Garden water features, ponds, fountains

Water Features, fountains, water gardens industry criticism

In this section I will not mention any names of course. It is that time of year when sales of consumable pond products increase in the Northern Hemisphere. There is nothing wrong with selling .. all of us are in business to make money when all is said and done.

What concerns me is the advice given to encourage people to add chemicals and other concoctions to their ponds.

I came across this To Do List in what was supposed to be a newsletter because Spring was here:

1. Order new filter pads (BUY THESE) ... maybe not a bad idea if you rely upon these for biofiltration but I got the idea these were things floating about the pond surface in which case they are a bad substitute for a biofilter. It is cheap to build a biofilter yourself - see my book

2. Empty the pond and add some PRODUCT X (buy PRODUCT X here) when you refill the pond... should be totally unnecessary to empty the pond unless you do want to clean bottom. It is wrong to remove algae on sides of pond. Nothing positive is achieved but there is a negative reaction... less holding places for bacteria and natural food for fish

3. Add beneficial bacteria (BUY .......) you may as well just spit into the pond for what good these thing do

4. BUY Barley straw ... maybe not bad advice but for barley straw to stand any chance of success against blanketweed or string algae you must know the conditions under which it works and I have only ever seen one scientific based report on what happens and how to get barley straw to work. I devote a whole chapter to this in my book.

5. And the list went on BUY THIS, BUY THAT, BUY BUY BUY...... The message was we can sell you lots not .... how we can really help you to help yourself and thus become a loyal lifelong customer for the right reasons for the right products...... genuine help, genuine assistance

The sad part is that none was really necessary for the well being of a pond.

I am always tempted to repeat Nigel Caddock's very sane advice in these circumstances

In any pond there should be 3 things ..............

Water and Oxygen and Fish (in actual fact Nigel says koi not fish but he is a bit biased towards koi ..........)

He is perfectly correct.

How To Choose Fish Pond Bio Filters Get Clear Ponds How To Select Garden Pond & Waterfall Pump

Large Pond Filter Review Aquabead Filters for Koi Ponds

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