What a year here in Erie, Pa. Very wet start from April to May then bam summer just turned on. Nice and hot, the pond even reached 82 degrees for a few days. This seemed to be the norm for most of the north east part of the US. With all the rain and no sun the ponds kept clear but when the sun came out and stayed out, all the nutrients washed in from the rain blossomed into algae and excessive weeds growth.

Other parts of the nation (Missouri River), at the same time have been under flood watch, evacuations, and mandatory evacuations even to the point of creating dam and levee breach’s to release the on rush of water away from the more populated areas to farm lands ruining the crops. Talk about making the right decision to flood other parts of the landscape rather than letting the flood run its course. I’m sure it was a tough call to make, save cities and towns by flooding farm land that provides food.

At the same time other parts of the nation drought conditions kept on the rise while ponds and lakes shrunk from lack of rain and evaporation. Not a pleasant sight watching the pond shrink and potentially losing all your prize fish, source of water for crops, animals or garden.

Then the hurricanes started to hit the east coast and the north east got nailed not once but twice in two weeks with major flooding and a long time to get back on their feet. Just when light was showing at the end of the tunnel, a snow storm hit these flooded areas and added to the chaos.

Not only the U.S but around the globe with major disasters, Japan Tsunami , Bannock floods , volcano eruptions, earthquakes and the list goes on. From having it all one day to having it all gone the next. It’s been a real test on humanity, emotions, resources and having the heart and soul to keep re-building and moving forward looking for the silver lining every day.

Take a few minutes and reflect on what you have, what you’ve accomplished this year and what would you do if it all was washed away? Be Thankful for what we have and live every day to its fullest.

Have a GREAT Thanks Giving Day.

I’m sure you’ve seen the light house from time to time in different pictures or video that’s been posted throughout the site over the past couple years. A birthday present for the little women, one of her favorite pond accessories. It is pretty cool to have and saved me a lot of time and energy rather than building a gazebo out on the peninsula.  The light house came with a little 7 watt bulb that usually didn’t make it thru one summer. So after a couple years I got tired of changing it so often and re-vamped the wiring and changed over to the compact florescent bulb of 13 watts, yep twice the wattage of the incandescent bulb but not noticeable in the electric bill. It has managed to work for one full year both summer and winter.

We also added a string of lights around the outside to light up the outside of the light house so it can be seen at night. By the way we do take the light house in for winter due to the crazy winters we get, but I do use the same bulb in a different outdoor fixture so I can see the pond area and wire it in a way to know the aerator is still running.

Oops I’m getting carried away typing so back to the story. We had warning of strong to severe thunderstorms the other night and never gave it a thought as most of them have been missing us. Guess what happened at 4:30 am ? Woke up to the lightning bolts and very loud thunder even heard a ka-bang as if it was right outside the window. Finally got back to sleep for a bit and pretty much was on the go the next day.

The following day we are at the pond doing some landscaping with rocks, sand and aquatic plants when my little women said WHAT HAPPENED TO THE LIGHTHOUSE? Obviously I didn’t do it. It actually got hit by lightning. Two large pieces of the top spindle were found in opposite directions 30 ‘each way and the roof blown in half. The outer walls that held the glass looked as if there was too much air pressure inside and split at every seem. Looks like a winter project. SO much for the experiment on the florescent bulb, seems to be cooked.

When warnings come up, always listen to the forecaster’s. Lightning may not strike in the same spot twice but can strike anywhere any time. If you can hear thunder, lightning is close enough to strike. Seek shelter and play it safe. Better to be safe than ending up like the light house, or worse.

Spring is coming…and so are the nutrients that create algae in our ponds.

All winter long the pond has been frozen over and covered with snow. No sunlight entering the pond and very cold water temperatures has left the water column in a clear state. Meaning the nutrients and plants that had been in the water column have now died and sunk to the bottom of the pond. Which is just one source of creating muck.

In the video below we show another culprit who adds nutrients to the pond. Yep geese. They may be nice to look at but make your pond water not so nice to look at.

Another source is nature itself. With the snow cover, leaves from last years fall and grass decaying under the snow is another source of nutrients running into the pond. And don’t forget about our fish in the pond, although they have slowed down in winter they add to the nutrient load and muck on the bottom of the pond.

