Wednesday, December 28, 2011

How to build a garden fish pond (update)

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Thursday, November 17, 2011

Pond Filter Selection - Your Garden Pond Deserves the Best

!: Pond Filter Selection - Your Garden Pond Deserves the Best

Once you know the volume of water in your pond you can start to consider your options. A word of caution here! Please be aware that a US gallon is 3.7854 liters, whereas an Imperial gallon (UK gallon) is 4.54609 liters. This issue may need to be considered when you are looking at product specifications for imported products.

What Are The Most Common Pond Filter Types?

* Pressurized pond filters have over the last 10 years or so started to dominate the pond keeping market, particularly in the small to medium sized pond category, which is the category the vast majority of pond keepers fall into. The reason for the success is due to: their outstanding reliability; the compact, space saving design; the pressurized operation that allows the filter to be placed away from the pond, out of sight and the fact that the water leaving the filter is still under pressure which means that it can be used to supply a water feature or waterfall. Another major advantage is the inbuilt back flushing system which allows waste matter to be expelled from the filter, simply by pressing a button or turning a handle. This makes routine cleaning easier. The three best choices in my opinion are the Fishmate Powerclenz pressurized filter range, Hozelock Bioforce range and the Oase Filtoclear models. All three brands are supplied with excellent warranties (5 years with Oase) and have been engineered to keep running costs to a minimum. If you are looking to prevent green pond water then look at the integrated UV clarifier models.

* A gravity return filter, also known as a gravity discharge filter is probably what the vast majority of us think a pond filter looks like, if we were asked to describe one. These rectangular box type filters are still extremely popular, throughout the world, despite loosing some of their market share to the pressurized pond filter variety, over the last decade. The major advantages of this type of pond filtration system are the low initial purchase cost, the ease of installation, the availability of different models and because the design has been around for so long, most of the kinks have been ironed out. This submersible pump fed system relies on a pond pump to power pond water to the filter, where it is purified of debris and ammonia before flowing back into the pond under the influence of gravity. For this reason it needs to be positioned at the highest point of the pond. I would recommend the Fishmate gravity return filter because it is supplied as standard with Supra bio media (Alfagrog in the UK). This low cost filter media encourages large colonies of ammonia oxidizing bacteria to colonize, ensuring that ammonia is removed from the pond water quicker than it would be if plastic coils or lava rocks were used.

* Fluidized bed filters, more commonly known as bead filters are professional pond filtration systems aimed at pond owners with large ponds and large fish loads, particularly Koi. The secret to the effectiveness of a bead biofilter is the design; the biological chamber is home to upwards of 500,000 tiny beads that are suspended in water in a pressurized environment. The violent thrashing together of fresh water, oxygen, beads and ammonia (NH3) provides the best possible scenario for quickly and efficiently breaking down ammonia. There are some disadvantages however; they can be very expensive to purchase; the beads will after a period of time clump together in what is known as channeling. This reduces the effectiveness of the beads in oxidizing ammonia and will require a back flush to break up the solid mass of beads and pond waste. Occasionally some of the tiny beads break and become lodged in the internal laterals of the filter unit. In the USA the leading bead filter is the Aqua Ultima range by Aqua Ultraviolet. Other popular models are the Aquadyne range by Koi Camp Aquariology, the Aquabead and Biotek range by Grand Champion Technologies (GC Tek) and the Challenger and Econobead filters by Fluidart Technologies. Some of the models are supplied with a lifetime warranty.

* A gravity fed pond filter needs to be installed adjacent to the pond, and at the same level. Pond water is fed into the system via a bottom drain. This multi chamber filter incorporates a pump in the final chamber that forces water back into the pond under pressure, often via a venturi. As a result the pond surface will always be slightly higher than that in the filter, causing water to pass through to the filter via the bottom drain under gravity. This type of bio filter is tricky to install and is usually used in large Koi ponds. A vortex Koi filter is an example of such a system and is the preferred filtration system in the UK and in Japan, the ancestral home of Koi. The major advantage of a vortex filter is that waste matter is not able to come into contact with the nitrifying bacteria. This helps to ensure better pond water quality and less opportunity for heterotrophic bacteria to pollute the pond and cause fish diseases.

