Mother Nature always has her own plan. Even though you did your fall pond shutdown and just cleaned the leaves off of the net, they're back again. New leaves fell from the trees...old leaves blew back from the wind. Fall is a long season...especially if you're surrounded by a bunch of trees--all loosely depositing their leaves around your watergarden. Inevitably, if left untouched, leaves that fall on top of pond nets start to weigh down into the pond. This allows for the decomposition of the leaves into the water which contributes to sludge and poor water quality over the cold winter months.

Last year, Dreamscapes Watergardens started recommending a POND TENT for backyard ponds that struggle with the changing season. Pond tents can be put up as early as September and should be taken down before the first snowfall so as to not put unnecessary weight on the structure. If stored correctly, pond tents are reusable year after year.

***Pond tents also have the added benefit of helping to protect your fish from predators.

Depending upon the size and the shape of your pond, a few different shape tents are most effective. The dome is created for ponds 11x16 and under, as the arch made with conduit piping can support the weight of itself and the gusts of wind. For ponds larger than 11x16, we recommend making an angled structure with straight pvc poles for better support of the structure's weight. To secure the structure from moving, ditch the plastic stakes for sod staples!

The actual design of tent structures are custom for every pond because every pond is different. Unless the waterfalls are left running late into the year, the pond tent structure only really has to cover the pond portion of the waterfeature. The edge of the net should be pull taut against the waterfall so that no leaves can blow in an open space. The waterfall can be covered with a separate piece of regular net.

Let the experts handle the hassle for you! Dreamscapes has a full service maintenance program that travels all over the Lebanon, Lancaster and Dauphin County areas constructing and installing pond tents. We also carry a full line of pond supplies from water treatments and fish medications to pond pumps, heaters, fountains, plants and fish! Tadpoles and snails are also available at our Aquatic Retail Center in Lebanon, Pennsylvania seasonally while supplies last from May-August.  If you think you need it, we have it!

Retail Hours:  April 5th-October 27th 2018:
                           Monday-Wednesday: By Appt
                           Thursday-Friday: 10am-5pm
                           Saturday: 9am-12pm
                     October 28th-April 2019: HOURS BY APPT


Contact Us
2155 State Route 343, Lebanon Pa | 717-272-6555 | info@dreamscapeswatergardens.com

Dreamscapes Watergardens services koi ponds and waterfalls in the city of Lebanon, Lancaster, Harrisburg, Mechanicsburg, Camp Hill, Cleona, Cornwall, Fredericksburg, Indiantown Gap, Jonestown, Kleinfeltersville, Mount Gretna, Myerstown, Newmanstown Palmyra, Quentin, Reistville, Richland, Schaefferstown of Pennsylvania, PA

HAPPY MONDAY!!! Maybe your pond already looks like the photo above or you're getting ready to shut it down, however, today we’re going to talk about leak detection in your Central Pennsylvania water feature--- which is important to trouble shoot NOW before the temperatures get too cold, causing hoses to freeze.

Slight fluctuations in your watergarden pond are normal – evaporation and splashing can cause your waterfall or pond to lose up to one (1) inch a day. Large drops in water level, however, is a pretty good indicator that something else is going on. There are 3 areas that the leak issue can be found in:
                              Pond, Piping, or Waterfall.
Luckily, leak detection is simply a series of trouble shooting steps that we’re going to walk you through! The Dreamscapes Team uses these steps faithfully during every leak call we get.

A plumbing leak could be obvious before troubleshooting the pond/waterfall. If you have saturated mulch around the filtration boxes or around the perimeter of the pond, check there first! If obviously saturated mulch is not present, follow the steps below:
Step One: Fill your pond up to a normal level.
Step Two: Turn off your pump
Step Three: Wait 12 – 24 hours and check the water level.
Step Four: Depends on if the water level continued to drop or stayed the same.

If the water drops past an initial inch, the leak is in your pond. At this point, you want to let the pond continue to lose water until it stops because it will eventually find the hole and stop dropping. This is important to troubleshoot in the fall because of not knowing where hole is. In the unlucky case that the hole was in the very bottom of the pond, imagine adding water to the pond when the hoses freeze.

