Blogs-Pond Designs & Landscape Ideas In Rochester NY

Landscape Ideas: Small Space Water Features In Rochester NY

7/25/2018

Landscape Ideas: Small Space Water Features Rochester|NY|Acorn Ponds & Waterfalls

Looking to spruce up your yard in Rochester NY?

When planning your landscape ideas and options, consider a new water feature. Fountains and container water gardens are the perfect way to add a splash of water to your landscape.

Affordable and easy to install, you’ll find a variety of water features to give your outdoor living space a unique look.

Landscape Ideas Rochester NY Acorn Ponds & Waterfalls

Miniature water gardens, also known as Patio Ponds, are becoming increasingly popular on patios and decks. These small-scaled ponds provide the opportunity to enjoy beautiful waterlilies in a variety of colors.

You can even add small fish like Rosy Reds. Kids love watching the tiny fish swim and you can bring them indoors when winter rolls around.

Fountains for decks, patios & porches - Fire can be incorporated!

One of the fastest-growing trends in outdoor living features is the combination of fire and water. Our popular fire fountain creates a soft, pleasing sound of water as it flows over and around the pebbles. Fire adds a surprising element that looks great at night, too.

Fountains Ideas Rochester NY Acorn Ponds & Waterfalls

Refreshing fountains are popping up in yards all over the country as more homeowners look for unique ways to improve the curb appeal of their house.

An underground reservoir holds the pump and water that recirculates through the fountain. You’ll find a variety of fountain styles to suit your taste and budget.

Where Is A Good Location For My Fountain?

Water Feature Ideas Rochester NY Acorn Ponds & Waterfalls

Landscape fountains vary in size and can be added to any front yard, side entrance, under a window, next to a backyard patio, deck or can be incorporated into a pond or pondless waterfall! Indoors or outdoors, fountains are a great way to add ambience to any space.

Backyard Ideas Rochester NY Acorn Ponds & Waterfalls

The Stacked Slate Urn fountain does double-duty in this gorgeous front yard. Not only does it provide visual appeal, but it’s connected to a rainwater harvesting system. Rainwater is collected from the roof of the house and stored in the fountain’s 500-gallon reservoir.

Fountain Ideas Rochester NY Acorn Ponds & Waterfalls

Fountains make a great accent piece for your flower beds. This grouping of natural rock fountains are the perfect, rustic complement to the dainty, colorful impatiens.

Who wouldn’t enjoy coming home to this beautiful scene?

A trio of stone fountains welcomes visitors to these suburban homes, adding to the home’s value with increased curb appeal.

Front Yard Ideas Rochester NY Acorn Ponds & Waterfalls

How to attract birds & Butterflies In Rochester NY Acorn Ponds & Waterfalls

Birds and butterflies enjoy visiting outdoor fountains to enjoy a refreshing splash or nourishing drink.

Patio Ponds Ideas Rochester NY Acorn Ponds & Waterfalls

Water Feature ideas For Your Patio Rochester NY Acorn Ponds & Waterfalls

Water Features Ideas Rochester NY Acorn Ponds & Waterfalls

If you have a small space that you would like to add a little bit of paradise to, these might be a great option for you.

Whatever you choose, you’re sure to enjoy the beauty and refreshment that a small water feature adds to your outdoor living spaces!

Some Helpful Links

Why Hire Us? Pond Contractor Reviews Of Acorn Ponds & Waterfalls

A Guide To Fix Fish Pond Leaks

How To defend Tour Fish From Pond predators

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Is Adding Beneficial Pond Bacteria Worth It?...

7/11/2018

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Is Adding Beneficial Pond Bacteria To Your Rochester NY Fish Pond Worth It?

The very short answer: Yes!

Each year as we maintain ponds in Rochester NY, we consistently remind our customers to add beneficial pond bacteria to their ponds & water gardens. This is to maintain a consistent balance of beneficial pond bacteria to provide consistent water quality and water clarity for the pond’s ecosystem.

Why Add Beneficial Pond Bacteria If It Will Grow On It’s Own?

Honestly, we asked the same question and were skeptical to consistently add this extra liquid “stuff”. We felt as though the pond and filtration would maintain the proper pond bacteria levels without supplementation and this does happen to a certain extent, however…

We decided to test products to see if they really made a difference. Over the course of a year, we consistently added beneficial pond bacteria and a sludge bacteria to one pond and not another, both having similar fish loads and proper filtration.

The results were dramatic. The pond with “stuff”, added consistently, was gin clear with no green water in the spring and a 3 week filter cycle ( pond enthusiasts: a filter cycle is how quickly water quality results showed 0 for ammonia and nitrites).

Also, in the fall there was very little sludge build-up on the bottom of the pond and every stone was visible. The fish were also very lively and looked extremely healthy.

Beneficial Bacteria For Koi Ponds In Rochester NY

The pond we didn’t supplemental pond bacteria to was clear, but not like the other, and the sludge build up was significantly visible on the rocks in this pond. The pond did go through a 7-10 day spring green water phase and the filter took about 8 weeks to cycle. (Big difference) The fish looked healthy and were active, but less active, but not as visible or vibrant as those in the pond with consistent pond bacteria additions(“stuff”).

By this time we felt as though we had answered the question of: Is it worth adding pond bacteria? Yes, in our opinion it is 100% worth it to add pond bacteria and sludge reducing bacteria.