What Factors Affect Pond Filter Choice?

The choice of pond filter type is dependent in the most part upon the volume of water in your pond and the number and type of fish stocked. As a rule of thumb if you have a pond up to 1000 US gallons I would recommend either a gravity discharge filter or a pressurized pond filter, as the larger Koi pond filter systems would be far to expensive for your needs and would also be over kill. These larger Koi pond filters are better suited to use in large Koi ponds where there are large volumes of water, ammonia and solid waste matter. When looking at a particular brand, take a look at the manufacturers website where you will often be able to find downloadable user guides and installation manuals.

Retailers will often advertise big filter models for big ponds and smaller models for smaller ponds. On the whole this is a marketing ploy as it is not the size of the filter that influences its effectiveness! It is the size of the bacteria colony available to break down ammonia, along with the availability of oxygenated water allowed to mix with the bacteria. Remember that the single best way to improve biological pond filtration in gravity discharge filters and pressurized filters is to use a filter media with a high surface area, as this allows more nitrifying bacteria to colonize. It is a numbers game! The more bacteria available, the quicker ammonia will be broken down. In addition a biomedia with a higher surface area means that you will need less of it, which means that you physically need a smaller filter in which to store it. Supra pond filter media is an excellent low cost, porous product with a high surface area.


Pond Filter Selection - Your Garden Pond Deserves the Best

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Saturday, November 5, 2011

Beautiful Freshwater Fish For Your Aquarium

!: Beautiful Freshwater Fish For Your Aquarium

Aquarium can be a very beautiful improvement for your interior decor. Colors combination among various types of fish and vegetation will make your interior livelier. Mixing various types of fish will make your aquarium lovely, but you can also put a certain type of fish if you want to have easier care. You can choose either saltwater or freshwater aquarium, but fresh water one will be more recommended if you want to have simpler care and treatment. Then, what are the best types of freshwater fish for aquarium?

Basically, you can find two categories of freshwater aquarium fish. The fist one is livebearers that give birth to their young in their reproduction process, such as guppies and mollies. The second category is egg-layers fish such as gold fish and neon tetra. This kind of freshwater fish releases their eggs once they are fertilized by the male fish. You can choose one among those categories.

Since freshwater fish also have attractive colors and have different sizes and shapes, people often choose more than a certain type of fish for their aquarium. The most popular type is goldfish, and you can also find them in wide varieties. If you want to have the common ones, you can choose black moor, fantail, or veiltail. If you want to have the exotic ones, you can have oranda or ranchu. However, goldfish release a lot of waste, so you have to change the water regularly and install a good filtration system to maintain a good quality of water.

The next popular type is guppies. If you are a beginner in keeping aquarium fish, you should start with this certain fish. They have great endurance and strong enough to survive in some water changes. You can also find easiness to differentiate the male and the female fish from their colors. Male guppies are very attractive and colorful, while the female ones are dull and look so ordinary. If you want to breed them, you have to be really careful because they tend to be overcrowded in your aquarium tank. So, matching the size of the tank with the number of the fish will be very important.

Then, you can also get neon tetra in your tank. They are well-known as schooling fish because they move in groups. Do not put them together with aggressive bigger-size fish because neon tetra fish are small. Their size often makes them become good preys or victims for aggressive bigger-size fish.

If you want to get other attractive schooling fish, you can choose Leopard Danio. They are very tough in many different water conditions so taking care of them will be easy enough. If you are a new fish breeder, Leopard Danio fish are great to be chosen. You just need to make sure that the water in your tank is quite shallow and well-planted. This is the best condition to support those fish breed well.

There are still a lot of types of freshwater aquarium that could be your perfect choice, such as archer fish, swordtails, platies, and many other beautiful and attractive fishes. Just learn about their characteristics and the proper care they need, you can determine the best freshwater fish for your aquarium fish for your aquarium.


