In order to provide the fish with air flow, it is necessary to take care of the presence of a hole. Experts do not recommend cutting ice with an ax - the shock wave can harm underwater inhabitants. It is easier and simpler to place a container with ice on the ice. hot water, for example, a kettle or a saucepan. To prevent the resulting wormwood from freezing, you can regularly water it with boiling water.
An artificial pond, even such a tiny one, requires attention and care. Otherwise, the water will simply bloom, and plants and fish may die
poplars
aeration
Choosing a location for a pond
presence of damage
If there are fish in the pond, do not turn off the pump pumping water into the stream or fountain on hot nights to maintain the required oxygen content. If there is no pump, spray the surface of the pond with a hose from time to time.
If you don't take care of your pond, it will sooner or later become overgrown. What to do: late autumn Thin out the plants in the coastal zone properly. This is the best time to assess their condition. Remove overgrown plants along with rhizomes and shoots. Plants that are prone to overgrowth should initially be planted in baskets. Too much silt at the bottom can also cause the pond to become overgrown. To avoid this, regularly collect leaves and pollen, as well as dead plant parts.
We talked about the basic rules for constructing a pond on a plot or dacha on the pages of this site quite often, in particular in this article. The rest are not difficult to find - enter the word “pond” in the site search - now let’s talk about the main problems that arise when caring for a garden pond.
Another easy, but more expensive way to provide air for fish in winter is to install an electric water pump that has a vertical drainage pipe. With the help of such a tube, a non-freezing hole with constantly bubbling water will appear in the pond, which will contribute to its saturation with oxygen.
Experts advise starting spring work on artificial reservoir back in March. Firstly, during this period there is not much hassle in the garden and vegetable garden and the owners have time to pay enough attention to their pond. And secondly, the sooner you take care of the pond, the sooner it will begin to delight the eye with well-groomed greenery and cheerful inhabitants.
A small body of water (regardless of what it is made of) is best drained for the winter, because... Such ponds most often deteriorate from the cold.
brown
Remove filamentous algae so that it does not turn into dense, impassable thickets in which small fish can become entangled.
8. What to do if the leaves of your garden pond plants turn yellow...
Cut off yellowed and wilted leaves of plants. Angustifolia cattail and ornamental grasses cut to a height of 15 cm without damaging the young shoots.
In such thin, first ice, making a wormwood will not be difficult. But in severe frosts, you will have to make significantly more effort to provide the fish with oxygen.
First of all, you need to check how your pond “survived” the winter. You should check how the equipment works (pumps, power supply system, filters, etc.), whether the fish that you decided to leave in a sufficiently deep reservoir have survived, whether the shore reinforced with stones has collapsed, whether the concrete bottom has cracked, and put the heater away for storage. In general, outline a work plan that will help the pond “come to its senses” and again, like last summer, become a decoration of the site.
acacia
Protecting a pond from the sun
Cut
For interest, you can plant such delicate floating plants in the pond, such as eichornia, or water hyacinth(Eichomia spp.), and pistia, or water lettuce (Pistiaspp.).
There may be several reasons why plant leaves turn yellow during the growing season. Wrong depth: In this case, the plants should be replanted according to their requirements. Damage by pests or fungal disease: remove diseased parts of plants, and in extreme cases, remove the entire plant. Flaw nutrients: replant the plant to a higher suitable soil or add a slow-release fertilizer to the rhizome.
Remove some of the sediment from the bottom of the reservoir in case of heavy siltation, using an electric sludge sucker. To clean small ponds, you can take a mechanical model. If tadpoles or newt larvae live in the pond, use the sludge sucker with extreme caution.
Koi carps and goldfish, which come from Southeast Asia, require a temperature of at least plus 7, and even better - 10 degrees Celsius for a comfortable existence. It is impossible to provide such favorable conditions in a region where winter temperatures often reach minus 20–30 degrees without special heating.
It is clear that to study the condition of the reservoir it is worth waiting until the ice melts. But in March, the layer of ice on the pond is no longer as strong as in winter, and you can help the pond clear out faster by pouring hot water on the ice or carefully making several holes.
floating aerators;
Net - chief assistant in the fight against garbage in the reservoir. It will be better if you have at least two of them in your arsenal: with a fine and a large mesh.
coastal plants
too much pressure submersible pump.
In the fall, plants immersed in water are thinned out and trimmed, otherwise in winter they will rot in the water, polluting it and depriving the fish of oxygen.
9. What to do if the fish don’t have enough air...
Check for damage to the pond film; if there is, seal it to prevent water leakage.
The artificial pond heating system includes a heat exchange tank, which is equipped with an electric pump with a biofilter. The power of the pump and thermal element is calculated based on the size of the reservoir. It’s convenient if the system includes an automatic temperature sensor that turns the heating off and on, preventing you from wasting electricity.
At the same time, you should prepare the plants that you would like to plant in the spring. You can purchase ready-made seedlings in specialized stores or on the market, which will grow in pots in March-April, while the water and soil have not yet warmed up. Another option is to purchase seeds and grow seedlings yourself. Just remember that aquatic plants need special soil, and the soil should always be moist, so it is better to place the pots in a container of water.
bottom aeration systems.
Large mesh net
The silt raised by fish turns the water in the pond brown.
If the weather is warm, the fish are given food rich in fiber, such as wheat germ pellets, until the temperature drops to 6 °C.
B summer time shallow ponds warm up quickly, so their oxygen content decreases. If there is very little of it, the fish begin to float to the surface after it. What to do: drain some of the water and pour in cold and fresh water. Oxygen activators, which are scattered in the water, will also be a temporary measure. But to radically solve the problem, you need to shade the pond and not add unnecessary nutrients to the water. The oxygen content also increases thanks to fountains and aerators.
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Turn on the filters and pump around mid-April (depending on the weather). The filter must operate daily 24 hours a day. At the same time, start the fountains.
Heating the pond will eliminate the need to monitor the presence of polynya, since a non-freezing window will remain on the surface of the water.
As for which plants to choose, experts advise purchasing pondweed and urut, which perfectly purify the water in the pond, as well as beautiful floating aponogeton and salvinia. Water lilies and water lilies, Siberian iris, which loves shallow water, and Tradescantia, which prefers dry shores, have long become classics.
