Vol: 411 Date:
June 19th 2004
The Water Gardens Gazette
1. Culmination of many discussions and How To Save Money on All Your Pond Supplies in USA
2. Another First for Subscribers .. help me by checking out
3. Pond Plants On Line
4. Admin section
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT ... New Joint Venture Arrangement For YOUR Benefit ONLY As A Water Gardens Gazette Reader
1. Culmination of many discussions and How To Save Money on All Your Pond Supplies in USA
Most of you know that I live in South Africa which is a long way from the country where most of my readers are situated ... the USA. There are many differences in terms of types of equipment available in the different countries and sometimes it pays to get really good local advice. This is especially true when larger ponds requiring large biofilters and UV lights for example are required.
Well after many email discussions over a long period of time the owner of MacArthur Water Gardens On-Line store based in Florida and myself have agreed to jointly promote products stocked by MacArthur to those readers wanting good products and localised service at great prices with a very good support and guarantee level.
Brett Fogle, who owns MacArthur Water Gardens has created a special buying page for my readers and this is only available to those who subscribe to this Gazette and not the general internet searcher. By entering the store here and only here you will get a discount and access to special offers. Here's the link ...
The Pond Professor's Recommended On-Line Pond Supplies Store .... click here for discount and special offers to Gazette Readers ONLY ... click now and when you get there bookmark the page because it is the only access point to the special page
MacArthur Water Gardens stocks a very large range of branded products such as Tetra UV clarifiers and sterilizers, Hozelock pumps, Cyprio filters, Pondmaster pumps and so on.
2. Please try this important change ... it will help a lot I think
I am experimenting with the inclusion of a search engine box on my web site http://www.practical-water-gardens.com
The search will be driven by Google and will allow searchers to find anything on my site far more easily than ever before. The site is now very large and has a massive amount of valuable and useful information on it that is freely available to everyone anywhere in the world.
All you have to do is go to the site http://www.practical-water-gardens.com where you will see this search box (don't click this one here because it is a picture only and does not work ... you need to got to website to see it working) ... you can then search either within the site itself (recommended) or elsewhere on the internet if you cannot find what you want on my site.
This is how you can help me to further help you ...
Click and send me the email that you prefer ...
I like the search and will use it often
I do not like the search facility and will not use it
Thank you
3. I have left this section in at the request of numerous people who contact me about availability of good, low cost bio filter and UV equipment
Information on Alfagrog
Without getting too technical this means that 1 litre of Alfagrog can hold the same amount of bacteria as 200 litres of plastic tubes. In other words a box using plastic tubes needs to be 200 times bigger in volume than one containing Alfagrog to get the same biological performance.
Alfagrog fantastic low cost biomedia ... buy here, search for SUPRA after clicking
Alfagrog looks a bit like cinders, it is lightweight, comes in different sizes and you can literally blow through it because it is so porous.
"The Complete Pond Solver" by Tony Roocroft
2004 Edition. Essential reading for anybody who wants or has a garden pond. Get 12 Excel pond calculators free as well as "Water Lilies and Pond Aquatics" ebook also free
3. Pond plants and pond supplies on line
Pond plants ... every garden pond should have some (even those small barrel ponds I discussed last time). Here are some suggestions for this season and where you can get them on line ... click the image banner below and then choose Water Plants once you get to home page
They have nice basic variety of water lilies for sale ... every pond should have a water lily or two. There is also a wide range of marginals too. Well worth a look Other plants available ... see the pictures at my web site by clicking the link not placed here to reduce download time
Biological Concepts in a garden pond .. sage words from an old South African water gardener ... this is an extract from the book I published (did not author and cannot find author either) about water lilies and pond aquatics. It was written before the advent of UV clarifiers which in a fish pond at least is the only real guaranteed way to remove murky and green water caused by algae.
It really is necessary to get a grasp of the whole concept of ecological balance for the more intelligent maintenance of your pond. This, of course, involves the clarity of the water and the health of your fish and plants.
In the course of formation of a natural pond, the plants, fish, insects and minutiae develop and interact over a long period of time. The water achieves a balance or equilibrium whereby no plant or animal predominates and if they do proliferate, they are controlled naturally by predators or other environmental conditions.
