Watching your fish glide gracefully and happily through the pond is a sight for sore eyes after a long day and/or week at work. But do you have a pond that promotes the health of your fish? Several factors influence whether a pond is habitable by fish, so before you stock your new pond or choose a few new finned friends at your local pet store, take a few minutes to assess your fish’s dwelling space as it relates to pond fish health. Healthy Goldfish and Koi in an Ecosystem PondSize Matters It all starts with the size of your pond. You need to make sure that it is large enough to support the type of fish you want (whether that’s Koi or goldfish) and their growth potential. Pond fish generally need 10 gallons of water for every inch of their length, and you have to be ready for them to grow larger, so be careful not to overstock, no matter how tempting this may be! Some pond experts go so far as to recommend only ½ inch of fish per 10 gallons of water as a maximum stocking density. You’ve probably seen ponds crowded with two or even three inches of fish per 10 gallons of water and the fish seem to be fine. However, the density and ecological strain of this kind of fish load turn these ponds into fragile systems. The fish tend to grow more slowly and disease can become a too-common occurrence. Too many rats in a cage, so to speak. You won’t be able to salvage sick fish in a pond that’s overcrowded. Eventually, Mother Nature will pick off some of your fish (mostly likely your favorites) to achieve her ideal stocking density based on the environment the fish are in, and then the remainder will recover as if by magical intervention. Reduce the number of fish if your pond is over-stocked before Mother Nature handles this crucial step for you in a manner you may not appreciate. Good Morning, Sunshine Some aquatic plants that tolerate shade include Taro, Papyrus, Horsetail, Cardinal Flower, and Lizard’s Tail.Ponds that have at least some sunlight are also beneficial to pond fish. Valuable vitamins are contained in sunlight. Sunlight also helps the plants in your pond grow, thereby reducing nitrates in the water. Unfortunately, you can’t just up and move your pond, so if you have a shady-place pond, add shade-loving plants to help balance the water. Aquatic plants play a critical role when it comes to enhancing pond fish health. Two Feet When it comes to pond depth, Koi and goldfish aren’t really very picky. Just be sure that the pond is deep enough (generally about 2 to 2 ½ feet) to give the fish a chance to get out of the way of predators. Or you can opt for a cave network within the pond to allow them to hide when need be. A Balancing Act The quality of your water is critical to pond fish health and you want to make sure your water garden is balanced. The proper mix of fish, plants, filtration, circulation, and rocks and gravel all provide an important role in your pond’s ecosystem. Work with Mother Nature, not against her, and you’ll find you spend more time enjoying your pond and less time maintaining it. Now, doesn’t THAT sound like a dream come true? OTHER POSTS YOU MIGHT ENJOY: ECOSYSTEM PONDS NEED FILTRATION SHOULD I PUT MY POND IN THE SUN OR THE SHADE? IT'S ALL ABOUT BALANCE! When you want to enjoy your water feature as the sun begins to set, outdoor lighting is a must. And here in Phoenix, nighttime is about the only time we can be outside in the summer! Most people think to add landscape lighting around a deck or patio or pathway, but neglect the water feature for optimal nighttime viewing. Here are some pretty backyard lighting ideas for your pond, waterfall, or fountain. No matter what type of water feature you have, you can enhance its beauty well into the evening hours with the addition of pond and garden lighting. OTHER POSTS YOU MIGHT ENJOY:
GREAT WATER FEATURE IDEAS SUSTAINABLE PHOENIX PONDS SIX PONDS FOR THE PRICE OF ONE! When getting ready to hire a contractor, you should always get 3 estimates! Isn’t that what we’re always told? It’s how your father always hired someone. And it’s what the media always says to do. It’s how we protect ourselves from schysters, right? We get three bids, and take the lowest or the middle, never the highest. But is this really the best way to choose a contractor? Seems like it’s still a bit of a crap shoot. See the Insider tips below to possibly save yourself some time and effort –and maybe even heartache. Get 3 Water Feature EstimatesYou want a water feature. Time to shop. We all know the routine: First, you spend time calling around to every contractor in the area, and then waiting for a return phone call (because you know how contractors are), and maybe even playing phone tag for a few days, or weeks, because you’re busy, too. Let’s say you find three contractors that actually return your call in a reasonable amount of time. Now, you have to schedule the appointments, and wait at home for them to show up. That’s IF they show up. Let’s assume they do show up. They do a little tap dance for you, spill their dump truck of “expertise,” expound all their ideas about what THEY THINK you want, and promise to get you an estimate “right away.” Then, a week, or two, later, you get the estimate. It’s vague and ambiguous, and you’re not sure you remember exactly what you talked about with them – because you talked to three people. And let’s assume that all three actually do send you estimates. Can you tell if they’re all bidding the exact same thing, or did they all have different ideas of what you should do? Can you compare apples to apples, or are you looking at apples and oranges? Did they all include everything