Do you have a question
that's not answered here?
send us an email at info@coolponds.net,
Call us at 317-786-3670
or visit our store at 901 E Hanna Ave, Indianapolis, IN 46227
MAP AND DIRECTIONS

Find some helpful brochures here

Articles

Green Water

Evaporation or Leak?

Mallard Ducks in Your Pond

Pond Filtration

Finding Value

Take into account everything you're getting.

Layaway Program

Winter in the Water Garden

In Season Hours:
Tuesday - Friday 10 to 6
Saturday 10 to 5
closed Sunday and Monday

This page contains answers to common questions handled by our support staff, along with some tips and tricks that we have found useful and presented here as questions.

How do I calculate the amount of water in my pond?
How do I determine what size liner I need?
How many fish can I have in my pond?
How do I get rid of green water?
What does a healthy pond look like?
How do I prevent and get rid of string algae?
What should I do for spring cleaning of my pond?

How do I calculate the amount of water in my pond?
To determine the volume of water in your pond:
(measurements are in feet, and totals are approximate)
Cubic Feet of Water = Length of Pond X Width of Pond X Average Depth of Pond
Cubic Feet of Water X 7.5 = Total volume of water in gallons

For example: A pond 10 X 5 X 2 = 100 cubic feet of water
100 cubic feet X 7.5 = 750 gallons

To determine what size liner you need:
(measurements are in feet)
Max width of pond + (2 X Max depth of pond) + 2 = liner width
Max length of pond + (2 X Max depth of pond) + 2 = liner length

Depending on how often you feed them, you can estimate 1" of fish per 1 square foot of pond.

How many fish you can have in your pond is mostly determined by how you feed your fish. The more often you feed your fish and the lower the quality of food you use, the fewer fish you can safely have in your pond. More fish equals more fish waste, which leads to water quality problems and possibly poor health for your fish.

A good rule of thumb is 1" of fish per 1 square foot of surface area of your pond. So a pond 10' X 5' could have 50" of fish. If the fish are not fed often, the pond could easily support more.

Pond water turns green due to suspended algae. Suspended algae is a product of excess nutrients and sunlight. There is no magic formula for any pond to remove green water — it is a matter of finding the cause and removing it. Ask yourself, "where are the nutrients coming from?" The most common answer is too frequent fish feedings. If you have green water, we recommend not feeding your fish at all until the water is clear.

Sometimes determining the cause of the nutrients is not possible. In that case you need to get rid of or use up the nutrients. The answer — plants! The best plants — floating or submerged; they will use nutrients much faster than water lilies and marginal plants. For suspended algae also make sure you are using a beneficial bacteria product such as AquaClearer.T Beneficial bacteria helps break down fish waste into plant fertilizer quickly.

A healthy pond is clear all the way to the bottom with a thin layer of algae on the bottom surface of the pond.

A healthy pond should be clear all the way to the bottom. A thin layer of algae will most likely cover all the surfaces in the pond. There should be no odor from the pond. Fish will most likely school together and if there are several koi they may nibble (or devour) newly established plants.

At some point or another we all have to contend with it — the dreaded string algae. If you have not had a problem with it, consider yourself very lucky.

String algae or filamentous algae is a long, green, stringy, moss-looking plant material that grows on all the surfaces in your pond. Algae loves well-oxygenated water, so string algae is usually plentiful in creeks and waterfalls.

We have found that the best medicine is a dose of prevention. Once you have an outbreak of string algae it can be difficult to get rid of, and if you kill it, it can lead to an outbreak of suspended algae or "pea soup" water.

So, what to do for prevention:

• Avoid limestone in your pond. Algae loves limestone.
• Have the necessary minimum plant requirements for your size pond. The plants will eat nutrients from the pond giving the algae no food to grow.
• Treat your pond monthly with S.A.B. S.A.B. is string algae prevention. S.A.B. must be mixed in warm water and poured around the edges of your pond. It will temporarily turn your pond milky white.
• Keep your pond clean. Remove leaves and other organic matter before it has time to decompose and put "nutrients" in your water.

What to do if you already have a string algae problem:

• Remove as much as you can by hand. A child's plastic rake works well.
• Treat your waterfall and creek with EcoBlast. Simply sprinkle it on and let it go to work.
• Treat your pond with S.A.B. every 10 days for one month and then once monthly. Remove by hand as much string algae from your pond as possible. Any string algae left in your pond will begin to die and break apart. Be prepared to clean your filter.

We could not believe the amount of pond cleanings that were requested of us this year. They keep coming in. They keep calling. Obviously we have found an incredible need out there — pond cleaning! I am glad that we are capable of servicing so many ponds for so many people. Our focus is to help as many people as we can with all of their pond needs.

I wanted to take a moment and inform you of the results from the first of these pond cleanings. After all, our main focus is educating people about ponds. What we have found are a couple of things so far.

• The first item is that the plants that remained in the pond or at the edges over the winter really should have been cut back in the fall. This would keep a great deal of debris out of the water first thing in the spring.
• The next thing that we have found is that the ponds that had a leaf net on them in the fall had virtually no debris in the bottom of the water. This greatly reduces the amount of nutrients in the water. The less nutrients you have, the less algae you will deal with.
• The last item on my informational list is very interesting. Our crew does not know the buying habits of the customers in the retail store. For many of you they only know you by your pond. They only tell us what they experience at your little piece of nature, nothing more, and nothing personal. "This pond was nasty", "This pond wasn't bad at all" are the comments that we hear. We like to hear what the crew has to say about your ponds and put the store sales together with that information so that we can educate everyone on how to keep their ponds looking good all year long. Here is what we have found. These results are universal from pond to pond, no matter what the conditions of the site. Those of you who are buying Aquaclear Bacteria, S.A.B., and our Cool Ponds Koi Food have so far had a very easy clean out.

Customers like John and Doris Molt did not have the algae and sludge issues that other water gardeners have had. They use AquaClear, S.A.B., and our Cool Ponds fish food. It's good to know that the products that we recommended for you to use are definitely making your ponds look better and become more naturally balanced. I am a firm believer in telling people the truth and that the truth is only something that I have experienced myself, not something I read in a book or on a product label. So keep up the good work. Some of you may even consider skipping the pond cleaning next year. You might be surprised that the naturally balanced pond won't need all the effort to keep it clean and looking good year 'round. I go back to my "If it ain't broke, don't fix it". These products have been good for all of our ponds and many of yours. Again, I am glad we can help, keep up the good work, and enjoy your ponds.

317-786-3670
901 E Hanna Ave, Indianapolis, IN 46227
MAP AND DIRECTIONS
info@coolponds.net