Recommended by "The Pond Professor" click any link above ... every product shows shipping cost up-front and total money-back guarantee by independent source. Vol:  402 Date:

Large floating ponds aerator fountains

Feb 6th 2004  

The Water Gardens Gazette South Africa Edition

This time you are receiving the basic link content of the International Edition of The Water Gardens Gazette with some specific information for South African readers ... I hope to highlight for you how far behind we are in South Africa when it comes to the use of the internet by commerce in general. In the USA you can buy virtually anything on-line and there is an abundance of competition. In South Africa there is very little on-line and virtually no competition. BUT this will change and in the near future. The way business is done in this world has changed for ever. The sooner South Africa wakes up to this the better for you and me (Telkom is the major negative factor in my opinion along with the web scare-mongering fed to us by the newspapers). To put this in perspective less than 1% of all visitors to my web sites come from South Africa.

Just spend a few moment clicking a few of the links in this gazette to see what I mean. Pity I cannot supply you with similar South Africa information .... one day though. But you can get 30% off ... see to the right.

"Koi Kitchi" by Peter Waddington. Only 3 left at R300 + R25 pp (or collect from our office). In the UK it sells for Pds 27.50 and overseas for Pds 35.00. readers on a first come first served basis can buy it from us at R300 + R25 pp (or collect at our office and save the pp). You save about R140. It makes an absolutely fabulous present for any koi keeper ... a present that will be guarded and treasured for the rest of time.

1. A Change For The Better? Hope It Helps.

2. Large Ponds, Aerators and Bioaugmentation

3. IMPORTANT The "Answer" see here to get 2 FREE Brochures by email

4. Admin section

1. Here's The Change To Help You I Hope

3 years ago I set myself a goal of creating the most useful, free and comprehensive water gardening web site presence on the internet. Of course only you can objectively judge the progress made but I hope at least I have made some impact and in this time helped a lot of people. Many thousands of people visit my sites every day and I get a lot of requests for more information, help, and recommendations which I try hard to respond to quickly .... because the internet is all about trust, confidence and determination.

I have finally succumbed to making recommendations and this Gazette is the first to include such information. It is important however that I state my case up-front so that everybody understands the basis for these recommendations. I do not have any any financial interest in any of the companies recommended but (let me get this one out of the way first) .... If any person decides to click on any of the links I provide and if that person ultimately makes a purchase from that store I may be rewarded with a small commission from the web site concerned.

If you are looking for anything specific and cannot find please let me know .. maybe I can find for you.

The most important recommended sites have a number of things in common. These are

I would personally feel very comfortable in buying from them. They have a guarantee of customer satisfaction . A well respected track record of service Up-front pricing and open-ness on important policies such as shipping, returns, privacy and the like. For example (and I buy lots over the web) I do not like buying on the internet only to find later that there is an undisclosed shipping cost. Let me give you an example ... I recently found a site offering excellent prices on EPDM pond liner. However I struggled to find shipping information so to test it out I went to the shopping cart and went through the buying process ... sure enough after a few pages requesting information the shipping charge was shown and it was 4 times higher than a competitor's shipping charge. This made the total price UN-competitive. Beware first impressions! One other concern I personally have and this gives me an immediate impression of service ... I was approached recently by a well known USA pond supplier to promote their goods. Guess what ... after 4 emails requesting information to assist in promoting the products offered I am still waiting for a reply. Now that is the kind of company that does not get onto my list of recommendations. With regard to the price issue I have where it was feasible in judging like with like created web pages showing competitive prices between recommended suppliers and in fact made "Pond Professor's Pricing Intelligence Reports" available to my readers in pdf format for quick download and easy reference (far easier than click click click). These pdf files also contain descriptive and other useful information. You may want to download one and have a look ... links at right hand side.

2. Large Ponds, Aerators and Bioaugmentation

I got a request for suggestions on a pond of 1 acre in size. Consideration was being given to using a redundant swimming pool as a biofilter.

Whilst not impossible it is not really feasible to create a biofilter to handle such a large pond and the simple fact of creating the filter may create more problems than solutions. Because I have had quite a few requests about larger ponds I decided to summarize an excellent but long report produced by the Otterbine company ... click here to see it (takes a short time to download) ... right click and select Save Target As ...it is a pdf Adobe Acrobat file.