you were asking for? And just getting three estimates DOES NOT guarantee that you’ll choose the right contractor. Unfortunately, I speak from personal experience here. Might there be an easier way to get through this shopping process? Use the TechnologyIf you’re reading this, we’ll assume you have access to the internet. You know it’s for more than Facebook, right? With a little effort and a couple of hours of reading, you might become knowledgeable enough that you can get three estimates just from three phone conversations. Or, better yet, if you do your due diligence BEFORE you contact a contractor, you might not have to go through the arduous and time-consuming task of getting three estimates at all, but will know who you want to hire before you pick up the phone. There’s a time-saver. Insider tip: Before beginning your investigation, make sure you’re clear on who you’re looking for, and what you want to see about the contractor you hire, as well as what you want to hear from them. For example, if you want a pond, do you want a contractor that installs living ecosystems, or are you more interested in a sterile environment? If you’re looking for flooring, do you want someone who specializes in eco-friendly renewable resources, or just the cheapest thing you can get that looks pretty good because you’re going to sell this house in a few years? Licensing This is the FIRST think you should check! Make sure the contractor you’re considering is licensed with the Arizona Registrar of Contractors, and in good standing. Check to see if they have any complaints, resolved or unresolved. Insider tip: Don’t just assume that a contractor is bad because they have a complaint. People can be rather litigious these days, so read through the documents to make sure that the person isn’t just blowing smoke. And read the company’s response to make sure that it was handled in a professional and classy manner. Online Reviews You can get a good read on a company simply by reading what other people think of them. There are A LOT of sites where you can check someone out: Facebook, Google, Houzz, Hometalk, Angie’s List, Yelp, Thumbtack, etc. Insider tip: if a company has NO less-than-stellar reviews, they may be faking it, so take a REAL close look. Referrals & Testimonials Most reputable companies will post testimonials on their website. Don’t take their word for it, though! Insider tip: If the testimonials are real, there should be some that can be contacted directly as a referral. Do it. Ask them about their experience. Ask if they’d hire that company again. Ask how long ago the work was done, and how it’s held up over time. Heck, some of them may even invite you over to see it! And, you never know: you might even make a new friend, to boot. Website Content What’s their website look like? Do they even have one? Is their website all about sales, or is there good information being presented? Can you read about THEM, their story, etc., or is it just a big storefront? Can you see their passion, their company culture, their philosophy, etc.? Do they have a photo gallery for you to peruse? And don’t just look at the pretty pictures. If you’re looking at an outdoor home improvement, analyze the photos a bit to make sure that they represent the contractor’s work here in Arizona. Believe it or not, some people may have stolen photos of other contractors’ work, or the photos may have been taken in New York, and they have little to no experience with our Sonoran desert environment. Do they have a blog with good current content? Read through some articles and see if they seem to be an expert in their field. Are they saying what you want to hear? Is the information kept current, or did they post their last blog article a couple of years ago? If this home improvement is something that requires occasional maintenance, does this contractor provide that service? If not, you might want to ask yourself why not? Insider tip: the “we’re too big to do maintenance” is a cop-out; maintenance is the bread and butter of a business that thinks long-term and cares about keeping in touch with their clients beyond the initial installation. Have a ConversationNow that you’ve done your research, you may have narrowed it down to just one contractor. Or maybe you have 2 or 3 that you’d like to talk to. Call them. And have an HONEST conversation with them. Tell them what you want. Are they saying what you want to hear? Are they really listening to you, or are they telling you what THEY think you should do? Do you feel that they care about what you’re saying? Do they value themselves? Can they do what you want within the budget you’ve set? Insider tip: Beware the contractor that wants to run right out and give you a “free” estimate without first having a conversation with you to make sure they’re a good fit. A lot of contractors spend hours and hours running all over town to give free estimates, to the detriment of being able to provide good service to paying clients -- there are only so many hours in a day, after all. You don’t want someone who spreads themselves too thin right from the get-go. What will the rest of the experience be like? And, let’s face it, nothing in life is “free.” The paying clients are covering their time to visit the “tire kickers.” Reputable Water Feature ContractorsAs a water feature specialist, we know who does good work in this town. The biggest Insider tip in this article is to check out these folks if you’re looking to hire a water feature contractor. Although they each have a different philosophy on water feature construction methods, we believe they are reputable contractors.