Divide and trim
Protect delicate coastal plants from the cold. When the first frosts cause the leaves of such large-leaved plants as rhubarb and gunnera to wither, cover them on top with these blackened leaves and cover them with fallen leaves to protect them from the cold.
10. What to do if there are too many snails...
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Plant coastal and aquatic plants.
A pond heating system is not a cheap pleasure, however, if you want to leave exotic fish in a pond for the winter, you cannot do without it
Plants are, of course, the main decoration of an artificial pond. It is necessary to take care of their planting in early spring
small cells
shrubs
Cover the surface of the pond with netting to prevent autumn leaves from drowning. Catch heat-loving floating plants from the pond - in winter they are kept at home, in a warm room on moist compost (soil mixture).
A sufficient number of snails should live in a garden pond: as a rule, they feed on dead parts of plants and algae and thus take care of the cleanliness of the reservoir. But if there are too many snails, they start eating healthy plants. In this case, excess shellfish should be caught.
Divide and plant poorly flowering plants.
As you can see, an artificial pond requires attention all year round. However, the rules for caring for a pond on a personal plot are simple and easy to follow. If you adhere to the recommendations and rules listed in this article, the pond will delight you with its beauty for many years, and its inhabitants with excellent health.
The main task of the owners of an artificial reservoir immediately after the ice has melted and the shore has dried up is to clean the pond from debris. In the fall, leaves fell into it, and during the winter some plants and small inhabitants could freeze, so there is enough garbage in the spring. The main problem is not to collect leaves and debris floating on the surface of the water, but that organic residues accumulate at the bottom of the reservoir, so serious “general cleaning” of stones on the shore, walls and bottom cannot be avoided.
useful for collecting duckweed and pollen.
, growing at the water's edge.
Where winters are harsh and water bodies freeze for a long time, the main problem- ice.
11. What to do if there is too much duckweed in the pond...
Make the first water analysis. The most important parameters (pH value, oxygen and nitrogen content, water hardness) are determined using a tester.
Anna Sedykh, rmnt.ru
To carry out spring cleaning of the pond, you should pump out the water, leaving only a small puddle for the fish, catch all the living inhabitants and temporarily transplant them into some kind of container, and carefully clean the bottom and walls of the pond with a regular brush. A water vacuum cleaner, the so-called silt extractor, will also be a good helper, as it will suck out all the residue from the bottom. And its special nozzles will allow you to clean stones and all surfaces of the reservoir. The price of a German-made suction pump reaches 8–9 thousand rubles, but the savings in time and effort when cleaning a reservoir are very significant.
If the weather forecast does not expect frost, start planting
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florculants
Methane gas, released when dead plants rot, does not escape into the atmosphere, but accumulates under the ice. Since the methane has no outlet, it is reabsorbed by the water, which becomes toxic to the fish. A small, non-freezing hole will always remain in the ice around the switched on electric heater.
In small ponds, the water should be completely changed in the spring, however, they are usually drained on the eve of cold weather. Dirty water remaining after cleaning, of course, should be drained or pumped out.
sludge sucker
annual plants
Another option: you can place a hot pan on ice and hold it until a hole forms under it. And so on every day until it gets warmer - until the ice melts. You cannot make a hole in the ice: the shock wave can stun a motionless sleeping fish. As thick ice expands, it can crush the walls of the pond. More often than not, it is not sloping walls that suffer from this, but vertical walls. If you throw elastic objects into the water, for example balls made of porous rubber or wooden blocks, they, being a kind of shock absorbers, will soften the pressure.
black
Drain water from all hoses and pipes.
Sweep the snow off the ice to make the pond lighter underneath. In warm winter conditions: If the pump continues to pump water into the stream, lift it from the bottom so that it pushes cooler water near the surface and does not disturb the precious layer of warm water at the bottom of the reservoir.
Remove non-frost-resistant pumps and filters. You will find more detailed information about the correct dismantling and storage of this equipment in the instructions for it.
In April, turn on filters and fountains.
Use a net to catch all deep-sea and coastal plants.
If the fish wakes up and becomes active during warming, do not give in to the temptation to feed it. Note:Remove dead parts of plants.
Each season has its own concerns. The next four pages describe seasonal pond maintenance. Unforeseen problems can sometimes disrupt the usual course of things: fish will suddenly open their mouths wide and swallow air, the leaves of water lilies will begin to die, or the water level in the pond will drop sharply. In this case, especially if you still have a little experience, you cannot act at random. Read the article about the problems that arise when caring for a pond and act in accordance with the recommendations. Several years after settling the pond, it may turn out that the plants in it have grown wildly, silt has accumulated at the bottom, and the edges have been washed away. So it's time for big renovation. You will have to pump the water out of the pond, clean it and replant it with plants and introduce fish. Before you take on this work, read what is written in the article.
If your area experiences prolonged periods of drying winds, when the water level in the pond drops noticeably, you need to add water to it in the same way as you do in the summer.
Raising crayfish in a pond
Place the fish in a pre-prepared temporary tank of water. It is better to collect it from your own reservoir.Use a net to catch random leaves that have flown into the pond during strong wind. On very cold days, dwarf forms of water lilies in a shallow pond may freeze. Until the weather improves, temporarily transfer them to the aquarium, in a warm place. In reservoirs of at least 5 in size square meters You can house not only fish, but also crayfish. The latter feed on algae, leaves, and leftover fish food, thereby purifying the pond water. There is no need to additionally feed the crayfish. To make them feel comfortable in a pond, it is advisable to make shelters for them, for example, from stones or clay pipes.
Move heat-loving plants to a frost-free room for the winter
Cut
It is better to shade the pond a little - algae grow faster in the sun. To do this, you can plant water lilies so that their floating leaves cover about half the surface of the water. If this is not enough, you can plant other deep-sea plants and/or plants that float on the surface of the water. Another way to curb the growth of algae is to reduce the content of carbon dioxide in the water and some necessary for their development. minerals. Oxygenators - underwater plants that play an important role in keeping the water clear - cope well with this task. These plants also produce the oxygen needed by fish.
