Thursday, December 20, 2007

Important Pond Winterizing Tip

When you turn off the pump in your skimmer, you have to release the check valve (if there is one). Look inside the skimmer to see if there is either a rubber elbow with clamps or a curved PVC piece with a union fitting attached to the return line. In either case, they must be loosened so the water remaining in the line from the waterfall box will drain out. The line must be open and free of water. The pump can remain in the skimmer for the winter. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT. Please make sure you complete this step, so your tubing/fittings don't crack. Click here for more advice on winterizing your pond from Aquatic Connections.

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Aquatic Connections New Children's Mascot


Freddie the Frog has joined the Aquatic Connections Team. Freddie will be helping out with children's seminars and classes. He will be introduced to school children in January 2008, when two Ponds For Kids classes begin at a local elementary school. Freddie will be going on many adventures and will make appearances at Aquatic Connections Retail Water Garden Center. Keep you eye out for Freddie the Frog. You never know where he's going to show up. You can see more of Freddie's photos and adventures on his photo page at aquaticconnections.com.

P. Allen Smith's Advice on Poinsettia Care


Temperature plays a very important part in the care of poinsettias. According to Smith, you should protect the poisettia plants from temperatures below 50 degrees when you are transporting them from the store to your home. To prolong their color, keep your plants in rooms where the nighttime temperature is around 60 degrees and the daytime temperature is around 72 degrees. Smith goes on to say that poinsettias prefer high humidity. For more information on P. Allen Smith's tips on how to increase the humidity around the plant and whether you should fertilize poinsettias, click here to go to his full article. At Aquatic Connections, we try to pass along helpful tips about plants, gardening, and of course, ponds. Poinsettias can be arranged in beautiful urns, like the one in the picture, featuring Proven Winners Diamond Frost. If you have any of your own poisettia care tips, feel free to share them.

Tuesday, December 4, 2007

My Koi Died Because There Were Too Many Leaves


I put my pond heater in yesterday since it seems like temperatures are going to be staying down near the freezing mark. My net is still on the pond because the leaves on the tree directly above it haven't all fallen yet. (We built our two-tier pond around an existing tree because I thought it would look really cool-this time of year my husband wishes I never came up with the idea!) Anyway, right now there are tons of leaves on the lower pond and the net is no longer stretched tightly above the water. This is exactly what happened two years ago when all of our koi died. The surface water of the pond was frozen and we never cleared away all the leaves on top of the pond. Leaves were packed around the edges of the pond and prevented the exchange of oxygen and the toxins in the water. The ice on the pond will freeze and thaw slightly providing a small opening around the edge of the pond for this exchange. We lost ever koi we had. We always tell our customers at Aquatic Connections to put a pond heater in the pond, just to keep an opening in the ice. That year, not only did we not follow our own advise; we didn't remove the leaves and it caused a very lethal problem. So my advice is to blow the leaves off the pond net or scoop them out of the water now before they get stuck in the ice.

Sunday, December 2, 2007

I Forgot To Put My Pond Heater In

I just realized that I haven't put my pond heater in the pond yet and there is already a thin layer of ice forming on top. We had our first minor snowfall early this morning; luckily it didn't amount to much. The net is still on the pond, so tomorrow morning when the temperatures are supposed to be in the forties I will have to remove part of it to install my pond heater. I'm going to leave the net on a while longer because the leaves haven't all fallen from the trees yet. The pond heater will turn on when the water is cold enough because it has an internal thermostat.

My suggestion is get your pond heater or de-icer in now as well as you aerator or bubbler, if you are going to use one. It's not a good idea to smash through the ice once it forms on top of the pond. You can order a pond heater online at www.aquaticconnections.com. Aquatic Connections has several varieties of pond de-icers in stock. I personally use the "rock" heater from Tetra. For more pond winterizing tips you can read the full article in the FAQ & Tips section of our website.

Saturday, December 1, 2007

A Bird Was Stuck Under My Pond Net


I went outside this afternoon to fill my bird feeders up with seed, so the birds would have something to eat during tomorrow's snow/ice/rain storm. As I walked by my pond, which is covered to keep out the leaves, I was startled by a flapping noise and frantic motion under the net. It scared the daylights out of me and I actually jumped! Here, a mourning dove had found his way under the net but couldn't seem to find his way out. I don't know if he was actually ready to get out, but I'm sure I scared him as much as he scared me and he wanted to make a quick get away. Problem was he couldn't figure out where the exit was. So I carefully started to pull back some of the pond netting to make an escape route for him. I had to untie several of those fuzzy pipe cleaners that were holding two pieces of netting together(they work great, by the way, if you have to attach several nets together) I was on my fourth one, and he decided he couldn't wait any longer. He just burst through a small opening of net which was attached to a brick wall and flew away.

The lesson here: Keep an eye on your pond every so often to make sure there aren't any stranded creatures underneath. You may need to rescue them.

What was he doing under there, you ask? He needed a drink, of course! Water is very important to birds, squirrels and other wildlife, and it is sometimes difficult to find in the winter. I have seen many varieties of birds under my pond net, including morning doves, wrens and the dark-eyed junco. This was not the first time that I have had to rescue a bird from under my pond net. I wish they would use my heated birdbath instead!

Aquatic Connections is certified as a Backyard Habitat by the National Wildlife Federation. At Aquatic Connections we recommend using birdbath heaters, which will help provide a source of water for birds (and squirrels) all winter long. They are available on our website www.aquaticconnections.com.