 Here is a resident Pine-Barrens river otter as it gazes out across the tea-colored water of the Mullica River. You may not ever see them, but there does exist a happy population of river otters here in our area of New Jersey. They are clever and cautious creatures, and are quite adept at staying hidden. Otters avoid contact with people, and quickly dive out of sight when they see us, but they aren't shy about leaving behind signs of their presence if you know what to look for.
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 For seventy-five 14" koi, you would want a pond of at least 10,000 gallons, or roughly 30'x30'. A question that many new pond owners have is how to determine the right number of fish for their pond. Like any system, a backyard pond ecosystem has an ideal ratio of elements that will best promote balance and harmony. As you might imagine, a big 20'x30' pond is not necessary to keep five or ten little goldfish happy. Likewise, a small 6'x8' pond is much too small to support the 24" trophy koi that you've been dreaming about. Common sense will guide you from such extremes, but finding the sweet spot will require a few calculations.
Click 'Read More' down on the right to learn how you can identify that sweet spot... Koi and goldfish are the two most popular fish among backyard ponds here in New Jersey. These two species are very closely related to each other; they are both in the cyprinidae (carp) family, but they do have a few key differences. This article will teach you what separates koi from goldfish and common carp, and help you determine which kind is best suited for your pond.
 Don't feed the herons! As you might imagine, there are a handful of animals here in South Jersey that given the chance would instinctually treat your koi pond as their private food stash. This is not too surprising considering this is a fish whose beginnings were as a humble food fish, farmed by people in Eastern Asia. As far as we know, the modern ornamental koi has only been around for one or two thousand years, barely a blip on the grand scale of evolution. Its existence here in the pinebarrens is a recent development, brought about by the fascination with Japanese koi ponds in the minds of American soldiers returning from WWII. Even the koi's ancestor, the common carp, has only been in the waters of NJ since the mid to late 1800's. This means that the wild animals in our backyards have not evolved alongside these fish, something that is both a blessing and a curse for koi-keepers. On the positive side, not having lived among carp/koi means the predators are not accustomed to considering them as a food source; when they get hungry there is no instinct telling them to fill their belies with carp. On the negative side, it means that when one of those animals discovers a novel and untapped food source in your pond, it will likely exploit it for all its worth.
Click 'Read more' down on the right to learn how to keep your koi safe... If you're a regular reader of this blog, you may have noticed that many of our posts regard the criteria for pond that will be home to a specific family of animal. Thus far, we've described ponds for turtles, bass, frogs, dragonflies, and snails. Today's post is about a different class of animal: avian. More specifically, it is about ponds built for ducks! This article will describe exactly what ducks need in a pond, and how to design a pond where your feathered fowl can thrive. Click 'Read more' down at the right to learn what makes an ideal duck pond...  The friendly mallard: more polite than a rooster! Filtration
Easily the biggest challenge with designing and owning a duck pond is achieving adequate filtration. A standard ecosystem pond designed for koi will quickly become overloaded with waste when ducks are introduced. To effectively handle a load of ducks, you'll definitely want to have a wetland or bog filter. This uses plants and bacteria to naturally utilize the excess nitrates in the duck detritus as nutrients for growth. Deciding how large to make your wetland depends on the number of ducks and the size of the pond. A typical fish pond will have a wetland averaging about 10% of the pond's surface area. For ducks, you'll want it sized between 30-50% of the pond's surface area. That may sound like a lot, but consider how the typical environment where ducks thrive is full of reeds and cattails. That doesn't happen by accident, those reeds grow so well because the ducks provide them plenty of fertilizer. It's been discovered that the best plants for using in the wetlands of a duck pond are reeds and cattails. Due to their density and vertical growth, they use the greatest amount of nitrates relative to the area they occupy.  Not your typical water garden resident: The Largemouth Bass People often ask us about keeping bass in their pond, either in addition to koi or in place of koi. There are typically two groups we hear from: people interested in introducing bass to a pond with established ornamentals like koi and goldfish; and people starting from scratch who are interested in having a pond designed and built specifically for keeping bass. Most people reading this are probably in the first group, so we’ll start there.
Click 'Read more' down on the right to see the full article...  Meet the Lesser Pond Snail, NJ's most common species of snail A common question from new pond owners is whether they should worry about snails in their pond. The short answer is no, you do not need to worry about snails in your pond.
The common species here in South Jersey in the lesser pond snail, Galba truncatula. They are small invertebrates, usually measuring between 2-8mm long. They are silent little creatures that eat decaying leaves and the slime algae along the rocks in your pond. These snails are often introduced to a pond by hitching along on some aquatic plants; juvenile snails and eggs are very small and can easily avoid detection. In the plant pools at any outdoor nursery, you are likely to see many snails, they enjoy a safe life away from predators in those little pools. Click 'Read more' down on the right to see the full article... Turtles are one of nature's truly unique wonders. They have been around on this planet since the time of dinosaurs, at least 220 million years! They have an extremely long lifespan, ranging between 80-150 years depending on species and habitat. Like many reptiles, their DNA is very stable and has changed very little over the millions of years of their existence.  Click 'Read more' down on the right to see the full article...
A common question we hear from new pond owners is how to get dragonflies at their pond. It's really quite simple, all you need to do is create the right conditions for them and they will find the pond on their own.
The simplest advice is to just mimic their natural habitat: Water, Plants, Rocks. A healthy body of water is paramount. For the smaller species like damselflies, even the tiniest ponds will suffice. For larger species, you will want a medium-large sized pond with a diameter of 15' or greater. The larger the pond you have, the greater diversity of dragonfly species you might attract. A maximum depth of 2' or greater is preferred, this will provide the nymphs better refuge from predators and it will be more likely the adult dragonflies will choose that pond in which to lay their eggs. Click 'Read more' down on the right to see the full article... Fish are easy in the winter. Being cold-blooded, they don't have many needs when it gets cold; they'll spend most of their time resting safely at the bottom of the pond where the water is warmest. Their activity, like their metabolism, drops to extremely low levels. All they really need from you is to ensure their pond isn't choked off with ice. Some ice is fine, it gives a nice seasonal change in appearance to the pond. It just can't be all ice. Achieving this is easily accomplished with the proper application of heat and aeration.
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AuthorLandvista Aquascapes provides Pond & Water Feature Design, Installation & Maintenance -Repair services for South New Jersey Homeowners Archives
June 2019
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