In summer, the artificial pond does not require weekly cleaning; the plants are already replanted, so it causes little trouble. However, water evaporation can be a significant problem for a small pond.
Large mesh net
Plant tropical plants - lotuses, eichornia and water lettuce - starting in June.
Much also depends on the size of the pond. Even if you follow all the recommendations, it is almost impossible to achieve clear water in a small pond. Then you should resort to artificial cleaning methods - for example, install a filter for biological purification or use chemicals to combat algae. If you can't get rid of the greenish tint in the water, read what is written in the article about the problems associated with pond maintenance.
In a small reservoir located in an open area of the site, up to 5 centimeters of water can evaporate daily in summer. If you do not add water in a timely manner, your pond will soon turn into an ordinary puddle.
lack of oxygen.
Weed the weeds on the shore of the reservoir, cut out the growth of trees.If you have done everything you should in the fall, then there is nothing or almost nothing left for the winter. Fish are inactive in winter and do not need to be fed, the above-water parts of the plants are cut off, and the season for planting new plants has not yet arrived. But still, if it is not very cold and the soil is dry enough, you can plant swamp plants grown in pots. High temperature and humidity are ideal conditions for the development of all kinds of pests. Insects usually take a liking to the leaves and trunks of plants that live on the banks of a reservoir. The simplest and safe way To combat such pests, wash them off with a hose. This option has two more advantages: harmful insects, washed into the water, will become food for fish, and plant leaves “washed” with a hose will get rid of dust and will delight you with fresh greens. useful for collecting duckweed and pollen.
, growing at the water's edge.
In addition, after feeding the fish, you should remove any remaining food and ensure that no debris accumulates on the surface. If the pond is small, then you can do this manually, but for a medium-sized pond it is already worth purchasing a skimmer - a device that collects the top layer of water, along with floating debris. The skimmer filters the water from debris and returns it to the pond. Such a device costs on average from 4 to 36 thousand rubles, depending on the size, it can be bottom-mounted, wall-mounted or floating.
It is best to start preparing for the winter period without waiting for the first serious cold weather. If the weather forecast does not expect frost, start plantingflorculants
irises
overgrown algae
Such actions will improve the water quality in the reservoir. If we turn to the experience of any landscape designers past, many of them had various garden ponds on their estates. And, it should be noted that it is in excellent environmental condition. The main technique that will allow you to constantly admire clean water is regular reclamation.
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Regularly catch fallen flower petals from the pond and remove yellowed leaves of aquatic plants. Collect pollen floating on the surface of the water with a net.
Neither fish nor plants will die in a large deep pond, even if it is completely covered with ice, although some problems may still arise. If a continuous ice cover is left for more than a couple of days, the concentration of swamp gas formed during the decomposition of organic residues can reach a value dangerous for fish. To release it, you need to cut a hole.
– special chemical compounds that promote the settling of dirt to the bottom of a decorative pond.
andand uneaten by fish
Blooming
Ice should not be broken with a hammer - fish may be harmed by the shock wave. The easiest way to make a hole in the ice is to place a pan of hot water on the ice and wait until it melts. Then you need to slightly, at least 1 cm, lower the water level in the pond. Of course, due to rain and snow, the water will rise to its previous level, and in frosty weather the ice hole will freeze again. The only truly effective solution is to install a heater in the pond. Models with both mains and low-voltage power supply are now available. Connect the heater to the pump power source. This needs to be done in the fall, before the cold weather sets in.
This means that it is necessary to periodically drain the water and also freeze the pond bed. This is simply called “wintering”. Three years later, a procedure called “summering” is carried out - the pond is drained from the beginning of spring, after which the ground is plowed and the entire bottom is sown with plants. Bottom silt can be used to fertilize the entire area. We also recommend reading about methods for cleaning a pond in the garden.
Do not break the ice under any circumstances - the change in pressure may damage the fish’s swim bladders! In general, do not disturb the peace of the pond unless absolutely necessary.
Throw a board into a pond with a concrete base so that it floats on the surface of the water and at least partially takes on the pressure of the freezing layer of ice. If the pump remains in the pond over the winter, run it for half an hour every two weeks, unless there is frost. And one more thing - take advantage of the winter break to look through catalogs and choose new plants to plant next year.
Drain water from all hoses and pipes. Remove and clean non-frost-resistant filters and pumps. Some pump models must be stored in containers with water.
The main “work” in the summer is to admire the pond. Just standing and watching is no less important than spring or autumn pond care work. Watch fish and other animals, admire flowering plants - irises in June, water lilies in July and lobelias in August. At the same time, do not forget to note the appearance of pests. By noticing them in time, you will save yourself from big troubles. Sometimes water the leaves of coastal plants with a hose to wash away insects into the water, which will then be eaten by fish. Excessive growth of algae in the pond will cause the water to turn green, or even completely disappear under a layer of “green invaders”. Duckweed, filamentous algae and azolla (aka water fern) are especially annoying to owners of artificial reservoirs. By multiplying uncontrollably, such plants can eventually fill the entire small pond, leaving no room for your favorite water lilies. If your pond is equipped
Using a special tester, carry out the first water pH analysis.
With such care, your pond in the garden will always be in excellent condition and will only delight you and your guests! The material about an aqua flower bed for a pond will also be interesting.
Leave some of the reeds and other plants with hollow stems in the pond until spring. They protect the surface of the water from freezing.
Continue to feed the fish dry food. Remember that their diet needs to be varied sometimes. It is enough to feed the fish once a day - preferably during the day. Uneaten remains of food from the surface of the water should be removed after five minutes.
Duckweed should not be allowed into an artificial pond at all, since due to its unpretentiousness it is practically ineradicable. True, these small green leaves are very fond of ducks and other Domestic bird, so poultry house owners should not throw away caught duckweed - everything will be useful on the farm.
