Liners and Underlayment:
Pond building, like any other home
improvement project should be done with quality products and
the least amount of mistakes as possible. Liners are no
exception. Start your pond with the sturdiest material you
can. Skimping on the liner is like starting with a bad
foundation on your house. We recommend a
45mil liner. Liners come in different widths and are
sold in linear feet. Liners typically come in ten, fifteen,
twenty and twenty-five feet in length. You will find a lot
of liners on the market; everything from swimming pool
liners to plastic preformed liners. Just remember that a
cheap liner won't hold up to the UV rays as well as one of
the better ones.
We do recommend that you put down an
underlayment. This simply provides a protective layer
between your liner and the ground. When you complete the
digging there is no guarantee that a tree root or sharp rock
won't work its way up through the soil. The underlayment is
just another way to protect your investment in your pond.
Filters
Many people don't fully understand what a filter
does. What is does filter is large particles of rock and
organic matter that can break the impeller on your pump. To
properly filter your pond, we suggest buying a biofilter.
Basically this is a filter that is built to filter the water
of your pond while serving a dual purpose of growing a
special kind of bacteria that helps to eat up harmful
particles of contaminants in the water and keep it
clean. They can be buried in the ground part of the way and
are easy to camouflage.
Pumps
Pumps are an important part of the picture
when it comes to any water feature in your yard, and we have
a pump for every water feature. Waterfall, statuary,
filtration pumps; if you need it; we've got it. If you are
looking for a pump for a particular purpose, then you need
to figure out exactly how much water movement that you
need. For instance, if you need a pump for a waterfall,
then you probably want a lot of water movement. If you are
searching for a pump to power your filtration system, you'll
need to tone down the power a little. We recommend that you
filter your entire water volume every hour and half to two
hours. This is just enough to accurately filter the water.
Ultraviolet Sterilizers
If you have a pond you'll need a solution
for green water algae. That is an ultraviolet sterilizer.
By the way, if you are not familiar with green water algae,
it's commonly referred to as 'pea soup.' It looks like this
because green water algae are microscopic particles that are
suspended in the water. It is too small to filter, so a
person needs to use a UV light to get rid of this problem.
We have found that using an ultraviolet light is the most
foolproof way of killing this type of algae. They are worth
their weight in gold. We just can't emphasize the
importance of them enough. The ease of use is also another
benefit. Just plug it in and connect it inline on a
filtration hose. One key to remember about UV sterilizers
is that they also sterilize your pond water. They don't
discriminate about good and bad things in your water, so
when adding products like beneficial bacteria, you should
turn the light off for about 10 to 14 days.
Additives
We don't recommend adding chemicals to
ponds. It is never good to mix chemicals and animals, so we
carry mostly all organic products to add to your pond. You
may ask, "Why do I need to add anything to my water?" Since
the majority of people are on city water, and city water has
chlorine in it, we usually recommend a dechlorinator. What
this product does for you is it removes all chlorine and
heavy metals from the water. Chlorine is toxic to fish and
some plants, so anytime that you add water to your pond you
should dechlorinate it first. Dechlorinator Plus is
organic with a special additive to help out with the stress
coating on your fish.
Another additive to think about is pH
Stabilizer. A pH Stabilizer will maintain a pH level of
7.5 for a period of thirty days. This is great product
because no matter what your pH level is; whether it is high
or low, it moves the level to 7.5. Imagine, no more
worrying about your pH levels! And, no more chemicals!
Bio-Seed is another organic pond
additive we recommend. Bio-Seed is a beneficial bacteria
that naturally grows in a pond over a period of 6-8 weeks.
By adding this product, it cuts this time in half three to
four weeks. This bacteria creates itself a home in your
biofilter and keeps the toxicity levels of nitrate and
ammonia down.
Sludge Eater is another organic
product we like. This does exactly what the name implies.
It's a bacteria and enzyme that eats all of the decomposed
organic matter off the floor of your pond, keeping the
nitrate and ammonia levels down.
The other additive we need to talk about is
salt. The number one 'medication' that you could
ever give your fish is probably going to be salt. Salt will
kill the majority of fish disease and pests. It is a good
idea to maintain a salt level of one percent in your water
at all times. This is basically one pound of salt per one
hundred gallons of water in your pond. One thing to
remember is to use non-iodized salt. Iodine is toxic to
fish. Please don't do any fish 'medicating' without
consulting with a professional.
Fish
What would a water garden be without a fish
or two? You can find a wide variety of fis
h
to fit any budgets. Both Koi and goldfish are two good
choices. Fish are something that shouldn't be taken lightly
and they do require some care. So before flopping a
fish in the pond, remember that they do require attention.
Plants
The plants include tropical and hardy
water lilies, marginal-bog plants, oxygenators, and floating
pond plants. You will find plants of all different sizes
and colors available.
.jpg)
Cohlmia's InteriorScape
Professionals 