Beautiful Freshwater Fish For Your Aquarium

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Friday, October 28, 2011

Rubber Stepping Stones - A Unique Choice For Gardens

!: Rubber Stepping Stones - A Unique Choice For Gardens

Stepping stones are unavoidable accents in any parks and gardens. Their application gives many functions, both for beauty and for safety. Rubber stepping stones are the same, but they are another story.

People may want stepping stones that are different from any other stones applied in their neighbors' or their friends' home. They just want something more unique, with a combination of beauty and functions.

After the rain, it will be dangerous walking on the grass as it becomes wet and slippery. The stones are helpful, as we can step on them to avoid walking on the grass. They also ensure our kids' safety when they are playing on our garden, as they will not fall because of the wet ground. Their feet will keep clean when they enter the home and step on the floor.

Do you ever imagine having moveable stones? If so, why do not you consider rubber stepping stones? This kind of stepping pads is extremely lightweight, so you can move it to any parts of garden you desire. You cannot do this with ones made of cement, as they are usually permanently installed on the ground. With the rubbers, you can arrange the space between one to another based on the length of your kids' steps. When they have grown up and the steps become longer, you can re-arrange this.

Rubber stepping stones also come in many models and colors. The diameter is usually about 30 centimeters or more, and the thickness is about 3 cm. Each package usually contains of three pieces, so you can freely decide how you will arrange the stones. With your own creativity, you can combine several patterns to get more dynamic look. Then, see your guests like it!


Rubber Stepping Stones - A Unique Choice For Gardens

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Saturday, October 22, 2011

Fixing Your Pond Pump

!: Fixing Your Pond Pump

The average lifespan of a pond pump is two years and will cost you an average of 0. But, of course this statistic does not help you if your pond pump has stopped working leaving your fish gasping for breath. Perhaps you are gasping after seeing the cost of a new pump. Fortunately, most pumps that stop working can be fixed by a little pond pump troubleshooting.

A pump can evidently stop working when it does not have enough water. Often waterfalls connected to ponds will reduce significantly in flow simply because a pump hidden in a skimmer area is not receiving enough water. Visually look at the pump and insure that the pump is completely submerged. Of course, this sounds basic. But the number one reason for a pump failure is the lack of water. Often mats, nets and other such barriers must be cleaned regularly to avoid build up of excess debris.

The next item to check is whether the pump itself is clogged. Mechanical skimmer boxes were developed primarily to house the pump and keep it from clogging through the use of several barriers. Chances are if your pond pump is in the bottom of your pond it will clog on a regular basis and will require attention often. Visually look into the end of the pump and with the pump unplugged spin the impeller and clean with a jet of water from your hose.

Rarely do older ponds have vapor locks. However, it is still worth noting. Pond pumps are designed to pump water and not air. So if an air bubble gets trapped in the plumbing of the pond the pump can become vapor locked. In this instance, the pump impeller would be spinning but no water would be coming out. A vapor lock can be fixed by tilting the pump to allow air to escape.

The fifth step to troubleshooting your pond pump is checking the electrical source and its connections. If the pump is not making any noise or vibrating it is good idea to check the power source. Often after an electrical storm or heavy rain a GFIC outlet trips, turning the power off. Reset the breaker by pressing the button labeled "reset" on the outlet. GFCI's are very sensitive, but are important as they protect people from receiving a shock in case of an electrical malfunction.

If the breaker continues to trip the pump usually has one of two problems. Often seals on bearing pumps allow water to enter into the inner workings of the pump causing the pump to trip the breaker. A simple slit in the cord due to traffic or weight on the cord can allow water to enter after the morning dew or a rain storm.

If the impeller in the pump does not spin freely it can cause the breaker to trip, causing a power surge. If this is the case. It is time to buy a new pump. There are no manufacturers that have built pond pumps with repairs in mind. It is much more cost effective to replace the pump with one that carries a good warranty of 3 years or better than to fix it.

The value of a "good" pump is in its warranty. Many bearing driven pumps used in ponds today are nothing more than retrofitted sump pumps used in basements. These are usually backed by a one year warranty. The challenge for pond pump manufacturers face is to develop pumps to run twenty four hours a day. The best pumps today are energy efficient, high flow magnetic pumps that come with easy exchange policy and last over 3 years.