Muddy water, a lot of algae or overgrown plants? Finish in the first half of summer what you forgot or did not have time to do in the spring: plant aquatic plants, introduce new fish, clean out the pond if necessary. In hot weather, the water level in the pond can drop by five centimeters every week. Add water regularly from the hose in a thin stream - do not wait until the water level drops so low that the fish, plants or pond waterproofing are damaged. During a thunderstorm, fish do not have enough oxygen in the water, they rise to the surface and swallow air through their mouths. To increase the oxygen content in the water and reduce the carbon dioxide content, turn on the fountain or spray water over the surface of the pond with a hose. Small and seemingly harmless duckweed can fill the entire pond without leaving a single window clean water. Regularly catching it with a net, it is difficult to deal with this algae; skimmers, filters, as well as fish that like to snack on duckweed, for example, crucian carp or carp, can come to the rescue
If you don't take care of the pond, it will quickly turn into a swamp. Find out how to prevent this from happening.
iron
Regularly clean the surface of the water from fallen leaves, pollen and filamentous algae.
Before you start cleaning the pond, collect water from it into tanks for temporary fish keeping. In order not to disturb the pond ecosystem, after cleaning, pour this water back along with the fish.
water bloom;
High protein concentration – main reason appearance of white foam. Solving this problem is simple - just replace 30% of the water in the pond. It wouldn’t hurt to do a water hardness test. To prevent foaming, use
tropical plants.
To understand whether it’s time to change the water in a pond or not, immerse a white plate 10 cm into it. If the plate is not visible at this depth, it’s time to change the water.
In early spring, the first primroses bloom in the swamp and bulbous plants, but the pond itself will come to life only in a month, when the marigold blooms and the first signs of activity in the fish appear. The water lilies will begin to grow new leaves, the frogs will lay eggs - these are signals for you that it’s time to get to work.
If the plants near the pond grew in pots, you can simply bring them indoors, providing enough high level humidity. When leaving aquatic plants to overwinter in the pond, you should move them to the deepest part so that there is at least half a meter to the surface. Some representatives of the flora, for example, water lilies, can be transplanted into the ground in the fall and covered with peat, sawdust or leaves on top to protect them from frost. special liquidDon't forget about fertilizing. Growing in water Lack of oxygen in water can cause algae to rot and deteriorate the environmental situation in the reservoir as a whole. The reasons for the decrease in the percentage of oxygen may be: Continuous care is a guarantee that your country pond will delight you and your guests for many years to come
acacia
overgrown algae
Algae is a very important component of the ecosystem of any body of water. They begin to appear within a few weeks after filling the pit with water, even if you did not plant them specifically. . floating aerators;
. The sun's rays should not fall on water surface more than 6 hours a day. If the location of the reservoir does not allow this condition to be met, build a gazebo or plant shading plants on the south side of the pond.
Inspect the fish for visible signs of diseases that it might have developed over the winter.
In order for water lilies to develop normally, they should be planted in accordance with the requirements of a particular variety. If large varieties are planted in shallow water, their leaves will grow to enormous sizes, pile on top of each other and cover the flowers. And vice versa, if dwarf varieties plant too deep and they will never reach the surface of the water and will eventually die. What to do: replant the water lilies at a depth appropriate for their variety. It is best to do this between April and August.
As soon as the threat has passed return frosts, remove the heater from the pond, clean it and store it. This can be done in April or May - depending on where you live. Connect a submersible pump to a fountain or waterfall. May is the busiest month. This is the ideal time to plant aquatic plants that will delight the eye in summer and fall. Overgrown water lilies and other deep-sea plants should be removed from the pond and divided. Usually this has to be done three to four years after planting, in late spring or early summer. It is easier to deal with plants planted in baskets rather than just on the bottom of the pond or on terraces. May brings another work that requires concentration - feeding aquatic plants. Special fertilizers for underwater plants in the form of powder or granules packaged in bags are placed under a layer of gravel in each basket with a plant.
Before the onset of cold weather, fish need to “get fat”, so you should provide them protein nutrition in sufficient quantity. Fish can winter in a pond only if its depth is at least 1.5, and preferably 2 meters. The water temperature at the bottom should not fall below plus 5 degrees in winter. Otherwise, the fish should also be moved to the aquarium in a timely manner.
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and uneaten by fish
Blooming
Regularly monitor water quality using drop testers (determines pH) and indicators to determine water hardness.
bottom aeration systems.
Place the pond in a place where it will be easy to clean
Remove algae from paved or wooden surfaces.
4. What to do if damage appears on the leaves of water lilies...
Use a rake and net to remove fallen leaves and rotting organic matter from the pond. Don't be alarmed if the water turns cloudy and green in the spring. This happens because small algae begin to grow earlier than large higher plants that provide balance in the pond. If the water does not clear up at the beginning of summer, read the recommendations in the article - pond maintenance.
Remember that in winter time The fish in the pond are not active and do not need feeding.
What to do if the water level begins to drop sharply?
water lilies
called too rapid growth of algae.
Constantly monitor the water level in the pond
It is better to select an aeration system at the stage of planning the reservoir
Remove overgrown algae using a rake and fork. Usage chemical herbicides can destroy the flora and fauna of your pond, so it is better to use them in the most exceptional cases. A special filter will also help prevent water from blooming.
If the forecast predicts frosts, cover delicate early flowering plants with garden covering material.
The leaves of these plants are most often damaged by tiny larvae of leaf beetles, which attach to the outside of the leaves and make tunnels in them. What to do: Remove damaged leaves and egg masses to prevent new larvae from appearing. Round indentations on the edges of leaves are left by the water lily moth. These first green and then gray caterpillars of moths sit on the underside of the leaves and bite them. What to do: Collect caterpillars from the backs of leaves.
There may be more serious problems than the inevitable greening of the water that happens every spring. If dead plants and other organic matter are left to rot in a pond, the water may turn dark, oily, and have an unpleasant odor. Sometimes, to solve this problem, it is enough to partially change the water, as described in the article contaminated water. This is not a very labor-intensive job if you have somewhere to drain the dirty water. But sometimes the water becomes so dirty that this solution is no longer enough. Then the pond should be cleaned as described in the article - cleaning a pond. This is quite a hassle, but as a result your pond will be like new.
