A bit about pond maintenance – learning as we go

I'm beginning to think there's three types of backyard ponds with three different goals and types of upkeep:

1. Koi/fish pond - keeping the fish happy and healthy is top priority, but often the water is murky and kind of gross. Definitely don't want to jump in

2. Recreational swimming pond - gorgeous clear water but not healthy for fish because of the somewhat harsh method used to keep the water clear and algae-free

Crystal clear water maintained by adding a copper ionizer before we decided to add koi

3. Recreational swimming pond WITH koi - best of both! Clear gorgeous water that invites an afternoon swim PLUS healthy koi and plants. But a wee bit more work! (Guess you know which one we opted for?!)

Little baby koi added to our pond

Of course having it all is tough and there's a balance, can't use harsh chemicals or copper rods to control the algae, can't change the parameters of the pond (pH, nitrogen, oxygen, temperature etc) drastically without sending the fish into shock.

Our pond is a baby and after a year or two the wetland filtration system (that mimics the edge of ponds and lakes in nature) will balance out with healthy bacteria and make keeping the water clear and healthy an easier job.

But in the meantime, we not only rely on a monthly maintenance team from Mark The Pond Guy, but also do a ton of work ourselves: Jerry regularly tests the water parameters. I spend time each day scrubbing algae off the rocks, gathering debris that fell in, removing decaying bits from the water plants.

We've had some set backs - huge string algae bloom, battling murky tannin-stained water after the algae die-off (right as we're getting ready for our pond tour in a couple of days!!); losing a couple of koi...

Yes, our Recreation swimming / Koi pond is work, but oh so enjoyable! I love my daily routine of climbing onto each rock - above and below the water line - scooping up debris with my net, dead-heading lilies, getting to know the personality of each koi, listening to the peaceful flow of the waterfall, and then getting on my bathing suit and sliding in (bonus, with friends and a glass of wine!)

For those of you coming on the 7th Annual Pacific NW Water Garden Tour, I'm looking forward to seeing you on August 2nd!

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