Pondscapes of Arizona Crosstimber Koi & Pondering Aquatec Fountains & Ponds When we think of concrete, we typically think of something very durable that will last forever. And we’d like to believe that a concrete pond would follow suit. The foundations of our homes are concrete, after all! And our roads and bridges! And swimming pools! Yep, things that are expected to last forever are made of concrete. So, it just stands to reason that a pond should be made of concrete right? Meh, maybe not so much. 1. CONCRETE IS NOT FOREVERConcrete is a rigid method of building. It’s exceedingly difficult (and often impossible) to add onto or enhance a concrete pond once completed. You also need to excavate it like a big bowl, which can be dangerous for pets, children, and wildlife if they fall in because it becomes very slick once the “pond patina” layer has formed. Pools are made of concrete, this is true. However, underneath the concrete in pool construction are a bunch of things that help stabilize it and keep it rigid (like rebar), despite the movement of the earth around it. It's pretty expensive to put all that stuff in place, in case you haven't priced pools lately. If all you're going to do is dig a hole and slather concrete over it, you haven't done any of the things that make concrete durable enough to stand the test of time, like a pool. This process leads to failure of the concrete shell. Every time. 2. CONCRETE IS MORE EXPENSIVEOnce the ground has shifted or settled (which will definitely happen because the earth is always moving just a bit), you're looking at completely re-doing the whole thing in a few years because the concrete shell has cracked and now you have leaks. By the way, if you let that small leak go too long, it becomes a bigger leak, and the water leaking out may be undermining various structures around it via erosion. You can try patching a leaky concrete bowl, but that’s not a permanent fix. A better “fix” would be to prep and coat it in a liquid rubber liner product, which is not cheap to do it properly. Oh, and it’s kinda ugly. If you can’t fix it, you have to jackhammer out the old pond and put a new one in its place. And the whole process repeats. Remember the definition of insanity: doing the same thing over and over, but expecting different results. 3. A GOOD POND LINER CARRIES A 20-YEAR WARRANTYLiner ponds allow the ground to shift around it without damage. Sure, sometimes there's a settling leak at the edge of a liner pond. But that's easy to fix: you just lift the liner a bit, shove some dirt under it, and call it bueno. A good liner product (i.e., 45-mil EPDM rubber) carries a 20-year manufacturer’s warranty. Most concrete contractors don’t warranty their work beyond the 2-year requirement of the Registrar of Contractors. The one thing that concrete is guaranteed to do over time: crack. And leak. 4. FISH & PLANTS DON’T LIKE CONCRETEMany a cement head has said: “Sure, Mrs. Customer, you can put plants and fish in the pond” right before they run out the door with that final check. And, yes, you can. That doesn’t mean that they’ll be happy. Concrete, filled with Portland cement, leaches lime and alkalis into the water forever, which does not make for especially happy, healthy plants and fish – especially considering our naturally high pH here in Arizona. Because you can’t really build in plant pockets in a cement pond, you have to keep the aquatic plants in buckets. Not very attractive, and thinning/dividing those plants will be a bear some day. Then there’s having to fertilize the plants because you just can’t seem to teach those darn fish to back up the plant pots to poop – although, they do tend to dig in the pots like dogs. Fertilizer can then cause water quality issues. 5. A CONCRETE POND OR WATER FEATURE WILL NOT ADD TO THE VALUE OF YOUR HOMEDespite the claims, just because a water feature is built out of concrete, that fact alone will NOT add value to your home. What adds value is a beautiful well-built, serviceable water feature that fits well into its surroundings. It has nothing whatsoever to do with the construction method. All that being said, if you plan to go spear fishing in your pond, or hand your kids a trident to play with, then you want to find yourself a good concrete pond contractor. However, if what you want is a well-built, serviceable pond system, you might want to continue your research on ALL of your options. The cost to build a backyard pond in Phoenix, AZ, can vary greatly. The size, style, materials, and equipment you select will all impact this price -- not to mention the contractor/artist you choose to hire, depending on level of experience, training, certification, and warranty policy. The cost of a pond also depends on your definition of a “pond.” Some people view a pond as an organic body of water, large or small, while others envision a concrete fountain shaped like a pond with