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If you’re a lucky owner of a garden with a pond, you know how amazing it feels to have even a small water feature near you. However, you’re probably aware that perfect ponds exist only in gardening magazines and design catalogs. And if you keep fish in your pond, you know how much effort you have to put into keeping the water crystal clear.
Garden ponds with fish have some magical quality to them, and it’s easy to see why so many people want to install them in their backyards. It’s true, pond maintenance requires time and commitment, but the outcome is definitely worth it. If you’re new to this topic or consider installing a pond and keeping fish, but don’t know how to keep it clean, don’t worry. We prepared a list of 4 useful solutions you can implement to take better care of your pond. Keep on reading to find out more!
Keep Your Pond Well-Aerated
Water aeration is crucial to keeping your pond clean and maintaining aquatic life. A quality aerator pump can help you get rid of algae and that unpleasant, mucky smell. Also, it will keep the surface area free of ice during winter months, because it moves the warmer water from the bottom of your pond to the top. This, in turn, provides oxygen to the bottom areas of your water feature, as well as breaks down organic sediments.
If you’re worried about the costs, consider choosing eco-friendly options. A solar powered pond aerator is quite an investment, but it’s going to pay off! Newer models help minimize unpleasant odors, improve dissolved oxygen, enhance water quality and clarity, and even help remove sludge from the bottom. When your pond water condition improves, you’ll notice your fish are healthy, and the plants grow better.
Clean Your Pond Regularly
Your pond and fish will never look beautiful if you don’t clean the water regularly. Over time, garden ponds accumulate dirt and debris, and if you don’t take action fast enough, you’ll have an algae-ridden mess with sickly (or even dying) fish. Decaying leaves release toxic gasses, which can be detrimental to your small aquatic ecosystem.
Even light gusts of wind keep blowing the dust and leaves, littering the surface of your pond. It’s inevitable, but it’s also easy to deal with. The fastest and cheapest way is to clean your pond manually. Every day, remove leaves and light debris with a skimmer net. You’ll have much less work to do later on because sometimes, you also have to go in for the deep cleaning. Once a year should be enough, and it’s best to do it in early spring because your fish and plants are less active. However, you shouldn’t underestimate the importance of this step because it’s crucial to maintaining your aquatic life.
Get to Know Your Fish Feeding Habits
Fish are amazing creatures; even if you overfeed them, they won’t get fat. However, if you keep doing that, you’ll spoil their aquatic environment in no time. Pond owners’ favorite species, koi, and goldfish feed on mosquitoes and other pests that are attracted to your pond. Pellets or flakes can supplement their diet well but in moderate amounts. Excess food is going to rot and contribute to algae growth.
To find out how much food your fish actually need, consider conducting a little experiment. Feed your fish and wait 20 minutes. If you see food still floating on the surface, it means you’ve given them too much.
Also, make sure you give your fish high-quality food. Cheap feeds can damage your aquatic ecosystem and be harmful to your fish while causing them to produce more waste. Quality foods will keep them healthy and won’t add up much work to your pond cleaning routine.
Keep It Natural
Filters, water pumps, and pond vacuums are extremely useful, if not necessary, tools every pond owner should have in their inventory. However, you may be tempted to keep your water clean with the help of chemicals and other supplements. And that’s good! Nevertheless, you should remember that your fish may react badly to certain types of products. As such, we recommend opting for more natural methods.
One of the best natural solutions to keep your pond water clean is barley straw. Numerous advantages make it a go-to product for many pond owners. It’s cheap, extremely effective, and removes pond algae fast. Most importantly, it’s safe for your fish and plants. Undeniably, barley straw looks like a must-have. In case you didn’t know about this solution, consider trying it out!
The Bottom Line
Even though pond maintenance is quite challenging, some things make it much easier. Most importantly, you should clean your pond regularly and don’t let the algae and debris pile up. It’s your best bet to keep the water clean and the fish healthy. After you establish a cleaning routine, you may come to like it and look forward to spending some time taking care of your water feature. You, too, can make it look so good as if it came straight from the gardening magazine!
