Water Garden Pond Kits

Why is it Essential to Buy Water Garden Pond Kits?

A water garden koi fish pond is a place where you can rest and enjoy good times with friends and family. When you sit in your backyard and enjoy the pretty view, it gives immense happiness and pleasure to everyone. There are many benefits of investing in backyard water garden pond kits that you can experience every day. PondH2o has designed a full range of Complete Pond Kits for all aspects of your pond.  Each kit is comprised of professional high quality water garden pond products.  We have taken all of the guess work out of the core components necessary for a wonderful water garden pond.  Here are some of the advantages of backyard garden pond kits for your home:

• A pond in a backyard adds value to your property. It has small features that appeal to many people, especially those who enjoy taking “staycations” or entertaining friends or family in their backyards. It increases the value of your home when you install a backyard garden pond.
• A garden pond plant basket kit attracts helpful insects to your yard, if you carry a flower or plant water garden, you will need pollinators to bring harvest in your garden. Many times, these insects displace or even eliminate the bugs you don’t want in your garden. Look for pond plant basket kits that have a variety of baskets, and maybe planting accessories.
• There are many people who experience stress, anxiety and other feelings due to one or another reason. When you peacefully gaze at garden pond, it helps to improve your mood. When you listen to the bubbling sound of the water and enjoy colorful and verdant garden surrounding, it helps in lowering your stress level. It gives you a chance to start every day relaxing or meditating at your own garden pond.
• A backyard waterfall or water feature kit allows you to run your pump 24/7 or only when you are outside enjoying it. A backyard waterfall kit allows you to create a waterfall that is pond-free. You don’t need to spend money for extra plumbing or equipment. A backyard waterfall kit comes with everything you need to create beautiful waterfall or water feature.
• There are backyard Pond Pump & Filter Combo Kits available that will save you money on necessary filter, pump and hose products. With the patented filter technologies, you don’t have to worry about spending time and money unclogging pumps from debris or removing excessive algae. You will have fresh, clean, healthy water that will attract the right kind of wildlife to your yard.

When your backyard is a beautiful place, you are more likely to invite friends, family and neighbors for a barbecue or brunch. You will feel more proud of your home. When you install a water garden pond in your yard, it will add beauty and value to your property. Pond H2o’s water garden pond kits make the installation process easy and you have access to everything you need for a successful project.

Spring Cleaning a Water Garden Koi Fish Pond

Like any spring cleaning project cleaning your water garden koi fish pond or water feature is going to be messy, but so worth it in the end.  The best time to do the cleanout and opening of your pond or water feature is in early spring before your water temperature reaches 55° Fahrenheit (12° Celsius).  After all of the frosts are gone but before the weather is too warm, most especially before any spawn enter the water.  Doing a proper cleaning of your pond at this time ensures that algae blooms will not take over your pond and keep the water clear though the summer months.

Pond Spring Cleaning Supplies Needed

• Long Arm Pond Gloves
• Fine Mesh Skimming net
• Containers for fish and plants
• Extra pond filter and pond pump parts, including new filter media, UV Bulbs
• Pond Vacuum or collection bucket for the waste
• Old clothes and shoes
• Water Clarifier, Beneficial Bacteria, declorinators, water test kits, plant fertilizer, Barley Straw

Simple Spring Cleaning Check List

1. Remove as much debris as possible. Trim/deadhead your plants, flowers or grass to remove dead growth, divide plants and repot if needed.  PondH2o has great pond forceps and pond scissors to help cut back pond plants. Replace and repair any broken pond plant baskets.
2. Remove the pond fish by putting them in a holding tank with some of your pond water.  Our Koi transfer kits are great.
3. Use your pond pump or a clean out pump to empty about half of the water out of the pond. It is always better to leave half the water in the pond because it contains the beneficial bacteria necessary for clear pond water.  Not all pond bacteria are bad.
4. Use a pond scrubbing brush to clean any rocks or décor items within the pond water.
5. Using a fine mesh Pond Skimming Net, remove the pond sludge and pond muck from the bottom of the pond. A pond vacuum is great, but not needed for smaller ponds and sometimes can vacuum the gravel off of the bottom.  If using a pond vacuum a quick tip is to use the nozzle upside down (facing the water not the bottom of the pond) so that just the silt will be removed, not your gravel. Place the pond muck and small debris in buckets or garbage bags.  This is great for a compost pile.
6. Now that your water is clean it’s time to look at the mechanical parts of the pond. Your pond filters and pumps.  Ensure that there are no particles in the pump that would block the impeller. For the pond filter, it would be a great time to clean or replace the filter media.  Replace your UV bulb if your unit contains the UV clarifier, cleaning the quartz tube to ensure that the unit is effective.
7. Check all of your hoses and fittings. If it was a cold winter you may have some splits in your pond hose tubing.  Make any repairs or replace the hosing, even a small leak will reduce the water level in your pond and eventually get worse.  Ensure that water features or pond lights are all working with no wiring issues.
8. Start to refill the pond with fresh water. Once the water garden koi fish pond is filled, test the water, add any necessary chemicals such as a spring prep of Beneficial Bacteria per guidelines and place the fish back in the pond.
9. Add fertilizer to any plants. Pond Plant fertilizer comes in the form of plant tabs placed in the soil or a liquid fertilizer.
10. Check the pH levels to ensure that your fish and plants are going to thrive. A good pH range is between 7 and 8.