The most popular inhabitants of artificial reservoirs are bright and very active koi carp or Japanese carp, ide, bleak, bitterling and gold fish. You should not overpopulate the pond - for relatively large koi carps you will need a fairly spacious reservoir with an area of at least 5 square meters, and in a pond with a volume of only 100 liters no more than 10 goldfish can live comfortably
First of all, check whether the walls of the reservoir are damaged. If a leak is found, repair it. If there is no damage, then most likely the cause lies in the normal evaporation of water. To prevent this from happening, in extreme heat, add or pump a little more water into the pond.
need regular feeding with special fertilizers for aquatic plants.
, which trigger the decay process, which requires a large amount of oxygen;
Large amounts of sunlight can cause pond water to bloom
Do not throw away plant debris collected from the surface of the reservoir. It can be used as fertilizer.
The choice of aeration system largely depends on climatic conditions your region and pond characteristics. It is best not to put off solving the problem of saturating water with oxygen until later, but to think about it at the stage of planning the reservoir.
A special cleaning system will help avoid many problems
In small ponds, while the water lilies have not yet grown new floating leaves that shade the surface of the reservoir, the bright and prolonged shine of the spring sun can cause rapid growth of algae. The “blooming” of the water will go away on its own when the surface leaves develop.
5. What to do if foam appears on the water
Too many gardeners naively believe that as soon as the water lilies have faded and the coastal plants have begun to fade, they can no longer worry about anything and forget about the pond until next spring. This is completely false. One of the main reasons why a pond becomes unusable is that it is deprived of maintenance in the fall.
As mentioned above, in winter a reservoir up to 50-100 centimeters deep can freeze completely. Therefore, such small ponds are drained. It is convenient if there is a drain hole in the reservoir. Otherwise, you will have to either use a pump or pump out the water with a hose, using the principle of communicating vessels.
The beauty of your pond largely depends on how carefully you take care of it
Constantly thin out algae and plant rhizomes.
sharp decrease in fresh water inflow;
Causes of water bloom:
In the fall, there are even more fallen leaves, which means that you will have to spend much more time cleaning the pond from debris. In addition, autumn is the time to prepare the country pond for winter.
As soon as the snow melts, start preparing the pond for the new season. This is the time for repair and maintenance work.
Weeds are another scourge of artificial reservoirs. They grow quickly and crowd out cultivated plants. It is better to remove them in the same way as excess algae - by hand.
Now is the time to vegetatively propagate the plants if they have grown too large or if you need a new one planting material. By this time, all aquatic plants should already be fully developed, especially those that grow entirely under water and enrich it with oxygen. They should be trimmed regularly to prevent underwater stems from growing too long and spreading across the surface of the pond.
When plant pollen falls into the pond, the concentration of protein in the water increases, which rises to the surface and forms foam. If there is really a lot of it, partially replace the water in the pond (no more than 20%) or use an anti-foaming agent. Also check the water hardness level (see point 2).
In September, water lilies are still blooming, and if the cold weather has not set in too early, you can continue to plant plants. But in October the planting season ends and the turn of autumn work begins. The most important thing is to remove organic residues as thoroughly as possible. Left to rot in a pond, they will greatly pollute the water.
To prevent fish or debris from getting into the hose, which could cause a blockage, it is better to put a special filter over the hole or simply pull burlap over it.
You need to care for your decorative pond throughout the year. Timely implementation of our recommendations will make this task easier and preserve the beauty of your pond for many years.
Monitor the water level in the pond. If necessary, top it up or, conversely, pump it out.
Continue to monitor the cleanliness of the reservoir. If necessary, cover it with a special net, but make sure that animals and birds do not get into it.
Clean the bottom of the pond from dirt and silt. This can be done either manually or using
Sometimes the water in the pond becomes cloudy and takes on an unusual black or brown tint. There are several reasons for this:
Pests such as midges can be washed off the leaves of water lilies with a strong stream from a hose. Some succulent coastal and marsh plants, such as marsh marigold, are affected by powdery mildew in early summer. Cut off the affected leaves to the base; they will quickly grow back.
6. What to do if the water level drops...
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First of all, you should deal with oxygenators. Prune these submerged plants at the beginning of the month. Coastal plants that have begun to darken should also be pruned, because their dying leaves will pollute the pond, and pests will inevitably settle on the stems left in the pond for the winter. Trim the stems so that they are a few centimeters above the water level. This is especially important for plants with hollow stems. IN big pond Water lilies and other submerged plants may be difficult to reach, but try to remove wilted flowers and leaves. Plants floating on the surface of the water form overwintering buds, which sink to the bottom for the winter. Several of these buds from each plant should be placed in a glass jar and placed indoors for the winter. Next spring they will sprout, and if they are returned to the pond, then new plants will form from them faster than from those buds that overwintered at the bottom of the pond. This is very important for combating algae in the spring.
The drained pond can be covered with film, boards or thick cloth to prevent leaves or other debris from getting into it.
We warm the water in the pond to the optimal temperature for its inhabitants
Regularly clear the pond bank of weeds and tree growth. The rhizomes of the latter can damage the reservoir. In general, when choosing a place for a country pond, make sure that there are no people within a radius of 10 m
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Many problems associated with water blooms can be avoided if you think through the following issues at the planning stage of a country pond:
Carry out sanitary pruning of coastal and shallow-water plants. Remove annuals as they dry out.
sludge sucker
rotting of algae or fish food, in this case the water becomes
At this time the fish is very active, but try not to overfeed it. It is better to feed more often, but little by little, and never feed more than she can eat in five minutes.
In addition to natural evaporation, coastal plants are also to blame for this, the roots of which damage the film, which leads to water seepage. What to do: check for integrity
If they grow near the pond deciduous trees, then the pond must be covered with a fine mesh so that leaves do not fall into the pond, and its edges must be secured well. The net is removed only after the leaf fall ends.
Such a small body of water will definitely freeze completely in winter, so it’s worth draining the water before the cold weather arrives
An artificial pond in a country house or garden plot is beautiful and romantic. Such a pond will become the highlight of landscape design, a real decoration of the garden or green courtyard of a private house. Sometimes a pond is not a whim of the owner or a tribute to fashion, but the only way to put it in order swampy area and remove excess moisture.
cherries
in the water.
Soil selection
With the onset of the first frost, move heat-loving plants to a bright and frost-free room. Move containers with plants that remain overwintering in the pond to a depth at which the water in your pond does not freeze.
