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Green Water

Evaporation or Leak?

Mallard Ducks in Your Pond

Pond Filtration

Finding Value

Take into account everything you're getting.

Layaway Program

Winter in the Water Garden

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This page contains answers to common questions handled by our support staff, along with some tips and tricks that we have found useful and presented here as questions.

How do I calculate the amount of water in my pond?
How do I determine what size liner I need?
How many fish can I have in my pond?
How do I get rid of green water?
What does a healthy pond look like?
How do I prevent and get rid of string algae?

How do I calculate the amount of water in my pond?
To determine the volume of water in your pond:
(measurements are in feet, and totals are approximate)
Cubic Feet of Water = Length of Pond X Width of Pond X Average Depth of Pond
Cubic Feet of Water X 7.5 = Total volume of water in gallons

For example: A pond 10 X 5 X 2 = 100 cubic feet of water
100 cubic feet X 7.5 = 750 gallons

To determine what size liner you need:
(measurements are in feet)
Max width of pond + (2 X Max depth of pond) + 2 = liner width
Max length of pond + (2 X Max depth of pond) + 2 = liner length

Depending on how often you feed them, you can estimate 1" of fish per 1 square foot of pond.

How many fish you can have in your pond is mostly determined by how you feed your fish. The more often you feed your fish and the lower the quality of food you use, the fewer fish you can safely have in your pond. More fish equals more fish waste, which leads to water quality problems and possibly poor health for your fish.

A good rule of thumb is 1" of fish per 1 square foot of surface area of your pond. So a pond 10' X 5' could have 50" of fish. If the fish are not fed often, the pond could easily support more.

Pond water turns green due to suspended algae. Suspended algae is a product of excess nutrients and sunlight. There is no magic formula for any pond to remove green water — it is a matter of finding the cause and removing it. Ask yourself, "where are the nutrients coming from?" The most common answer is too frequent fish feedings. If you have green water, we recommend not feeding your fish at all until the water is clear.

Sometimes determining the cause of the nutrients is not possible. In that case you need to get rid of or use up the nutrients. The answer — plants! The best plants — floating or submerged; they will use nutrients much faster than water lilies and marginal plants. For suspended algae also make sure you are using a beneficial bacteria product such as Biological Clarifier. Beneficial bacteria helps break down fish waste into plant fertilizer quickly.

A healthy pond is clear all the way to the bottom with a thin layer of algae on the bottom surface of the pond.

A healthy pond should be clear all the way to the bottom. A thin layer of algae will most likely cover all the surfaces in the pond. There should be no odor from the pond. Fish should be active from late spring through early fall and will most likely school together.

At some point or another we all have to contend with it — the dreaded string algae. If you have not had a problem with it, consider yourself very lucky.

String algae or filamentous algae is a long, green, stringy, moss-looking plant material that grows on all the surfaces in your pond. Algae loves well-oxygenated water, so string algae is usually plentiful in creeks and waterfalls.

We have found that the best medicine is a dose of prevention. Once you have an outbreak of string algae it can be difficult to get rid of, and if you kill it, it can lead to an outbreak of suspended algae or "pea soup" water.

So, what to do for prevention:

• Avoid limestone in your pond. Algae loves limestone.
• Have the necessary minimum plant requirements for your size pond. The plants will eat nutrients from the pond giving the algae no food to grow.
• Treat your pond weekly with Clarity Max. It may temporarily turn your pond milky white.
• Keep your pond clean. Remove leaves and other organic matter before it has time to decompose and put "nutrients" in your water.

What to do if you already have a string algae problem:

• Remove as much as you can by hand. A child's plastic rake works well.
• Treat your waterfall and creek with EcoBlast. Simply sprinkle it on and let it go to work.
• Use three times the normal dose of Clarity Max. Be prepared to clean your filter.

317-786-3670
901 E Hanna Ave, Indianapolis, IN 46227
MAP AND DIRECTIONS
info@coolponds.net