Still water in garden ponds is certainly beautiful, especially when the pond is planned to reflect plants and garden features. But moving water adds excitement and sound to the garden environment, an element that appeals to many people.

To make streams run and fountains spray, you are going to need some sort of a pump. You will also need a pump to run a filter. The basic choice is between pumps that work inside the pond, under the water, and those that are housed above ground, somewhere near to the pond. The most important factor to consider is size, and the volume of water that the pump can deal with. If you are going to use a pump to power a fountain, then you are going to need to know what water head it produces. This is the height to which the pump is able to make the water spray.  Large water features and fountains clearly need a pump with a more powerful capacity, because of the volume of water that has to be moved. Waterfalls also need reasonably powerful pumps, to drive the water up to the top of the fall.

There are many different makes (or brands) of pump and they are manufactured with different types of housings. Generally the more expensive the pump is, the longer it is likely to last. For example, a plastic pump will cost a lot less than one that has housing made from stainless steel, but the cost variation is likely to be quite substantial. Make sure you choose a model that meets your needs, and buy the best quality you can afford.

There are various types of pond filters, all designed to keep pond water clear and to help prevent your pump from getting clogged with water-garden debris. Apart from leaves, twigs, and dirt that is inevitably blown into ponds, all kinds of decayed organic matter, algae, fish waste (excretion) and leftover fish food all need to be filtered out. While a pond with a well-balanced ecosystem will generally keep itself healthy and reasonably clean, it will never have crystal clear water – which is beneficial for ponds that are stocked with fish, particularly ornamental koi.

If you do have koi, or are planning to stock your pond with koi, then a biological filter is the best bet. Instead of just straining debris from the water, which is what a mechanical filter will do, a biological filter has a filter bed that contains live bacteria that actually breaks down toxic ammonia and other harmful substances that build up in the water. Bacteria converts the ammonia into nitrates, which plants need to grow.

Because it takes a few weeks for bacteria colonies to generate and grow large enough to be effective, once running, the filter should only be switched off for cleaning. Usually it is sufficient to rinse out a biological filter ever couple of months, and to replace filter media perhaps every year or so.

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Not that long ago it was unheard of to even consider including a skimmer in a pond design. But now you will find a range of different skimmers and skimmer devices alongside your basic fish pond supplies.

On the other hand, skimmers are very much part and parcel of a swimming pool, where the clarity and hygiene of the water is paramount. Pretty well every swimming pool that has been constructed over the past 40 years has a built-in skimmer box with a basket that traps floating debris. This is the point at which pool cleaners are normally attached. Quite basic in design, all that is required is for the basket to be removed, emptied and rinsed once a week so that it will continue to operate at maximum efficiency.

Similar skimmers can be incorporated in a pond, but nowadays special skimmers are available especially for garden ponds. These help to prevent the water getting murky and unhealthy and minimize the debris that flows through the filter system, allowing the filter to operate at maximum efficiency.

A good quality skimmer will be manufactured from heavy-duty components to meet the needs of a garden pond. These come equipped with weir doors, debris net (to catch the dirt) and brush panels that reduce pool maintenance. If you choose a skimmer that has a stainless steel framed trap net you can rest assured that it will last for quite some time. A well-designed model will allow you to add a brush panel that will extract the unwanted leaves and debris, but prevent fish and frogs from being pulled into the skimmer. A standard swimming pool skimmer doesn’t have this feature.

There are skimmers that are intended for use on the side of the pond. This makes for easy access to the collection basket, which is usually covered with what looks like a natural rock or slab. Like all other skimmers, these are designed to remove leaves and other floating muck from the surface of the water.

Then there are skimmers that float in the water and effectively remove leaves and other floating debris. These are similar to automatic skimmers that were first introduced to the swimming pool market in the 1980s. They harness the energy of the water that flows into the pool, skimming off the floating debris before it has a chance to sink to the bottom and degenerate. A good quality skimmer of this sort will automatically adjust to the changing level of the water. They are a great idea for ponds that have been constructed without a built-in skimmer.

Some floating skimmers also incorporate a biological filter and an air injector that acts like a pond aerator. There is even a model that has a large strainer basket that will remove particles of debris that are bigger than 100 microns, as well as a built-in cleaning mechanism (with a brush). This particular skimmer can be built into new pond structures or used for existing ponds.

