Tips For Maintaining Koi Ponds

To maintain healthy fish, you need plenty of vegetation in your fish pond. Direct sunlight is the enemy of Koi fish, so growing vegetation around the pond, will allow the fish to thrive in dark places.

Another benefit of vegetation growing in a fish pond, is the reduction in the amount of algae that can grow, allowing you to maintain the health of your fish.

Blue dye is often added to koi ponds to get rid of algae and make the pond a more favorable environment for healthy fish. A whole small container of dye is usually enough to treat a pond that is between 2000 and 5000 gallons, and the blue dye is safe for your fish.

The pump attached to your fish pond sucks out any impurities from the water and serves as a filter as it takes out bad water and returns clean water to the koi fish pond.

You need to maintain the pump, to ensure it functions correctly. A high power pump is needed for a koi fish pond as koi fish need lots of oxygen to stay healthy in your koi ponds.

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Options For Keeping Out Fish Pond Predators

Lilies on the surface of the pond allows protection against fish pond predators and provide shelter for your fish. Netting is another option, but it is not visually appealing. A physical barrier on top of the pond can help keep herons and other large birds from diving into the pond and eating your fish.

A more humane option, is to set up motion lights that are activated when predators come close to the fish pond.

Other humane options include a fake owl or snake to prevent other animals from coming near the pond. Many snakes eat certain types of birds that would visit the pond for fish, and some owls eat rodents and other small mammals.

If you use this option, you must move the fake animals every once in a while, so pond predators will not believe the animals are dead. Adding more lily pads in the pond, would provide more protection when using animal decoys.

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Better Planting For A Spring Garden

For some plants, the best time for planting is in the autumn, and grow in the spring garden.

That does not mean these plants will bloom and grow all winter, they sleep like many other plants through this cold period of winter time. However, planting in the fall and start their growing season during the warmer months of the spring, creates better growing conditions.

Perennials actually enjoy this process, because the soil is still relatively hot and humid from the summer, and have the time to germinate and become properly rooted in the autumn.

If they are planted in the spring, the soil is still pretty cool, and the plants are trying to root properly for a couple of months, even if above-ground temperatures are encouraging them to produce leaves and flowers.

Perennials planted in the fall have a much better chance to become established and reach full size and growth in the following summer, than similar plants that are planted in the spring. So if you have perennials in your yard and garden, then you should plant them in the autumn, to get the full benefits of summer growth.

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Making Better Buying Decisions For Tankless Water Heaters

One great thing about the rise of the internet is that if you want to read about other people's experiences using something like tankless water heaters, then there will be user reviews somewhere online.

You'll need all the help you can get in making a decision, because it can be very expensive to buy and install tankless water heater units. If you can learn from other people's experiences and mistakes, then you'll be less likely to regret your choice later.

The site www.hvac-for-beginners.com might get you going with the page that rates the most prominent tankless water heaters. There is a description and rating for each of the heaters on this extensive list, but not many other details.

However, you could get names of heaters you are interested in from the list, and then go somewhere like www.amazon.com to check for comments about each residential water heater that interested you.

Tankless water heaters are a big investment in your home, and you don't want to make your decision without a lot of thought and careful consideration of all the factors.

Even if you've narrowed your choices down based on the specifications for certain heaters, reading about the real-life experiences of others with specific tankless gas or electric water heaters can be the final push toward or away from any individual choice.

What the advertiser says on paper and how these heaters work in real life can sometimes be two very different things. You'll want to know about actual rather than theoretical performance.

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