Thank you!

Jim Wilder

# posted by Jim Wilder @ 9:34 AM 0 comments

Besides adding bacteria to the pond, the most important maintenance is to prevent, or remove, organic debris from the pond. This may include trimming vegetation, deadheading (removing dead flowers and leaves) and removing the debris from the bottom of the pond with a net. This is why we put in skimmers that collect 95% of the floating matter that falls into the pond. Regardless of what kind of filter you have, submersible or out-of-pond, you will have to clean it. It can be very messy to clean a submersible filter so we prefer an out-of-pond filter especially if it has a backwash valve.

For more information about Pond and Fountain Pros, please check out our website at Pond and Fountain Pros.

Thank you!

Jim Wilder

# posted by Jim Wilder @ 9:31 AM 0 comments

MAINTENANC

37. My wife says I don’t have the personality to keep up the maintenance on a pond. How much maintenance is there with a pond?

Some of my best business decisions were to walk away from two types of potential pond owners. When I go to look at a backyard and see that nothing is being maintained, I automatically raise my bid, by a lot. If they don’t take of anything else, why would I expect them to take care of a pond? If the pond is not maintained it is bad advertising for the industry and me. Also, I would expect a lot of callbacks because ‘the equipment must not be working properly’ because the water is green when, in fact, they haven’t done a thing to the pond for 4 months. I don’t need the headache.

The second types of people I try to avoid are those who cannot accept any dirt, anywhere, any time. A pond, by its nature, has dirt. If someone can’t handle seeing any dirt, they should not have a pond. It will drive them, and me, crazy. See previous question.

Pond maintenance includes removing fallen leaves, cleaning the filter, adding bacteria and occasional (yearly) draining and cleaning. Also, plants need to be maintained. Other questions address pond maintenance in more depth.

For more information about Pond and Fountain Pros, please checke out our website at Pond and Fountain Pros.

Thank you!

Jim Wilder

# posted by Jim Wilder @ 9:34 AM 0 comments

I have a construction background and do not profess to know all about water chemistry. Water chemistry is very complicated and varies with season, locale and many other factors. The three things alga needs to grow are nutrients, sunlight and temperature. Talk with knowledgeable shop owners and other pond owners.

For more information about Pond and Fountain Pros, please ckeck out our website at Pond and Fountain Pros.

Thank you!

Jim Wilder

# posted by Jim Wilder @ 10:11 AM 0 comments