When you buy a skimmer for your pond, you need to be sure that the model you buy fits the flow range of the pump that you have (or plan to have) in your fish pond. Don’t forget this!

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The easiest and least expensive method for any DIY-enthusiast is to use a flexible liner. You can buy a DIY pool construction kit from most companies that specialize in fish pond supplies, although some of them prefer to only supply the liner, leaving the decision of what else to buy to you.

The most popular and most successful pond liner in the USA is made of EPDM (an ethylene-propylene polymer – ethylene-propylene-diene-monomer), and is usually a 45-mil thickness. It is not difficult to install and you don’t need any building skills at all. It is also a relatively simple matter to join pieces of the material together, which means that you can build a pond of any size or shape.

There are other flexible liners in the form of PVC (polyvinyl-chloride) and polyethylene, but while these are cheaper than EPDM, they are also not as long lasting, and will be more likely to puncture.

Whichever type of liner you choose to use, it is good practice to install some type of underlay between the earth and the liner. This is seen as a preventive measure that will help to avoid puncturing and tearing. Geotextile materials are ideal, because they can be cut to size and simply placed over the surface of the excavation. Sand works well on the pond floor, but for obvious reasons it doesn’t work for walls.

While you need a pond liner to be reasonably thick, the thicker the liner, the more difficult it will be to avoid forming folds and creases. Don’t be too concerned. If you look at photographs of people installing liners you will see that there are always folds. Some will straighten out when you fill the pond with water, while you can just neatly tuck other extraneous bits of liner into nooks and crannies, or fold them under a pond edging.

Using a preformed pond is also a simple matter, although these are normally relatively small. So it will depend on the size and depth pond you want. Basically all you have to do is to dig a hole and set the preformed pond inside it; backfill and sort out some type of surround or planting.

Digging any type of pond can be hard work, and quite time consuming, particularly if the soil in your garden is hard or full of clay. You will also need to be sure that the upper level of the pond is level, particularly if you are using a preformed liner. This means you will need a spirit level or a water level to check your levels. The thing is that water finds its own level, and so if one end of the pond is higher than the other, you will notice this when the pond is full of water.

Of course there is nothing to stop you using any of the other pool construction methods for a DIY garden pond. These include concrete cast on site, as well as building ponds using bricks or blocks laid with mortar.

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If you want to see what the products you are looking for look like, then a good place to start is with your local Yellow Pages. Here you will be able to locate stores in your area. Alternatively you will find that both manufacturers and distributors of fish pond supplies often advertise in gardening magazines, in newspapers and on the radio.

If you don’t know exactly what you want, a web shop is an excellent place to start because a good one will have everything you need to construct or install and also maintain ponds and other water features. A good site will have a site map that shows you how to navigate through the different sections and will usually be divided into sections, rather like a department store. So, for example you will go to:

• pumps,
• filters,
• UV sterilizers,
• fish and koi foods,
• pond liners,
• heaters,
• strainers,
• skimmers,
• lighting,
• water additives,
• fountains,
• bird feeders, or
• books.

Within each section you will find various sub-sections designed to take you to the type of product you are looking for.

There may also be a section on the site where you can find “pond doctor” medications and resources, a section with good tips and techniques to help you with your pond, and perhaps a section where you can find out more about building a pond. A good site will also feature photographs of ponds that will give you some good ideas.

Some people don’t really like buying products they are not familiar with until they have actually seen them. If you feel this way, you can always go to a local outlet and see what products look like. Then do some pricing, and if the web shop prices are better, you may prefer to order through them. The problem is that many local stores don’t have everything – certainly not the same variety of product that a good web shop will have.

So how do you know if a web store is reputable? First of all you need to do some research in terms of the products that they sell. A good web store will sell reputable products. Secondly, look for testimonials to see the sort of feedback they have received. A good web site store will provide good backup and will replace goods that are either damaged or don’t work properly. Another very good option is to follow recommendations by other sites, such as the one linked to at the bottom of this article.

Then there are products that you won’t find with regular fish pond supplies. These include materials that you will need to build ponds from concrete or from bricks or blocks and mortar. You will need to go to a building yard for these. The same applies to paving products and some landscaping items. Garden shops often have fish pond-related products, although usually a limited range. But you will find pond plants at a good garden shop.

While most fish pond suppliers have lights that are suitable for installation in and around the pond, you may also want to explore what lighting specialists also have.

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But what does fish pond design entail, and how difficult is it to take on this design task?

