97
degrees today in our neck of the woods - welcome summer! With heat like
this you really have to keep an eye on the water levels in your pond.
In hot, dry weather, ponds can lose 7" or more of water in one week.
This wreaks havoc on pond water quality as evaporation greatly increases
the concentration of ammonia and nitrites. Not to mention equipment
damage when that pond pump starts sucking air!
First things
first. If you are re-filling your pond with tap water you must be
vigilant in consistently treating the water with a dechlorinator.
Dechlors are not just for major water changes. You may think there is
no need for a dechlor when your just topping off the pond - but the
effect is cumulative. If your just topping off, then just use a
little. Our absolute favorite is AquaMeds DeChlor and More.
It is safe and effective and removes chlorine, chloramine, ammonia,
heavy metals and, in true AquaMeds fashion, has a stress coat
proctectant for fish.
From an equipment standpoint, the biggest
risk lies with your skimmer pump. Once the water level drops below the
skimmer door, your pump will burn out very quickly (and unless you're
really nifty, this is not covered under most warranties...). To keep
this from happening, install a low water cut off switch. Granted, you will still have to add water to the pond, but you will save your pump and a lot of $$$.
There are several inexpensive auto fill kits
which attach to a garden hose or irrigation line. They operate pretty
much like a toilet float (sorry!). When the water drops below a certain
level, the valve opens and water runs into the pond until the desired
water level is reached then shuts off. The Laguna Auto Fill Kit is an inexpensive and basic auto fill that can be installed pond-side (does not have to be in a skimmer).