(a special pump designed to remove sludge from the bottom of the pond).
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For aquatic plants, especially water lilies, fertilizers are sold in the form of slowly dissolving granules or in permeable fabric bags. They are placed in vessels with plants under the very surface of the compost (soil mixture).
pond film in the coastal zone. If you find a leak, eliminate the cause (plant root or stone), clean the film and glue it securely. There are kits for sale for this.
At the beginning of autumn, fish need to start preparing for winter and switch to food with a high protein content. Some experts believe that in a cramped small pond, the water should be partially changed every year in early autumn.
If the fish remain in the pond over the winter, you will have to worry not only about them, but also about ensuring that the ice does not damage the concrete walls of the pond. The last problem can be solved quite simply - an ordinary board should be placed in the center of the reservoir and it will take on the pressure of the ice, protecting the walls.
Earlier in the article “Do-it-yourself pond at the dacha” we told you how to build an artificial pond yourself. However, after construction is completed, a pond, even the smallest one, also requires constant attention and regular maintenance. This article is devoted specifically to the basic rules for caring for a pond on the site.
The process of saturating air or liquid with oxygen is called
for planting cultivated algae. It shouldn't have too many nutrients.
After the water temperature in the reservoir drops to 9°C, stop feeding the fish. If the depth of your decorative pond is less than 2 m, move its inhabitants to tanks with suitable water and leave them indoors for the winter.
Check the bottom of the reservoir for
The screens of a submersible pump will quickly become clogged if there is filamentous algae somewhere nearby. Check the cleanliness of the screens regularly, otherwise the pump will not be able to operate at full capacity.
7. What to do if a pond or another body of water becomes overgrown...
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There are still a number of things that need to be done before the cold weather sets in. Remove non-frost-hardy aquatic plants, such as pistia, from the pond, transplant them into jars of water and move them indoors. Do the same with goldfish. Remove the pump and replace it with a heater. Clean the pump and put it indoors. If you use surface pump, drain the water from it. In areas where herons are found, it is recommended to cover the pond with a net for the winter or put several 10-centimeter cuttings on the bottom water pipes, where the fish could hide if something happened.
Caring for tomatoes after picking Cacti growing and care
If you have built on your summer cottage hydraulic structure, it doesn’t matter whether it’s a pond, a pool or a fountain, it is necessary to take care of the structure, otherwise it will lose its attractiveness in a matter of weeks appearance and will be overgrown with algae. Next we will talk about how to care for a pond in the garden with your own hands.
Caring for a pond in the garden is a fairly simple and not labor-intensive task. If you do not take care of your garden pond, then after a while it will become overgrown with algae, the water will begin to “bloom” and all the fish (if any) will die.
Caring for a pond in the garden includes several basic activities:
Now we will consider all the components of caring for a pond in the garden with our own hands, or rather the purpose and essence of the above activities.
By using mechanical cleaning When cleaning a pond, fallen leaves and, if necessary, overgrown plants that deteriorate the appearance of the garden pond are removed from the pond.
Chemical cleaning pond represents the use peat tablets, which inhibit the growth of algae.
In order to enrich water with oxygen It is recommended to use special compressors. Oxygen-saturated water improves the life activity of the inhabitants of the pond, if it...
It is also necessary additionally purify water using filters. To do this, it is recommended to use submersible filters that automatically distill water and purify it (usually this process takes no more than 4 hours). When purchasing a pump, you must select a unit that will have sufficient performance to operate in a pond of a certain size.
Definitely recommended plant moisture-loving plants in the pond itself and along its borders. They will not only give the garden pond a decorative appearance, but will also independently establish biological balance. To prevent the pond from becoming overgrown with algae, it is enough to plant several plant seedlings (2-3 pieces) on a pond area of 1 m2. You should also make sure that the plants do not grow too intensively throughout the pond, otherwise the biological balance will be disrupted. To control plant growth, it is recommended to place seedlings in special baskets. We draw your attention to the fact that the bottom of the garden pond should not consist of black soil, but of a mixture of loam and sand. The most suitable moisture-loving plants for a pond are burrs, reeds and lake reeds.
Population of a pond with snails It is also one of the main activities for caring for a pond in the garden. These tiny inhabitants of the pond will ensure round-the-clock cleaning of the pond from algae.
Concerning pond illumination, this event is not particularly important, but it is still recommended to use it in order to illuminate the pond at night. This will give landscape design The area will have a more luxurious look and will provide a safe rest at night. It is recommended to use them as pond illumination; they are not only easy to install/dismantle, but also significantly save energy consumption. It is recommended to install the lamps along the contour of the reservoir and leading to it. You can also use lamps with LED and halogen lamps, which are more durable and illuminate the area more efficiently.
That's all the technology for caring for a pond in the garden. Of course, caring for a pond is different from and simpler, but still some elements of care will need to be taken care of
After creating a reservoir, gardeners will have to solve problems related to pond care and wintering.
Quite a few problems will arise, especially if the reservoir is populated with fish and other inhabitants.
It is necessary to check the current condition of the pond regularly, monitor the quality of the water and its quantity, excess or lack of necessary substances.
Only in this case, the owner will be able to intervene in time and make adjustments so that everything is normal and corresponds to natural conditions.
On hot days, fish may not have enough air and have to come to the surface to breathe.
The fact is that when a liquid is heated, the amount of oxygen in it becomes less. In addition, decay of organic residues at the bottom and oxidative processes also reduce the level of oxygen in the water.
Therefore, to prevent the fish in the pond from dying, it is necessary to periodically remove silt from the bottom and install water aerators to saturate the water with oxygen.
Do not turn off the aerator at night. During the day, the algae in the pond release oxygen and absorb carbon dioxide; at night, the opposite is true, so before dawn is the most difficult period for fish.
When caring for the pond, make sure that the water level in the reservoir does not drop, even using the most quality materials During construction, a leak may form over time. First you need to find her.
The most accessible method of detecting a leak is to wait until the water level stops decreasing and visually locate the waterproofing defect along the edge.
Usually, stains that do not dry out for a long time remain in defective areas, and when pressed, moisture appears.
