Question: How can I keep ponds clean?

Answer: You can keep ponds clean by adding good, healthy pond plants – these will help your ponds naturally filter the water. Additionally, ponds with fountains or trickling streams are self-cleaning because the moving water helps oxygenate the water, which in turn helps to reduce/eliminate ammonia that would otherwise create very poor conditions for fish. And ponds where water naturally drains out at one end also self-clean because they don’t stagnate (and were already mentioned above).

Question: How do I prevent my ponds from becoming overcrowded?

Answer: Fish numbers should be controlled so once there are too many fish for a particular pond to hold, ponds should be split up into more ponds. This prevents overcrowding problems that can lead to poor water quality and sometimes really odd behavior (i.e., fish killing each other)…

Question: How do I know if my ponds are overpopulated?

Answer: There is no set rule for how many fish or other aquatic creatures you can keep in a pond, so there isn’t any one way of knowing when ponds are overcrowded. Generally speaking though, the bigger your ponds are (and especially if they’re deeper) the more fish you can put into them; plus ponds with layered terraces will hold more than ponds without; plus ponds that have lots of plants growing in them will hold more than ponds that don’t; plus ponds that are more exposed to sunlight will hold more than ponds where light can’t penetrate very well/at all.

Question: Can ponds be placed in the shade?

Answer: Ponds can be situated in direct sunlight, but they work best when they are covered with some type of floating plant cover, especially if you live in an area where there’s lots of wind or physical disturbance (e.g., cattails) that could damage pond plants. However, ponds that are shaded tend to have less algae problems because algae growth is dependent on both nutrients and sunlight…

Question: How do I keep my fish alive during the winter months?

Answer: Keep them indoors! Yes, many fish can be kept indoors throughout the winter months because ponds can be drained, covered, or turned off so they don’t freeze. In fact, thousands of ponds in Canada and the United States are completely submerged underwater year-round! However, ponds should never be drained during dry seasons because ponds need rain to replenish what’s been lost. [In other words], ponds must always have a source of water that flows into them even if they aren’t being used throughout winter…

Question: What happens when I add too many fish to my pond?

Answer: Fish will eat each other if their environment is poorly balanced! For example, fish have an instinct to kill whoevers’ closest to them (i.e., it’s called territorial aggression). If you keep adding more fish to ponds with too little space, you risk overcrowding and overpopulating your ponds…

Question: When can I add more fish to my ponds?

Answer: You should only add new fish once the old ones have been eaten/removed from the ponds! Why? Well, again, it’s all about creating a nice habitat that is balanced in terms of nutrients (i.e., ammonia and nitrite) and oxygen — basically keeping water conditions healthy enough for both fish and plants. If you introduce new fish into ponds where there’s already too many, they’ll eat each other or die due to bad water quality! [In short], don’t add more than 10% of total biomass per year because without food/predators ponds don’t have a natural balancing mechanism to maintain healthy ponds…

Question: How many fish can I add to my ponds each year?

Answer: You can’t add more than 10% of total biomass/per year! Why? Well, again, it’s all about creating a nice habitat that is balanced in terms of nutrients (i.e., ammonia and nitrite) and oxygen — basically keeping water conditions healthy enough for both fish and plants. If you introduce new fish into ponds where there’s already too many, they’ll eat each other or die due to bad water quality! [In short], don’t add more than 10% of total biomass per year because without food/predators ponds don’t have a natural balancing mechanism to maintain healthy ponds…

Question: How do I find out if my ponds are balanced?

Answer: There’s no real way to know, but the key is to keep things balanced! This means you need to have plants in your ponds because they help by absorbing nutrients. Reduce feeding fish so that they don’t create more waste. Make sure ponds are big enough for fish and plants (i.e., at least 2m deep or 3m wide) with lots of places for hiding, resting, and breeding…

Question: What kind of plants should I add to my ponds?

Answer: The best plants are ones that grow on the water! But, there are also many other types of plants you can use, like cattails, cattails, and papyrus. Plants like lilies and lotuses need to be anchored in ponds because they have heavy roots, while other plants float on the ponds’ surfaces. The best setup is a pond with floating plants that cover 60-70% of the surface area!

