The IonGen Mid-Term First Anniversary Report - A Resounding Success!

August 22nd, 2010 PondMeister

Aquascape has just released a new IonGen Video that gives a great Overview showing how it works and how to use it.

We are approaching the One Year anniversary of the introduction of the IonGen and I think we would all agree it is probably the most significant technological advancement to pond maintenance in the last 20 years.

Personally I have gone from a String Algae “Harvest” every two weeks in my 6,000 gallon pond here in sunny Southern California to not using a drop of AlgaeFix or a grain of EcoBlast or Gerreen Clean since September 6th of last year when I installed it…and ZERO String Algae and my pond is crystal-clear. I still have an unused 2.5 gallon AlgaeFix and a 7 lb Bucket of EcoBlast at the ready have never needed it. The use of Beneficial Bacteria is still required

We have had about 13 ponds out of the 324 units that we have sold here at ThePondOutlet.com where we still have had some Green Water issues. The Aquascape Tech guys used various techniques that they have worked with the Homeowner on and have been able to correct a majority of those ponds. We have refunded 5 customers so far which were ponds that had unique issues – Concrete, well water, under-pumped, etc. I would say that the IonGen has been successful in at least 95% of the ponds which, when you consider all of the variables causing green water and string algae, is pretty incredible.

My only complaint with Aquascape relative to the IonGen is that my Sales of EcoBlast, GreenClean, AlgaeFix and other algae products are way down this year. Wonder why…..

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Filtration Systems 101 - A Basic Overview of Filtration Systems from Aquascape

August 19th, 2010 PondMeister

Aquascape has just provided this basic overview of pond filtration systems. It defines the different types of filtration systems available and discusses the theory and science behind each type. It has been written for contractors to get a better understanding of pond filtration but also is a good refresher course for us pond enthusiasts.

Filtering Through Pond FIltration

No homeowner wants to look out their window and see green or tea-colored water in their backyard pond, which is why creating a healthy low-maintenance ecosystem, is so important to any contractor who installs water features.  The last thing you need during your busy season is a barrage of phone calls complaining about dirty pond water.  You promised your customer a low-maintenance water feature so make sure you’re incorporating adequate filtration to keep the water clear and customers happy.

In addition to plants, fish, aeration, rocks and gravel, a low-maintenance ecosystem pond requires adequate filtration to help keep the water crystal clear.  Three types of pond filters are available on the market and include biological, mechanical, and sterilizers.  Biological filters use bacteria to break down pond wastes, converting them into less harmful compounds that can be used as aquatic plant fertilizers.  Mechanical filters trap and remove debris and sediment.  Water sterilizers pass water through a tube that houses an ultraviolet bulb, killing living microscopic particles in the water. 

A good biological filtration system, teamed with a proper mechanical filter to remove solids before the water enters the biological filtration unit, is the most effective way to filter water.  With adequate biological and mechanical filtration, the need for sterilizers is eliminated altogether, thereby ensuring a natural ecosystem pond.

The Job of a Skimmer
The main function of mechanical filtration, or skimmer, is to remove debris before it sinks to the bottom of the pond and decays. The skimmer also houses and hides the pump and plumbing from view, as opposed to being placed directly in the pond where they become an eyesore.  The skimmer won’t drain the pond if a possible leak occurs in either the plumbing or waterfalls.

There are two main types of skimmers: box skimmers and floating skimmers.  Both types filter the water by removing floating debris and waste before it’s had a chance to fall to the bottom of the pond.  The box skimmer is the predominant type of skimmer on the market today because it’s easy to maintain. 

Box-style skimmers come with either vertical or horizontal filter mats.  Horizontal mats prove to be the most effective, while providing the least amount of maintenance. In addition to frequent cleaning, vertical mats need to be constantly monitored to make sure there is enough water in the pump chamber for the pump to operate properly.  An advantage of horizontal filter mats is that they lay flat so there is no sagging and they don’t lose their shape.  They also never clog to the point of preventing water from passing through, so the pump chamber does not run dry.

As water enters the skimmer, the large debris is removed and the water is then further filtered through the horizontal mat.  The pond water then travels through the plumbing buried underground, up to the biological filter where it’s further treated before re-entering the pond. 

Biological Filtration Goes to Work
The biological filter receives water that has already passed through the mechanical filter, or skimmer, typically placed on the opposite side of the pond.  The water enters the biological filter via flexible pipe located near the base of the unit.  The water then flows from the bottom to the top of the filter, traveling through filter media housed inside the unit.  The filter media helps with the removal of fine to medium-sized particles.  The larger debris was already removed by the skimmer. 

