Happy Holidays From The Pond Guy®

Happy Holidays fellow pond owners! We are finally settling into our new building and eagerly preparing our catalog for the coming spring.

A special thanks to you, our customers, for being patient during our transition. Our larger warehouse will allow us to have more product on hand and our new call center will soon be filled with more friendly pond techs ready to answer all your pond questions this coming season. Stay posted for updates regarding our Service Department and new Retail Store.

Also, please note our new contact information:

Orders and Tech Support
Toll Free: 866-PONDHELP (866-766-3435)pondhelp@thepondguy.com
Monday-Friday 8am-6pm eastern standard time

We will be closed on Monday December 26th and Monday January 2nd

All of us at The Pond Guy® want to thank you for another great ponding season and can’t wait to hear from you in the New Year!

If I chose to bring my fish indoors for the winter what should I do?
Ron – Seymour, IN

While we don’t really like to think about it, there are places in the U.S. that get cold enough to freeze decorative water gardens solid. As your fish do not appreciate being turned into popsicles you will probably want to bring them indoors for the winter. Since the majority of you don’t have a beautiful indoor pond just waiting to house our fish in the colder months how do you go about creating a safe environment for your fish to bunker down in?

Your first and foremost priority is to select a location that is climate controlled, safe from disturbances and large enough to facilitate a holding tank. Your basement or heated garage are a couple places you can consider. The container you choose to hold your fish should be made of a fish safe material and should be cleaned thoroughly before use. The size of this container will depend on the size and number of fish you need to relocate. Unless they are Sardines your fish will not do well when packed tightly into a tiny container. Purchasing a small pre-formed pond liner is a great idea for someone who has large Koi or an ample amount of fish that need a winter home. You will also want to purchase some Pond Netting to keep your fish from jumping out of their winter apartment and onto your garage floor.

The new container can be filled with water from your water garden or you can start from scratch and fill it with tap water. If you decide to fill from the tap you will want to add a Water Conditioner to neutralize any chloramines and remove other potentially harmful elements from the water. In addition to pond conditioner you will want to allow a few weeks for the water in the container to cycle and balance. Aeration and filtration will play a major role in the well being of your fish once they are relocated. If you currently use an external Pressurized Filter your water garden this can be used for your inside application as you will have to bring it in for the winter regardless. You will also need a small pump to circulate the water in this container as well which you may also be able to borrow from your outdoor water garden. If you have neither a pump nor pressurized filter on hand you can purchase an All-In-One system to do the job. If you have to use a new filter or you decided to fill the container with tap water seed your filtration pads with PL Gel to ensure an adequate presence of beneficial bacteria and reduce the waters cycle time.

When the time comes, collect your fish using a Fish Net and transfer them to their new home using the same acclimation process you would undergo with new fish. If you are unsure of how to acclimate your fish click over to our fish acclimation blog, which explains the process in greater detail. Do not feel the need to rush through the transporting process as your fish are safe and comfortable in their water garden for the time being. Take your time to make sure your fish are moving into a safe and comfortable environment so you and your fish can enjoy some indoor ponding this winter.

Pond Talk: Do you bring your fish in for the winter? How do you provide an indoor home for them?

My pond water is green, do UV’s really work?
Summer – Baton Rouge, LA

The short answer? Yes. While it might seem like smoke and mirrors, UVs help to consolidate algae particles, which are then removed through regular filtration. And because planktonic algae particles are typically responsible for green pond water, products like our all-in-one ClearSolution Filter and AllClear systems – which include UVs within their filters – and our Power UV™ Clarifiers – which can be added inline with your existing plumbing – are terrific resources to help keep pond water clear and clean. Bear in mind, though, that UV can’t work miracles, and has no impact on string algae.

Now that we’ve established the fact that UVs really do work, there’s an even bigger issue to consider. The presence of planktonic algae is, after all, a symptom of a larger issue – and UVs are simply a means to treat it. In order to reduce reliance on UVs and filtration, it’s important to consider the cause of the bloom.

Planktonic algae bloom in nutrient-rich water. Nutrients can come in a variety of forms. There are many culprits – including excessive fish food, an overabundance of fish (and the waste they produce), bird droppings, and even runoff from fertilized lawns. When too many of those nutrients are in your pond, algae – which are present in all water – multiply quickly to take advantage of what they see as a free lunch. When algae multiplies, a cycle begins which depletes oxygen, and can harm or kill both fish and beneficial aquatic plants. So take stock of your pond. Evaluate the number of fish you have – and adjust your feeding levels accordingly. If your pond is overpopulated, consider reducing the number of fish, and the corresponding waste they produce.

