Discuss – When creating a garden pond with a flexible liner, calculate the width, length and depth of the pond and multiply the maximum depth by three. Add the figure to the length and width.

Just like caring for your fall flowers it is just as important to beware of what the needs are of your garden pond. Most garden ponds are built to give additional beauty to the area. Yes, these are becoming more common.

Some of these have fish which adds another dimension They are relatively easy to care for. In the colder climates there are some important tips I have for you. If you are susceptible to the water freezing you need to read on.

The debris that collects in the garden ponds can give off toxic waste including gases. Like fall flowers these toxic chemicals need a place to go. This is into the atmosphere.

If they can’t escape they become trapped under the ice and can raise havoc with more bacteria being formed. If you have fish in your garden pond their internal systems will begin to suffer and could fail.

Part of fishes protection against disease is a slime protection over the fish including the gills. Toxins and bacteria break this down. You will notice the brilliant colors become dulled.
Protecting Your Garden Pond.

In the late fall you should partially remove debris that collects in the bottom of your pond. Removing this will diminish any toxins that will be given off. And the pond will do better over the winter and any fish will survive it.

Does this remind you of what you need to due with your fall flowers?

Discuss – Though safety norms for your Garden Pond may not be your top priority while starting to build your Pond but it should never be overlooked. So you must plan ahead and provide for the safety well ahead and you’ll ensure that your Garden Pond is accessible to everyone in your family and a and a joy for all.

Do You Have Fish?

You should consider doing several things. First fish will do well if the pond freezes over providing there is a depth of 1 1/2 to 2 feet deep section. They will survive very well.

It will even be better if there is about 2 foot area that doesn’t freeze over. You could use an aquarium oxygenator to help with this. If you have a pump that creates a small fountain it will keep a space ice free.

Don’t over-feed your fish. They don’t need as much food during the winter and the end of fall. Even early spring there no need to feed as much as during the summer months.

Some Experts Say…

…using some natural salt, that is, salt obtained by drying ocean water is good for your garden pond. It seems to help with the slime coating and also get rid of some of the bacteria and fungus that begin in garden ponds. Check with your garden expert to see about the dose of natural salt.
This may be a bit controversial but I would err on the side of doing it.

Discuss – Now that I have convinced you to get some fish for your garden pond, let us go over a few types of popular outdoor pond fish

Discuss – Most garden ponds do not simply consist of a hole filled with water and fish. You can create a basic garden pond in a day. Adding a garden pond to your yard is the first step to creating your own getaway. Although you should build a garden pond for yourself, it is nice to know that your guests are sure to love it, too.

The management of water and the maintenance of its quality is the most crucial element in successful water gardening. A garden pond is an almost self-contained ecosystem which only interacts with the atmosphere for the exchange of gases such as oxygen and carbon dioxide. The toxic wastes that are released into the water have to be broken down otherwise they soon reach levels which are harmful to fish and other aquatic creatures. There is a naturally occurring process called the nitrogen cycle which copes with all this, although it is a wise precaution to monitor the levels of key chemicals regularly.

It depends upon the size of the pond, and also the temperature, as to how easy it is to maintain water quality naturally. Still water becomes thermally stratified during the heat of the day, because the sun’s warmth is absorbed near the surface and cannot penetrate the depths. Small, shallow ponds may stratify when the day is warm, but return to a uniform temperature at night as the surface layers cool and mix with the lower layers. Such rapid changes can cause problems both with oxygen and the development of algal blooms.

With deep ponds changes are more likely to be seasonal than daily. In early spring a distinction develops between the warm upper layer and the cold layer near the floor of the pond. Between these layers there is a transitional zone. These all have an influence upon aquatic life, as the layers do not mix. The bottom layer at the pond floor receives no oxygen, but does benefit from organic debris which scatters into it from the upper layer. On the other hand, the uppermost layer receives none of the results of decay and by the end of the summer is nutrient deficient.

Discuss – In this article we are sharing some basic water garden pond care tips that you probably have seen before if you have done any reading about water gardens. Understand these tips go toward achieving a beautiful water garden pond by balancing your water garden plants, the fish you may wish to include, the bacteria that also play an important part and other items.