As the biological filter fills, it will overflow and cascade over its waterfall lip, cascading down rocks that have been set to create a beautiful and preferably natural-looking waterfall.  The waterfall creates aeration for the pond, assisting in the circulation and health of the water.  If a slower, stream effect is preferred, the unit simply needs to be sunk lower into the ground.

Biological filters on the market today range in size and can filter ponds up to 10,000 gallons.  For larger ponds, multiple biological filters can be incorporated into the design. 

The Science Behind the Design
Mechanical and biological filtration are critical to processing the many types of nutrients found in a water garden system, including fish waste, uneaten fish food, leaves, and runoff from lawns to name a few.  High levels of ammonia (a form of nitrogen) are highly toxic to fish and are a major contributor to prolific algae growth, and so they need to be carefully controlled.  In water gardening, the primary nutrient that biological filtration utilizes and renders usable is nitrogen.

In biological filtration, nitrifying bacteria, known as facultative bacteria, absorb ammonia, and turn nitrites into nitrates, which are less dangerous.  These bacteria require oxygen to live, so it’s important for the pond’s pump to run 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  If the pump isn’t running, the waterfalls aren’t flowing, and aeration is eliminated from the necessary equation to maintain an ecosystem pond.  Keep in mind that if the pump shuts down, the bacteria will quickly use up all of the oxygen and die.  This isn’t a good thing.

Nitrates are then removed from the pond by another biological filtration method known as de-nitrification.  This process occurs only in anaerobic (without oxygen) areas of the pond.  That’s why it’s not necessarily bad for some areas of the pond to experience minimal water flow (such as on the bottom of the pond, under an inch or so of gravel).  The bacteria that live in this area of the pond turn nitrates into nitrogen gas, which is released into the atmosphere.  Nitrates are also absorbed by aquatic plants and algae during their growth processes.  A pond without aquatic plants will prove to be a maintenance nightmare.

For any biological filtration to work, there literally needs to be billions of bacteria working to purify the water.  They prefer to anchor onto things, which is why surface area is so important.  More surface area means more bacteria, and more bacteria means better biological filtration.  Surface area is provided by filter media, rocks, and gravel.  A pond with gravel on the bottom will contain more surface area for bacteria, as opposed to a pond with exposed liner on the bottom.

Low-Maintenance Customers
This simple process of repeatedly turning the water over through the mechanical and biological filters helps keep water quality high and aids in creating a naturally balanced, low-maintenance ecosystem pond.  Add the remaining components of fish, plants, aeration, rock, and gravel, and you’ll find greater success in creating easy-to-maintain water gardens for your customers.  And when your customers spend less time fiddling in the backyard on pond chores, it means they can enjoy more leisure time relaxing by their backyard oasis with a cool beverage in hand.  So instead of spending your days on follow-up maintenance and trouble-shooting calls, you can instead focus on cultivating and growing new and existing customers.  Less stress for your customers translates into less stress and greater profits for you!

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I Said Flocculent...not Flatulent! Clear your Pond FAST with RapidClear from Aquascape

July 29th, 2010 PondMeister

 

Does your pond appear to have a lot of very small suspended particles that are making your water look cloudy?

Poor clarity results from suspended and colloidal materials in the pond water. Examples of suspended material are fine clay or silt particles that do not settle, free-swimming algae or other microorganisms, and tiny bits of decaying organic matter. These materials are so small that they remain suspended and do not settle to the bottom. Colloidal materials are smaller yet, and stay in suspension.

RapidClear from Aquascape can clear the pond water by combining suspended particulate (organic matter) via a process known as flocculation. This causes all suspended organic material within the water column to be stick together. This makes them easily removed by your pond filter leaving your pond water clear.

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Has Aquascape gone Pond-crazy?

July 26th, 2010 PondMeister

Could this be Greg Wittstock as the Dancing Frog?

 No one is telling but this frog is a dancing fool in front of the pond at Aquascape’s Headquarters built at last years Pondemonium.

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Maintaining your Mag-Drive Pump

July 24th, 2010 PondMeister

In the last few years, many of us have switched over from our old energy-hog seal-leaking submersible pumps to the newer, much more energy-efficient and often-times cheaper Magnetic drive pumps (think Aquascape’s Aquasurge for waterfall pumps from 2,000 to 7,000 gph andUltra Pump for 350 – 2,000 gph).

These pumps require different maintenance procedures than the old pumps. If you have or had one of the older Aquascape Pro Pumps or Tsurumi pumps and you took them out of your pond in the winter, you were supposed to store them in a bucket of water or sink them to the bottom of your pond below the freeze level (probably half of you did not know this and failed to keep them wet causing them to leak and short out prematurely). This kept the seals wet as the seals tended to crack if allowed to dry out for extended periods of time.