Finally, consider using our PondLogic® DefensePac®, which helps to improve water quality, eliminate muck and built-up debris, and to enhance fish health. With quick and easy application, you’ll see noticeable results in no time – and with minimal effort.

Pond Talk: Have you encountered green water in your pond? How did you remedy the situation?

If I chose to bring my fish indoors for the winter what should I do?
Lisa – Livonia, MI

While we don’t really like to think about it, there are places in the U.S. that get cold enough to freeze decorative water gardens solid. As your fish do not appreciate being turned into popsicles you will probably want to bring them indoors for the winter. Since the majority of you don’t have a beautiful indoor pond just waiting to house our fish in the colder months how do you go about creating a safe environment for your fish to bunker down in?

Your first and foremost priority is to select a location that is climate controlled, safe from disturbances and large enough to facilitate a holding tank. Your basement or heated garage are a couple places you can consider. The container you choose to hold your fish should be made of a fish safe material and should be cleaned thoroughly before use. The size of this container will depend on the size and number of fish you need to relocate. Unless they are Sardines your fish will not do well when packed tightly into a tiny container. Purchasing a small pre-formed pond liner is a great idea for someone who has large Koi or an ample amount of fish that need a winter home. You will also want to purchase some Pond Netting to keep your fish from jumping out of their winter apartment and onto your garage floor.

The new container can be filled with water from your water garden or you can start from scratch and fill it with tap water. If you decide to fill from the tap you will want to add a Water Conditioner to neutralize any chloramines and remove other potentially harmful elements from the water. In addition to pond conditioner you will want to allow a few weeks for the water in the container to cycle and balance. Aeration and filtration will play a major role in the well being of your fish once they are relocated. If you currently use an external Pressurized Filter your water garden this can be used for your inside application as you will have to bring it in for the winter regardless. You will also need a small pump to circulate the water in this container as well which you may also be able to borrow from your outdoor water garden. If you have neither a pump nor pressurized filter on hand you can purchase an All-In-One system to do the job. If you have to use a new filter or you decided to fill the container with tap water seed your filtration pads with PL Gel to ensure an adequate presence of beneficial bacteria and reduce the waters cycle time.

When the time comes, collect your fish using a Fist Net and transfer them to their new home using the same acclimation process you would undergo with new fish. If you are unsure of how to acclimate your fish click over to our Blog that explains the process in greater detail. Do not feel the need to rush through the transporting process as your fish are safe and comfortable in their water garden for the time being. Take your time to make sure your fish are moving into a safe and comfortable environment so you and your fish can enjoy some indoor ponding this winter.

Pond Talk: Do you bring your fish in for the winter? How do you provide an indoor home for them?

How do I calculate my pond size? Pete – Steele, AL

If someone were to ask you how big your water garden is, how would you respond? Most pond owners have an idea of how many gallons their pond my hold or how many square feet their water feature occupies, but have you ever really measured to see how close your guesstimates comes to the actual numbers?

Knowing how large your pond is down to the square foot or the nearest gallon is not realistic nor is it, by any means, necessary. You will just want to verify that what you “think” is a 15’ x 20’ is not actually 30’ x 40’. People tend to associate size with common everyday items they see around their home. It is not uncommon to hear someone tell us that their pond is about “half of a horse trailer long” or “up to my knees deep”. This may seem like a reasonable answer at the time, but when trying to break down how many gallons are in your pond, or how many square feet of surface area we are dealing with, we, unfortunately, aren’t sure how long your trailer is or how tall you are. =) To keep everyone on the same page and make sure we are all dealing with the same units of measure, we suggest you break out a tape measure and break the pond down into feet and inches.

You may be wondering to yourself why you even need to really know how much water your pond holds or what it matters if you don’t know its surface area. Bacteria products like Nature’s Defense or Liquid Clear are added to the pond based on the number of gallons you are treating. The same holds true with algae killing products like Tetra Algae Control and even Barley Straw Extract. Other products require an estimate of the pond’s surface area for proper application. Aquatic Plant Packages and Pond Netting are examples of such products. Knowing the size of your pond can also help you determine how many fish your pond should typically hold or what size Pond Vacuum is best suited for your particular application.

Now that you know the whys of sizing your pond, let’s get down to business and measure your pond out. The easiest ponds to measure are those that are shaped as simple circles and rectangles, the more irregular the shape, the less accurate our measurements become.

