Many pond owners are drawn to the idea of having fish in their ponds, whether it's to expand their love for aquariums or to enhance the aesthetic of their water gardens. Regardless of why you choose to keep pond fish, it can become a fulfilling hobby that brings years of enjoyment. You may even develop a strong bond with your fish, treating them as cherished pets and providing them with proper nutrition for their well-being. Discover the science behind feeding koi and pond fish to ensure their health and longevity.
As a product or industry expert, it is important to understand the science behind feeding koi. While it can be a fun activity for the whole family, it is essential to only use high quality food specifically designed for the fish in your pond. This will prevent water quality issues and maintain the health of your fish. Additionally, offering treats to your koi can be a special treat, but be mindful not to overfeed as it can affect the natural ecosystem of your pond. Stick to a routine and avoid overfeeding to keep your fish happy and healthy.
The Aquascape Submersible Pond Thermometer is a valuable tool for accurately monitoring pond temperature year-round. It is perfect for adjusting fish feeding.
Using the "five minute rule" is a recommended approach to feeding your koi and other pond fish. It is ultimately your decision whether or not to feed them, as some pond owners choose not to. Keep in mind that your pond will naturally provide food for your fish and help maintain a healthy balance between plants and fish. However, larger fish will require more food than smaller ones, so proper feeding is important in preventing them from snacking on your plants. Plus, feeding your koi and pond fish can add an extra element of joy to living the Aquascape Lifestyle®.
According to scientific studies, fish proteins are the most easily digested and utilized by fish, making it the ideal choice for feeding koi. In fact, fish have been observed to prefer consuming other fish as their primary source of protein.
Fish are biologically suited to eating other organisms in their food chain, making fish proteins the optimal food source. When examining a bag of fish food, the primary ingredient should be either fish or other proteins commonly used in aquaculture.
Plant proteins can actually be beneficial when feeding koi and pond fish, as they provide important nutritional value such as fiber, plant protein, and energy from carbohydrates. However, they should not completely replace aquaculture proteins. Instead, using a combination of both can be highly nutritious as proteins from sources like corn, soy, and wheat differ from those in fishmeal. It is common to see fishmeal listed as the primary ingredient, with wheat germ, soybean meal, or corn gluten meal listed later on. This is a perfectly acceptable and nourishing option.
Evaluating an Ingredient Label Ingredient labels can be both intriguing and deceptive. While some may boast excellent ingredients and careful manufacturing, others may use tactics like ingredient-splitting and foreign laws to mislead consumers. Let's examine a label together.
For optimal protein sources in your fish's diet, seek out ingredients such as blood meal, fish meal, squid meal, shrimp meal, herring meal, or other proteins commonly used in aquaculture. These high-quality sources of protein are essential for the health and wellbeing of your fish.
If you find a food that has no aquaculture protein, but two plant proteins, then the manufacturer is trying to get less expensive plant ingredients to do what fish meal should be doing. But, if you find a food with fish meal as the first ingredient and then wheat germ or similar, they are using the plant ingredient for protein and energy, letting the fishmeal carry the bulk of the protein requirement, which is as it should be.
With a protein percent of 32 to 36%, koi are limited in their ability to digest feed in one go due to the size and shortness of their digestive tract. While feeding them more than this may not be harmful, the undigested portion will simply pass through, making it a costly option.
Maintain a balanced fat content between three to ten percent when choosing a food for your koi. Smaller fish tend to thrive on the higher end of this range, while adult fish do well with the lower end.
When reading the label, be sure to look for ascorbic acid, also known as L-Ascorbyl-2-Phosphate, among the list of ingredients. While it may only represent a small portion of the diet, it is an important addition to any milled food.
Some foods contain immune-boosting ingredients, such as optimum, aquagen, nucleotides, torula yeast, brewer’s yeast, bee propolis, colostrum, aspergillus niger, beta carotene, and lactoferrin. While these may provide health benefits, it is best not to rely on any one ingredient as a miracle supplement. However, the inclusion of these additives showcases the manufacturer's attention to detail and expertise, making the food worth the additional cost.
Check for additives such as spirulina, bio-red, beta carotene, canthaxanthin, marigold petals, xanthins, shrimp oil, synthetic and non-synthetic carotenoids, or color enhancers on the label to enhance the color of your koi. While shrimp oil is the most expensive, it is also highly effective compared to synthetic carotenoids. Keep in mind that only koi with the genetic potential for color can benefit from spirulina, and exposure to sunlight is crucial. These additives are not harmful to fish, but they can intensify existing colors, such as yellow and pink, in certain koi. However, it's important to remember that genetics and sunlight play a crucial role in the overall coloration of your koi.