To achieve this balance is the aim of every potential water gardener. Because we are often combining all the ingredients planting and stocking the pond all in the space of 10 days or less this is not always possible without some serious thought.
Consider a hypothetical pond built over a weekend. The pond is filled with tap water and then left to stand. As soon as the chlorine in the water has dissipated the water starts turning green due to the growth of minute unicellular free-floating algae. As it progresses things gets worse and worse until it resembles a thick green pea soup.
Begin again by emptying out the green water, but this time adding oxygen plants bog aquatics and water lilies in the following formula.
To each sq./m (about 10 sq. feet) surface area of your pond you should have: 2 bunches of oxygenating plant 1 water lily or surface covering plant 12 water snails 1 aquatic bog plant
These need not, of course, be spaced out metre by metre combining for instance 3 or 4 bog plants together in one corner as a design feature.
Algae grow and flourish in the presence of sunlight while absorbing nutrients from the water. By planting water lilies we provide coverage and shelter for many algae eating animals and insects, we block the penetration of sunlight and hence keep the water cooler. Oxygen plants compete for nutrients while at the same time releasing oxygen into the water on bright, sunny days.
Bog plants serve a similar function in their growing process, consuming nitrates which have been produced by bacterial action.
All the above is vastly simplified but the general effect is over a period of 3 to 5 weeks the pond gradually clears and stays clear while this balance is maintained (unless you keep fish). The water assumes a greenish tinge and slightly cloudy which is a normal condition. as the pond progresses and the plants take hold, many insects such as dragonflies, mayflies and various aquatic species, will take up residence.
Minute water fleas (daphnia) appear and even frogs and toads with their inevitable progeny.
All these play their part in the water garden scene and all are necessary.
With the advent of spring the pond very often starts going green due, of course, to the algae getting off to an early start. At this time the blanket weed or filamentous type algae appears. These can become a pest but generally are only associated with crystal clear water. Remove them physically or using a notched stick and by full summer you should have no more trouble.
To maintain the carefully achieved balance in your pond constant attention is needed .. therefore remove all fallen leaves, debris, dead animals (fish), or yellowing aquatic foliage. These, if left, simply decay and add nutrient to the water, thus stimulating algae growth.
Do not allow water lilies, floating plants or bog plants to shade more than 2/3 of the pond. The fish need open water and the critical oxygen balance of the water could be impaired by over coverage.
Control the oxygen grasses again limiting to about 1/3 coverage.
4. Permission To Publish and Admin section
Bona fide web masters and web site owners who have a genuine interest in helping people succeed in pond keeping are welcome to publish articles from these Gazettes subject to one simple condition. Please include in the opening to the article the following link. All you need do is copy these 2 lines of code and paste into your HTML
"http://www.practical-water-gardens.com/"
All you need to know about water gardens, ponds, pumps, bio filters and UV lights
This code will show as follows on your web page .... All you need to know about water gardens, ponds, pumps, bio filters and UV lights
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(c) copyright 2003 - 2004 Tony Roocroft, All rights reserved.
Biofilters between 1,000 galls and 5,000 gallons capacity are claimed (no UV included) with Alfagrog ... 3 different sizes . Shipping was free and I think still is but check
click here
BIOLOGICAL POND FILTER
.... 1000 galls
click here
BIOLOGICAL POND FILTER
.... 3000 galls
click here
BIOLOGICAL POND FILTER
.... 5000 gals
Biofilters between 1,000 galls and 5,000 gallons capacity are claimed with Alfagrog and UV included for algae free water 3 different sizes then click here to read review
MORE REVIEWS BELOW ... don't buy any new pond equipment until you have read these Pond Professor Price Intelligence Reports
Find out why EPDM flexible rubber liner is best for water gardening and ponds
Looking for large floating pond aerator fountains?
Discover fiberglass rock water fountains
Its called bioaugmentation .. Microbe-Lift bacteria to keep ponds healthy
Go here to select the correct pump for your own pond or waterfall
For any purchase from KRUPPS note following .... |
5% discount
at Krupps.com- Just enter Rebate code: cj3579 and you will receive 5% off
your next order at Krupps.com
Other Pond Professor's water related web sites created to help others