Length x Width x Height

This is the formula used to find the volume of a rectangular shape. It can still be used to get you in the neighborhood if you are measuring a kidney shaped pond, the numbers you get on paper however will be slightly higher than what your pond actually consists of. Measure your pond at its longest point and then its widest point. To demonstrate, lets say the length came to 15 feet and the width 10 feet. You can then measure the depth of the pond. If it is the same depth throughout use this number in our formula. If you have a plant shelf or the depth varies, measure the maximum depth and cut it in half to create an average depth. Let’s say the pond is 4 feet at its deepest but has some shallow areas for plants. We will use half of that depth, 2 feet, for our formula. If you are just looking for surface area, multiply the length and width (15 x 10) to get 150 square feet. If you are looking to find how many gallons the pond holds then multiply the length by width by height (15 x 10 x 2) to get 300 cubic feet. A cubic foot can hold 7.48 gallons of water so to find out how much 300 cubic feet can hold just multiply the two (300 x 7.48) to get 2,244 gallons. If you are also running a waterfall take into account that there is also some water being held in the stream, use the length and width of the stream to calculate a rough volume on it as well. Just like that you now have the volume of your pond.

Easy As Pi

If your pond is round in shape we will use the formula Surface Area = Pi x R² or in other words Surface Area = 3.14 times radius times radius. The radius of your pond is simply half of the distance across. If the pond is a 10 foot circle then the radius is 5 feet. Multiply 3.14 by 5 and then multiply by 5 once more (3.14x5x5) to get 78.5 square feet of surface area. To find your volume you multiply this number by the depth and convert to gallons just like we did with the rectangular pond.

If you want to know exactly how many gallons are in your pond you can use a meter to physically measure the amount of water it takes to fill their pond using a garden hose. If you are constructing a new water garden or pondless waterfall don’t forget to take into account that some of the water from your pond will be held in the stream bed. Give yourself a little wiggle room when digging the basin pond to hold the extra water if you have to shut off the waterfall for any reason.

We have a few helpful Calculators on our site that can help you find your recommended fish capacity, select the proper pump, and if anything, play with your new found pond dimensions.

POND TALK: Now that you have a better understanding of how to measure your pond compare your results with what you originally estimated. Were you close?

Flex PVC Tubing

Q: How do I know what tubing size to use? I want to increase the water to my waterfall from 1,500 gph (gallon per hour) to almost 4,000 gph. I currently have 1″ tubing will this work? – Matt of Vermont

A: No. Your pump and tubing are currently sized correctly, but if you increase the water flow to 4,000 gph you will need to increase the tubing to see the benefits of your new pump. I would guess that you would not see more than 2,000 gph if you leave the 1″ tubing. When using a 4,000 gph pump, the proper tubing size to use would be 2″. A good way to think about tubing size is to imagine drinking from a straw. If you were to try to drink a glass of water with a cocktail straw it would take much longer than if you were to drink that same glass of water from a standard size straw. Over the years we have developed a chart to help our customer’s size their tubing. Please see below. To see our selection of plumbing and accessories, click here.

Up to 500 GPH: Use 1/2″ Tubing
Up to 900 GPH: Use 3/4″ Tubing
Up to 1,500 GPH: Use 1″ Tubing
Up to 2,700 GPH: Use 1-1/4″ Tubing
Up to 3,600 GPH: Use 1-1/2″ Tubing
Up to 5,400 GPH: Use 2″ Tubing
Up to 13,500 GPH: Use 3″ Tubing
Up to 21,000 GPH: Use 4″ Tubing
Up to 42,000 GPH: Use 6″ Tubing

Plumbing Tip: Try to avoid 90 degree turns for this will cause friction slowing down and reducing your water flow. We always recommend flexible PVC to avoid connections that can not only leak but cause friction loss reducing your water flow.

Q: How do I properly size a pump to create the waterfall I’m looking for? – Several Customers

A: We get this question asked to us quite a bit. The following process will help you in determing the correct pump size for a waterfall:

Step 1: Determine the Head Pressure (Head)

Head equals the total number of feet from the top of the waterfall to the water’s surface. For example: Let’s say that height is equal to 5′.

Step 2: Determining Desired Water Flow
In general, you will need 1,500 gallons per hour (gph) for every 1-foot of waterfall discharge for an average flow. The discharge is considered where the water enters back into the pond. For example: Let’s say the width of our waterfall is 2′. This would mean we need a pump of approximately 3,000 gph.

Step 3: Putting It All Together
In our example, our head pressure is 5′ and the approximate gph of our desired pump is 3,000 gph. This means would need a pump that would pump 3,000 gph at 5′ of head.

Other Notes: