| Liner ponds leak, concrete ponds leach. Fish get | | | | equipment, they will be next to maintenance-free. |
| diseases if they are not eaten first. Algae are a | | | | I said, okay! |
| constant problem. And what about mosquitoes | | | | It cost me 20 percent more to do all this than |
| and West or East Nile Virus? | | | | what the original liner pond cost me to be installed. |
| Ponds are high maintenance, so do I get a | | | | It's been 5 ½ years, I have a wooden deck |
| pressurized bead bio-filter? Do I get an up-flow | | | | built around my pond 14 inches above the pond |
| filter or down-flow filter? Or a side-flow? How | | | | surface. The pond is 3 feet deep in the shallow |
| about a waterfall? Bio-falls? Pondless falls? Liner | | | | end, and 5 feet in the deep end. Raccoons hang |
| fall? Concrete fall? | | | | onto the deck, lean over, and swipe at the |
| I had a pond once, and you could not see the fish | | | | surface of the water. Cranes stand at the edge |
| for the algae. Someone said to use algaecide, and | | | | wishing the pond was shallower or that they could |
| somebody else said to get a U.V. Someone said | | | | bend down that far so they can scarf up a scaly |
| to get more plants, and someone else said I had | | | | snack. Their eyes are pathetic. I almost find |
| too many fish for the size of my pond. No | | | | myself sprinting to the kitchen to find them a |
| problem...a crane ate half of them and last month | | | | snack. NOT! |
| a raccoon ate the rest. | | | | Once a week I turn the handle on my bio-filter |
| Someone said I need a scarecrow sprinkler or a | | | | and back-flush the brown, nitrogen-laden waste |
| pond net. I asked, What for? I don't have any | | | | water into several 5-gallon buckets from an |
| fish, only lots of mosquitoes. So someone else | | | | attached flexible pool filter hose. Then I water my |
| said, buy some mosquito fish, you can get them | | | | trees and plants with it. Talk about miracle grow! |
| free from the Department of Fish and Game. I | | | | After 1 to 2 minutes of back flushing, I pull the |
| got the mosquito fish, and my sump pump that | | | | wiper plunger on my U.V. a few times to clean |
| the liner guy installed in my liner pond ate all my | | | | off the internal quartz lens housing the U.V. bulb. |
| mosquito fish. | | | | The film (pond scum) is instantly removed from |
| My pump was plugged with mosquito larvae and | | | | the lens, giving the U.V. bulb 6 months of extra |
| dead mosquito fish. Someone said I could scrape | | | | life. |
| them off the pump screen with a kitchen knife. | | | | The U.V. light kills pathogens that cause illness to |
| That worked well, but I accidentally stabbed the | | | | my fish and other bacteria that cause the pond |
| liner. I Googled leaky liner and found someone | | | | to stink. It also kills what is known as planktonic |
| who calls himself The Fall Guy. He said I should | | | | algae that turn the pond green. Twice a year I |
| get rid of my sump pump and liner and install a | | | | throw in some rock salt to keep the salt level at |
| concrete and rebar pond with bottom drains and | | | | a specific gravity of 1.0. The fish have a healthy |
| a high-performance, low-energy centrifugal pump, | | | | skin coat, my plants are happy, and string algae |
| a pressurized back-flushable filter, a U.V. light, and | | | | are virtually nonexistent. My water is crystal clear, |
| an electronic auto-fill system. | | | | and an electronic aquafill maintains the level of the |
| He said that, unlike liners that have no warranty | | | | water automatically. |
| against acts of nature, concrete and rebar ponds | | | | Look before you leap and research before you |
| which are built and sealed properly will last for | | | | weep. |
| decades. Plus, with the proper design and | | | | Happy koi, peace and joy. |