Spring 2017 Newsletter

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Summer Algae Control Tips:

We find that during the Summer months algae can get out of control quickly usually because of the heat and sun. Algae generally is not a reason for concern since most of the time it is not harmful to your fish - it usually bothers us more than them! A few things to keep in mind when deciding when and how to treat algae:

  1. Use algaecides first thing in the morning or last thing at night.
  2. Check the weather before adding any algae control products to your pond - especially algaecides. When our air temperature is above 85 degrees Fahrenheit the dissolved oxygen levels are lower and algae control products should not be used.
  3. Do not mix products: Except bacteria based products like Microbial Algae Clean - avoid using  other additives when treating for algae.
  4. 65% surface coverage is ideal - whether you have lilies, lotus, or floating plants like water hyacinths and water lettuce - the more surface coverage you have in your pond the easier it will be to treat and prevent algae blooms.
  5. Keeping algae control products in your system throughout the season will prevent algae from taking over. Use Pond Balance on a monthly basis, most algaecides can be used on a weekly basis
  6. Keep your pump and/or aerator running at all times while using algae control products.

For suggestions on specific products to use to treat your algae ask one of our sales staff.

Happy Earth Day! We are always trying to think of ways to help reduce, recycle and reuse and we know many of you are as well so we thought we'd share an article from the Audubon Society that is very insightful.

Audubon Society’s Top Ten Things We Can Do To Reduce Global Warming

  1. Conserve water – use less hot water – run your washer and dishwasher only when full
  2. When buying new appliances look for the Energy Star Label to be sure you’re getting a high efficiency model. Turn down your refrigerators thermostat and clean the condenser coil regularly.
  3. Reduce, reuse, recycle, repurpose – choose reusable products instead of disposable. Find a new use for that old outdated item (just like our grandparents did) Check out Pinterest for ideas on repurposing items like wine corks, pallets, baby food jars, etc.
  4. Reduce excessive use of home heating and cooling. Turn up the temperature just by 2 degrees in the summer and turn it down by two degrees in the winter. Install an automated thermostat.  Clean your filters regularly.
  5. Change your light bulbs from conventional incandescent bulbs to energy efficient compact fluorescents. Maximize your use of natural sunlight.  According to Audubon if every US family replaced one regular light bulb, with a CFL, it would eliminate 90 billion pounds of greenhouse gases the same as taking 7.5 million cars off the road.  WOW!
  6. Think before you drive.  Drive a more efficient vehicle, follow the speed limit, take your vehicle in for regular tune ups, and keep your tires properly inflated which can improve your gas mileage by more than 3 percent.  Combine errands to limit the use of gas!
  7. Plant a tree.  Plant leafy trees around your home to provide windbreaks and shade.  Each year the average yard tree cleans 330 pounds of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. An average tree absorbs 10 lbs. of pollutants from the air each year, including 4 lbs. of ground level ozone and 3 lbs of particulates.   “THE BEST TIME TO PLANT A TREE WAS 20 YEARS AGO.  THE SECOND BEST TIME IS NOW.” CHINESE PROVERB
  8. Buy local.  The fewer miles your fruits and vegetables have to travel the less energy is used for refrigeration and transportation.  Select Organic Produce. The pesticides used to kill pests also kill the organisms that help keep carbon dioxide in soil.
  9. Stand Tall.  Stay informed and write letters to your leaders asking them to act.  You can stay informed and take action by signing up to the E-Activist list at www.audubonaction.org.
  10. Cut emissions in your yard.  Gasoline mowers are big polluters and greenhouse gas emitters.  In one hour, a conventional lawn mower produces as much pollution as 40 late-model cars driving for the same amount of time.  Reduce the amount of lawn you need to mow by planting native species of ground covers, plants, wildflowers or vegetables – protect the birds, bees and butterflies too! Mulch gardens with pesticide free clippings, take your yard organic and eliminate chemical inputs of pesticides and fertilizers. Nitrous oxide, a byproduct of nitrogen-based fertilizers, is a potent greenhouse gas.

We can't believe Fall has come upon us already. We love the leaves changing, tastes of pumpkin & apple and the smell of Autumn but hate the thought of having to close the pond!

Here are a few tips to make closing your pond easier:

1. Use water gardening gloves: the water temperatures are not always conducive to pulling out the pump, cleaning out the algae and cutting back the plants but wearing pond gloves helps keep your hands/arms warm and clean.

2. Maintain your bacteria: Keeping up with bacteria throughout the season will help reduce the amount of sludge build up at the bottom of your pond which will help for an easier closing process.