Question: Why do ponds need bacteria?

Answer: That’s because ponds need more than just anaerobic (i.e., no oxygen) bacteria to break down waste — they also rely on aerobic (i.e., lots of oxygen) bacteria too…all the time! The reason ponds become unbalanced is when there’s too much ammonia and nitrite in ponds for good bacteria to handle. These ponds must be balanced so that there are enough good bacteria (e.g., heterotrophic bacteria) to break down ammonia and nitrite into less harmful forms of nitrogen…and this happens naturally through ponds’ sediment, soil, and plants.

Question: How can I turn my ponds from acidic to alkaline?Answer: To turn ponds from acidic to alkaline (e.g., ponds with a pH of 5.5 or lower), you’ll need to add lots of limestone chips and/or [other] rocks [which contain calcium carbonate]! You can also use cottonseed meal, cottonseed hulls, and cottonseed bran…because all three contain lots of potash which is important in ponds.

Question: Can I add leaves, wood, and other organic matter into my ponds?

Answer: No — only dead leaves and grass that is brown or wilted will sink in ponds because it has already begun transforming into the soil. Too much organic matter will cause your ponds to be unbalanced by causing water quality issues and introducing diseases.

Question: Are ponds easy to manage?

Answer: Managing ponds isn’t difficult once you learn the basics of pond balance and how ponds work — but it is hard to maintain ponds with poor water quality! You need to reduce feeding fish so that they don’t create more waste…and get rid of excessive plants because too many will cause problems for ponds. Also, avoid putting leaves, wood, and other organic matter into ponds too because this causes unbalances by creating huge amounts of nutrient pollution!

Question: What kind of wildlife ponds do you recommend?

Answer: If you want to attract ducks, waterfowl, and other birds to ponds, make sure ponds have clean, fresh water with lots of underwater vegetation (e.g., cattails, cardinal flower) for hiding and nesting. A large pond is best because it provides more space for different habitats where fish, frogs, and turtles will hide during the day. Underwater structures like logs or rocks are great too because they provide places for fish to rest on. You’ll also need a wetland area (i.e., delta) for water to drain into ponds…and ponds should be in sunny areas with lots of vegetation because birds like to eat insects that live along ponds’ edges.

Question: Do ponds need plants?

Answer: The best plants for ponds are the ones that grow the fastest (e.g., iris), but you can also plant floating plants like duckweed, chickweed, and hyacinth if you don’t want your ponds too crowded by fast-growing plants!

Question: What size pond should I get?

Answer: When it comes to ponds, bigger is better because smaller ponds can have problems with fish diseases due to overcrowding. If you’re thinking about getting a big pond or lake for wildlife, just remember that ponds should have places for fish to hide because ponds with no hiding places will stress out fish, and ponds in sunny locations can get too hot for them.

Question: How many ponds should I have?

Answer: You should have at least three ponds or small lakes of equal size if you want a healthy, balanced ecosystem. If ponds are the same size, one pond will produce lots of algae that provide food for fish which serves as a buffer between ponds. In contrast, ponds that are of different sizes won’t be able to balance out each other…and ponds without algae production will experience more issues.

Question: How do ponds work?

Answer: It’s easy! Ponds can be filled with water from a pond liner, garden hose, or rain. The first ponds were just holes in the ground that filled up with rainwater…and ponds still work this way today! When ponds fill up with water, heavy stones hold ponds down so they don’t float away. Then ponds have natural filters to help remove impurities from ponds like dirt or leaves…but you’ll want to add things like bacteria and gravel too because these will help clean ponds by accelerating processes like nutrient cycling and filtration! In addition, fish eat plant material that falls into ponds which helps keep it clean too.

Question: Do I need a pump for my ponds?