A decrease in water level can also occur due to natural evaporation, but usually it does not exceed 1 cm per day. At a water temperature of 27°C, air temperature of 30°C, and humidity of 60%, evaporation in the pond will be about 1.1 l/m2 per day.
In an open reservoir, even at lower temperatures, evaporation due to wind and sun can be greater, up to 2 l/m2.
Caring for a pond necessarily includes inspecting the surface of the mirror. When duckweed forms, you can get rid of it with a rake, drag it ashore, or resort to the help of fish. Grass carp happily eats duckweed.
Foam is formed when the concentration of protein at the bottom of a reservoir increases. The bottom should be cleared of silt and the pond should be treated with an anti-foam agent. It is advisable to check the water hardness.
A greasy film similar to oil stains appears when blue-green algae grows excessively. You can get rid of stains using UV irradiators or biological preparations such as AlgoSol.
Even with proper care of the pond, snails may eventually settle in it. They get in with water, soil and plants. A small amount of them is acceptable; they destroy dead plants.
The most important thing is to prevent their uncontrolled reproduction. Otherwise it will be very difficult to deal with them.
Try to collect and remove some of them from . You can also resort to the help of special drugs.
A pond is an artificial body of water created for the purpose of irrigation, fish breeding, or simply for storing water. Very often, owners of summer cottages create their own ponds. Before you start creating a pond at your dacha, you need to choose the right location for its future location. This place must be fully illuminated sun rays and protect from strong winds in winter.
You need to choose a shape, which will be the pond itself and, of course, the material for construction. It is necessary to decide on the plants, fish that will live in the pond, and their quantity. But when creating such a reservoir at your dacha, you must take into account that it requires careful care at all times of the year.
Artificial pond
The easiest way to have a beautiful front lawn
You've certainly seen the perfect lawn in a movie, on an alley, or perhaps on your neighbor's lawn. Those who have ever tried to grow a green area on their site will no doubt say that it is a huge amount of work. The lawn requires careful planting, care, fertilization, and watering. However, only inexperienced gardeners think this way; professionals have long known about the innovative product - liquid lawn AquaGrazz.
If the pond is small, then in the winter it is better to drain all the water and move the equipment indoors, since the water freezes in winter and the oxygen needed by fish and plants stops flowing. Also, if the water is not drained, in order to avoid this situation in the pond in winter, you should leave wormwood or make small holes. In this way, harmful gas formed during the decomposition of plants at the bottom of the pond can escape and oxygen can enter.
In the spring, when the snow melts, it is necessary to clean the pond, since a large amount of waste products of its inhabitants accumulate at its bottom. The best option is to transplant the plants for some time into another body of water, which it is also advisable to have at the dacha, and the fish should be caught and placed in a container with water. After this, the water should be drained, the pond should be cleaned, and if any damage is found, it should be repaired.
Pond at the dacha in summer
In summer, on hot days, the water level in the pond very often decreases. This happens due to evaporation. When the water level drops by more than 5 centimeters, the reservoir should be replenished. You can do this with a hose, but you must remember that too cold water may adversely affect pond residents.
In autumn, a large number of leaves will fall into the water, which must be removed. This will probably be the most troublesome procedure during this period. If this is not done, then they will sink to the bottom and, when decomposed, poison the water. This can harm both fish and plants and give the water an unpleasant odor. There are special nets that can be stretched over the surface of the reservoir, and foliage that falls on them will no longer add difficulties to the owners.
It is important to know what plants and fish can populate a pond. As for plants, the most common are nymphs or, as is more understandable, water lilies. Now there are about four hundred varieties of nymphs. Breeders also develop many new varieties by crossing various types and obtaining new shapes and colors. According to their size, all varieties are divided into four main categories:
Pond flora at the dacha
Depending on the size, the planting depth of the nymphs varies. They are also divided into groups by color and color; these are mainly nymphs with white ones, and are also found with pink flowers. Water lilies are planted in a mixture of clay and soil, or you can use a ready-made mixture. There are many other aquatic plants, for example, water hyacinth, water chestnut, etc. Up to 2/3 of the surface of the pond can be covered by floating plants.
As for fish, for example, tench or crucian carp lead an inconspicuous lifestyle, they swim and feed at the very bottom, so their presence will not greatly decorate the pond.
And here decorative types fish, of course, will immediately attract attention with their magnificent coloring. It is appropriate to breed several types of fish in a pond; these can be goldfish, koi, bleak, and ide. Also, quicksand, water striders, and crayfish can live in the pond, which will give it an even more colorful look. If the fish in the pond is grown for fishing, then you will need a reservoir of the appropriate size.
Mainly for commercial purposes, fish such as carp, carp, tench are grown in the pond, and it is also possible to breed predatory species, such as pike, trout, perch or catfish. The most important thing for a particular species is the microclimate of the pond.
Pond inhabitants
Feeding fish should not greatly exceed the norm; if the pond is large enough, a large number of plants grow in it and the circulation of substances is established, then the fish can do without additional feeding. It is advisable to feed the fish in the spring, since the fish weakens during wintering, and in the fall, thereby preparing it for winter. When the water temperature in the reservoir is below 5 degrees, the fish becomes half-asleep and stops feeding, so further feeding becomes useless.
Now it’s worth mentioning what you need to feed the fish. It would be best to use certain feeds that are sold in special stores, because if you use the leftovers from your own dinner as feed, the pond will simply turn into waste instead of waste and will resemble a swamp. As for the amount of food that needs to be fed to the fish, it should be approximately the same as how much they eat in 5-10 minutes.
The pond cleaning procedure is usually carried out 2 times a year. It is performed in several ways, these are:
Mechanical cleaning. This is done with scissors, nets, forceps and various filters. It is the most common way to purify water from various debris.
Chemical cleaning. Special preparations are added to the reservoir that remove ammonia and harmful metals from the water, restore its acidity, and also saturate the water with oxygen. Such chemical compositions break down into carbon dioxide and water, thereby causing no harm to fish or humans.
