article: Problems in New Water Gardens

Problems in New Water Gardens

If you are just starting out in water gardening, the very best time to build or create a water garden is in the spring months just because you have additional ‘time’ to create the balanced water environment for a thriving plant or fish environment. First you need to take the time to actually build the water garden, this can take a week or two in itself depending on the size of your water garden and the types of materials that you are using. Small, shallow, pre-made water gardens can be built in just a day or two so don’t get discouraged.

After you have completed the construction portion of your water garden, fill the area with water and let this sit for about two days. This lets everything in the water settle a bit and become a stable environment and you can fix anything with the pond liner, or surrounding pieces before adding all of your plants or fish.

After at least two days have passed, you can add your plants. The submerged plants will start to add oxygen to the water and take hold in their respective setting. Let this sit four or five days and then you can start to add your fish. After a few more days you will find that your water is going to turn green with algae. Don’t be alarmed, this is a natural reaction in the water. One of the worst things that you can do is change the water at this point. It can take anywhere from a week to six weeks for the water to turn clear again, for the environment to balance out and the algae to quit growing. If you live in a very warm spring time area it can take a few weeks longer for the water environment to balance out and the algae to stop.

If you find that the water in your pond continues to be murky looking and green looking over ten weeks, there are a few things that you should take a look at. If you have fish in the water, you could be over feeding your fish and the water can’t absorb all of the feed, leaving the water with a more yucky look. If you really think you have been over feeding your fish, don’t feed the fish for about two weeks and you will find that they will eat everything in the water and the water will become clearer.

If you really don’t feel that you have been over feeding your fish, maybe you have too many fish. You need to go back and look at the type of fish that you have, and how much water they are supposed to have and live in to thrive without overcrowding. Most all fish suppliers or supplies stores will have a book or a listing of fish and how many can live in a certain amount of water. You will need to figure how much water your pond holds, which you can find out easily by checking the instructions that came with your pond liner.

One last thing that you might want to double check is your submerged plants. The closer that submerged plants are to the top of the water surface, the more oxygen that they are going to produce. If you find that your water is still not clearing up, you might also need to add more plants to your water garden. If the fish to plant ratio is too small you may need more oxygen in the water to produce the balanced environment.