There are two qualities you probably need to succeed in any field of design. These are:

1. Confidence, and
2. Creativity.

But you also need the practical ability to put a plan into action, and you need to be able to visualize.

When it comes to fish pond design, before you even start looking at specifics, you need to know exactly what you want. Only then you can start planning and designing. For example, if you are aiming for a reflective pond, you should position it where it can be seen from various viewpoints in the garden rather than being tucked away in a corner where it is obscured by dense bushes and trees. If you want to design a pond that incorporates some sort of fountain or moving water feature, you should position it so that the moving water will be visible from a distance.

Both water plants and fish add a wonderfully exciting dimension to any garden, but water plants can spread very rapidly, and so they need plenty of room to grow and you may need to create different depths in the pond, depending on what you are going to plant. It is also quite a good idea to include a buffer area at the edge of the pond, in the form of a bog garden filled with moisture-loving plants, to make the transition from water to the rest of the garden appear more natural.

For many people it is the fish, with their bright colors and graceful movements that make a fish pond worthwhile. But you will design a koi pond quite differently to a pond which will only accommodate goldfish. The common goldfish is really quite hardy and very adaptable. Fancy goldfish require a bit more care and attention and may need to be moved to a more protected site in the winter months. Exotic koi require a lot more attention including really good quality water and special food. So apart from the fact that a koi pond will be considerably deeper than a goldfish pond, you will also have to include items like pumps, filters, skimmers and pond aerators in the design.

Other design issues that you will need to address will be style, proportion and position. You will have to decide whether the pond will be formal or informal and whether it will imitate any typical traditions, for example an ornate Italian-style or typically simple Japanese approach.

There are many accepted rules that relate to formal, semi-formal and informal ponds, and you should familiarize yourself with these if you plan to do your own fish pond design. For example an informal pond should blend in with the planting scheme in the surrounding garden so that it really does look natural. Paving directly adjacent to an informal pond will look harsh, so it is better to plant right to the edges to mask the perimeter. However you don’t want these plants to be too high, unless they are going to form a backdrop.

Formal ponds should always be beautifully rounded or geometric in shape. Paving right around the perimeter will enhance the geometry and the formality of the pond.

So if you are a creative person, and you are confident, why not give fish pond design a go in your own garden?

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The first step is to decide what you want to build or install, and where the pond should be located. Try to visualize what a pond will look like in your backyard. You can do this just by walking around and looking. Otherwise you can take photographs of the outdoor space and then draw a pond, or find a picture of something suitable, and position it in the picture. Just be sure that the scale of the original photograph and the picture you find or produce are the same.

Once you know what you want in terms of the pond itself, you will need to decide what fish pond supplies you need. You can buy pond liners and preformed ponds, or you can build a pond yourself using concrete or bricks and mortar, or even real or reconstituted stone. The most important part is to ensure that it is totally watertight.

Then you will need to decide what other equipment you need, including a pump and filter and possibly a skimmer and a pond aerator. You can worry about things like water test kits and fish food when the pond is complete.

But it isn’t just the pond you need to worry about. To make the best of your backyard fish pond, you need to plant the entire area and decide what other structures you are going to include, and what sort of planting you should do. It’s always a good idea to put ideas on paper – and you don’t need to be an artist to do this. Get yourself some graph paper and draw the backyard area to scale. Show the position of everything that is currently there, including walls, fences, pathways, plants, trees, large rocks and any other structures. Make a note of anything you don’t like and would prefer to remove.

Then draw in the position of the new pond and any new structures you are planning. These may include seats and benches, lights and lamps, perhaps a gazebo or an arbor, and a screen or screens to protect the pond from the wind.

Try to imagine what your new backyard will look like and draw in areas where you can plant shrubs, flowers or ground cover. Consider a bog garden next to the pond, and both marginal and aquatic, floating plants inside the pond.

Remember that plants can be used to balance spaces in the garden. They can also be used to create a sense of enclosure, which can be particularly effective around a pond. Just be careful about planting deciduous trees too near to the pond or you will increase the amount maintenance that will need to be done in autumn when the tree loses its leaves.

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Found alongside general fish pond supplies, items specifically intended for koi carp range from temporary koi ponds or tanks (primarily for breeders and enthusiasts who want to show their koi) to koi fish food and various products that will help you test pond water to ensure that it stays clean and healthy.

