Pond Disasters!

Koi and pond enthusiast, as I have mentioned in previous web pages, we are in a unique position to help solve Koi Pond and water garden problems.  Not only do our service technicians see a lot of events that happen to ponds, we also receive distress calls for help when something goes wrong with the pond.  Following is a list of events that frantic Koi pond owners have called us with.  Hopefully, by sharing these it will help other pond owners.

2007 Pond Disasters:

• Don't stick your hand in the pond when you have just applied insect repellant.  The pond will die very quickly regardless of your efforts.
• Don't use Morton's water softener pellets in the yellow bag.  The product contains detergent and will kill your fish.  Call Morton's Salt company, they will instruct you on the proper product.
• Don't start a backwash and get tied up on the phone or take a shower.  Your pond will drain itself and your fish may die.
• Do not walk away from a pond filling by hose with city water.  Your fish will die.
• Do not do a major water change or pond cleaning if road work or work on the water lines is going on in front of your house or in the general neighborhood.  When a water line is broken during road work or a water line is being replaced, the construction crews is mandated to glue large tablets of chlorine in each 10' of pipe replaced.  Therefore, an excessive amount of chlorine will be in the water that is used to refill your pond.  NOTE:  we get an excessive number of calls regarding this situation every year.
• Do not refill a pond with city (chlorinated) water without using a dechlor product.  Many people tell us that they regularly top off the pond without using a dechlorinatoring product.  Did you know that city water agencies spike the water tanks 2 to 3 times a year with excessive amounts of chlorine?  These agencies do not advertise this and will rarely admit it.  They do not want to be responsible for dead fish.

If you have a disaster that happened to your pond, contact us, and we will post it.  Let's learn from each other.