3. Remove all the debris you can: Using a Pond Shark with a deep net and double sided opening will allow you to scoop out the leaves and debris at the bottom of the pond while the rake will help pull off any dead leaves. Rent one of our pond vacuums to clean the pond fully before shutting it down for the winter. Any sludge or debris that is left at the bottom of the pond will decompose and become toxic to the fish. In Central New York, we have a Pond Service Technician we can send out to your home with our stainless steel professional vacuum to clean out your pond of debris.

4. Cover your pond before the leaves begin to fall: Pond netting is great for keeping leaves and debris from falling into the pond. We can custom cut the length for you and offer different widths that will surely cover your pond. Also, don't forget your stream! If you are concerned about bending plants with a leaf net we do offer a dome leaf net by Atlantic Water Gardens.

What was the first year Earth Day was celebrated?  Earth Day is celebrated on April 22nd every year although in my opinion we should care about the condition of our world not just on that day but everyday.  Some of things I am going to do to this weekend is to walk around my neighborhood and pick up trash, plant a tree in my yard, change out some of my old light bulbs to more energy efficient ones.  We've also arranged for Habitat for Humanity to pick up some old doors, knobs, lights, windows, and other materials that we have on hand  so it can be re-purposed and sold to help that organization build new homes.  Other things I will continue to do is to recycle,  use recyclable grocery bags, recycle hazardous batteries and paint, recycle plastic bags, compost, use both sides of my printer paper to help save a tree, combine as many errands into one trip as possible to save fuel and reduce air pollution, line dry my clothes.  There are so many things you can do with the things that you no longer need or want.  For example you can donate them to a number of organizations,  or join your local Freecycle.org where community members post items that they want to dispose of or list things that they need.  If you haven't done so check it out and remember make Earth Day Everyday.

Lastly, I will take my grandchildren on a nature walk and have fun observing some of the wonderful things in nature.  I don't usually recommend children watching TV but after a fun day of hiking in the woods we could end our day with a movie night watching The Lorax.  If you haven't done so already watch this film with your child or grandchild about what the world would be like without real trees or plants.

Never doubt a small group of committed citizens can change the world; indeed it's the only thing that ever has.   Margaret Mead

First Earth Day: April 22, 1970

Spring is upon us! This indicates many things including pond maintenance, plant care, etc. However many people forget about their fish!! Many people think that they should just feed their fish when the ice defrosts and when they can actually see their fish. This ideology is INCORRECT! You should only begin feeding your fish when the water temperature has been consistently over 55 degrees for more than 1 week.  You should only feed your fish what they can consume in 5 minutes and only once a day, for at least the first couple of weeks until they become acclimated to eating again. It is a good idea to start off with a medicated koi food such as Medi-Koi which is one of the products carried in our store. Medicated koi food is a good idea because it promotes proper immune health for the koi.

So, remember: ONLY feed your fish when the water temperature has been above 55 degrees, only once a day, and only as much food that they can consume within 5 minutes!

Last year was a very stressful year when it came to keeping fish in our pond.  We had two predators visit that we've never seen before at our pond.  One of them was a mink that showed up the day after Thanksgiving.  Thankfully, the pond wasn't frozen over yet and I noticed that several of our large koi were missing.  It's hard not to notice when missing several two and a half foot colorful fish.  We did find one of them half eaten underneath our artificial rock that houses our pump so we knew it was something that was carrying them out of the pond.  The only reason we thought it might be a mink is because we had spotted it the day before in our swimming pool.  We knew if we didn't get the mink away from our pond he would continue coming back until he had wiped out all of our fish.  Even if the pond had frozen over the mink would've found his way in through the hole in the ice so it's actually fortunate that it hadn't frozen over otherwise I would not have known until spring that the mink had been attacking our fish. Don't be fooled into thinking if your pond freezes over it will stop them from hunting your fish.   Another thing we learned is that minks will travel miles in search of food so their hunting territory is large.  We learned this from a trapper after a friend of ours suggested calling him to get rid of the mink.  He set the trap and within two weeks he got him and as you can imagine he turned out to be a very well fed mink.   That was our late fall visiting predator.

