Pond and Water Feature Maintenance and Repair
“We do the dirty work for you”
Is your pond in need of some TLC?
Whether we like it or not, everything from time to time needs maintenance, if you need a one off clean, or would like a more regular schedule, our dedicated team at JD Landscapes will plan a schedule of works that fits in with your pond and your lifestyle. It’s important to keep your pond in tip top condition for the health of your fish and the wildlife. Do you suffer with green water? Or string algae/blanket weed? We have developed our own biological way of controlling these unsightly problems in a pond. Algae is perfectly natural to find in a pond, and if you don’t have a bit of algae in your pond, then I would be more worried than if you had a lot of it. Contact us and we can chat with you about options of clearing it out for good in an environmentally friendly way or tackle any other problems with your pond, e.g. Leaks, water quality, filtration system etc.
Leak Detection
Having a leak in your pond can be extremely stressful, most leaks come via moving water, ie a leak from the filter, pipework or waterfall, the simple way to solve this first riddle is to turn off all pumps taking water out of the pond, fill the pond up and judge over a period of 24 -48 hours if the pond is losing water or if it is stable. Doing this first test will answer the main question of roughly where the leak is, we recommend to have an air pump to continue to aerate the pond while the filter or waterfall is turned off. Once we know what area the leak is we can then put our efforts into trying to fix the issues one way or another. The next step which is often needed is an exploratory drain and clean.
Exploratory drain and clean
Sometimes ponds start losing water and it is not clear where the water is coming from. At JD Landscapes we pride ourselves on trying to find a solution to losing water. Our exploratory drain and cleans are basically a pond MOT, what we do is drain the pond down and wash everything, once the pond is cleaned down, we can check the integrity of the liner, if there is a hole, we may be able to patch it. If the liner is clear, we will check the water course (Pipework) if there are any issues with the pipework, we will replace the pipework and get the pond working again. Sometimes on the drain and cleans it is not possible to fix the problems, if the problem requires a rebuild 50% of the money already spent will be refunded into the job. We will know pretty quickly if we can fix the problem.
Undersized or wrong filters
Filtration is the most crucial part of the design of a successful pond, and is something that should be able to adapt to changing circumstances ie, growing or adding more fish, excess sunlight etc, most pond problems come from inadequate or poor filtration. Green water? String algae or blanket weed? All stem from excess nutrients, most likely from organic matter in the pond. Dealing with this organic matter is key, we can advise you on what filters will deal with the specific issues within your pond.
Broken pumps
Our dedicated maintenance team will strive to solve your problems ASAP, sometimes pumps break for seemingly no reason, but most pumps failures are because of excess stress, i.e. blocked with debris, or starved of water in another way, this burns the motor out. It is important we deal with the issue as well as the replacement of the pump. The best way to keep your pumps running for longer with less problems is to install them in a skimmer, or pre filter the water before debris hits the impeller, running your pump 24/7 will also help the longevity of the pump, and improve overall health of the pond.
Winter advice
Contrary to belief DO NOT SWITCH OFF YOUR PUMPS, the old rhetoric used to advise turn
off the pump, remove the pump and put it in water in the garage, this is not ideal for your
pond. As long as there is running water in the pond it will keep a hole in the ice and allow
gas exchange (CO2 to leave, oxygen to enter). When the pond is frozen it is crucial not to
break the ice. If the ice gets broken you may suffer with water loss. This is because the
water will run on top of the broken ice and flow out of the pond. Or the other main problem
with breaking the ice is the sharp shards of ice piercing the liner thus causing leaks. Contact
us for more specific winter advice. NEVER turn off your pumps overnight, this causes swings in oxygen levels and the detrimental to the health of the pond
Summer advice
If we’re lucky enough to experience a sustained hot summer, it can deplete the dissolved oxygen levels in your pond, this can cause unnecessary stress on fish within your pond and if unchecked can lead to fish deaths, getting more dissolved oxygen into your pond is vital at these time, adding a pump to create splash into the pond surface is one way you can do it, or ideally adding an air pump with large air stones to the pond will quickly have the desired effect and reduce stress levels in your fish. NEVER turn off your pumps overnight, this causes swings in oxygen levels and the detrimental to the health of the pond.
Water treatments
Auto Doser – The automatic dosing system is an electronically operated dispenser designed to optimise the health of the pond through accurately adding the correct dosage of multiple strains of beneficial bacteria, eliminating the guesswork with adding water treatments. The auto doser has 4 different options when it comes to water treatments, these include: “maintain,” this pouch of bacteria, is designed to reduce the maintenance of your pond or water feature, meaning you can spend more time enjoying it not maintaining it. “Clean,” This pouch of bacteria, makes it easy to quickly optimise the quality and clarity of your pond or water feature. This drastically reduces filter maintenance meaning ponds and water features remain clean and beautiful. “Clear,” this pouch contains a concentrated formulation of ingredients designed to eliminate unsightly water conditions, the formula contains clarifiers which are designed to clear cloudy or discoloured water. “Protect,” This pouch of bacteria uses an all natural formula of tea tree oil and other plant based biopolymers, this pouch prevents parasites and is ideal to be used after any water changes and will not discolour your water.
IonGen
The IonGen system is ideal to be used in pondless waterfalls and Fountain-Scapes, this effectively kills algae strains such as blanket weed, without the traditional use of liquid chemicals, meaning you can enjoy your water feature more than maintaining it.
Pest and disease
Our service offers, a full health check and scrape to search for microscopic parasites on your fish. Get in touch with us today to discuss any problems you may be experiencing.
Heron protection, Within our eco system ponds we can incorporate a natural fish cave allowing a place for your fish to hide, alongside this a series of aquatic plants such as water lilies can be an effective sanctuary for your fish.