Answer: You don’t necessarily need a pump for ponds, but pumps help circulate water which creates better ponds. Circulating air and water can be very helpful because it brings oxygen to fish and nutrients to plants…but ponds with no circulation will lack oxygen and become nutrient-poor (e.g., ponds with lots of algae tend to have poor water quality). If you want ponds that are aesthetically pleasing too then ponds should be at least one foot deep, and ponds with running water tend to look nicer than ponds without moving water!

Question: What is the difference between natural and artificial ponds?

Answer: Natural ponds are filled by rain or overflow while traditional koi ponds use an electric pump, garden hose, or pond liner to fill ponds. Natural ponds are supplied by natural decomposers for nutrients, while most ponds have to be supplemented with fertilizer…and ponds without fertilizers will have lots of algae which is great for ponds because it helps clean water! Of course, natural ponds also have plants and other things that grow in them whereas artificial ponds only ever had rocks and fish.

Question: How do I change ponds?

Answer: You should pour old pond water into new ponds to slowly acclimate fish and other aquatic life to changes in their environment. If you’re just changing the location of your pond then the process is easy because there’s no need to add more bacteria or gravel if they were already present in your original pond…but if you want a new type of plant and fish then you’ll need to add bacteria and gravel because ponds don’t just change on their own!

Question: How do ponds work?

Answer: It’s easy! Ponds can be filled with water from a pond liner, garden hose, or rain. The first ponds were just holes in the ground that filled up with rainwater…and ponds still work this way today! When ponds fill up with water, heavy stones hold ponds down so they don’t float away. Then ponds have natural filters to help remove impurities from ponds like dirt or leaves…but you’ll want to add things like bacteria and gravel too because these will help clean ponds by accelerating processes like nutrient cycling and filtration! In addition, fish eat plant material that falls into ponds which helps keep it clean too!

Question: Do I need a pump for my ponds?

Answer: You don’t necessarily need a pump for ponds, but pumps help circulate water which creates better ponds. Circulating air and water can be very helpful because it brings oxygen to fish and nutrients to plants…but ponds with no circulation will lack oxygen and become nutrient-poor (e.g., ponds with lots of algae tend to have poor water quality). If you want ponds that are aesthetically pleasing too then ponds should be at least one foot deep, and ponds with running water tend to look nicer than ponds without moving water!

Question: What is the difference between natural and artificial ponds?

Answer: Natural ponds are filled by rain or overflow while traditional koi ponds use an electric pump, garden hose, or pond liner to fill ponds. Natural ponds are supplied by natural decomposers for nutrients, while most ponds have to be supplemented with fertilizer…and ponds without fertilizers will have lots of algae which is great for ponds because it helps clean water! Of course, natural ponds also have plants and other things that grow in them whereas artificial ponds only ever had rocks and fish!

Question: How do I change ponds?

Answer: You should pour old pond water into new ponds to slowly acclimate fish and other aquatic life to changes in their environment. If you’re just changing the location of your pond then the process is easy because there’s no need to add more bacteria or gravel if they were already present in your original pond…but if you want a new type of plant and fish then you’ll need to add bacteria and gravel because ponds don’t just change on their own!

Question: How do ponds work?

Answer: It’s easy! Ponds can be filled with water from a pond liner, garden hose, or rain. The first ponds were just holes in the ground that filled up with rainwater…and ponds still work this way today! When ponds fill up with water, heavy stones hold ponds down so they don’t float away. Then ponds have natural filters to help remove impurities from ponds like dirt or leaves…but you’ll want to add things like bacteria and gravel too because these will help clean ponds by accelerating processes like nutrient cycling and filtration! In addition, fish eat plant material that falls into ponds which helps keep it clean too!

Question: What is the difference between natural ponds?

Answer: Natural ponds are filled by rain or overflow while traditional koi ponds use an electric pump, garden hose, or pond liner to fill ponds. Natural ponds are supplied by natural decomposers for nutrients, while most ponds have to be supplemented with fertilizer…and ponds without fertilizers will have lots of algae which is great for ponds because it helps clean water! Of course, natural ponds also have plants and other things that grow in them whereas artificial ponds only ever had rocks and fish!