Even though it doesn't feel like spring it hasn't stopped the other of our predators from coming back to town.  Herons have been spotted in the area again and will be scoping out their territory looking for sources of food.  Unfortunately, I had my first encounter with a heron attacking my fish last year.  That's pretty good since I've had my pond for about 20 years.  However, it didn't make me feel any better as I looked out my window and spotted something orange on the patio next to my pond.  I was completely upset and shocked to see one of my favorite Koi lying there. The heron must have been scared away and dropped the koi because except for one puncture wound it was intact.  Until I could come up with a better solution, I immediately covered my pond with netting making sure that it was not lying directly on the pond so the heron could not get his long beak through the net.  The next morning after coming back from my morning walk, I spotted the Heron sitting on my roof eyeing the pond. As soon as it saw me it immediately flew away and that happened several more times.  He would show up early in the morning to go fishing.  Fortunately, after a couple of weeks the Heron must have gotten frustrated or found another fishing hole.

What are some of the others things we could have done to prevent the Heron from attacking?  We could have used a Scarecrow that is activated by movement or placed a floating alligator head on the pond.  Beware of pond predators and don't think they'll give up after one fishing expedition.

 

 

Keeping your fish in the pond over winter can seem like a daunting task but keeping some key information in mind can help.

1. Maintaining a hole in the ice at least once every 24 hours is critical: The #1 most important thing you need to do during the winter is to make sure there can be an exchange of gases. We recommend using a de-icer in the pond, the de-icer is perfect for our cold winters and because they are thermostatically controlled they come on only when they are needed. We do recommend putting the de-icer on a timer to extend the life of the de-icer, turning it on for a few hours in the morning and afternoon is ideal. If the temperatures are below freezing for extended period of time you should consider extending the amount of time the de-icer is on. The de-icer can and should be used in conjunction with an aerator. The aerator should be placed near the surface of the pond, it can even be placed on a marginal plant shelf. The aerator helps ensure the toxic gases are removed from the pond. Please do not simply break the ice as the trauma can shock and kill your fish.

2. Remove excess debris: We can not stress enough how important it is to remove any leaves, annual plants (hyacinths), and sludge that is in the pond. They will decay through the winter and give off toxic gases that can kill your fish.

3. Use temperature appropriate bacteria: There is bacteria specifically designed to work in cooler temperatures and we would recommend switching over now if you need to purchase new bacteria or starting in the beginning of October when the water temperatures get cooler.

4. Perform a partial water change: Before "closing" the pond for the winter we would suggest doing a 20-25% water change in the pond. The fresh water will replenish oxygen and reduce ammonia and nitrite levels. It is ideal to do a water change 3-4 times a year. Don't forget to add salt back into the pond after the water change, if you need to check the salt levels you can purchase a salt pen or we would be more than happy to check it for you.

Even with the cooler weather approaching algae can still be a problem in some ponds. Here is a breakdown of which algae control products to use during Fall.

Microbial Algae Clean: Our favorite product for single celled algae. This is a bacteria based product that can be used Spring through Fall.

AlgaeFix: It's the all in one product, no matter what type of algae you're fighting AlgaeFix will do the trick. Our biggest caution with AlgaeFix is to not use it in extremely hot temperature and do not overdose. AlgaeFix should not be used in ponds with crustaceans.

Pond Balance: Another one of our favorites, Pond Balance is perfect for treating and preventing string algae. Pond Balance is a natural product that will not harm any animals in your pond.

EasyPro Rock & Waterfall Cleaner: Great for algae growing on rocks, waterfalls and plants. EasyPro Rock & Waterfall Cleaner uses oxygen to lift algae  so it can be filtered out of the pond.

We always recommend using a dry bacteria when treating algae to help inhibit new algae growth.

 

Fish have the weakest immune systems in the Fall and Spring so before closing the pond for the winter we would suggest monitoring the fish for any signs they may be sick and to take preventive measure to ensure they do not get sick.

Signs your fish may be sick: If you see your fish flashing, rubbing, see red sores (ulcers), or notice they are much less active than normal.

Treating sick fish: We would suggest treating for parasites and bacterial infections if your fish are exhibiting any of the signs listed above. There are an abundance of products on the market to treat your fish and we have a few favorites. Only one treatment should be done in a pond at a time so we recommend treating for parasites first. Most of the time when fish have signs of a bacterial infection it is because there is a parasite present. To treat all types of parasites would suggest Paracide Green. The treatment would entail 2-3 doses over a 7-14 day period depending on the severity of the fish. For bacterial infections we always recommend Medi-Koi, a medicated fish food. Feed your fish Medi-Koi exclusively for 10-14 days.

If your fish are not showing signs of being sick it does not mean you should take no action but rather treat with medications that will prevent them from becoming sick. Our favorite products for prevention are: Pimafix (Fungus), Melafix (Bacterial) and AquaPrazi (Flukes). Flukes are one of the most common parasites found in a water garden and they can often be compared to fleas on a dog or cat, always present but do not take control unless the immune system has been compromised.

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