Materials & Equipment

POND HEALTH AND THE TECHNOLOGICAL SAFETY NET: beginners guide to the myriad of filters, biological filters, ultra violet  clarifiers, bubble bead filters, skimmers and protein skimmers etc.

The picture above demonstrates in a simple form the natural cycle of
organic substances (represented by the red arrows) being broken down in a pond with a biological
filter. This is called the Nitrogen cycle and in this case
demonstrates in particular what happens to fish food as it is digested
first by the fish and then the resulting faeces are then processed by
bacteria in the filter medium. The cartoon is one that featured in 'The Perfect Pond Detective Book 1: The biological balance' by Peter May, available from this site.

Biological filtration:

is a method of removing detritus/muck, organic compounds and specifically ammonia and nitrites from pond water by pumping pond water into a container and straining it through various foams, meshes or filtration media in which there is an established population of specific bacteria. These bacteria need plenty of oxygen to survive and they use it to digest organic compounds and a lot of the sediment that would otherwise lie decomposing in the same way on the bottom of the pond, although much more slowly. For small ponds there are two basic types of designs of filter that are built to work like this: Gravity filters and Pressure filters. 

UVCs or Ultraviolet Clarifiers are capable of making green pond water clear, but they do not make it clean. Without the help of a biological filter or a very healthy pond, UVCs used on their own are just making the ingredients for a pond polluting time bomb.

The term Ultraviolet Clarifier applies to a piece of pond equipment used to the green free floating microscopic that make fish pond water green. The unit is usually fitted on the hose line between the pump in the pond and before it enters a biological filtration unit. The water is pumped from the pond through the unit which contains an Ultraviolet lamp. The water is circulated around the lamp bulb and then proceeds on to the filtration unit. The effect this has on the water is that any algae present are severely damaged. It also causes the individual cells of algae to clump together and thus they are more easily filtered out of the water in the biological filtration medium and then digested by the bacteria that inhabit it.

If you have noticed foam forming around the bottom of the waterfall or in the biological filter, it may be a sign that the new pond and filtration system is not fully functional yet, but if has been lingering around for some time it may be indicative of larger problem serious enough to cause the death of your fish. A protein skimmer may be an expensive but it will be a sure-fire piece kit that helps you avoid  anything like this being a problem.

DOCs (Dissolved Organic Matter) the bane of the serious fishkeeper

As winter approaches and water temperatures cool, the seasonal change will exacerbate the problem that foam on the pond may be indicative of. One contributing factor may be excessive runoff from surrounding flowerbeds of soil sediment or accumulated debris around the pond, also trees shedding their leaves into the pond. Certain species like yew, oak, willow and elder can be particularly toxic, but also some innocuous small leaved types of Acer, although not toxic in themselves, break down very rapidly and can add quite a bit of organic matter to the water, which to a certain extent dissolves in it quite quickly. This organic matter is referred to with dread by Koi keepers as DOCs, 'dissolved organic compounds'. These are already present in the dampness of the soil and so can create an instant foam as soon as it splashes in.

OK, if you think pond skimmers are so important, what are they and why didn't someone tried to sell me one when I bought all the other kit for the pond?

Most ponds are in gardens and gardens have plants and shrubs and trees in them. These produce all manner of debris and detritus. In the Autumn you can cover your pond with a net to stop leaves from blowing in, but even so you will only stop the majority of leaves. Many hundreds of leaves will find their way in early or late on either before or after or under the net, despite any strict adherence to the mantra to make the pond site away from trees. The Oase Floating Lake SkimmerBesides there are hundreds of successful ponds that have only been properly landscaped into place when they have a ruffle of trees and shrubs around them. In spring and summer, pollen and flowers blow off the trees and in very late spring many evergreen shrubs and trees have a fall that sheds many of the old their old tired leaves.

If you had a swimming pool you would have a skimmer system built into the side of the pool sucking in the water and collecting all the floating debris on the pond before it sinks to the bottom. You folks iThe Oase poolside skimmer of the swimming pool type.n the USA have been building this sort of skimmer into the side of your ponds for years and you cant understand why I'm bothering to make any bones about it. Well, here in the UK it has always been something that we thought we didn't have to bother with, besides it requires quite a bit of forethought and plannning and real engineering i.e. building. There has always been the excuse that we wanted to keep our ponds looking natural and besides the skimmers would suck up the tadpoles and goodness knows what. 

Well the news is that pondlife friendly skimmers have been around for a long time, and now , even if you had forgotten to put a skimmer in that's no problem any more. You can put one anywhere in the pond and hide it with plants or float it out in an unobtrusive spot. Some sit on the bottom of the pond and by linking up to your present pump can be adjusted to any height to reach the surface. The floating type have are generally self powered with their own little motor, but with these you not only get all the muck and the pollen sucked gently off the surface, you get a blast of oxygenating bubbles below the surface too. The floating types dont have to be permanently their either. You could just set them up for that shed of pollen that say comes from Lime trees in the spring, or petals from Cherry trees in May. Anything that helps delay the inevitable day of the big pond clean out, has to be worth its weight in gold.

Bubble Bead filters or Powerbead filters are particularly suitable for Koi, especially where the pond has become a little bit overcrowded as the stock has grown, to help give clear and above all healthy water. They have the ability to remove the tiniest particles of detritus that can be forever in free-floating motion and not necessarily filtered out of the water in normal biofilters removing specks down to 10microns, but their main purpose is the breakdown of the pollutants in the water.

MOVING WATER FEATURES

For those of you that have been fortunate enough to visit the sensationally atmospheric water gardens of the General Life at the Alhambra Palace in Granada, southern Spain, you will appreciate the extra dimension moving Chenies and Brian Tom produced these clattering birds at Hampton Court many moons ago.water lends to a Garden even if it just gently trickling. The Alhambra was the summer residence of the Moorish Islamic sultans of Granada. The gardens, designed for contemplation in serenity, are in fact a series of 'patios' through which the flow of water leads you. Water is never concealed and never still in Islamic gardens, busily moving from its source to the exit of the garden, refreshing the atmosphere and murmuring through the vaulted interiors.

For the Moors, the moving water and the fountain jets all had their significance and symbolism in the meaning of life. In the west moving water was later used in entertainment as in awesome loud gushing fountains or waterfalls or used in a 'theatre' to drive automata - or literally moving water features, perhaps creating sound and power for whistling chirping robot birds in a metal tree: natural power for technological innovation. These started in Italy and the fashion moved to France and many of the English landed aristocracy copied some of the ideas in theri grand gardens in England. The power to all these aquatic fantasies was derived from the 'head' of a reservior or lake from land much higher up on the estate piped down to the fountain or waterfall.

These days we have made certain moves 'back to nature' and try to create something of the natural world in our back gardens now that we are so far from it in our day-to-day existence. Instead of employing the natural resources of the countryside (i.e. lakes and flowing streams) to power the technology that illustrates our fantasies, we create a fantasy of nature powered by our modern technology.

POWER TO OUR FANTASY- ELECTRICAL SUPPLY TO THE PUMPS FOR GARDEN PONDS AND WATER FEATURES

A professionally installed electrical supply to a large pond and fountain installation: Note the trip switches and timers. There is also an automatic lighting for the display as dusk approaches.Whether we have in mind to create a fountain, a waterfall, a stream or even to pump pond water to a biological filtration unit,  I would suggest that the first thing to consider is the electrical power to the site. This should have been considered and planned for This was the fountain feature: It required three pumps capable of supplying 8,000 gallons per hour at ground level.before any part of the water garden project was started. Therefore having reached the waterfall/fountain installation or creation stage, there should already be a 13 amp armoured cable running to the side of the pool. This will have its own RCD trip and be on a separate circuit to the household electricity. OK? Good, I just like to make sure.
You will have planned as if you were going to include all the possible accessories and features even if it hadn't crossed your mind to have a pool heater, a pump for an ‘inpool’ fountain, filter and filter pump, u/v lamp, waterfall, rockery lights, underwater lights and squirting frog (?).

PUMPS FOR FOUNTAINS or WATERFALLS?

Choose a pump for its (a) guarantee (Is it continuously rated? That is, does the guarantee cover it for use 24 hours a day 7 days a week? ).  
(b) Availability locally from a retailer you like and get on with.
(c) Its performance. This includes its suitability for its purpose. You dont want a pump that needs the protection of a thick foam pre-filter if it is meant to be supplying water to a filter system before it cascades down a stream or supply water full of organic debris to a biological filter.

INSTALLING PREFORMED WATERFALL AND STREAM UNITS

Preformed waterfall units come in all shapes and sizes. Shop around.These allow you to create a gentle waterfall almost instantly for any distance that you may dare to go or can afford. Although they seem unsympathetic with the environment to begin with, a bit of a roughing up with some emery or sand paper will soon help to 'weather' them in. Milk, honey, cow muck or a concoction of all three sloshed on will speed that up as well.

But talking of the environment, this is where these products really win out against natural stone. When you consider that the stone for even a modest waterfall might come to the best part of a ton in weight, it has to be remembered that some hillside has to be ravaged to obtain that stone. As far as you are concerned there is all that heavy lifting and carting of the materials and then the time consuming cement work. For the owner of a small inaccessible garden, these are things that definitely weigh heavily in the balance for the easier option, especially now these preformed streams and waterfalls look so good.

STREAM AND WATERFALL LINING MATERIALS

Streams and waterfalls for the more grand water gardens are most effective and reliable when waterproofed with a concealed flexible liner. However having said that, many of the most well known contractors in theButyl and Firestone rubber are my favourite materials for lining streams and water falls. country, renowned for the enormous rockscapes they create, just depend upon reinforced concrete without a liner.

Rupert Bridges from Aquatics Specialist Tetra offers advice and guidance

The recent weather may make it hard to believe, but spring really is on its way and, for most of us leaving the cold winter months behind and preparing for the spring sunshine is a refreshing thought. The same applies to ponds and their inhabitants which means now is the time to prepare your pond for the forthcoming months, as the rise in temperature brings about some key changes.