Ash content (if stated) – Some fish food manufacturers will tell you the “crap” content of their food. Ash is what’s left behind when you incinerate (or the fish digests) the food. It’s almost all carbon and mineral. So, the higher the ash content, the less likely one is to appreciate it. Generally, when ash is high, a smart label guy would just leave it off, and they are allowed to skip this information because it’s not required on fish food bags.
As a product expert, you have a responsibility to provide proper nutrition and sustenance for your finned friends living in a man made water garden. Educate yourself on how to choose high-quality food, when to feed your koi, and the treats they prefer to maintain their health and increase your enjoyment of your backyard pond. With this knowledge, you can ensure your fish thrive for years to come.
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]]>Now that spring is almost here (thankfully!), you’re probably noticing some changes in your pond. Your fish are slowly coming back to life and you may even be able to see some plant growth. When you understand the transition that your pond makes from winter into spring, maintaining a healthy pond ecosystem will be so much easier!
Springtime Pond - changes you should know about
You might be planning your pond cleaning soon – or scheduling to have your pond contractor do it for you. Don’t be concerned if you experience new algae growth after your pond is cleaned. It’s normal this time of year as your pond is balancing itself.
You can, however, perform some simple, important steps that can make the difference between a balanced pond with minimal maintenance and a pond that requires unnecessary maintenance. Although bacteria and plants don’t start growing properly until water temperature reaches 50°F, there are still some simple steps you can take to maintain a trouble-free pond.
We recommend using EcoBlast™ Contact Granular Algaecide and Algaecide (US only) early in the season. EcoBlast removes algae from waterfalls, fountains, and rocks on contact. Algaecide controls both string algae and single-celled floating algae. Both of these products can be used in any water temperature and throughout the season, but they are especially effective helping maintain optimum water conditions until water is warmer and beneficial bacteria and aquatic plants have the opportunity to effectively absorb excess nutrients
Algae don’t mind cool water, but for the rest of your pond’s ecosystem, 50° F is kind of the magic number. The plants and bacteria don’t jump into action, in the battle of the green monster, until the water temperature reaches, and consistently stays, around 50° F. At this time they start growing and are then able to use up the excess nutrients that the algae would otherwise be feasting on. This is the reason for new spring algae blooms.
The Plants
While growing, aquatic plants absorb a lot of the nutrients in the water, and this helps combat algae growth. Until they are actively growing, they have no use for the natural fertilizer lurking in the pond. But as they begin growing, they will start to out-compete the algae for nutrients, the algae will be starved, and the pond water becomes clearer. Another benefit that plants provide, particularly water lilies, is that they shade the surface of the water helping to keep the water cool, all while cutting down on the growth of string algae as well as green water.
The Bacteria
Bacteria also need warmer water to begin growing and colonizing, helping to provide clear water quality as well as reducing maintenance. You can help jump-start the pond in the spring by adding supplemental bacteria such as Aquascape Cold Water Beneficial Bacteria, and providing it with a place to colonize. Since bacteria like lots of nooks and crannies, having rocks and gravel in the bottom of your pond helps provide surface area for bacteria to grow. A biological filter containing a filtration media with lots of surface area, provides optimum conditions for biological filtration in the smallest space possible. The more surface area available for bacteria to grow, the more efficient your biological filter.
Fish
Fish are also sensitive to water temperature, and as pond water warms up, you will see more activity, and be tempted to feed your fish. You’ve missed your fish all winter, but until the water temperature is consistently at 50° F, don’t feed them. Their metabolism is still in slow motion and they are unable to digest the food properly. If you do feed them and food cannot be digested, this can result in food starting to decay in the body of the fish, causing fish to become sick. When you do start feeding your fish, begin with small amounts of a quality fish food formulated for colder water temperature, such as Aquascape Premium Cold Water Fish Food Pellets for all pond fish. You can use this food when the water temperatures is between 50 and 60° F, after that, switch to your regular fish food.
Patience Please…
You gotta have patience. If you’ve stocked your pond with a sufficient number of plants, the temperature’s just right, and you’ve started supplementing with beneficial bacteria, your pond will quickly balance.