If the water level falls right at the line where the screws and gromets are on the skimmer  box, double check to see if the screws have rusted and disintegrated. If the screws are intact, move a few rocks around the front checking for obvious tears or chew holes and slide your hand behind the liner checking for wet soil indicating that the faceplate silicone has dried out. Remove the faceplate, clean the old silicone off the liner, and refer to your skimmer instruction manual for the proper way to seal the faceplate to the skimmer.

No issues with the above items? You can concentrate your search around the perimeter of the water level by removing any rocks, checking the pond liner for a puncture or hole. If the water level continues to drop to 6"-8" from the bottom, please be advised that it would be wise to remove the fish into holding tanks at this point in order to not compromise their safety. A holding tank should have aeration and a net over top to not only prevent predator attacks but to also prevent curious fish from jumping out. Once found, you can patch the leak with a liner patch kit. You can replace your rocks once the patch has finished sealing.

If the water level stayed the same in Step Three, your problem might lie in the waterfall.

Waterfall leaks can be caused by:
-low liner,
-splashing,
-obstruction or
-chew holes/liner tears.




Low liner -- found around a waterfall's edge. As dirt around the stream or waterfall settles, it can create low liner spots that may cause water to escape over the liner’s edge. This can be easily found by looking for wet mulch or muddy areas around the edges of your stream or waterfall. If you find the low spot, lift up the liner and backfill the liner area with soil to raise the edge and contain the water.
“Splash leak” – one that’s caused by water splashing out of the water feature, can be easily remedied by moving rocks in the area to redirect the water back into your feature.
Obstructions -- in your stream and waterfall caused by excessive plant or algae growth can restrict and divert water flow.
Chew Holes -- harder to find, chew holes can be anywhere inside the waterfall length/width and requires the moving of rocks. We set up test pipes in order to work in 2 foot increments starting at the bottom of the waterfall. Move the test pipe up another 2 feet after 24 hours has passed where the water level has not changed. When water level has dropped, begin lifting rocks in that 2 foot section. You can patch the hole with a liner patch kit and replace the rocks once the patch has finished sealing.

Finally, if none of these solutions work, it’s time to check the pipe, plumbing fittings, and pump connections.

The pipe runs along the outside of the pond and usually saturates the mulch if there is a significant leak like in the picture to the right. A cracked pipe could result in the loss of inches and inches of water in an hour.

The connections to the filtration system could also saturate the mulch. Check all three areas for saturated mulch before digging up/exposing connections and piping. If it is a SLOW LEAK...it may not have saturated the mulch. Dig'em up and  tighten/replace necessary components if found.

As mentioned above---you certainly want to have troubleshooted the leak to know the location before the outside temperatures get too cold, freezing the hoses. If you've narrowed the leak to the waterfall--no rush! That can be addressed in the Spring upon opening. A hole in the bottom of the pond, however, could be fatal for the fish come mid-winter.

Let the experts handle your leaky mess for you! Dreamscapes has a full service maintenance program that travels all over the Lebanon, Lancaster and Dauphin County areas. We also carry a full line of pond supplies from water treatments and fish medications to pond pumps, heaters, fountains, plants and fish! Tadpoles and snails are also available at our Aquatic Retail Center in Lebanon, Pennsylvania seasonally while supplies last from May-August.  If you think you need it, we have it!

Retail Hours:  April 5th-October 27th 2018:
                           Monday-Wednesday: By Appt
                           Thursday-Friday: 10am-5pm
                           Saturday: 9am-12pm
                     October 28th-April 2019: HOURS BY APPT


Contact Us
2155 State Route 343, Lebanon Pa | 717-272-6555 | info@dreamscapeswatergardens.com

Dreamscapes Watergardens services koi ponds and waterfalls in the city of Lebanon, Lancaster, Harrisburg, Mechanicsburg, Camp Hill, Cleona, Cornwall, Fredericksburg, Indiantown Gap, Jonestown, Kleinfeltersville, Mount Gretna, Myerstown, Newmanstown Palmyra, Quentin, Reistville, Richland, Schaefferstown of Pennsylvania, PA

Cue the ultimate backyard pool make-over: complete with a concrete-tree rope-swing, sliding board, waterfall and diving rocks. What? YES! Dreamscapes is SO thrilled to have an opportunity to be apart of this Mechanicsburg  project with Aquavisions, Inc. Because Dreamscapes Watergardens specializes in all things waterfeature related, meaning the waterfall portion of this really awesome backyard project, this homeowner allowed us to have full creative control when it came to the pool waterfall. The only request? It MUST have diving rocks 3'-4' high.

