Pond Maintenance - Enjoy a Clean and Healthy Pond!
Your water feature deserves the best maintenance and care, so why not hire the best in the industry? Sign up to schedule a pond maintenance, cleaning, or repair consultation with a trained and knowledgeable Certified Aquascape Contractor.
Waterfall and Pond Maintenance
A knowledgeable pond contractor can create the proper maintenance schedule for your pond, waterfall, or fountain. Most Certified Aquascape Contractors offer convenient maintenance packages so that you can keep your water feature looking its best all year round!
Waterfall and Pond Cleaning
On occasion, your waterfall or pond might need a deep clean that goes beyond general maintenance. A Certified Aquascape Contractor can assess the status of your water feature and let you know if a full clean is in order.
Waterfall and Pond Repair
If a pond or waterfall is poorly installed, you might experience a host of problems that keep you from truly enjoying your water feature. Our services range from finding and fixing a leak, to rebuilding a problematic water feature. Connect with a Certified Aquascape Contractor today to schedule an appointment to repair your pond or waterfall so it functions the way Mother Nature intended!
Maintenance Tips
Starting up your pond
An important step once the pond is built is to ensure you thoroughly clean the dirt and sediment from the rocks and pebbles and remove all dirty water before filling. This may take several rinses to complete. Rapid Clear Flocculant is recommended once cleaned and the system is turned on to help clear any finer dirt particles, and using the Rapid Clear Fine Filter Pads in your Skimmer will greatly assist in the first few weeks.
When starting up an ecosystem pond we recommend adding a full dose of bacteria to seed the filter system with either Clean for Ponds or Maintain for Ponds. After this, continue with regular doses of Maintain for Ponds using either the Automatic Dosing System for ponds up to 12,000 litres or for larger ponds, by adding small amounts from the pump bottles every few days
For Pondless systems, use regular doses of Prevent for Fountains either through the Automatic Dosing System or the pump bottles.
Don’t forget to add plants to your pond or Pondless system. Plants play a vital role in your pond’s ecosystem. As the aquatic plants start to grow, they will absorb the nutrients in the water. This means they will naturally start to out-compete the algae for the nutrients, reducing algal blooms. You will notice the water becoming clearer as your plants grow and algae is reduced. Another benefit that plants provide, particularly water lilies, is that they shade the surface of the water, keeping it cool while cutting down on the growth of string algae and green water.
An ecosystem pond can take up to 12 months to balance itself, so you can expect to see algae issues in those first 12 months, with string algae being the main challenge for new pond owners. Depending on the severity of the algae, you can either let it go through its cycle and manually remove as much as possible, or treat the pond with Clear for Ponds or SAB Stream & Pond Cleaner to eliminate the algae from the system.
Benefits of Adding Bacteria
Beneficial bacteria support your pond’s nitrogen cycle by effectively reducing fish waste, organic plant material, sludge, and excess nutrients, while promoting a balanced ecosystem.
These microorganisms naturally occur in rivers, lakes, and other bodies of water. While they may also be present in your pond, there might not be enough to sustain a healthy water environment. A healthy balance of good bacteria in your pond helps keep it clean and healthy for the benefit of your fish as well.
Filter Cleaning
It is recommended to rinse and clean your Biofalls or Wetland Filter once to twice a year in order to remove the sludge and excess silt that can build up. The key to a good filter is to have well-established populations of beneficial bacteria, so you don’t want to be rinsing and cleaning too often as you will continually destroy the established bacteria colonies. You don’t want the filter sponges to be clean like new.
Biofalls cleaning is performed by first turning off the pump, then rinsing the filter media with water from your pond or a water tank. Never use chlorinated mains tap water as this will kill all living beneficial bacteria colonies that have taken time to establish. Once cleaned, ensure you add your next dose of bacteria directly to the filter or via the Skimmer.
Wetland Filters will require an annual cleaning to remove sediment build up from the Snorkel. This can be done using a sump pump. Once the wetland is empty, you will then need to use another pump situated in the pond to begin hosing large volumes of water over the wetland area. This flushes any sediment build up into the Centipede and Snorkel while the pump in the Snorkel continually removes the dirty water. Once cleaned,ensure you add your next dose of bacteria directly to the filter or via the Skimmer. Refer to our blog Why Choose a Wetland Filter?
UltraKlean Pressure Filters will require more regular maintenance, with a backwash to be performed as required depending on the pond conditions. As a general rule, this should be done every 2-4 months. We also recommend opening the canister annually, to inspect and clean the Bioballs and replace the UV globe if it has been running 24/7. A reminder to never use tap water as the chlorine will kill off all the beneficial bacteria that have developed in the Bioballs.
Skimmer Cleaning
The cleaning of your mechanical Skimmer or intake bay should be performed as often as required, based on the conditions and surrounds of your pond. You will need to inspect the Skimmer basket regularly to begin with, until you understand the cleaning requirements. You will also need to regularly check the Filter Media Mat in the Skimmer - which is designed to prevent any larger debris from passing to the pumps and filters - ensuring this is cleaned when required. Your pumps should also be removed, inspected, cleaned and rinsed annually.
Pondless Waterfalls / Stream Maintenance
Pondless Waterfalls require very little maintenance, with the main task being to ensure any fallen leaves and debris are removed from the stream or reservoir area.
If string algae appears in the stream, it can be treated with Prevent for Fountains or SAB Stream & Pond Cleaner to eliminate it from the system. In severe ongoing cases, we recommend adding an IonGen System to control and maintain the algae.
