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Improving Your Home Landscaping

Few things are more frustrating than a messy front yard. In addition to disrupting your curb appeal, overgrown, messy landscaping can also harbor pests and make it look like you don't care about your property. Fortunately, tidying up your yard doesn't have to be difficult. I have spent years learning more about landscaping, and this blog is all about how to become a landscaping enthusiast. Check out these articles about fun topics like planting flowers, perfecting pruned trees, and decorating your yard with whimsical additions. After you know more about landscaping, your yard might become the talk of the town.

Improving Your Home Landscaping

4 Interesting Types of Fish to Stock Your Decorative Pond With

by Bill Kuhn

Pond owners tend to go straight for the koi and fancy goldfish when stocking their newly established freshwater space. Although these fish are easy to care for, and quite flashy, you can invest in alternate species to create a unique pond environment for your landscape design. Nearly any freshwater fish accustomed to cold water can thrive in a pond habitat. However, you can't simply transplant fish from local waterways into your pond. Wild caught fish can transmit illnesses and parasites to your contained body of water, and the practice is illegal in many states. Instead, you can source suitable fish from a stocking company or pet store. Here are four types of fish to consider for your upcoming pond installation.

Minnows

Minnows are best known as tiny, delicious bait fish. When it comes to your pond, however, minnows are much more beneficial alive than dead. Minnows readily consume mosquito larva and zooplankton to keep your pond waters clear and fresh. These fish are a delight to watch, as their silver and blue scales flash in the light with every twist and turn of the group. Once you establish these fish in your pond, their natural breeding abilities will keep them stocked for years.

Plecos

Plecos are gentle giants that spend their days cleaning algae off your pond liner and accessories. This species can grow up to two feet in length, yet tends to avoid conflict with other fish in its environment. You can find these fish in several different colors and patterns, including zebra stripes and marbled tones. Pleco fish tend to thrive in cold freshwater, especially if you have a dense spread of plants at the bottom of your pond. If your pond freezes over for the winter, however, you may need to place these fish in an indoor holding tank until after the last frost.

Gar

Gar are predatory fish that make an interesting addition to your pond environment. Since gar naturally feed on other fish, you must carefully consider your stock combination before proceeding with the addition. You can also plan for your gar to feed on a portion of your minnows by slightly overstocking the feeders at the beginning of the season and again each year.  Otherwise, you will need to give your gar feeder goldfish to prey on several times a week.

Sunfish

Green sunfish come in a range of blue, green and yellow tones. These fish quickly swim through the pond water in search of insects and larva. If you have a snail problem in your garden, the sunfish will quickly eliminate any specimens that come near the water's edge. Sunfish do well in murky waters, so they do not need extensive pond maintenance to thrive. The sunfish breed easily on their own, so you may need to thin your stocks on occasion if your pond becomes too crowded. You can sell your excess stock to other pond owners or even fillet and eat the largest of the group.

Keeping Your Landscape Beautiful

A healthy, thriving pond adds depth and beauty to your overall landscape design. You can make sure your pond remains in great condition by cleaning out the filters and observing your fish on a regular basis. Check the pond liner and pumps for signs of wear and replace the damaged components as needed. On a weekly basis, rinse out the biological filters, but do not use any cleansing products. With a quick rinse, you want to remove the algae buildup that blocks the filter element without disrupting the beneficial bacteria stores.

Take some time to observe your fishes' healthy activity levels and appearance. If you notice a decline in activity or scale color changes, you may need to start troubleshooting the illness before fish start to die off. You can check the water quality to verify the chemical composition remains at beneficial levels for your fish. If you have any questions or concerns, you can talk to your landscape designer for more information on pond maintenance or stocking tasks. 

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