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• About the Pond Professor

 

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  WindowSill Super 7 Propagator

   

Taking care of your garden pond during winter and summer days

The hard work is normally done when building the pond initially. Over the coming years you will have less work and lots of pleasure:

In the summer

• exchange the water or top up when required

• water value need to be checked constantly to deal quickly with deteriorating water quality

• rapid growing plants need to be thinned out

• the fish need to be fed and monitored as a change in behavior may indicate disease

In autumn: this is when you prepare the pond for the winter

In winter: this is the rest period for the pond having all life processes becoming dormant. The pond should not be disturbed during this period. Do not smash a hole in an ice sheet as the vibration and shock would harm the pond's inhabitants.

When spring sunlight comes the pond comes back to life. Check around the edge of the pond. Damage to the banks can be put right. The soakaway will need to be cleaned. All the pond appliances such as the filter and pump need to be checked to see if they are working properly. The water needs to be tested and regulated if necessary.

You can plant some water lilies and iris plants in early spring. The fish should be fed when the temperature reaches 12`C. do not transfer fish that have over wintered in an aquarium into the pond until the difference in temperature between the aquarium and pond water is only a few degrees.

Checking and improving the water quality

The acidity, the nitrite-nitrate content and water hardness of the water in the pond needs to be carefully checked and monitored. The 3 should always be in balance otherwise the quality of the pond water will deteriorate, threatening the inhabitants of the pond. Thus the water should be thoroughly tested using testing strips at regular intervals.

The acidity of the water

Water acidity is expressed as the PH factor. Neutral water has a PH factor of 7, while acid and alkaline water has Ph values of (0- 6,9) and (7,1-14) respectively. Acid water has very low lime content while alkaline water has a high content.

Pond fish thrive in water that has ph value of 6,5 - 8,5. Values under ph 6 will endanger the fish. The ph factor should be measured routinely after about every 6-8 weeks. Ph values that are too low can be corrected by slowly exchanging one third of the water. Ph values that are too high can be lowered by hanging a sackful of pond peat in the water until the desired value is obtained.

The nitrite- nitrate content

Bacteria in the water break down dead parts of plants and waste from animals. This process results in nitrites being formed and they are highly toxic to fish. The nitrites are later changed to harmless nitrates. High nitrite content will harm fish, results in algae formation. Lack of oxygen in the water force the fish to rise to the surface. The water must be exchanged after every 3 weeks. Avoid over feeding the fish. Alternatively you can add oxygen to prevent the fish from suffocating, or exchange a 1/3 of the water and add a water preparation agent to the water when filling up.

Hardness

5-10 degree Clark = soft; 10-21 degrees Clark = medium hard water while 22 -38 degrees Clark = hard water. You can consult the local water authorities and ask them how hard the water is. The water must be medium hard if fish are going to survive. If the water is too hard, then you can use softening agents to soften the water.