Why Water Treatments? – Common treatments, benefits and when to use them
We stock a range of pond treatment products to help you get your pond started. Adding water treatments on a regular basis keeps your pond clean and healthy, and Aquascape Australia’s line of pond treatment products makes the task easy and manageable. While many water treatments are only used as needed, we recommend a few products that should be used regularly throughout the season. These include the following:
The Aquascape Automatic Dosing System for ponds or fountains automatically adds water treatments to your water feature, eliminating the guesswork and routine of having to add them manually. In order to maintain optimum water quality, water treatments should be added consistently on a regular basis. The Aquascape Automatic Dosing System accurately and consistently applies your choice of specially-formulated Aquascape water treatments, providing ideal water conditions. A choice of treatments provides pond owners with options for a wide variety of pond issues. The fully-programmable control panel is easy to use and allows the system to be adjusted to precisely suit the size of your pond, automatically adding the correct amount of treatment to your feature.
The Maintain for Ponds treatment can significantly reduce maintenance and fish loss, using a combination of beneficial bacteria, and enzymes. This powerful combination maintains optimum water quality, resulting in a crystal-clear, low-maintenance pond.
The Clean for Ponds treatment contains a powerful combination of sludge-eating bacteria and enzymes that help to optimize water quality by significantly reducing sludge caused by fish waste, uneaten fish food, and leaves and debris.
The Clear for Ponds treatment helps clear discoloured water and maintain crystal-clear water in your pond. Clear for Ponds makes controlling build-up of debris and unsightly water conditions simple and easy. Used for controlling string algae.
Make your pond safer for fish and plants by using our Pond Detoxifier any time you add new water to your pond. The Pond Detoxifier removes and detoxifies chlorine, neutralises ammonia and detoxifies and chelates copper and heavy metals that can harm your pond fish and aquatic plants. Tap water, including well water, often contains chlorine, chloramines and heavy metals. Eliminating toxins in your pond water is critical to ensure the health of your ecosystem.
Use SAB Stream & Pond Clean to help provide clean and clear water conditions with a combination of concentrated beneficial bacteria and enzymes. The powerful combination of strong natural cleaners helps to break down organic debris and maintain a biological balance in your feature, while the phosphate binder minimizes algae growth. SAB also helps reduce ammonia and nitrite in the feature. Used for controlling string algae.
The Prevent for Fountains treatment helps prevent stains, scale and unsightly water conditions in your waterfall. This treatment option keeps your new waterfall looking as beautiful as the day it was installed. Please note, this treatment is not safe for fish and plants.
The Clean for Fountains treatment removes existing surface debris from your water feature. This treatment option makes cleaning your waterfall quick and easy, allowing you to spend more time enjoying your stunning feature.
The IonGen System elps control unsightly water conditions and string algae without the use of liquid water treatments. This system is easy to install and designed with a microprocessor that sends a signal to the probe, helping you to reduce water feature maintenance. Using such a system helps decrease time spent maintaining the pond.
Seasonal Tips
Even though ecosystem ponds are extremely low maintenance, there are certain steps you can take throughout the year to ensure a healthy pond. With each season comes environmental changes such as debris load, temperature and precipitation. Follow these steps to optimise your pond for each season and provide ideal water conditions in the spring, summer, autumn and winter.
Spring
Spring is an important time to get your pond ready for the entire year. Aside from emptying the debris from your Skimmer regularly, you should take proper steps to establish the biological process in your pond. As water temperatures become warmer, you can start increasing the treatment of Maintain for Ponds or Clean for Ponds to your water feature. This helps ease your system into the season, promoting optimal water quality.
Pond clean-outs are optional for pond owners, and will depend on many factors. Some pond owners choose to perform a pond clean-out at the beginning of the spring season by draining the feature, power washing, removing debris, cleaning filters and re-filling. When doing this, you will want to detoxify the new water as mentioned in the water treatment section of the Pond Owner’s Manual. If you decide to go ahead with a spring clean-out, you can either hire a professional or do it yourself. Performing these steps helps maximise water conditions throughout the remaining seasons. Spring is also the time to repot your aquatic and new plants.
Summer
Summer is likely the season when you will spend the majority of time with your pond; fortunately, summer maintenance is minimal. We recommend emptying your Skimmer net or basket as necessary. Pulling excess organic debris from the pond will also help to keep your pond clean throughout the summer. Supplement your pond with water treatments to support the biological balance of your pond. Depending on your location, hot summer days can increase the rate of evaporation of pond water. Eventually, you may need to top off the pond with fresh water. Again, make sure you detoxify the new water as mentioned in the water treatment section of the Pond Owner’s Manual. This makes the new water safe for your fish and plants. If you do not have an automatic top up valve, then we recommend adding a Compact Fill Valve, installed into the Skimmer or Waterfall Pump Vault, then connected to a water supply, for automatic water top ups.
Autumn
Autumn brings the changing of leaves, and eventually the falling of leaves. Excess debris like fallen leaves and sticks can lead to issues with water clarity and quality. In areas where high levels of debris are common, we recommend temporarily covering the surface of your pond with Aquascape Protective Pond Netting. This prevents large amounts of debris from ever reaching the pond. As the temperature drops, you should reduce the amount of food and how often you feed your fish and start helping to ease your fish into the cooler weather ahead. To prepare for winter, consider trimming back any water lilies in your pond. Eliminating this growth before it dies off will decrease the amount of debris you will need to clean in winter or spring. Completing these autumn maintenance steps will keep your pond looking beautiful!
Winter
Winter brings very little maintenance. Ensure that you reduce feeding your fish in the cooler climates, continue to check your Skimmer, and maintain regular treatment of Maintain for Ponds.
