There are many methods to create your own unique backyard ponds or water gardens and we have some advice to help with making it a fun and easy experience. Before creating your water fountain determine what your targets are. Are you trying to attract regional wildlife, like frogs, turtles and birds? Would you'd like to have a drinking water garden with a beautiful zen experience to it, featuring lilies, lotus and other aquatic plants? What about incorporating water into the design of your house? Remember you probably DO have area for a water fountain. They could be anything from a half-barrel to a huge and deep pond in your yard. Regardless of what your intentions are we can help you achieve them. The first rung on the ladder in creating assembling your project is to pick a location. You will need a location where one can create some shade for your pond in fact it is also nice to look for a place where one can protect the water from having way too many leaves or other debris from entering. Shade can be created in lots of ways. Water vegetation on the edge or in the pond will color the drinking water, many ornamental trees are ideal provided that they do not drop way too many leaves. Backyard ponds can easily end up being overrun by this type of debris. The next step is to start the look process. This consists of choosing the actual form of the water feature, any waterfalls or other water features, filtration, and where and if you will be planting about the water. It is highly advisable to include into the design several different depths and slopes around the pond edges. This will provide extra places for fish and animals to go around and for putting various kinds of water plants. You can create your water fountain out of concrete, prefabricated tubs, or even use pond liners. Choose the option that's best for assembling your project and budget. Concrete tends to be more expensive than a tub or a pond liner, but it may go longer if professionally installed. In the event that you will be keeping Koi, Goldfish, Tadpoles or other types of fish then you may want to take time to think about protecting them from predators. Raccoons and Heron are voracious fish eaters. One of the best methods to protect your fish and pets is to supply a way for them to get away from the predators. The easiest way to do this is to provide at least 3 feet of depth in the pond. Heron and raccoons have a hard time catching fish and pets as of this depth or deeper. Filtration can be very simple or very intricate. It once again depends on your project. Water Gardens with only a couple small seafood or no fish at all do not need large filters. You can even make your personal filter out of a 5 gallon bucket, some hoses and a pump. It is very easy to do! In case you are keeping koi, you then will need a system with more flow and even more mechanical filtration to eliminate waste. Koi are dirty fish and produce a lot of waste. UV sterilizers are a good plan on any water fountain. They destroy nuisance algae that turns the water green and in addition kill parasites that may attack your fish. Ideally you will place a UV sterilizer on the return line following the filter. Adding plant life to your backyard pond could be rewarding and gorgeous. Water gardens need much of the same caution as any home plant or other backyard would. You will need to research your plants, determine how high and wide they grow, how exactly to prune them and what types of additional feedings they may require. You also need to know where around the water feature your vegetation would grow the very best. Some just float on the surface, so you just need to protect them from becoming sucked up into filters or destroyed by waterfalls. Other vegetation develop at different depths, which is why we suggest building your water feature with many depths. You can include to the look and feel of your pond by picking local stones, or going to a local landscaping store and purchasing rock that fits the feel of your project. Many landscaping shops are now starting to focus on items for backyard ponds. Backyard ponds help to make great set-ups for koi. There are a few things you should consider. Koi get large and produce a large amount of waste, so be sure you provide adequate filtration. It is best to have a system that is too large than one which is too small. It is costly and may be very difficult to upgrade something later. It is usually best to do it right the first time. Plants can offer another unique problem when keeping koi. In other words, koi like to eat plant life, swim through plant life and simply rough them up. Your koi might just destroy the vegetation and cause a large mess in the pond. If you do use vegetation, and now there are many that are suitable, just be sure you pick hard and tough plants or place them in areas where the koi cannot get to them. Feeding your koi is easy as long as you are aware of their desires. The feeding habits of koi are directly related to the water temps and seasons. In the Spring time you should start feeding the koi with a premium color enhancing growth food. Through the summer season you can continue with a color enhancer, and offer multiple types of meals. There are some great spirulina pellets, krill and other treats for your fish. As the drinking water cools down once again in the winter you should remember a couple of things. One, cut way back on feeding. If your water gets down to 50 degrees or lower you do not need to feed the fish at all. If you will be feeding then go to a simple to digest Wheat Germ food. Backyard ponds could be a large amount of fun! We wish you enjoy creating and building yours!
