There are many methods to create your own unique back garden ponds or water gardens and we've some advice to help make it a great and easy experience. Before creating your water fountain determine what your goals are. Are you attempting to attract regional wildlife, like frogs, turtles and birds? Would you'd like to have a drinking water garden with a beautiful zen feel to it, showcasing lilies, lotus and additional aquatic plants? What about incorporating water in to the design of your house? Remember you more than likely DO have area for a water fountain. They may be anything from a half-barrel to a huge and deep pond in your back yard. Regardless of what your intentions are we can assist you to achieve them. The first step in creating assembling your project is to pick a location. You will need a location where one can create some color for your pond in fact it is also nice to find a place where you can protect the drinking water from having way too many leaves or other debris from entering. Shade could be created in many ways. Water plants on the edge or in the pond will color the water, many ornamental trees are ideal provided that they don't drop too many leaves. Backyard ponds can quickly be overrun by this kind of debris. The next thing is to start the look process. This consists of choosing the actual form of the water feature, any waterfalls or various other water features, filtration, and where and if you will end up being planting around the water. It is highly advisable to include into the design a number of different depths and slopes around the pond edges. This provides extra places for seafood and animals to move around and for putting different types of water plant life. You can create your water fountain out of concrete, prefabricated tubs, or use pond liners. Pick the option that's best for assembling your project and spending budget. Concrete is commonly more expensive than a tub or a pond liner, but it may last longer if professionally installed. In the event that you will be keeping Koi, Goldfish, Tadpoles or other styles of fish then you may want to remember to think about protecting them from predators. Raccoons and Heron are voracious fish eaters. One of the best methods to protect your seafood and pets is to supply a way for them to move away from the predators. The simplest way to get this done is to supply at least 3 foot of depth in the pond. Heron and raccoons possess a hard time catching fish and pets as of this depth or deeper. Filtration can be quite basic or very intricate. It once again depends on assembling your project. Water Gardens with a couple small fish or no fish at all do not need large filters. You can also make your own 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 something with more flow and even more mechanical filtration to remove waste. Koi are filthy fish and create a lot of waste. UV sterilizers are a good plan on any water fountain. They destroy nuisance algae that turns the water green and also kill parasites that may attack your fish. Ideally you will place a UV sterilizer on the return line following the filter. Adding vegetation to your backyard pond could be rewarding and beautiful. Water gardens need a lot of the same caution as any house plant or other garden would. You will need to research your plants, regulate how high and wide they grow, how exactly to prune them and what types of additional feedings they may require. You also have to know where around the water fountain your plants would grow the best. Some merely float on the top, so you only need to protect them from being sucked up into filters or destroyed by waterfalls. Other vegetation grow at different depths, which explains why we recommend building your water feature with many depths. You can include to the look and experience of your pond by picking local stones, or going to a local landscaping store and purchasing stone that fits the feel of your project. Many landscaping shops are now starting to specialize in products for backyard ponds. Backyard ponds make great set-ups for koi. There are some things you should consider. Koi get large and produce a lot of waste, so make sure you provide sufficient filtration. It is best to have a system that is too large than one which is too small. It is costly and will be very difficult to upgrade a system later. It is always best to do it right the first time. Plants can provide another unique problem when keeping koi. In other words, koi love to eat plants, swim through plants and simply rough them up. Your koi might just destroy the plant life and cause a large mess in the pond. If you do use plants, and there are many that are acceptable, just make sure you choose hard and tough plant life or place them in areas where in fact the koi cannot reach them. Feeding your koi is easy as long as you are aware of their demands. The feeding behaviors of koi are directly related to the water temperature ranges and periods. In the Spring time you should start feeding the koi with a premium color improving growth food. Through the summer you can continue with a color enhancer, and provide multiple types of meals. There are some great spirulina pellets, krill and other treats for your seafood. As the water cools down again in the wintertime you should remember two 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 an easy to digest Wheat Germ meals. Backyard ponds could be a lot of fun! We hope you enjoy creating and building yours!