Koi food

It is essential to feed koi good quality food to ensure that they grow and develop their beautiful colors and patterns. But it is very important not to over-feed koi (or other fish). Only give them as much as they can eat in three to five minutes.

Normally sold in the form of pellets, koi food must be fresh and disposed of if it is more than about three months old, as it will start to oxidize.

Medication for koi

Unfortunately koi do sometimes get sick. But if you watch their eating habits and notice that this or the shape and color of the fish change suddenly, or that they are behaving strangely in some other way (for example swimming off balance), you will be able to take immediate action.

The first step is to remove the problem fish from the water, and put it into quarantine, in a temporary pond. Then it may be necessary to treat the pond water to ensure that the other fish don’t also get sick.

Medication for koi fish includes:

• medicated koi food,
• treatments for external parasites, including anchor worms and fish lice,
• treatments for internal parasites, particularly worms,
• bacterial and anti-bacterial treatments,
• bacterial treatments specifically for gills, and
• ulcer treatments, including powders and bandages.

Pumps, filters and aerators

If you are going to keep koi, you will have to make an investment in terms of time and money, even if you don’t buy the most expensive koi available. Apart from building a suitable pond, you will need to run it efficiently and keep the water healthy.

Essential equipment to keep koi pond water clean and healthy includes pumps, filters and aerators. Your choice will depend on the size of the pond as well as the number and size of fish you are going to stock it with.

Koi tanks and nets

Koi tanks are really just temporary ponds. Usually made from vinyl that is held in place on a metal frame of some sort, they are ideal for enthusiasts wanting to show their koi, as well as for raising baby fingerlings and for tending to sick fish.

Pond cover nets keep koi safe from predators including young mammals and large birds.

Pond water test kits and water treatment products

Water chemistry plays an important role in keeping koi successfully. Like swimming pool water, pond water should be checked at least once a month – and more frequently if it becomes cloudy or murky.

You can buy test kits that will enable you to check:

• pH –
• KH – carbonate hardness,
• GH – general hardness,
• nitrite content of the water,
• ammonia in the water, and
• salinity levels.

Like all things in life, prevention is always better than cure.

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When you start looking for fish pond supplies, you will find that there are two basic types of pump that are suitable for garden ponds. The one type is submersible, which means it is located in the water, inside the pond. The other type is located near to the pond, but above the ground. Some suppliers also have combination pumps that operate equally well under water and on land.

Whichever type you choose, you will find that the pump output is described in gallons (or liters) per hour – depending where the pump was manufactured. So before you buy a pump, you’re going to need to work out what sort of volumes of water need to be moved or re-circulated. Remember that you will need the entire volume of water in the pond to be circulated in an hour.

Pumps will usually state on the packaging what the water head is. What this means is to what height the water in a fountain can spurt from the fountainhead nozzle, just above the surface of the water. If it isn’t powerful enough then you won’t get enough water spurting. If it is too powerful, it will cause the water to spurt too high into the air. This information is also important if you are going to create a waterfall, because you need to pump it to the top of the rocks so that it can tumble down naturally.

Submersible pumps are quiet and they normally have quite long waterproof cables that allow the pump to reach to the bottom of the pond. They are generally easy to install and very simple to operate. Unlike surface pumps that usually have to be primed, this is not necessary with submersible models.

Most submersible pumps have a strainer on the inlet side to stop fish and any floating debris from being sucked up into the motor and other moving parts. Some models are sold with interchangeable fountain jet fittings that produce different effects, but you can also buy these separately. They range from high-spurting geyser jets to domes and tulip jets, all described by the shape of water fountain they produce.

Surface or online pumps are a lot more powerful than most submersible pumps. On the down side, they are generally more expensive and a lot noisier as well. Only combination models may be used under water. But if you need to pump a lot of water any distance, then you will need a surface pump and you will have to find (or build) some sort of housing for it to protect it from the weather. Ideally surface pumps should be located just below the surface level of the water, near to the pond, but in a position where there is no risk that the unit will get wet.

Whatever type of unit you decide on, you will need to run cables from an electric power point. This may be located inside or you can mount a special waterproof box on an outside wall to avoid having to run cables through the wall. Where wiring is buried underground, armored cable or special conduit must be used.

Finally, remember that the combination of electricity and water is potentially lethal. If you aren’t 100% sure what is involved installing a pump and filter, call in an electrician.