Fixing Your Pond Pump

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Monday, October 17, 2011

Use a Vortex Koi Filter With Japanese Matting For Superior Pond Filtration

!: Use a Vortex Koi Filter With Japanese Matting For Superior Pond Filtration

Why Is A Vortex Pond Filter And Japanese Matting So Successful?

A biological pond filter, no matter what shape or design is responsible for converting toxic ammonia into nitrate. The breakdown of ammonia requires plenty of oxygen, a filter media with a high specific surface area for nitrifying Nitrosomonas and Nitrobacter bacteria to live on and last but not least turbulence. Turbulent conditions encourage maximum contact between ammonia, oxygen and the nitrifying bacteria, which in turn speeds up the rate at which ammonia is oxidized.

Vortex pond filters have been designed in such a way and when combined with Japanese matting are one of the best Koi pond filtration systems available. The home of Koi keeping and the foremost experts when it comes to this prized ornamental fish are the Japanese. In Japan, vortex filtration is used used extensively due its proven effectiveness, low maintenance and reliability.

How Does A Vortex Filter Work?

A vortex filter must be installed as the primary filtration system prior to pond water flowing into the biological chamber, housing the nitrifying bacteria. As pond water containing particulate matter such as leaves, fish excrement and decaying organic matter, from the bottom of the pond is pumped into the vortex chamber the swirling motion of the water causes the waste matter to fall to the bottom of the chamber. The settled matter is easily removed at a later stage by opening a purge valve. The major advantage of this filtration method is its ability to remove the vast majority of the waste matter before it has a chance to mix with the beneficial nitrifying bacteria living on the Japanese matting. This is beneficial in the following ways:

* Any unwanted heterotrophic bacteria, that causes water quality problems and fish health problems is removed from the water before it has a chance to contaminate the pond.

* The particulate matter does not have a chance to come into contact with the Japanese matting and is therefore unable to block the openings in the matting, resulting in the extremely large surface area being maintained.

I have in this article so far discussed the benefits of vortex filtration. There are however some disadvantages for the average pond keeper with a small to medium sized fish pond, up to 1000 gallons (US):

* They are designed for use in large ponds by Koi professionals and will probably be over kill for the majority of smaller fish ponds. For those pond keepers with smaller ponds I would suggest a pressurized pond filter from industry recognized manufacturers such Fishmate, Oase or Hozelock, as their pond keeping products are supplied with excellent warranties and have been designed to keep running costs to a minimum.

* They can be expensive to purchase and can be tricky to install. When installing a vortex filter it is important to choose a model that is correct for the size of the pump flow rate that you require. If you choose a model that is too small for the required pump flow rate then the water containing particulate matter will pass straight through to the next filtration stage. A bigger models has a longer retention time and therefore provides a much better opportunity for the solid waste to settle in the primary vortex chamber, where it can be easily removed.

Having said this if you compromise the health of you fish by using an inferior biofilter then you may wish that you had used a professional biofiltration system in the first place. Koi can be very expensive to replace and are susceptible to stress, unlike their hardier goldfish cousins.

If you are looking for the best Koi pond filtration system available then a vortex Koi filter and Japanese matting is the option that many professional Koi keepers choose. The design not only removes up to 80% of solids in the pond water but will also remove large quantities of ammonia quickly and easily.


Use a Vortex Koi Filter With Japanese Matting For Superior Pond Filtration

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Thursday, April 21, 2011

Water Reels - Great for Spot Watering

!: Water Reels - Great for Spot Watering

Do you have a field or pasture ground that needs to be watered, but don't want to go to the expense of an underground irrigation system?

Do you need a watering system that can be moved quickly and easily? A system that can be left unattended and will turn off automatically? A system that costs a fraction of installed underground irrigation? Then you need to consider water reel irrigation.

Water reels are basically giant traveling sprinklers.

Remember the little tractor that Grandpa used to water the lawn? It would travel around the yard, flinging water while straddling the garden hose. When it got to the end of the hose, it would turn itself off. The reel irrigation system does the same thing.