This can affect plants like floating aquatics which only live in that zone, one of the reasons why, in larger expanses of water, floating plants sometimes go into decline towards the end of the summer. These distinct zones remain until the turbulence created by fall winds mixes the various layers and they cool down.

With acidity and alkalinity, there can be considerable changes, depending upon the activities of pond life. In a pond, many chemicals dissolve into the water, and all these have an influence upon pH, which should ideally be monitored by periodic testing with a pH test kit. A pH value of between 7.0 and 8.0 is ideal for pond fish, although anywhere between 6.0 and 8.5 is acceptable. If the pH falls outside this range, pH adjusters should be used to stabilize it at a suitable level, and steps should be taken to find the cause.

Discuss – When creating a garden pond with a flexible liner, calculate the width, length and depth of the pond and multiply the maximum depth by three. Add the figure to the length and width.

One of the greatest influences upon pH can be the presence of algae, the pH value changing by as much as 3.0 between morning and evening. The reason for this is because algae uses carbon dioxide and removes carbonic acid from the water during the day, thereby raising the pH. At night algae ceases photosynthesising and produces carbonic acid, thus lowering the pH. So eliminating algae can have a considerable effect upon stabilizing pond acidity or alkalinity.

Philip Swindells has over 40 years gardening experience. A former botanical garden curator and an international horticultural consultant, he has worked extensively in the UK, North America, the Middle East and Australia. The Author of more than 50 gardening books, he has been awarded a Quill and Trowel Award by the Garden Writers’ Association of America. He is also a former UK Garden Writer of the Year. He is currently editor of http://www.internationalwatergardener.com

Discuss – The key to training your Koi to eat from your hand is patience and conditioning. Like any wild animal Koi have a natural distrust for anything that they think can hurt them, and you’re plenty big enough to do that as far as they are concerned.

Koi Carp and breeding for profit

Koi are amazing animals. They have evolved originally from common carp and were originally thought of as throw backs. The koi world has grown massively and is continuing to grow at an unprecedented rate. Years ago if you heard of someone spending £1000 on a fish you may have fell over, in this day and age this is commonplace.

Quick sum for you to get you interested.

Each kilogram of female koi will produce approximately 200000 eggs if you hatch out 100000 eggs and grow the koi to 2-3″ which takes approximately 120 days. You will end up with 100000 fish a value of 60p each trade. The cost of arriving at this point is approximately 10p per fish, you now have a profit of 50p per fish = £50000. I hear you ask “why doesn’t everyone do it” Firstly is knowledge, you do need a good degree of knowledge to do this. Secondly is holding capacity you will need a large pool or recirculation system to achieve this. Thirdly, it is a risky business, one thing goes wrong with the system and you loose your entire batch of fish.

So how do you start?

This is a long process and I will post these in 10 parts of ezine.

Part one.

Easy Spawning

Discuss – This is becuase KOI can grow quite large and therefore require more water in the pond for proper biological breakdown of waste. KOI are also more expensive (and harder to replace) than goldfish, so this should also be taken into account before filling your new pond full of KOI fish.

When spring is in the air water temperature is at about 15-20 degrees you will notice your fish may go off there food. You may also notice three fish swimming like an arrow around the pool. This is two male fish and the female. The male in front will be looking for a place to spawn. This is the time you put in you brushes. The brushes are like a toilet brush but much softer. These brushes must be placed in the shallow water approx 6-10″ deep.
When the fish are ready they will start to thrash over the brushes this normally happens in early morning.

After approximately one hour you will see the brushes are covered with eggs very tiny eggs.
The eggs need to be moved to a separate tank or old bath or the parents will eat them. It is best to treat the eggs with malachite to prevent fungus a quick dip is fine as you don’t want to starve the eggs of oxygen.

The bath or tank must be setup to have running water the flow needs to be 5 liters per minute (very low) you can pump this directly from you pond if you wish. When the water arrives at the tank use an old bed sheet to filter the water. The water needs to be as clean as possible or the tiny little particles will stick in the baby koi gills causing slow growth and death.

Discuss – Generally, it’s best to not have submerged plants in large pots, when also keeping KOI. The ideal KOI pond is much deeper than the average water garden, so the necessity for plants to help with water quality and shade is reduced.

The eggs will take approx 3-4days to hatch, then the real fun begins

Next article 18/10/06