Treating Your Garden Fish Pond

Sooner or later most fish ponds need a treatment of some kind. Here are the most common reasons why:
1. pH is too low or too high. However before trying to correct pH make sure your reading is correct and it is on the same trend. In other words not a once off unusual measurement.
2. Fresh water from the tap or faucet is added in an area where chlorination is high. These treatments are generally called Pond Conditioners. Some also remove heavy metal contamination in the water supply.
3. Ammonia surges ... this can be serious and should it occur then an ammonia remover should be used.
4. Bacterial sludge digesters ... sludge settles to the bottom of ponds that do not have a bottom drain. An alternative to cleaning out the pond is to use a digester.
5. Bacteria starters for biofilters. At the end of winter or start of spring it is a good idea to boost the biofilter by adding a concentrated form of bacteria starter.
6. Algae and blanketweed killers ... these remove unsightly growths of green algae. Suspended algae result in murky water (like pea soup sometimes). The best blanketweed killer is discussed here.
A full list of all the important branded pond treatments for USA pond owners is available here.
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Heating Water to Save Electricity Costs

I live in South Africa and we are facing a serious shortage of electricity supply. This is resulting in what are euphemistically called load shedding periods all over the country on a seemingly random basis. Load shedding is a sudden loss of power supply as far as consumers are concerned.
Yesterday a number of gold mines and platinum mines closed down because they could not take the risk of their underground workers being trapped in the bowels of the earth.
The government had admitted finally to poor planning on its behalf ... going as far back as 1997. It is a mess.
One potential solution in the eyes of the government is for consumers to install solar panels for heating water. Unfortunately it is almost certainly uneconomical for the avergae family to do this. The pay back period is simply too long.
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