The important thing is: know what kind of pond person you are from the beginning and know what you're getting into. Fish ponds are significantly more work than lily ponds, and should almost be thought of as another hobby. The principles put forth in these pages are relevant for both types of hobbyist, but our general philosophy and most of our techniques and solutions are lily pond-oriented.

PART II : Nature's Nitrogen Cycle

An ecologically balanced pool requires far less time and expense to maintain than one that is perpetually out of whack. Below is a simplified diagram of the nitrogen cycle which will be in operation soon after you stock your pond. Complex compounds aside, the two most important factors in determining the health of your pond are the number of fish and plants that you have at any given time.

Fish produce a lot of waste which turns into ammonia and nitrite, and if you opt to feed your fish (which you should not if you are aiming for a balanced pond) the excess food will combine with other decaying materials and will contribute further to the presence of these substances.

You should think of plants as removing these toxic substances from the water. In reality, ammonia and nitrites are removed from the water in a complicated microscopic bacterial process, which is touched upon above. As a rule of thumb think of the natural cycle in your pond as being Fish Eats Plant, Fish Excretes Waste, Plant Eats Waste, and around and around.

Using this paradigm, there are just two scenarios that should be avoided at all costs: 1) too many fish will over-graze the plant population and they will eventually starve or choke on their own wastes, and 2) too few plants will cause a build-up of Nitrate which, coupled with the higher sunlight level from lack of surface cover, could cause algae blooms. Plants love nitrate, so if you don't give algae any competition, it's the only plant that will thrive in your pond.

It is not really possible to have too many plants, or too few fish. Once fish are introduced, they will grow quickly in size and number. Unless natural predators have access to your pond (you may be surprised), you will probably have to cull your own population from year to year.

Those who envision a frothy mass of koi feeding from the hand will not be able to sustain a balanced ecosystem unless the size of the pond is measured in hectares. For true fish hobbyists we recommend using a non-dusty pellet food as sparingly as possible and purchasing a sturdy bio-filter to remove the excess Ammonia and Nitrite from the water. In these cases, the lily pond is best thought of as a fish tank, and maintained accordingly.

As far as fish are concerned, there should be not more than one to two inches of fish per square foot of surface area—ideally less than that—but if the depth of your pond is an average of at least 30 inches it could support a few more. The danger, mentioned in the previous section, is that the fish will grow so large in size and number that they will devour your pond's plant life faster than it can replace itself, and/or excrete too much waste, upsetting the natural balance of the pond. To avoid this, stock fish conservatively and monitor the growth and reproduction of your population closely. In a more perfect ecosystem the fish would be preyed upon by another animal, but chances are that the fish will be at the top of your food chain, leaving that responsibility to you.

In a conservatively stocked pond, the fish will not require any feeding at all and will still grow VERY fast. Those ponds chock full of fish will require hand-feeding according to the specifications of the purveyor of the fish. Remember, uneaten fish food and overfed fish produce waste in the pond that will lead to problems such as algae blooms.

PART IV : Planting, Dividing & Fertilizing Water Lilies

Your soil preparation should consist of heavy, clay-rich dirt with little or no organic material (that is, no compost, manure or peat). We recommend using some form of fertilizer, such as tablets (more on this below). Also, use large or over-sized containers when you plant. Water lilies have creeping roots that will grow into any size container you give them—in no time you'll be dividing your plants and running out of places to put them. After planting, you may want to place an inch or two of gravel over the soil to reduce clouding in the water.

Water lilies should be planted at an angle, upwards toward the crown, which should be above the soil surface. Once in the pond, the crown should be 8 to 12 inches below the surface of the water, but once your lilies are established you may place them significantly deeper. You may want to start new lilies at a shallower depth until they are established.

Unlike tropicals, hardy water lilies are rhizomatous (they have a big, tuber-like root), so you will have to get out your shovel or some large scissors to divide these plants. The task is simple. Chop the rhizome into sections, making sure that each has its own mini-crown and roots. These you can re-pot and grow into new lilies.