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People who take koi-keeping seriously, plan their ponds so that their fish will grow to full size – up to three feet. They also ensure that all other pond conditions are perfect and spend a lot of time and money maintaining their ponds. If you look at fish pond supplies you will see that there are many specialist products available for koi ponds, including pumps and filters, various water test kits and products that may be used to rectify water problems.

If you visit any well stocked koi pond, you will understand why water quality and clarity are so important. While the majority of koi have non-metallic body colors, including black, white, yellow and red, there are also both gold and silver varieties that have shiny sequin-like scales. Except for lines of large prominent scales along their backs and sides, German koi do not have scales.

In Japan koi may still be found in ponds and lakes that are fed by melted snow and ice from mountainous regions. And koi breeders try to maintain this quality of water in their manmade ponds.

If you have a swimming pool, you will know how important it is to maintain the pH levels in your pool. The pH scale is a logarithmic number scale of 0 to 14, and it shows the strength of an acid or alkali. A neutral solution (including water) has a pH of exactly 7, and it is neither acidic nor alkaline. In swimming pools we generally maintain the pH between 6.8 to 7.2 if the pool is lined with fiberglass, and between 7.2 and 7.6 if it has a gunite or plaster shell. If the pH is too high, the water will get cloudy and scale will tend to form on the pool walls. If it is too low, plaster will tend to etch and any metal fixtures will start to corrode. A low pH causes skin problems and eye irritations in humans.

The ideal pH level for koi is between 6.8 and 7.5, which you will see is virtually the same as for humans. A low pH can damage the gills of the fish and serious swings in pH can kill them.

The pH of water is affected by the hardness (or softness) of the water, which in turn is affected by the quantity of dissolved salts – particularly calcium and magnesium – in the water. The more salts, the “harder” the water. General hardness (GH) is measured in degrees from 0 to 18, with 8 being the ideal.

There are various ways to adjust the pH and GH of pond water, including the use of fish pond media (for filters) that is high in calcium, including media made from crushed oyster shells or limestone. There are also various proprietary products that, added to the water, will help to adjust and maintain these levels.

Just as you can buy test kits to test the quality of your swimming pool water, you can also buy test kits to test for ammonia and to test the pH of fish ponds. There are also oxygen test kits. It is advisable to test the pond water regularly using these.

Various trace elements are also important to koi, because they help the development of pigments and color, and also improve the condition of their skin. You will find these alongside all the other fish pond supplies.

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If you are building or installing a pond you are going to need all the necessary materials to do so. Generally pond supply outlets sell preformed ponds and flexible liners. They often sell kits as well, which are ideal for DIY enthusiasts. If you want to build a pond from bricks or blocks, stone or from concrete, then you will probably need to get the construction materials required from a builders’ yard or similar outlet. But all the other accessories and pond equipment will be available from a good specialist supplier. These include pipes, valves, pumps, filters, skimmers, fountain fixtures, even plants, fish and fish food, and nets for covering ponds, to prevent birds and other predators making a meal of your fish.

Assuming you already have a completed pond, what else could you possibly need?

The answer to this question depends on both the type of pond you have and whether or not you have stocked it with fish. Ponds don’t generally need a lot of maintenance work, but if a pond starts to leak, you will need to take action immediately. It is also a good idea to be sure you either have, or can get, whatever materials might be required to fix a leaking pond quickly. This will, of course, depend on the materials used to build the pond in the first place. Manufacturers of preformed ponds and liners often produce repair kits.

Generally a pond stocked with fish is more likely to have balanced water than a pond without fish. This is because the fish play a very important role in terms of the balance of nature, eating insects and other tiny creatures. This is important to realize, particularly if you have stocked your pond with goldfish or related species. They eat hardly anything and are natural scavengers. So never over feed them with pre-packaged food.

If you have a koi pond, you’ll need to be more careful about food, feeding the correct amount to ensure that the fish stay healthy and grow as they should. Your equipment will also be more expensive and will include a pump and filter, to keep the water clean and healthy and to ensure that you can see these beautiful fish.

If you don’t have a pump and filter, and you don’t have fish in the water, there’s a good chance that the water in your pond will become green and murky as algae starts to form. If you leave decomposing plants and leaves in the water, they will rot and if fish are in the pond, they may be adversely affected. Plants in the pond, including lilies and various other floating and marginal plants, can help to balance the water. There are also various products that you can use to clear the water, that won’t harm fish.

We recommend reliable suppliers that will cater to all your fish pond supplies.

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