Santa Cruz Landscaping: Maintaining Pond Balance

Maintaining balance in our ponds is important. The ponds we create are designed after what we see in the Santa Cruz Mountains streams and water features. In the same way that we design our ponds and waterfalls after nature, we want them to function like they do in nature. As always our landscaping is meant to recreate what we all enjoy in the mountains. 
 

The thought behind the filtration on our ponds is based on the natural ecosystem of a pond or waterfall. Water is filtered by flowing over and through rock and sand. Then the water is aerated when flowing over waterfalls. When the water reaches the pond, thats where the natural eco-system thrives. Plants in the pond cleanse the water while drawing nutrients in through their roots. Fish eat algae and mosquitoes. Then the beneficial bacteria in the bottom of the pond goes to work. Beneficial bacteria consume fish waste and other organic matter. They convert deadly ammonia into nitrites and then into harmless nitrates and nitrogen. Ponds are truly a wonder when considering landscaping! 

After all the biological filtration is done, the water is then mechanically filtered. The water is drawn into a skimmer box from the pond. In the skimmer there is a leaf catch for large debris, and a woven mesh screen for smaller particles. Water is also gravity fed through bottom drains into settling tanks that help separate waste and clean water. The clean water is then pumped through a pressurized bead filter. The bead filter is another great place to house beneficial bacteria. The clean water is then pumped back into the system, either to the top of a waterfall, or to underwater circulating jets. Some other features we install to help with water quality are, aerators, UV filters and natural bog filters.
Although this sounds complicated it is a relatively simple landscaping feature for all to enjoy; especially the Koi! 

I will be posting more on pond maintenance and pond filtration in the future. If you want more information you can always visit my website @ 
Living Waters Landscaping.com