Now that you are done spring cleaning your water garden koi fish pond it’s time to enjoy it.  Now sit, relax and watch your pond come back to life with spring blooms and the relaxing sound of the water flowing.  PondH2o carries all of the necessary products for your pond spring clean out and start up.

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Using Aquatic Plastic Plant Baskets

Slotted Mesh Aquatic Plastic Plant Baskets are ideal for all aquatic plants, allowing water to flow freely through the basket so plants can absorb nutrients from the water. The basket protects the plants roots from damage caused by aquatic life, while keeping the root systems contained. They are designed to rest naturally on the pond’s floor or ledge with flat bottoms, making it an ideal anchor for most aquatic plants.

Using Aquatic Plastic Plant Baskets:

1. Begin to hydrate your plants in a container of your pond water.
2. Line the basket with a hessian square or other woven fabric; ensure that the basket is fully covered.
3. Add a thin layer of pond gravel. Now, fill about half way with pond plant soil. This would be a great time to add aquatic pond plant fertilizer.
4. Add your plant. Make sure to loosen the root ball. Fill and firm the soil around the roots leaving the crown (where the stems and roots connect) level with the soil line.
5. Top with additional layer of pond gravel. Finally, rinse with water to remove excess mud and gently lower into pond.

Using pond plant baskets is much easier than planting directly on the water garden pond bottom and marginal shelves.  The plastic plant pots make maintaining the plants, moving and placements effortless, while controls the plants from spreading.

Helpful Summer tips for Water Garden Koi Fish Pond Owners

SUMMER TIPS FOR POND OWNERS

Now that summer is finally here there are some Helpful Summer tips for Water Garden Koi Fish Pond Owners.  The first and foremost piece of information to gather is an understanding of simple comfort. When you stand in direct sunlight at 95 degrees for any length of time, it becomes difficult for you to continue that particular venture. As with any living organism, comfort is king. This is no different of a concept for your koi, as it is with you.  Some simple and easy actions and tips are available for any level of water gardener pond owner to undertake for their koi comfort and overall water garden pond health.

SHADE

Shade trees and foliage are important to your pond for a variety of reasons. Beginning with healthy clear water which the aquatic plants add oxygen too.  These plants will not only remove harmful chemicals in the water by eating the nitrates, they will also create cooling spots for your fish to relax. At the same time aquatic plants can attract insects that the koi will eat naturally. By simply adding a floating planter you add necessary shade and oxygen.

FEEDING

Using an automated feeding device could help you keep track of just how much food you supply. Too much food left over from overfeeding, will contribute to an unsafe rise in phosphates and nitrites that if left untreated will cause an unsightly algae bloom.  If continued overfeeding occurs, an unhealthy rise in ammonia levels will occur resulting in possible death to the fish.

An easy way to tell if overfeeding is an issue is to remove any food that is still present after about 5 minutes. Keep in mind that during the summer months your ponds ecosystem is in overdrive. Food consumption will increase in warmer temps as metabolisms increase. Most koi will gather at the edge of the pond at feeding times, feed the koi liberally and allow them to eat as much as they want. Simply remove any food that is still present after the koi have had their fill. Removing excess food will drastically reduce the possibilities of Ph levels going haywire. Use of a skimmer net will help remove left over food.

PUMPS

During the summer months of pond keeping, paying close attention to the functioning of your pump is a key aspect of a healthy pond. Your pump is a mechanical component of the ecosystem, when left unchecked the systems pre-filter can become clogged and strain the pump into failure. One thing to check everyday is the amount of water being pumped back into the pond, if the volume of water is decreasing, inspect the pumps water intake for clogging, this is a great habit to begin, for optimal health and functioning of the water garden. We sell many types of filter media.

AIR

Its not only useful for us to breath, but our koi enjoy it as well. The oxygen levels in warm weather are lower than in cooler weather. The same is true in water for aquatic life. Colder water holds more oxygen than warmer waters do. A simple fix is to add an aeration stone or 2 to up the level of air for the fish to breath more easily. Lower oxygen levels in warm water could cause the koi to become sluggish or seem lethargic.   Solar oxygenators work in areas with full daily sunlight.

As with anything new, there will be some growing pains. Patience and learning are key ingredients to anything worthwhile. We here at Pond H2o are committed to helping all water gardeners/pond keepers get the most fulfillment possible from existing water gardens to new projects alike.