The reel is mounted on a large tricycle assembly. The wheels are fat, like a quad or four-wheeler. This makes the reel easy to move, but it is a fairly heavy piece of equipment so it does require the use of a small tractor or gator-type quad for positioning.

The reel attaches to your tractor so that it can be pulled to the irrigation hydrant or other water source. The tractor is unhitched from the tongue of the reel and then re-attached on the other side of the reel to the hose, which is wound on a large spool. The tractor pulls the hose from the reel to the end of the area you want to irrigate. The sprinkler end is then left there.

The sprinkler end of the water reel is mounted on a separate set of wheels. This allows the sprinkler to follow the hose back to the reel, where there is an automatic shut-off. The reel can thus be left unattended and once it reaches the shut-off, the water is turned off.

A benefit of reel-type irrigation is that the water delivery can be regulated, allowing for more or less water as needed. Your water source does not have to be a hydrant only, but can also be a creek, water tank, well, pond or ditch. Terrain does not have to be a flat pasture, but can be a rocky or wooded area or other location with obstacles. You only need enough room for the reel to sit.

So what type of irrigation problems are solved by a water reel system?

The reel system is entirely portable, making it easy to "spot water" problem areas.

Common uses include irrigation of sports field facilities, corrals and arenas between show events to keep dust under control, simple irrigation of agricultural crops, truck farms, hobby farms, cemeteries, hydroseed application, golf courses, parks and recreation areas, and much more. The water reel irrigation system makes it easy to water particularly hard-to-reach areas, and it's perfect for areas that do not require water year 'round.

Reel-type irrigation is beneficial for the same reasons as any other type of irrigation.

Plants benefit from a stable and consistent watering regimen, which allows the uniform absorption of nutrients and fertilizers. The grass and crops exude good health with a steady supply of water. Turf conditions are also improved with a continual irrigation routine.

Basically anywhere you need water, a reel irrigation system can be beneficial.


Water Reels - Great for Spot Watering

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Monday, April 11, 2011

Should You Pay More For a Garden Hose?

!: Should You Pay More For a Garden Hose?

Would you rather have a high quality garden hose - or a cheap one? Price against quality is always difficult to decide on, and hose pipes are no different. To help you make the choice, let us then look at what you get for your money in the different price ranges:

Around 10$:
This is the domain of cheap hoses. You don't get a lot of layers of material, like you do with better hoses - and the layers are thin. 10-dollar hoses will kink easily - any connectors included will likely be plastic. This may be good enough for you if your needs are not the greatest. It will certainly work fine for washing the car or watering a small lawn. But do get a cheap garden hose reel for this one, to get a bit more durability out of it

Around 25$ and up:
Good hoses start here. You get 5 layers or more, the material is better and handles high pressure better. You can get a good 100-foot hose for less than 50$ without a problem. A good quality reinforced rubber hose or perhaps a polyurethane hose will not kink easily - even if run over by a car. It will still benefit from being stored on a garden hose reel - and so will your work in the garden.

Whether you should pay more than 50$ for garden water hose is a good question. When you reach those price levels, you start entering the realm of professional quality hose. Even though "professional" is a word tacked on to almost anything these days, truly professional tools and equipment are something else than consumer-goods. With a pro hose, you are getting the really tough stuff. Extra heavy brass garden hose fittings - and perhaps extra heavy garden hose too. A really strong reinforced rubber hose can be quite heavy - so much so that you may find it uncomfortable to use. Some of these hose pipes are not intended for manual use anyway, but rather for large lawn sprinklers and such.

My choice? Around the 50$ mark will get you the most bang for your buck, but that is merely my opinion. Generally, if you get a decent hose and treat it right, it will last you for five years, and easily more. That is what I would aim for anyway.


Should You Pay More For a Garden Hose?

