What a month that was! We loved seeing every one of you that came in this month. We missed you and are so glad your ponds made it through the weeks of shutdown. While many of you are still working from home, many have also returned to work attempting to make life a little more normal. Let’s hope we can all keep it up. I’m wearing a mask. For me as much as anything else. Those of you who know me know that I am a member of the vulnerable age group and have some of the health issues experts are claiming creates additional vulnera-bilities to the virus. Here in the store we are not requiring you to wear masks but do ask that you not enter if you are experiencing any of the common symptoms.

Let’s talk a minute about filtration. Every pond needs both mechanical and biological filtra-tion. The first is usually achieved by a net or pad that stops trash, the second can be some form of media such as bio blox, bio balls, bio beads and is simply a place where bacteria can form and ac-cess nutrients and oxygen in the water. Removing those nutrients starves algae of the food it needs to grow. If your pond is experiencing algae, some-thing is out of balance. We find that is normally due to the number of fish in the pond. Our research shows that a good rule of thumb is 4 fish inches per hundred gallons of pond water. More than that taxes your filtration system. Many of you want to treat with an algaecide and I usually disagree with you. I think it’s better to figure out the imbalance and correct that rather than adding chemicals. The problem I see with algaecides is that they work. Sometimes too well. Next to chlorine overload, killing too much algae at one time is one of the main reasons for a ‘fish kill’. Your hope is that by killing algae it will get trapped in the filter system and you can remove it. The reality is that without a very efficient filter, most of the dying algae will sink to the bottom and become part of the sludge, starting the cycle all over again. Additionally, dying algae removes oxygen from the water which is already depleted of some oxygen due to the warmer weather. Warm water holds less dissolved oxygen than cool water. Another good reason to at-tempt to provide some shade to your pond.

We will be closed July 4th for the Independence Day celebration. Stay safe, enjoy your day.

Always be humble and kind

~~~Mike

Military (Active or Retired) and Water Garden Club members

receive a 10% discount

(If you remember to tell us up front! Not after you’ve already paid.)

Valid for Pond Pro Shop purchases only

3 piece Curved Sectional
NOT a good thing This frequently happens when you feed too much or too close to the skimmer opening. This is food the fish will never see, in fact, you’ve just fed the pond nutrients that are going to cause more algae and clog up the filter system. Remember to only feed as much as the fish can consume in a few minutes and do your best to keep it from going in the skimmer.

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Please note: No more Winter hours!!!!
We will remain open
Tuesday thru Friday 9:00am-6:00pm
and Saturday 10:00am-4:00pm.
Closed Sunday, Monday.
Phone 405-273-8363.