Also the Tsurumi pumps required maintenance to change the oil periodically (which few of us did).

If the old pumps shorted out due to the water leaking through the seals, in order to try and fix the pump, you first had to remove the seals prior to fixing the motor. Seal kits generally cost about $85 and then you needed to fix the problem with the pump. As a result, it was very costly to try to fix one of the older style waterfall pumps.

The magnetic-drive pumpos are much simpler with fewer moving parts. Dave Kelly, the Aquascape tech Guru, shows us in this video how to properly maintain a Mag-drive pump. He also demonstrates how to replace the impeller assembly

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We need your help - Vote for "Ponds for Kids"!

May 8th, 2010 PondMeister

This week’s video showcases Aquascape’s Ed Beaulieu explaining The North American Water Garden Society’s initiative to install 50 outdoor ecosystem classrooms in schools across the country through its Ponds for Kids program … and you can help!

We need your vote. It’s as simple as logging onto www.refresheverything.com/pondsforkids and voting for the Ponds for Kids entry.

 The Pepsi Refresh Project provides grants each month to winners with successful ideas to make a positive impact in the community.

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Spring Cleanout Ideas

May 2nd, 2010 PondMeister

 

I have been inundated with questions concerning Spring Cleanouts the last few weeks as it spring finally works it’s way across the country. Dave Kelly – Aquascape’s Tech Guy – gives us some great pointers for cleaning out your pond in the spring to prepare it for the summer ahead.

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Saving Energy - New Aquascape LED Lights!

April 25th, 2010 PondMeister

 

Aquascape introduced their new Architectural Bronze LED Lights recently. Aquascape is the first and only so far to come out with an LED light that matches the color of traditional halogen lights at 3500 Kelvins. The other manufacturer’s LED lights are a whitish-blue color that look like solar lights,

 The 3 Watt LED Bullet Lights are equivalent to a traditional 20 watt halogen used mainly for underwater highlighting the fish as well as outside the pond.

The 1 Watt Bullet Lights and 1 Watt Waterfall Light are equivalent to traditional 10 watt halogens.

The beauty of these LED lights besides reducing your energy costs by 90% without sacrificing light and beauty is that the bulbs last 10 times longer and are sealed much tighter than your old “1/4 twist plastic ” halogen lights. 

Dave Kelly (above)  – the Aquascape Tech Guy – is back again to introduce the new lights.

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Low Voltage Wiring Tips

April 25th, 2010 PondMeister

It’s that time of year when we get a lot of questions about Low Voltage lighting.  Most of the questions relate to:      

• Transformer Capacity
• Splicing Wires
• Wiring Layout

The great thing about Low Voltage lighting is that it is impossible to electrocute yourself.      

 If you do not want to use the custom “Quick-connect” plugs that come with many of the low voltage lighting systems it’s easy to splice the lights in with any existing low voltage system.      

Determing Transformer Capacity   

When adding lights to an existing transformer, the sum of the lights should not exceed 90% of the rated capacity of the transformer. In other words, a 100 watt transformer can take four 20 watt and one 10 watt light.      

Splicing Wires    

1. Just clip off the plug      

2. Separate the two wires by pulling apart about 3 – 6″.      

3. Strip about 5/8″ off of the new wires and the wires that you are splicing into      

4. Take one of the existing wires and the new wire and using a Wire Connector (I like the weatherproof ones designed for Underground connections), hold the two wires together parallel and twist the Wire Connector around them tightly.      

5. Repeat for the 2nd wire      

6. Wrap Electricians tape tightly  to wrap around each connection for extra protection   

7. Make sure to keep splice above the water level      

Stringing Lights Together   

1.  Looping   

When stringing together multiple lights, rather than stringing the lights in a straight line from the Transformer out to the furthest light – String the lights in a continuous loop with a wire going from the Transformer to the first light and then bring a wire from the last light and connect with a transformer too. This evens the distribution of power to all lights. If this is not done, the last light in the string will not get as much juice as the first one. Another way is to string the lights in a “Tee Formation”     

2.  T-Formation   

Another way to even out the power distribution is to start out with a heavy gauge wire (10 or 12 gauge) up the middle and then splice one set of wires to the right and one set of wires to the left. This will also help to evenly distribute the power load.   

Weatherproof Wire Connectors

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The PondMeister meets THE Pond Guy himself!

April 14th, 2010 PondMeister

The PondMeister AKA Richard Ross from ThePondOutlet.com visits The Pond Guy himself – Greg Wittstock – the CEO and Founder of Aquascape at Aqualand (Aquascape Headquarters in St Charles, IL) to discuss new Aquascape products. Please note the cool pond in front of their building built at Pondomonium 2009 complete with an underwater swimming cave!

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