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Saturday, March 26, 2011

Mechanical Sand Filters Are Bad For Your Fish Pond

!: Mechanical Sand Filters Are Bad For Your Fish Pond

The major purpose of a biological pond filter, in any fish pond is to remove ammonia, which can be highly toxic to pond fish and other aquatic pond life. The biological process responsible for removing ammonia is known as the Nitrification process and is extremely important if you want to maintain a healthy ecosystem, suitable for aquatic life to thrive in. The secondary function of a biofilter is to mechanically separate leaves and other organic matter from the pond water. I have written this article in the hope that it will help to highlight the failings in my opinion of using a mechanical sand filter in any garden pond.

Why Are Sand Filters Bad For A Garden Pond?

Before I discuss my reasons why I believe that this filter system has no place in a garden pond, I would quickly like to add that I am referring to a mechanical sand filter and not a fluidized sand filter, which has been designed for pond use. Ammonia is present in all fish ponds where there is biological activity such as fish feeding, rotting vegetation and decomposing aquatic life. It is important to remove this toxic chemical as soon as possible.

In order for the conversion of ammonia into nitrite and then into nitrate to occur, certain criteria need to be met: There needs to be a plentiful supply of oxygen flowing through the pond bio media; a large colony of Nitrosomonas and Nitrobacter beneficial bacteria need to present and there has to be turbulence, which mixes together water, oxygen and ammonia to speed up the breakdown of ammonia.

Disadvantages of A Mechanical Sand Filter:

* It only has a low surface area on which nitrifying bacteria can colonize.

* This type of filtration system encourages the build up of unwanted heterotrophic bacteria that is bad for pond water quality, unlike nitrifying bacteria that is necessary. If you allow heterotrophic bacteria to develop in your pond you will see some nasty results, including the production of hydrogen sulphide (rotten egg smell), ammonia and carbon dioxide. Let's think about that! We are using a sand filter to remove ammonia but it actually produces ammonia.

* A sand filter is costly to operate as it needs to be back flushed between 5 to 6 times per day for at least 5 minutes each time. This requires a lot of water, which means that if you are on a meter it can be quite costly.

* As water flows through the sand bio media, channelling starts to occur. Channelling (holes in the sand) allows water to flow straight through the sand without being filtered. This requires even more back washing.

What Type Of Biological Pond Filter Should I Use?

As far as I am concerned the only viable solution for effective pond filtration is to use a biofilter or a veggie filter, although a veggie filter can be high maintenance. If you have a small to medium sized fish pond then a pressurized biological filter is a really good choice, for the following reasons:

* It is compact and is easily hidden from view, preventing it from being a bit of an eyesore. Traditional black box filters are larger and are harder to disguise.

* Pressurized bio filters have an inbuilt back flushing system which makes it easy to purge unwanted organic waste such as trapped leaves and grass. This makes routine cleaning easier.

* The pressurized operation means that this filter type can be located away from the pond edge and not at the highest point of the pond, unlike a box type filter which relies on gravity. My recommendation would be to use either the Oase Filtoclear, Hozelock Bioforce or the Fishmate Powerclenz, mainly due to their cost, reliability and excellent warranties.

For large Koi ponds the best form of biological pond filtration is a bead filter or a vortex Koi filter. Bead filters contain up to 600,000 beads per cubic foot. This means that there is an extremely high surface area on which beneficial nitrifying bacteria can colonize. These beads are suspended in a turbulent chamber of water that is constantly full of oxygen and ammonia. This provides optimum conditions for ammonia to be broken down. A vortex filter is the preferred choice for many professional Koi keepers as it is low maintenance and has been tried and tested over the years.

The 2 equations below show the quantity of oxygen needed by nitrifying bacteria to oxidize ammonia (oxygen is represented by O2). As you can see it is needed in abundance.

* For Nitrosomonas: 55NH4+ + 76O2 + 109HCO3- ---> C5H7O2N + 54NO2- + 57H2O + 104H2CO3

* For Nitrobacter: 400NO2- + NH4+ + 4H2CO3 + HCO3- + 195O2 ---> C5H7O2N + 3H2O + 400NO3-

To conclude this article I would seriously advise you not to install a mechanical sand filter in your garden pond. If you currently use this type of filter, remove it and replace it with a biological filter that will purify the water and not pollute it.


Mechanical Sand Filters Are Bad For Your Fish Pond

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