BEHOLDER AQUATICS

This is asked very, very frequently and with this exact same verbiage. Unfortunately, hiring team members to drive company vehicles with company gasoline to drive across Atlanta to provide free diagnostics and troubleshooting services for unknowable amounts of time is not included in our business model at this time. However, we can usually get clients booked for a service call date within 1-14 days’ time.

Deep cleaning for koi ponds, water gardens, pondless waterfalls and fountains - make your water feature look brand new again! -Fish are safely removed and put aside in a spacious storage tank. -All debris and pond muck is removed. -Overgrown plants are trimmed back to size appropriate for the season. -Filter, pump, fall box, plumbing and skimmer box are maintained as able and deep cleaned. -Rocks, gravel and liner are deep cleaned and repositioned where needed. - Fish are returned to the pond with treated water (to prevent death resultant from chlorine burning). - Pond is refilled and ready to go!

Annual cleaning usually suffices for the vast majority of koi ponds with the stipulation that the pond is maintained properly for debris, plant overgrowth, microbiology and other normal aspects of pond care.

Short Answer: ~5 minutes a day. Long Answer: Pond owners will ideally spend a small amount of time each day enjoying and caring for the pond, especially in the warm months. Scooping leaves and any debris (without spooking the fish) is an excellent practice to keep while giving your fish their daily food, and checking your skimmer basket every 1-7 days is highly encouraged. For best results, manage the plant life that grows in your pond as well by cutting back fast growers periodically and by avoiding overfeeding your fish to prevent algal blooms. Monthly applications of beneficial bacteria can aid in breaking down unavoidable biomass accumulation.

By this point of the FAQ page, you will likely guess that the answer to this question is, “it depends.” There are many different types of filtration systems for koi ponds, but for many ponds, the best filtration is biological in nature. By that, I mean that the water passes through multiple screens to remove large debris while being passed over filter pads and other media that house water-filtering bacteria. The water then of course passes over rocks, gravel and live plants that house yet more bacteria or consume water contaminants like nitrates respectively. Furthermore, the water is almost always aerated using a pleasant waterfall, preventing water stagnation, bug-larval production and oxygen depletion.

We can build anything from a small patio bowl fountain to large cascading waterfalls. Contact us today to see what options are at your disposal.

Assuming ideal weather conditions, construction can be completed within one day for small projects or it can take a matter of two weeks or so for larger builds. In any case, building a koi pond or waterfall won't be a season-long event.

While the list of species that can thrive in a koi pond here in Georgia is expansive, there are really only a handful of fish types that are commonly kept in ponds and water gardens. First, we have Koi fish, colorful carp that can grow to 36” long or more and easily survive Georgia winters. These fish can be shockingly colorful, and are tough to boot, living (on average) 25-35 years. Koi fish do not belong in fountains or smaller water gardens UNLESS they are very small babies, AND they are to be upgraded to larger living spaces as they grow. Do not keep adult or even subadult koi in fountains, and do not overload a small pond with too many koi. Do not do it. Do not be “that guy.” Second, we have goldfish, and while not all breeds of goldfish are meant to be viewed from the top as they are in ponds, goldfish as a species are more than hardy enough to handle Georgia weather. However, smaller goldfish may be at risk of being eaten by frogs and snakes. This may or may not be a problem depending on where you live and what size goldfish you purchase. Goldfish typically live between 10-15 years. Goldfish may be added to some fountain features depending upon the size of the fountain’s basin, the number of goldfish and the goldfish’s size. Again, err on the side of caution to avoid overstocking your water feature. Thirdly, we have small fish like Gambusia mosquito fish or even Japanese Madaka rice fish. While these fish are more than capable of surviving Georgia weather year round, and while they are small and numerous enough to act as effective mosquito larvae control, they are also small enough to fall prey to frogs and snakes. These smaller species have much shorter lifespans than goldfish and koi, but their ability to reproduce readily keeps their numbers booming in your fountain or pond. These fish are generally self-limiting in that they will reproduce to an amount that their environment can support and then fail to effectively reproduce more numbers than that. Removing and selling or giving away babies can keep your small fish populations in a healthy range.

While koi ponds don’t necessarily require “chemicals” to be added, our part of Georgia has chlorine levels in the tap water high enough to kill fish (easily) if the tap water is not treated with dechlorinator. (NOTE: that small amounts of tap water added at a time is no threat.) However, draining and refilling your pond or water feature with non-well tap water and failing to treat it for chlorine (or waiting 24hrs for the chlorine to dissipate before re-introducing the fish) will kill your fish. Additionally, certain bacterial cultures, while not necessary to introduce, can be greatly beneficial for your pond’s ecosystem.

