Water Garden Design Build: Maintenance

Maintenance of your new water garden is very simple. Balance is the key. If you have a balance of open water, fish and plants, water quality will stay at it's peak. Addition of chemicals is not recommended unless there is a very specific problem calling for them. This is rare. Most pond problems are better treated from their cause than adding chemicals which typically only treat the symptom. I've kept this section very simple as watergardening is just that. You don't need to be a biologist to enjoy this hobby.

Balance

Keeping enough plants in your garden is the simple key to balance. Their shade should cover 60%-80% of the ponds surface. This is very important. They also use the excess nutrients that feed plants you don't want such as algea. If you add fish you again add nutrients by feeding them. Most pond problems come from overfeeding fish and too few plants. Feed your fish no more than they consume in 3 minutes Remember; everything that goes into the pond stays in the pond. Plants also add oxygen to the water. My propagation ponds and a couple others have no pump or filter just plenty of plants and healthy fish with clear water.

Adding Water

Add water as the pond evaporates. Tap water is fine if you are adding less than 10% of your ponds total capacity. This amount of chlorine and chloramines won't hurt your fish. It dissapates very quickly.. To keep it easier add water when it gets a couple inches low. A couple bottles of chlorine/chloramine remover should be kept handy just in case the hose was forgotten and left on.

Plant Care

Trim off leaves on plants when they are 50% or more dead as a general rule. You don't really have to do this but the plants will be healthier and the water quality better without all that decaying matter in the pond. I fertilize and repot my clients' plants in February as they are in their most dormant stage then for this part of Florida. If this is not done most plants will become pot bound and perform poorly the next year. You can replant into larger pots with more soil or trim the plants and repot. Water Lily and Lotus require fertilization every two weeks during their blooming period for best results. Again you don't have to do this but they will bloom much prettier as a result. Add one fertilizer tab per gallon of container by pushing it down into the soil with your finger.

Bio Filter

All ponds I build with falls or pumps have a bio filter I build. Over washing of the filter simply kills the nitrifying bacteria that we want on the medium. It's principal job is to grow bacteria and keep the pump clean not to filter out particles like a pool filter. If your falls gets "slow" you may have more debris than desired and a simple hosing of the filter medium and pump will fix it up. I do make service calls if you prefer.