dead sterile water. The first questions to ask yourself are what do you want it to look like, why a pond (or a pondless water feature option), how do you want to enjoy it, what kind of money do you want to spend on this home improvement project, and what kind of maintenance are you willing to put up with? The Cost of a DIY Pond in Phoenix, AZ, is Not Just the EquipmentIf you’re building the pond yourself, you can do it for about a hundred dollars, depending on where you buy your supplies. A little DIY kit from one of the big-box stores is pretty cheap. And if you’re not sure you’ll enjoy the hobby, this is an inexpensive way to test the water, so to speak. We’ve replaced LOTS of DIY ponds over the last 17+ years because people fell in love with the hobby after trying it out on their own and are ready for the next step or a larger pond. A couple of caveats about a DIY project: it’s a PROJECT. It might take you literally a month of Sundays to finish. The DIY kits are also not likely to come with the best equipment and filtration, so your maintenance chores will be a bit more than professional-grade equipment. Be sure to check the parts warranty, as not all warranties are created equal. Some parts you can just return to the store; others, you have to ship across state lines to get a replacement, provided a replacement part is still in production and available. Don't expect any help or advice from the sales people, either. They're there to sell stuff, and are not a "ponder." And in this neck of the woods, if you want aquatic plants, that can be a tough find for a do-it-yourselfer. The Cost of a Professionally-Installed Pond in Phoenix, AZWhen dealing with a true experienced certified professional, you can expect to pay between $8,000 and $14,000 for the average-sized professionally-installed custom pond. Our pricing starts around $5,000 for a small goldfish pond. If you’re looking to keep Koi, plan on spending at least $10,000 for the extra size and filtration necessary. Of course, we highly recommend that you hire someone whose work you’ve seen in person, and whose licensing and references have checked out. This is a bad time to make an impulse purchase! We’ve replaced countless poorly designed and installed ponds that folks have spent plenty of their hard-earned money on in the heat of the moment because of a home show mock-up, special deal, or because the salesman was a nice guy. FYI, you can see a variety of our work via our FREE Pond Tour. You also want to make sure that the contractor you’re considering is in tune with what you really want in your yard. For example, if you want to raise multi-thousand-dollar show-quality Koi fish, you want to hire someone who specializes in that type of pond and filtration and isn't too terribly worried about the pond aesthetics themselves. If you want a gorgeous living ecosystem pond, and the fish are simply a beautiful part of that system, then that’s a whole different philosophy. Shopping for a Pond Contractor in Phoenix, AZThe best way to shop for the contractor who will best suit your needs is to first visit their website. Make sure that the photos on that site are actually pictures of THEIR work. As in any industry, there are always a few charlatans out there. If you like what you see online, go see their work in person. A picture may be worth a thousand words, but seeing it for yourself is priceless! And talk to a client or two. Most reputable companies will list references/testimonials right on their website that you can contact. If not, then ask. Do your due diligence! If they can’t send you to see some of their work in person, and they can’t produce at least 3 references, flee! Before you actually talk to a contractor, have a strong idea of what you’re looking for (but be open to options), what kind of budget you have to work with, and be clear in your mind about how you will know when you’ve found the right contractor for you. Did they listen to you? Can they meet your expectations and budget? Do they seem knowledgeable and competent? It’s not ALL about price when shopping for a pond in Phoenix, AZ. Yes, you probably have a budget to live by, as most of us do. This is an investment in your home, and your property value. Remember: it’s always more expensive to have to do it over than to just do it right the first time, as several of our clients can attest. Good luck in your quest, and let us know if we can be of service! OTHER POSTS YOU MIGHT ENJOY:
PHOENIX PONDS HAVE MEASURABLE VALUE GREAT WATER FEATURE IDEAS SIX PONDS FOR THE PRICE OF ONE |
The Pond Gnome offers Pond Design, Pond Construction, Pond Maintenance, Pond Remodeling, Pond Replacement, and Pond Cleaning Services for the Greater Phoenix Metropolitan area, including the cities of Phoenix, Scottsdale, Paradise Valley, Carefree, Cave Creek, Glendale, Peoria, Sun City, and other surrounding communities.
Our Services |
Company |
|