Successfully Clean Your Pond for Spring From AquascapeINC
March 14, 2019 Maintenance and Care, Spring Pond Care
Spring is simply the most exciting time of year. Birds return from their southern migration, furry critters waken from their winter slumber, trees are budding, and your pond fish are stretching and warming up their fins for summer swimming! The best thing you can do for the health of your pond this season is to clean your pond – whether it’s a deep cleaning or just a bit of sprucing up.
Take a good look at your pond and ask yourself, “Does my water feature need a full clean-out this season, or does it just need to be tidied up a little?” To help you decide, it’s worth knowing what to look for. First, if there is a layer of “crud” at the bottom of the pond and the water is dark in color, it would be a good idea to do a full clean-out.
How to Clean Your Pond
On the other hand, if there is just a small amount of debris that you can stir up and capture with a net and the water looks clear, a little tidying up is all that’s in order. If you’re going the full clean-out route, plan on spending a half to a full day to complete a pond clean-out. A Pondless® Waterfall will take considerably less time. You can, of course, hire a pond pro to clean your water feature for you.
The best time to perform a pond clean-out is the early spring, before your water garden completely awakens from its winter dormancy – ideally before the water temperature in the pond creeps above 55º F. If a clean-out is performed when the water is warmer, after bacteria colonies form, the balance of the ecosystem will be thrown off and your pond will go through another period of algae blooms before the bacteria colonies become re-established. Be patient, your pond will naturally balance itself provided you don’t have a fish overload.
Here’s what you need to clean your pond:
A clean-out pump with approximately 25 ft. of discharge hose
A high-pressure nozzle for your garden hose, or a power washer
Garden shears for trimming plants
A child’s swimming pool or a similar sized container to hold fish and any other critters you find during the clean-out
A net or something similar to place over the fish container to keep them from jumping out
Two five-gallon buckets to collect leaves and debris
A fish net
Aquascape Pond Detoxifier to remove chorine and chloramines from tap water prior to putting fish back in the pond
Aquascape Cold Water Beneficial Bacteria
Drain the Pond Water
Place the clean-out pump in the deepest point of the pond in order to remove the water.
Drain the water into the surrounding landscape. Be sure to relocate the pipe two or three times to allow the water to seep into the ground and not flood the yard.
If you have fish, use some of this pond water to fill up the holding pool. The fish can be removed from the pond using a net once the water is low enough so you can easily catch them.
Don’t keep the fish in the holding pool for more than several hours. Keep them in a shady spot with a net over the top of the pool to prevent them from jumping out.
A Gentle Cleaning
Rinse the inside of the pond. You can also use a pressure washer to help remove debris from the rocks and gravel.
Don’t try to scrub all of the algae away. Some algae on the rocks will prove beneficial in developing your ecosystem. For an average size pond (11′ x 16′) this should take around 15 minutes.
Use the gentle stream from a garden hose to rinse the rocks and gravel. Start at the top and work your way down to the bottom. Periodically turn the clean-out pump on to remove the dirty water. You can discontinue the periodic pumping once the water rinsing down to the bottom begins to look clear. Remove the pump and begin filling the pond.
Cleaning the Filters
Remove any debris from the bottom of the skimmer. This can be done by hand or by using the cleanout pump.
Remove the media nets and filter pads from the BioFalls® Filter. If you have the optional drain kit attached to your Signature Series™ BioFalls® Filter, you can open up the valve and rinse the media and filters. Once the filters have been removed rinse them free of accumulated debris.
The filter media and mats can be put back into place and the waterfalls pump can be reattached in the skimmer.
Acclimating Pond Fish
After filling the pond with your garden hose, add Aquascape Pond Detoxifier to the water so it is safe for your fish.
Dip a five-gallon bucket, or similar sized container, in the fish holding tank and fill it with water.
After you’ve caught a fish, place it in the bucket and set the buckets in the clean pond water (this prepares the fish for the temperature of the pond water).
After about 15 minutes, periodically begin splashing some pond water into the bucket.
By now, the temperature of the pond and the bucket water should be close to the same. You are ready to gently release the fish into their spring-cleaned home.
For additional spring maintenance tips, watch our video with helpful tips to get your pond off to a good start:
There are so many different pumps for different pond and fountain applications. Click here to choose the right pond or fountain pump for your project.
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The Aquascape Fire Fountain adds the beauty and elegance of fire to one of our GFRC or glass fiber reinforced concrete water features. The self-contained feature is a simple plug-and-play water feature with a fire feature in the center making it an ideal focal point or centerpiece to any outdoor setting.
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