In essence the water quality issues within large ponds are addressed by the following 3 approaches ....

Control of nutrient input and removal using large and fast growing marginal plants such as rushes Addition of large quantities of air using aerators or large floating or anchored fountains The one non-negotiable issue is the addition of large amounts of air ... failure to do this will almost certainly create a minor disaster in very many cases within a fairly short time. Here is my response to the email query .....   Large ponds are not just bigger versions of small fish ponds and need completely different understanding because you cannot use UV and biofilters to achieve crystal clear clean and healthy water. Oxygen is the secret as well as intelligent planting and design ... take a look at larger ponds on better golf courses and the like   Of course your pond is not a normal garden pond. Trying to install an artificial biofilter is not recommended ..... biofilters need cleaning and need large amounts of oxygen to work otherwise they work AGAINST you. You will also have ineffective flow through the biofilter (how can you make sure all water from all areas actually goes through the biofilter?)    Certainly do not compact gravel on the bottom of the pond ... this will trap solids that will rot away in an anaerobic way creating smell and possibly other problems. You could use some around edges mixed with soil for planting purposes   You should concentrate on creating maximum aeration of the mass of pond water. The use of large aerators or fountains is required. This creates both water circulation and oxygenation. This is needed to break down waste in ponds. Wind action adds to circulation but by itself is insufficient.   You may want to place 2 large fountains in your pond ..... you can buying floating aerators to do this. For an average pond of say 1 acre about 2 HP of electric power is required to do the job of adding oxygen to the pond ... 2 smaller units spaced apart would tend to be better than a single unit.   Without oxygen added in this way your pond will accumulate debris that will settle at bottom and become breeding ground for weeds and other undesirable inhabitants. You pond will gradually silt up. The oxygen is required to break down organic debris as well as normal nitrification process  Algae blooms and fish deaths without added oxygen will happen in summer  

Looking for large floating pond aerator fountains?

Bio-augmentation is the process of using incremental amounts of the correct bacteria and other enzymatic mixes to bio-degrade the various nutrients in pond water that create poor water quality problems. All bio-augmentation products work best in well aerated ponds. Pond nutrients fall into 3 classes ... carbon (organic) and nitrogen and phosphorous nutrients. All these compete for the available oxygen in any pond and must be removed as effectively as possible for clean healthy water to occur. Excess of any nutrients promote algae and weed growth and allow excessive amounts of pond sediment to build up.

Ponds of all sizes without biofilters really do need bioaugmentation treatment and whilst I do not advocate these as a substitute for a working biofilter they do find important use early in the season even when a biofilter is available. The selection of the right bioaugmentation product is important and the the range most advocated in the USA is that produced under the brand name Microbe-Lift produced by Ecological laboratories Inc. Part of the product range includes natural cleaners for bird baths and vinyl pond products. By using these non-chemical cleaners wildlife and birds come to no harm. The same company produces a fountain cleaner. Click here to see competitive prices from three different suppliers on the web.

Its called bioaugmentation .. Microbe-Lift bacteria to keep ponds healthy

Pond calculators box cover FREE when you buy at the Pond Professor's book store or click here to learn more first

3. The "Answer"

The most revolutionary invention in koi pond filtration ever experienced is called The Answer. For the serious koi keeper this means goodbye to the vortex filter and the massive space and installation challenges that these units have to contend with.. Pond filtration has never been easier or more automated. The system is fully endorsed by leading koi keepers world wide and it is coming to South Africa soon.

Please click here to learn more and send for2 highly informative free pdf brochures

Recommendations Worth A Look pond professor new subscribe Pond Professor Price Intelligence Reports

pond professor new subscribe Find out why EPDM flexible rubber liner is best for water gardening and ponds

pond professor new subscribe Looking for large floating pond aerator fountains?

pond professor new subscribe Discover fiberglass rock water fountains

pond professor new subscribe Its called bioaugmentation .. Microbe-Lift bacteria to keep ponds healthy

Visit the only Water Gardening Web Store in South Africa ... for anyone who buys anything from this store (even if they ring to buy) I will give 30% off just to see what response there is. Just tell us you heard there was a 30% discount on offer

Download Focus catalogue and price list combined

Please click here for2 highly informative free pdf brochures on Nexus and "The Answer"

  

4. Admin section

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