Air Stone Maintenance

Air Stone Maintenance

by | Apr 3, 2025 | Blog

Reminder: be sure to check and change their air stones and diffusers if needed. Air stones tend to lose their effectiveness over time due to debris build-up and wear and tear. Pro-Tip: If you suspect build-up, remove the air stone and soak in distilled white vinegar and baking soda for a couple of hours. Scrub clean, and reinstall in pond. CALL/TEXT US TODAY FOR MORE INFORMATION 585-337-2468
8 Healthy Koi Snacks for the Summer

8 Healthy Koi Snacks for the Summer

by | Apr 3, 2025 | Blog

Veterinarians warn you not to feed table scraps to your pets. But did you know that koi are the exception to this rule? Sure, you can spend money on fancy fish treats at the store, but in reality those treats are typically basic fish food packaged in a different shape. Why not share your table spread with your finned friends instead? Just make sure you choose these 8 healthy koi snack options! 1. Grapefruit – Cut the grapefruit into quarters before feeding to your koi. The sections float and your fish will be attracted at once. Make sure the skins don’t jam up your pump or skimmer. Also, don’t feed grapefruit to your koi too frequently as the vitamin C acid can scorch their lips and turn them to a pale pink. No harm done, just reduce the amount of grapefruit you feed them. Once per week is plenty. 2. Peas – Make sure the fish know you’re ready to feed them before you toss the peas into the pond. Peas sink fast and you don’t want uneaten peas polluting your pond. Some experts say the skins are hard to digest but peeling peas can be a tedious task. To make it easy, peel partially frozen peas. Give them a little squeeze and the pea pops right out of the skin and into the pond! Koi seem to really love them – as long as they know they’re there. 3. Sardines – You might be thinking it’s cannibalistic for koi to eat sardines. Regardless, they’re a healthy koi snack to serve in the summer. Thawed, chopped, frozen sardines are from salt water which means they’re less likely to carry parasites applicable to koi. Feed sardines to your koi in moderation. 4. Orange segments – Big fish will take mandarin orange segments right out of your hand! It’s a great party trick to impress your friends and family. Larger seedless oranges can be cut into quarters and fed to the fish, as well. 5. Cheerios – What child wouldn’t love to share some of their cereal with pond fish? Cheerios are low residue and low nitrogen. We’ve found that koi tend to prefer Honey Nut Cheerios. 6. Worms – okay, so you probably don’t serve worms at your dinner table, but nevertheless your koi will enjoy earthworms, Georgia reds, night crawlers, pinks, and others. Fresh, active earthworms are well accepted and safe, and when the first koi takes a bite, the rest will quickly catch on. 7. Romaine lettuce – Nutritionally invisible, but perhaps the least messy of greens for the fish to munch on. Don’t bother with iceberg lettuce. Get the darkest romaine you can find and cut it into six-inch long thin strips. 8. Watermelon – Koi like watermelon, but not as much as grapefruit. It doesn’t supply a lot of nutrition so keep this snack to a minimum.
What Makes an Ecosystem Pond?

What Makes an Ecosystem Pond?

by | Apr 3, 2025 | Blog

Ponds can be made various ways. Some are created with concrete, others with a simple pond liner.

We believe in an ecosystem approach to the pondering lifestyle and use rocks and gravels in our ponds, after installing underlayment and liner.

Gravel provides much-needed surface area for beneficial bacteria to grow. The fish will graze on these bacteria, as well. The gravel won’t be a breeding ground for muck and debris if you ensure that your low maintenance pond has the proper pump and filtration. The ecosystem works together so it’s important not to eliminate any of the elements.

We offer and provide everything you need to build a full ecosystem pond for your customers.

CALL/TEXT US TODAY FOR MORE INFORMATION 585-337-2468

Creative Pond Edging Ideas

Creative Pond Edging Ideas

by | Mar 30, 2025 | Blog

When designing and installing a pond of any size, it’s important to consider how you’ll tie the water feature into the surrounding landscape.When you see a pond sitting in the middle of a grassy expanse, it just doesn’t look quite right without creating some type of transition between the water and the landscape. It’s important to incorporate creative pond edging treatments.

December 20, 2021 from Aquascape Inc.
When designing and installing a pond of any size, it’s important to consider how you’ll tie the water feature into the surrounding landscape. When you see a pond sitting in the middle of a grassy expanse, it just doesn’t look quite right without creating some type of transition between the water and the landscape. It’s important to incorporate creative pond edging treatments.

A variety of options exist for making the edges of a pond look as pleasing as possible. Here are just a few to get you started toward installing an ecosystem pond with creative edge treatments.

The Back End

On the back edge of the pond, you can keep the shelf shallow for marginal plants, allowing more stone to show above the waterline. For aesthetic purposes and for construction efficiency, one huge boulder is most desirable. It’s not only faster, but smart stone utilization.

The Gravel Edge

Probably the most basic type of edge is the gravel edge. Simply excavate the pond as usual, and then cut an angle into the top 3 inches of the perimeter. Place the boulders several inches higher than the bottom of the cut angle, and fill the void with gravel. You’ll want to fold several inches of extra liner into the angle just in case you need to make an adjustment. Complete the edge by bringing mulch up to the gravel.

Granite Block Edgings

If you’re looking to break from the monotony of boulder edging that is typically seen in most pond designs, creative pond edging treatments using granite can provide a nice crisp look that is both interactive and easy on the eyes. Granite edgings are quick and easy to build, acting as a continuous medium that can bring someone right up to the water’s edge.

To install the granite edgings you first need to excavate a shelf for the blocks to sit on. Ideally you want the water level to rest about 1-2 inches or so below the top of the block. Next, make sure that you run enough liner along the top shelf so that you can fold the liner around the back and to the top of the block; tucking it just beneath ground level. The notch in the granite is meant for any piping or as a conduit to run electrical lines that may need to run alongside the pond. Then, you just need to backfill behind the edging with some well-compacted soil or gravel as an appropriate base for the finishing touches.

Outcroppings

When a builder incorporates an outcropping into their design, they truly are providing maximum interaction between the customer and their pond, all with a natural-looking appeal. So, how do you incorporate an outcropping into your design? First, we’ll assume that your stone is 6 inches thick.

In this instance, we’ll say that we want the water level 2 inches below the top of the stone. Using your site level, dig the top shelf to 4 inches below the water level. After that, you can place the liner down and tuck it up and behind the back edge, and then place your support boulders. For added protection to the liner, place a rock pad or two on top of the liner.

Keep in mind that it’s important to use appropriately sized boulders as support to maintain a level surface for the outcropping placement. Once you’ve checked all your levels you can place your outcropping and support its sides with some gravel or soil if you want to allow planting at the outcropping’s back edge.

Exploring Your Edging Options

The above are just a few ideas for adding creative pond edging treatments to your pond installations. Pick up a copy of the Pond Builder’s Bible to learn even more ways to tie water features into the landscape. Be sure to consult with your customer on how they’ll enjoy their pond so you can design unique and creative edges just for them.