There are zone restrictions for growing hardy and tropical water lilies. Each can be grown in USDA zones 3 through 11 during the summer months. Hardy lilies will winter over in zones 3 through 11 if sunk in the pond below the freezing point. Tropicals will winter over only in zones 10-11, but make great annual bloomers in most of the rest of North America (to bloom they require a period of 2 to 4 weeks when temperatures are at least 80 degrees fahrenheit).

PART V : Stocking Pond Animals

Our experience with wild creatures is that they are finicky and delicate and many of them, particularly amphibians and insects, will arrive at your pond on their own if it is a suitable environment for them. It is possible to order many of these animals through the mail, but we believe that the best, cheapest and safest way for you to introduce animals to your pond is to go to a local wetland with net in hand. Anything you find there will be most likely to thrive and remain in its new home, and you will avoid the problem of introducing foreign creatures into your local ecosystem.

Snails can simply be dropped into the water, but before you introduce them make sure you have found algae-eaters and not the voracious leaf-eating type; these will decimate the plant life in your pond. The proper snails will improve water quality by keeping algae in check. Freshwater Mussels derive their meals from filtering tiny particles from the water. In so doing, they may help to keep your water clear, but make sure not to introduce them until your pond is suffiuciently established to provide them with enough floating sediment to survive. It is often recommended that mussels be placed in a tray full of sand or fine gravel in which they can move around; however, if this is necessary your pond is probably too clean for mussels. We suggest not introducing mussels until an inch or two of sediment has settled onto the bottom of your pond, making the tray unnecessary.

Insects, such as dragonflies and their larvae, will arrive on their own even if your pond is miles from a natural body of water. If your pond is closer than that to a natural wetland, other water-dwelling insects may arrive over land. And some will arrive piggy-backed to the plants and animals that you introduce to your pond. The only insects that we recommend adding to the pond yourself are those that you can see on the surface—whirligigs and water striders. These are generally considered to be charming additions, and are basically harmless to fish and plants.

Amphibians and reptiles can be difficult to introduce. Some pond-owners find that their ponds are a magnet for hundreds of these creatures, others never see them. Rural water gardeners are more likely to find slimy and slithery visitors because they, frogs and salamanders in particular, require the damp cover of trees, bushes and dead leaves that only nature can provide. Suburban water gardeners will probably find toads using the pond in spring, as long as there is at least a large garden or some significant vegetation for them to live in during the rest of the year. The best method for introducing amphibians to the pond is to place them there while they are in the egg or larval stage of development. If your pond is suitable they will stay. If it is not, they will migrate. Unsuspecting suburban pond owners have been caught off guard by the din of hundreds of peepers in early spring (a truly deafening sound), so warn the neighbors.

If amphibians move in or decide to stay, reptiles are usually not far behind. Snakes are known to eat frogs and even fish, but they keep a very low profile. Water gardeners in southern climates should of course use extreme caution since some of these visitors may be venomous. Turtles are even more difficult to introduce than amphibians. But again, a rural gardener may note the disappearance of his or her fish and find that a snapping turtle has moved in (this is very rare). When turtles leave, and they usually do at the first opportunity, the main problem is usually that the pond is too small to support the dietary requirements of the turtle, and the size may also leave the turtle vulnerable to attack by raccoons and other predators. We recommend introducing turtles only if the pond is very large and the setting rural.

PART VI : Dealing with Algae & Other Pests

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If you are a fish person, you must become very good at treating the symptoms of an unbalanced pond, and for this we have information sections and a plethora of filtration products to assist you. Plant people, however, can beat algae by making a few simple improvements to the pond.

Algae happens when the nitrogen cycle breaks down because of too much or too little of the various elements that make it all work. In the majority of problem ponds there is too much sunlight, too many fish, and too few plants. The waste from the fish creates an abundance of nitrogen in the water. There are not enough plants to absorb this nitrogen. The lack of plants also means that a lot of sun streams into the pond. This combination of abundant nitrogen and sunlight creates the perfect conditions for algae blooms.

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