All ponds need cleaning from time to time as any body of water will collect organic and inorganic waste. Its amazing how much moving water will improve the surrounding air.  

All water features and ponds even the ones that do not contain any aquatic animals or water plants will require some form of cleaning. The moving water will filter the air of dust, pollen, leaves and even gasses.  

Algal spores are carried on the wind and nutrients in the water will stimulate them into growing. A balanced water garden is much less maintenance than a lawn as you do not have to mow your water garden weekly. 

At the other end of the spectrum you have a heavily stocked koi pond. Koi pond owners need to be careful of over feeding messy feeding fish such as koi. If you feed a low quality food to an under filtered pond you will quickly find a build up of organic waste or even worse a bacterial build up which will damage or ultimately kill your valuable koi. 

It is important to recognise the main sources of pond waste. Then you can look for the best ways of limiting the amount of waste entering the pond. In turn this will reduce the time spent cleaning the pond or filter system. Sometimes a good design of your pond can eleviate most of these problems.

Waste can enter the pond in the following ways: 

Over feeding fish: This is a very common problem as cheap fish food may have a low conversion ratio, leading to increased waste. We can source you the best food at a good price. If the filtration system is not capable of handling the amount of fish waste generated, then over time detritus will accumulate. This is particularly common in koi ponds where the fish grow rapidly but the filters remain the same size. This can cause stress and disease to your koi that CAN be avoided.

Wind blown detritus: Many ponds are surrounded by well planted borders and trees and it is very common for leaves and other plant debris to get blown into the pond. Netting or creating temporary barriers during the autumnal leaf fall can massively reduce the amount of waste entering the pond, making it much easier to keep the pond clean over the cool winter months. I place polycarbonate sheets over my pond which doubles up as a stress reliever during firework season.

Water plant die-back: Water plants are an integral part of many ponds, but their summer growth can often end up fouling the pond if it is not removed before the winter die-back. Cutting back the aquatic and emergent plants significantly during the autumn can hugely reduce the amount of detritus collecting in the pond. However from experience koi and pond plants dont mix well. Koi get great pleasure in tearing apart a well planted water lilly making the water BLACK.

Ducks and birdlife: Whilst miniature ducks may seem to be the perfect compliment to your pond, please bear in mind that one duck can generate as much as 20 times as much waste as the same weight of fish! Ducks will often also introduce large amounts of detritus and waste from the sides of the pond and deposit it into the water. Mud can introduce lice to your koi that can cause skin problems.

We recommend a minimum of one full pond service per annum, alongside a regular maintenance regime for best results and trouble-free pond keeping. We have found that the build up of Nitrates in a pond can affect the growth and colouration of koi so need regular water changes of up to 10% weekly and filters need to be of a design that waste build up in them can easily be pumped down the drain ond owners need to look at the pond every season to see if it requires any maintenance work including replacement of U.V. bulbs. 

After all, this is what the koi live in and if you look after the water - you look after the koi , we have had many years of experience of this to give you expert equipment and knowledge of how to get the best out of it.