Watch the video, it’s under 5 minutes and feel free to leave a comment or if you have any questions or would like your pond calculated for proper aeration simply click the help fish on the left and submit a ticket. Download the Airmax catalog.

Thank You again for all the wonderful pictures and questions of your Pond and Projects. Here we are at the top of the calender again with a brand new year ahead of us. Any resolutions set for this year? I’m working on system to answer your questions and provide an easier way to get information, coming out in a few weeks. Let’s have a fun, prosperous New Year and make it GREAT.

Fall Pond again, I guess it happens every year and we should expect it kind of like clockwork but each year brings new colors and the scurry of getting ready for winter. Squirrel’s gathering food, bird’s flocking up and heading south, Koi have stopped eating for a while now as the water temperature is dropping. Then seeing new life from this summer’s offspring as they head into a long winter under the ice. There is a video below showing the new offspring, too cool.

Here in Erie, Pa. we never know what the weather will do, 75 degrees by day and 40 at night, so when there’s a nice day get as much done as you can and enjoy the weather as well. There is the problem when we are starting to think about bringing in the pond accessories but hoping for another nice day. It could and does happen that day never comes and you’re left in the cold to put things away or worse snow.

So this year we took a nice day and got the ponds ready for winter. One of the items is move the bottom diffused aerators under the deck to keep ice away. Not only keeping the ice away but is placed in shallower water so there is no chance of super cooling the water and possibly killing the fish. Actually the last thing we did was take out the Evolution Fountain, wow the pond looks naked now.

Now that the water is cooling down the algae, leaves and plants will die and sink to the bottom of the pond creating nutrients for algae next spring when the water warms up again, be prepared and have an aeration system ready to install, whether it’s a Fountain or Bottom Diffused Aeration either way can save the day. Learn more on water quality and how you can raise yours at My Pond Aeration.

Welcome Mother Earth News visitors. Wasn’t this an awesome event? It was an honor and a privilege to be a part of the Fair and have the time to talk with you 1 on 1. Whether you spoke to myself, my wife Wanda  or Cary Martin we want to thank you for your passion, questions and concerns about cleaning up your ponds in a natural more permanent way by working with mother nature and not  using harsh chemicals. Take a minute and fill out the contact form found at the top right of the website, let us know the approximant size, depth and location of your pond. With this information we will calculate the proper size unit that fits your pond water quality needs.

Even those of you who have a dream to one day build a pond, feel free to browse around the website and blog for tips and information even sign up for the free “Definitive Guide to Ponds”, what types of ponds and different equipment use to build these ponds are included, with follow up articles about building a pond. Simply fill in your name and email on the right under the video. If you don’t want to wait for the weekly articles you can get all the information in an easy downloadable format that you can reference at any time. This is “The Complete Guide” How to Build a Farm Pond.

Now if you missed our booth or not quite ready to improve your water quality. Please feel free to attend our free email workshop on water quality. Well over 2 hours of video discovering what is below the surface and how install a fountain and bottom diffused aeration with more to come at My Pond Aeration.

Again we want to thank You for attending the fair and stopping by our booth. And also a big round of applause to Mother Earth News with their first very successful fair. And a big thank You to Mother Earth News for all the hard work you put into making the fair a success. See you next year!

Talk to you soon.
Have a GREAT day and take care!
Feel free to leave a comment, they’re always welcome.

Evolution Fountain Spray pattern can be changed pretty easily.

Before we get to the video showing how to change display patterns let’s back up a little bit and ask a question. What if I don’t have a pond or maybe don’t want a pond? But it would sure be nice to have a display to drown out the noise from the neighborhood and even have display to attract customers to my business. There is hope with the Evolution Fountain.

The picture to the left is more of a classy or elegant water feature where there would be retaining walls dressed to suit your surroundings that holds the water in place above ground. The picture on the right offers more of a ground level approach. Both require water proof liner to keep the water from either soaking into the ground or leaking out the retaining wall.

Before you watch the video I want to warn you, I left the blooper in. Yes I could edit it out by why? There is a valuable lesson to learn and if you run into a situation similar this could help out. Just keeping it real we are all human and sometimes have mistakes. And my lil woman asked to remove her from the video but I told her that is the best part, the excitement. Learn more about the Evolution Fountain.