DEAL!

The sheer volume of the waterfall for this project is amazing in and of itself--  25'x22' and about 9' tall, showcasing 40 tons of rock, some half of the size of a volkswagen (picture that). To lift these heavy pieces, we even had to rent a full size excavator instead of using our own mini! 

The waterfeature project took about a week and a half with a 3 man crew and involved some really awesome veining that will be pictured in a Part 2 blog. The rest of this pool project will be finished by Aquavisions within the next few months-- we can't wait to get some finished photos/videos with running water and that gushing awesome waterfall sound to put in our Part 2 blog being posted in early 2018.

"Pool Waterfalls" are a whole different ballgame when it comes to our typical waterfeature installation because they don't contain the regular filtration components of waterfeatures/watergardens that contain pond fish or aquatic plants. Generally, for example, we use and promote the Aquascape Filtration System because the ease of use and maintenance. The filtration system used for the pool waterfall, however, is the same filtration system used to keep the waterfall's water quality ideal.


So what is the regular/seasonal waterfeature maintenance on something like this?

In a pool waterfall, the "pool portion" of the pool becomes the waterfall's reservoir and therefore the regular pool chemicals circulate through the water that trickles down the the rocks of the waterfall. This type of set up makes the maintenance on this style waterfeature very minimal because the pool chemicals help to maintain the waterfall's water quality. Algae does not grow if the right amount of chlorine is present in the water. These same chemicals, however, also make typical waterfeature aquatic plants unusable because chlorine KILLS plants!

Fall maintenance on a pool waterfall falls in line with the shutdown of the pool--- once the water is drained out of the pool and the pump is pulled, all is taken care of. A net can be installed over the waterfall to make spring leaf clean-up easier. Regular waterfeature maintenance may be a lot more involved when fish are present---if you're wondering about what typical maintenance is, jump over to our Fall/Winter Life Support blog.

Once this total project is complete and the pool can be filled with water, we will post a Part 2 blog with videos and photos. Located in Lebanon, Pennsylvania, Dreamscapes Watergardens installs koi fish ponds and pondless waterfalls (disappearing waterfalls) all over the Central Pennsylvania area. For more information on koi ponds, waterfalls, POOL WATERFALLS or fountain waterfeature installations, please contact us directly!

Dreamscapes also carries a full line of pond supplies from water treatments and fish medications to pond pumps, heaters, fountains, plants and fish! Tadpoles and snails are also available at our Aquatic Retail Center in Lebanon, Pennsylvania seasonally while supplies last from May-August.  If you think you need it, we have it!

Retail Hours:  April 5th-October 27th 2018:
                           Monday-Wednesday: By Appt
                           Thursday-Friday: 10am-5pm
                           Saturday: 9am-12pm
                     October 28th-April 2019: HOURS BY APPT


Contact Us
2155 State Route 343, Lebanon Pa | 717-272-6555 | info@dreamscapeswatergardens.com

Dreamscapes Watergardens services the city of Lebanon, Lancaster, Harrisburg, Mechanicsburg, Camp Hill, Cleona, Cornwall, Fredericksburg, Indiantown Gap, Jonestown, Kleinfeltersville, Mount Gretna, Myerstown, Newmanstown Palmyra, Quentin, Reistville, Richland, Schaefferstown of Pennsylvania, PA

Pond Fish are pretty hardy and usually survive the winter with barely any effort year after year. But there are times when you find one, or two…or maybe even all of your pond fish have died over winter.

So what gives…what could be the cause of your winter pond fish loss?

• Aerator – An aerator is one of the most, if not the most, effective ways to prevent winter fish loss. An aerator produces a column of bubbles also known as oxygen that is used by your pond fish, plants, and by the beneficial bacteria.
  

 

• Pond Heater/De-Icer – In winter, you should have a hole open in the ice to allow for the exchange, and escape, of gases. However, breaking a hole in the ice manually could fatally shock your fish.   Pond heaters are thermostatically controlled and safely keeps a hole in the ice as it forms, allowing the lethal gases to escape.
  