-Cosmetically speaking, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Only you can decide when your pond is too overgrown or mucky to hold off on cleaning it. -Biologically speaking, if you have fish in your pond or water garden, you owe it to them to ensure that the water parameters are healthy for them and that they have enough room to comfortably move around and live. It is unethical to force large fish to navigate a tangled maze of plants. -Mechanically speaking, it is time to have your koi pond cleaned if your filtration system, pump or plumbing are so overloaded with organic material that they are in danger of no longer functioning. This can and does happen, but experienced pond owners will have their ponds maintained well enough that their ponds are not in danger of being damaged by this type of neglect.

Koi … the jewels of the water garden! You’ll find the koi come in all different shapes and sizes. They are generally low maintenance.

When adding fish to a new pond or after a cleanout or complete water change, it’s best to wait a minimum of 72 hours for the water chemistry and temperature of the pond to stabilize. Make sure to add a double dose of Pond Detoxifier when first filling the pond to neutralize chlorine and chloramine, reduce fish stress, and detoxify heavy metals. Start with a few fish and build the population slowly. During the shipment fish are under extreme stress. It is very important to follow these instructions closely. Unpack the fish from the transport box and float the bag in the pond for approximately 20 minutes. During this time the temperature in the bag will adjust to your pond’s current water temperature. Avoid floating pond fish in direct sunlight; cover the plastic bag with an old towel, cloth, or something that will shade the bag without sinking it. If the pond fish are purchased locally and not transported for a long period of time, you can help acclimatize the fish after floating by opening the bag and adding approximately 20% pond water by volume. We also recommend adding Pond Detoxifier to the water contained in the bag as well as to the pond itself. Pond Detoxifier will neutralize any ammonia produced by the fish during transport, regenerate damage to the mucus membrane caused by netting, and reduce stress during acclimatization. Be careful not to leave the fish in the open bag for too long as available oxygen will quickly be consumed. If you have an air pump you can also drop a small air stone into the open bag to ensure proper oxygenation. After approximately 30 minutes, your fish are ready to be introduced to their new home. Scoop the fish out of the bag using a soft mesh net and release them into your pond. Discard the remaining water. Never just dump the fish from the bag into the water. This will cause extreme stress and can even cause death if the difference in water temperature and chemistry is extreme. The fish will probably head for the bottom of the pond and stay there until they become familiar with their new surroundings. Don't be alarmed as this is quite normal. Fish should be fed on the 2nd or 3rd day after introduction. We recommend you feed your fish.

Raccoons don’t swim, so if your pond is built at least 2 feet deep and 8 feet wide, with some places for your fish to run and hide- they should be safe from those little nocturnal critters. The only critter that is a valid concern is the heron. Again, providing a place for your fish to hide (in and under water lilies, and other plants, or man-made fish caves) will help prevent any disastrous occurrence of fish-napping by a heron.

Several factors influence whether a pond is habitable by fish, so before you stock your new pond or choose a few new finned friends at your water gardening store, take a few minutes to assess your fish’s dwelling space. It all starts with the size of your pond. You need to make sure that it is large enough to support fish and their growth. Pond fish generally need 10 gallons of water for every inch of their length, and you have to be ready for them to grow larger, so be careful not to overstock, no matter how tempting this may be! Some pond experts go so far as to recommend only ½ inch of fish per 10 gallons of water as a maximum stocking density. On occasion, you may encounter ponds crowded with 2 or even 3 inches of fish per 10 gallons of water and the fish seem to be fine. However, the density and ecological strain of this loading turn these ponds into fragile systems. The pH tends to sag, the fish tend to grow more slowly, and disease can become a common occurrence. It’s very difficult to salvage sick fish in a pond that’s overcrowded. Most likely, Mother Nature will pick off your favorite fish to achieve her ideal stocking density based on the system the fish are in, and then the remainder may recover. So reduce the number of fish if your pond is overstocked before Mother Nature handles this crucial step for you.

If you simply make sure that your pond is at least two feet deep, the proximity of the earth to the pond’s surface will not allow the latter to freeze any deeper than 8”. That leaves 16” for the fish to lounge around and basically hibernate over the winter. You do need to keep a hole in the ice (using a “floating heater”) to allow for the exchange of gasses (like oxygen). But other than that your fish will do just fine in the pond, all year round. Supplemental oxygen can also be supplied by running your waterfalls, adding a bubbler, or using the pump to churn the water near the surface.

Yes, all of the products that we use are safe and non-toxic after dosing.