WhatPond has been a busy place this summer so far. And what a summer actually warm to very hot and muggy, not like last year when we only had 3 days above 80 degrees. Since the last post of my parents 50^th we’ve had another party at the pond. At least this time we did not put up any tents because it was already windy. Then ½ hour before the party started the warnings came for severe thunderstorms and tornado’s. The day ended up great and a tornado did touch down but it was miles away from us. Oh the party was the July birthday party for my wife Wanda, her sister Tina, my brother Jeff and mom Jean who turn 70 this year hmmm I better leave that one alone, for now.

Finally finished up writing a book on How to Build a Farm Pond, the cool thing is it’s a down loadable book and when there are any updates or additions you’ll be notified to download again plus 2 interviews that have not been posted anywhere else. The book is on the special offer page and set up with PayPal be sure to click the return to merchant after purchase.

WhatPond’s website has been rearranged a little to help those who have ponds currently and need help with their water quality and to help you when planning your new pond. A couple videos and pages have been put up about pond aeration. Starting with the Pond Fountain and showing one small power house of a fountain called the Evolution Fountain.  Next up is bottom aeration. We also have another site set up where you can learn what is happening below your water’s surface and how to improve your pond water quality. Well over 2 hours of video sign up and grab a pen and paper, a real eye opener.

Coming up is a report on a new pond dye we have been testing this year and why would you add microbes (bugs) to your pond? Comments are welcome, feel free to leave yours below.

Now I cannot do it justice but do want to show a nearby dam that is used for flood control. It may not look like much from the video but the area controlled is 222 square miles. So to speak it is like the watershed filling the pond.  I wanted to get out to the dam when the water is running over the spillway but one of these times it will happen and I’ll get the video put up here with the one you’re about to see.  In the video I mention the lake goes way back. Actually it goes back over 7 miles, wow that is a lot of water to control. Another part I was unsure of but found on the Army Corps site is that the overflow pipe is 19 feet in diameter, Wow. And with proper design and construction all the pieces fit together and work in harmony to keep folks safe from being flooded out, destroying homes

The Union City dam is used for flood control so the watershed above the dam is controlled and the farm land homes and roads below the dam are not affected by floods. This is very similar to retention ponds and storm water pond but a much bigger scale.

Planning out this project included picnic areas, restrooms a roadway and parking areas so there is more thought  as to just putting in a pond. Look into the future, ask family, friends and neighbors their thoughts, it could spark up some ideas you haven’t thought about…

If you are in the area you’ll need to map out a trip to the Union City Dam and schedule time in to stop by WhatPond. A couple websites to see more detail are one from Union City, Pa.  Community Website,

http://www.unioncitypa.com/ucdam.htm and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for all the specifications about the dam,  http://www.lrp.usace.army.mil/rec/lakes/unioncit.htm

Winter Wonder

Wow so far so good only one winter storm this season with significant snow fall that dropped close to 3 feet of snow. Now that we have the deck on the pond my concern was ice building up and maybe lifting the deck then being all twisted up in the spring. To prevent this from happening I moved the aerator from 10 feet of water under the deck in three feet of water and have left it run 24-7.

This will keep a hole in the ice around the deck and being in 3 feet of water we don’t run the risk of super cooling the entire pond and endangering the health of the fish. Having the aerator at the different depths, heating or cooling the pond will be a whole different post in more a lot more detail.

Since winter is here the ice and snow has covered the pond, No I am not one to be out on the ice! When I was a lot younger I went thru and it was not very much fun at all, scary to say the least.  Anyways with the cover of snow and ice the sun can’t enter the pond. Kind of a plus and minus, the plus is algae won’t be growing but the plants you want to grow or stay alive can’t grow do to the lack of sunlight.

Let’s say you have an area where you want to keep the vegetation alive. You could do two things,

1)      Keep the snow off the ice so that the sun’s rays can penetrate thru the ice.

2)      Move your aerator to that location to keep a hole in the ice.

As you will see in the video there is still life happening in the pond and always a jolt of inspiration that spring will come and the pond will be back to its liquid state which also mean’s warmer weather.

Take a few minutes and watch the video below.  Comments are always welcome.

PS. The previous post video has had some major technical problems and working to resolve it. I’ll shoot you an email when the glitch is solved.