Dreamscapes offers Spring Opening, Fall Shutdown and even Routine Pond Maintenance packages seasonally! We also carry a full line of pond supplies from water treatments and fish medications to pond pumps, heaters, fountains, plants and fish! Tadpoles and snails are also available at our Aquatic Retail Center in Lebanon, Pennsylvania seasonally while supplies last from May-August.  If you think you need it, we have it!

Retail Hours:  April 5th-October 27th 2018:
                           Monday-Wednesday: By Appt
                           Thursday-Friday: 10am-5pm
                           Saturday: 9am-12pm
                     October 28th-April 2019: HOURS BY APPT


Contact Us
2155 State Route 343, Lebanon Pa | 717-272-6555 | info@dreamscapeswatergardens.com

Dreamscapes Watergardens services koi ponds and waterfalls in the city of Lebanon, Lancaster, Harrisburg, Mechanicsburg, Camp Hill, Cleona, Cornwall, Fredericksburg, Indiantown Gap, Jonestown, Kleinfeltersville, Mount Gretna, Myerstown, Newmanstown Palmyra, Quentin, Reistville, Richland, Schaefferstown of Pennsylvania, PA

There is the obvious aesthetic value---your pond will look more natural if you have varying sizes of rocks and gravel inside the waterfeature. But how about thinking of it as a filter, too. If you are using gravel in your pond, whether intentionally as filtration or because you like how it looks, you must treat it and consider it as a form of filtration because that is what it is going to do.

Filtration systems are designed to remove something specific. The mechanical filtration system, for example, will remove large debris and prevent the pump from getting clogged. The gravel filtration system, much like the biological filtration system) will break down sediment and waste by use of millions of microbes (beneficial bacteria…also know as that stuff you should be adding weekly to the pond).

Beneficial bacteria grows all over the gravel in forms of colonies (same way it does in your biomedia in your "top box"). Gravel has an almost immediate impact on water clarity, and then it goes to work on water quality because the tiny microbes eat at the tiny particles that are in your water. The more space you allow beneficial bacteria to colonize, the better chance your pond has at staying in balance. 

Of course, like any type of filter it needs to be cleaned or it loses its filtering ability. We recommend cleaning your gravel every Spring in the Central Pennsylvania area, as old beneficial bacteria dies off over the winter and needs removed from the pond, so as to make room for more beneficial bacteria (sounds simple, right?). The cleaning of the rocks and gravel also removes poor water conditions from the pond, as explained in this more thorough Spring Cleaning blog.

We often hear people exclaim that when they tried adding gravel it was too hard to clean and it got mucky looking. Cleaning it in the spring with a pressure washer makes the job easier and during summer, remember: dirty rocks means it is doing its job. If a filter did not get dirty, then it is not filtering right? Yes, gravel will get dirty, so maintain it, clean it and let it continue to do its job. If you don’t clear your gravel, it will get so jammed packed and cluttered with debris. If you really neglect it you will cause your water quality to suffer.

Gravel filtration for ponds is an effective, inexpensive and low maintenance method of filtering a pond ++++ it makes your pond look more natural (that’s a bonus!!!). Pond filtration works best when many types of filtration is working together—mechanical, biological and gravel! Dreamscapes carries a full line of pond supplies from water treatments and fish medications to pond pumps, heaters, fountains, plants and fish! Tadpoles and snails are also available at our Aquatic Retail Center in Lebanon, Pennsylvania seasonally while supplies last from May-August.  If you think you need it, we have it!

Retail Hours:  April 5th-October 27th 2018:
                           Monday-Wednesday: By Appt
                           Thursday-Friday: 10am-5pm
                           Saturday: 9am-12pm
                     October 28th-April 2019: HOURS BY APPT


Contact Us
2155 State Route 343, Lebanon Pa | 717-272-6555 | info@dreamscapeswatergardens.com
Dreamscapes Watergardens services koi ponds and waterfalls in the city of Lebanon, Lancaster, Harrisburg, Mechanicsburg, Camp Hill, Cleona, Cornwall, Fredericksburg, Indiantown Gap, Jonestown, Kleinfeltersville, Mount Gretna, Myerstown, Newmanstown Palmyra, Quentin, Reistville, Richland, Schaefferstown of Pennsylvania, PA