Bacterial Products The more Beneficial Bacteria you put in your pond, the better off the pond will function and the more you will be protected against fluctuation in water chemistry. The bacteria will help reduce the amount of physical waste found in the bottom of the pond as well as keep filter pads clean. Beneficial Bacteria helps maintain a functioning biological filter system, preventing surges in Ammonia or Nitrite which are two of the main causes of fish loss. Rapid Clear (Flocculent) This is one product where accurate dosing is very important! Rapid clear will quickly go to work to clear suspended particles or cloudy water, but if it is over dosed it will quickly make the problem worse. If used in the recommended dosage the product will attract particles to clump making them easy to remove with fine mechanical filtration media. When overdosed the product actually has the opposite effect and will make the particles repel from each other making the problem worse. In general, products have a recommended dosage for a reason. The reason for the use of the pump top bottles is to make accurate dosing fast and simple. We suggest that customers use the recommended dosage and follow the instructions. There is a buffer built in so customers that have smaller ponds than they have estimated will not have problems.

The product we use is Aquascape's Barley Straw Extract. It is extremely concentrated and goes to work immediately to help clarify pond water and reduce maintenance. Traditional barley straw in the form of bales or pellets is effective, but takes up to six weeks to start working. As traditional barley straw starts to decay, it releases enzymes into the pond helping clarify pond water, often resulting in a mess. Aquascape Barley Straw Extract provides all the benefits with none of the mess.

Both the liquid and dry bacteria products are interchangeable and provide the same strains of bacteria. We recommend using liquid at the beginning of the season or after water change, because it becomes activated quicker. Continue with the dry product for the rest of the season, as it is more concentrated and therefore more economical.

Beneficial Bacteria do naturally form in the pond, but some essential bacteria are slow to reproduce and combat problems and if left unchecked quickly become worse. Because a pond is an enclosed system, it’s easy to have a problem or abundance of nutrients making things quickly go from bad to worse. Adding Bacteria on a regular consistent basis helps to bring bacteria concentrations to where they can quickly take care of problems that may occur and also promotes a condition known as competitive exclusion. The competitive exclusion principle is that no two species can have stable coexistence if they occupy the same niche and compete for the same resources. There are two possible outcomes of the competition: One species is less capable and becomes extinct. One species undergoes an evolutionary or behavioral shift towards a different ecological niche. Both resulting in a balancing of the ecosystem, reduction of unsightly water conditions and crystal clear pond water. Some studies show that Beneficial Bacteria in high concentrations can actually eliminate bad or dangerous bacteria.

For customers looking for something to reduce traditional pond maintenance and control String Algae in their pond or water feature, we recommend the use of the Aquascape IonGen. The Aquascape IonGen consists of a control panel and treatment probe that doses a controlled amount of ions into the water, helping to prevent unsightly water conditions and reduce pond maintenance. We still recommend the use of beneficial bacteria for ponds to ensure a balanced ecosystem.

For green water treatment, view this article: http://support.aquascapeinc.com/hc/en-us/articles/201039830-How-do-I-get-rid-of-green-water- For string-like algae, view this article: http://support.aquascapeinc.com/hc/en-us/articles/200974294-There-is-a-string-like-algae-on-my-rocks-and-waterfall-What-product-can-I-use-to-fix-it-

For brown, or “tea-colored” water, we have Activated Pond Carbon. Brown water can be caused by leaves and other debris within the vicinity of the pond. Activated Pond Carbon is designed to clear the water from the extra nutrients that are introduced to the pond through the surrounding debris and conditions. For effective results, the carbon treatment should be changed about every 2 weeks. There are many other factors that may be the cause to these water clarity issues. Temperature (Has the temperature fluctuated in your area lately?), the location of the pond (direct sunlight/shaded) and the surrounding environment (mulch, trees, plant life, etc.). If you continue to experience problems with your water, please feel free to call us at 706-851-4425.

For clarity issues, Rapid Clear, a flocculent that is 100% safe for fish, plants or wildlife, can be used. This product is a fast acting treatment that can solve cloudy water in just a few hours by physically causing the particulates floating in the water to clump together into larger particles that can be filter out. There are many other factors that may be the cause to these water clarity issues. Temperature (Has the temperature fluctuated in your area lately?), the location of the pond (direct sunlight/shaded) and the surrounding environment (mulch, trees, plant life, etc.). If you continue to experience problems with your water, please feel free to call us at 706-851-4425.

Algae produces the green color as it feeds on the organic nutrients in the water from plant material and fish waste breaking down in the pond, all while it is powered by the sun’s energy. These algae cause the water to take on a green color that most all koi pond owners find distressing. The best remedy (for a koi pond) is simple, yet multidirectional - remove the algae-filled water, remove all nutrient-rich muck and debris, service and maintain the filtration system, ensure proper water flow and aeration, add live plants to absorb extra nutrition in the water and limit feeding of any animal life in the pond. All but one of these tasks can be achieved by contacting an experienced koi pond contractor like Beholder Aquatics.