The question arises of how to maintain the ecosystem unchanged. To ensure that the pond always looks clean and tidy, does not have an unpleasant odor and pleases the owners, it is necessary to follow simple rules for caring for the pond at the dacha. For convenience, we offer a work schedule:
It involves cleaning the bottom. It is not necessary to remove all the sludge; crustaceans and tadpoles can live in it, but most of it needs to be removed. There are electric sludge pumps for this, but if the pond is small, you can clean the pond manually.
Then you need to check the integrity of the film that covers the bottom of the pond. Damage that needs to be repaired can be sealed. If the film is severely damaged, it will have to be replaced.
The next step is to inspect the plants inhabiting artificial reservoirs. For perennials, you need to remove old leaves, trim the trunks to a height of about 15 cm, without damaging the young shoots. Pruning will also affect aquatic plants, such as narrow-leaved cattail. If necessary, it is worth planting new flowers and ornamental grasses. If perennials did not bloom well last year, they need to be moved to a new location or thinned out. When the weather becomes steadily warm, you can check and. In the spring, a water analysis is required. For express analysis, you can purchase a tester that will reflect the main parameters - pH level, amount of nitrogen and oxygen, water hardness.
In summer pond care at the dacha consists of regular cleaning of leaves, debris, filamentous algae and duckweed. Algae, like sludge, are good to use as fertilizers for vegetable crops. If pollen appears on the surface of the water, it must also be removed. This is easy to do with a net.
Trees and weeds must be regularly removed from around the pond. , bordering the pond, can be watered with any weed-killing agent. , such as water lilies and marsh irises, must be fed with fertilizers. It is best to use prolonged (long-term) action products.
In summer you can propagate water lilies. On old plants, a root cut is made above the second bud. The removed part is transplanted into shallow water for rooting. In June, heat-loving plants are planted - lotus, eichornia (water hyacinth), etc. In the summer, the reservoir will need periodic .
In the fall, the pond at the dacha must be prepared for winter. To do this, carefully remove all tropical plants from the reservoir and arrange them for the winter in a cool but frost-free room. They will overwinter in small containers with water. Clear the pond of all unnecessary plants, as well as thin out those that have grown too large. Be sure to remove all leaves that have fallen from the trees so that they do not settle to the bottom and begin to rot. To do this, you can use a net or net.
Water is drained from pipes, hoses, pumps and all removable equipment (filters, pumps) is disconnected. They need to be cleaned, wiped dry and stored in a dry room until spring. The exception is pumping equipment that is stored in water - for this it is necessary to prepare containers of the appropriate volume in advance. Autumn garden pond care this ends here.
In the cold season, at the first frost, a de-icer should be turned on to care for the pond at the dacha. It will prevent the pond from freezing through. If you missed the first frost and the pond is already covered with a crust of ice, make a hole in it. The hole is made using boiling water, since impacts can harm sleeping fish.
Reeds and other plants with hollow stems protect the pond from freezing, so there is no need to remove them.
1. Excessively overgrown algae.
Cause: too many nutrients or the pH level has exceeded the standard value.
Elimination : The pond needs cleaning. Remove dead plants and leaves more often, reduce the dose of fish food, and stop fertilizing the plants. You can also plant marsh plants, which will absorb the lion's share of the nutrients dissolved in the water. You can also use a special water filter.
2. The pH level and water hardness are not normal.
The normal pH for a pond is between 6.8 and 7.5. Water hardness should be no more than 7 mg equiv/dm3.
Remedy: There are special preparations that adjust the pH in both directions. If the water hardness is high, then it is best to replace part of the water with rainwater (but only with filtered water). Don't be alarmed if after this procedure the water becomes cloudier than before. A few days will pass and it will become transparent.
3. Water lilies grow too much.
Cause: incorrect landing. There are large varieties of water lilies, and there are dwarf ones. Large ones should be planted in deep water, while dwarf ones should be planted only in shallow water. If done the other way around, then the large ones in shallow water will grow too much and fill the entire space, while the dwarf ones simply will not survive in the depths. Remedy: replant water lilies according to their variety.
4. Water lily leaves are damaged.
Cause: leaf beetles or aquatic moth. In the first case, long passages remain on the leaves, in the second, rounded grooves appear at the ends of the leaves. Remedy: remove damaged leaves and egg clutches, also remove caterpillars (they hide on the back of the leaves).
5. Foam forms on the surface, despite the fact that the reservoir is cared for in a timely manner.
Cause: the most likely possibility is that a lot of plant pollen got into the water.
Remedy: remove the foam, try to remove the pollen along with it and replace part of the water in the pond (about 20%). Second option: special anti-foam agents. Also check the water hardness, as low levels promote foaming.
6. The water level is falling.
Cause: if this is not natural evaporation, but a sharp drop in level, then the reason is damage to the film covering the bottom of the pond. It is possible that the damage is caused by the growth of a plant.
Remedy: We look for the place of damage, remove the object or plant that is responsible for the destruction and cover it with film. Repair kits for such work are sold.
7. The pond is overgrown and ugly.
Cause: insufficient care of the reservoir. The plants were not thinned out in a timely manner, the silt was not removed, and dead plants were not removed.
Remedy: Remove leaves, pollen and debris from the pond during the summer, and give it a thorough clean in the fall. Remove all excess plants, silt and dirt. If there are plants that are prone to overgrowth, plant them in old baskets and sink them to the bottom along with the baskets.
11. There is too much duckweed in the pond.
Cause: Duckweed is an amazing freshwater plant that grows very quickly.
Remedy: Duckweed must be removed regularly as it interferes with the growth of ornamental aquatic plants. Duckweed is a good source of vitamins and microelements, so it can be added to pet food or mulched around the soil. fruit trees and bushes.
12. The water in the pond becomes cloudy.
Cause: in a new, newly equipped pond, cloudy water is normal. In a few days it will become transparent. Turbidity in the water in an old pond is caused by a large amount of algae, increased discharge from fish, and food residues.
Remedy: cleaning the reservoir - check the pH level, the operation and cleanliness of the filters, do not overfeed the fish.
13. Is it possible to breed crayfish in a country pond?
It is possible, but only if the pond is at least 5 m2. They do not need to be fed, they will feed themselves, and will also help clean the pond. To feel good, they only need to put stones or pieces of ceramic pipes in the water - this will become a shelter for crayfish.