Read Acorn Ponds Info About Our Bacteria Dosing System

The Bacteria Dosing System

Automatic Bacteria Dosing System For Koi Ponds

Have you ever forgotten to add your water treatments to your backyard pond only to be reminded by an abundance of algae growth? The Aquascape Automatic Dosing System will help keep your water feature looking great all year long!

More Info: EXTREME POND ENTHUSIASTS-KEEP READING

So What Made That Difference???
Just Because We Added Some Liquid Bacteria To The Pond???

The waste levels become elevated and the bacteria need to grow naturally to eat this waste. It takes time for these bacteria to multiply which can create poor water quality and water in the meantime. This creates a bacteria cycle of highs and lows. Your pond needs consistency.

Adding beneficial pond bacteria is a way of supplementing and keeping pond bacteria levels steady so the bacteria are consistently keeping up with the ammonia and fish waste levels. This is somewhat similar to us taking vitamin supplements for our bodies in an effort to keep our vitamin levels consistent.

Adding beneficial pond bacteria eliminates high and low bacteria level swings which provides us with a cleaner and clearer pond, as well as a healthier environment for our fish friends.

Acorn Ponds & Waterfalls is Western New York including Pittsford, Fairport, Webster & beyond premier water garden and koi pond contractor. Building, maintaining, and helping customers with their ponds is our passion, hobby, and most of all fun and rewarding.

We take great pride in our attention to detail and careful planning from the design process throughout the construction of any water feature you can dream up. Beyond construction of your water feature, we also specialize in the maintenance of anything and everything related to waterscapes. Our vast knowledge of koi and pond fish will always be at your fingertips, whenever you need help.

Some Helpful Links:

The Bacteria Dosing System

Introducing The IonGen Electronic String Algae Control

Fish Pond Filtration

Acorn Ponds & Waterfalls is offering this blog as a personal information source to our website visitors & Rochester NY Pond Owners. Our Pond services are performed in Monroe County Rochester New York (NY) & surrounding areas. Pond Maintenance, Pond Construction & Pond Repair are all in our wheelhouse of talent, Explore our website for more ideas.

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Pond & Garden Lighting Rochester NY: Create Magic At Night

7/4/2018

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Pond & Garden Lighting Rochester|NY|Acorn Ponds & Waterfalls

Rochester New York water features are stunning during the day, but when pond and garden lighting is used to enhance evening views, you’ll find the landscape takes on a whole new dimension!

Tuck a spotlight behind a waterfall and the feature takes on a magical feel. Used in the main portion of a pond, you’ll enjoy watching fish dart in and out of the lights.

As the sun begins to set, pond and garden lighting create a magical mood in the landscape. Think of that vacation you experienced at the beach and the serene feeling you enjoyed watching the moon cast a glowing trail over the ocean’s surface.

Pond & Garden Lighting Rochester NY Acorn Ponds & Waterfalls

When you add a waterfall or underwater lighting to your water feature, you extend your viewing pleasure well into the evening. You can add lights during the installation of your water feature, or add later if you see dark spots you’d like to highlight.

Waterfall Lighting Rochester NY Acorn Ponds & Waterfalls

Pond Lighting Rochester NY Acorn Ponds & Waterfalls

Water Feature Lighting Rochester NY Acorn Ponds & Waterfalls

Although moonlight casts its own soft glow in your water feature, waterfall and garden lighting shows the details of the rock and water.

It’s always a joy to watch fish swim in and out of lights. Be sure to incorporate LED lights which use approximately 80-90% less electricity and last 10 times longer than their halogen counterparts.

LED Lighting Rochester NY Acorn Ponds & Waterfalls

Fountain Lighting Rochester NY Acorn Ponds & Waterfalls

Be creative with your garden lighting options and you’ll find you enjoy your water feature during the evening hours just as much as you appreciate it during the daytime.

Place a single bullet light in a container water garden or fountain bowl for a dramatic and interesting effect

Some Helpful Blogs

Small Backyard Pond/Inspirational Ideas

Top 10 Features To Add To Your Pond

Water Features Ideas

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Pleasures Of Koi Fish In Rochester NY

6/27/2018

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Pleasures Of Koi Fish In Rochester|NY|Acorn Ponds & Waterfalls

Pond fish in Rochester NY such as the beloved koi fish play an important role in the nitrogen cycle of an ecosystem pond. Not only do koi dine on algae, but they provide a beautiful flash of color as they glide in and out of waterlilies.

Koi and other pond fish make great outdoor pets … even learning to eat right out of your hand, if you’re patient! When you have a water garden of your very own, you’ll grow to love your fish as much as you love your cat or dog!

An Eskimo Kiss is shared over a trickle of koi food koi pellets. Fido might look like he’s snarling, but he actually adores the koi fish and watches over them every chance he gets. Learn more about feeding koi.

Butterfly koi seem to lack some of the body size of regular koi, but the overall fish can run as long as 36 to 40 inches in the right pond with plenty of food. They are graceful and pleasant to watch swim.

This festive koi shows off his feathery fins, dancing about in the cool waters, swishing his tail first one way, and then the other.

This ethereal, white koi fish is truly stunning against the cool, dark, watery backdrop.

Sometimes hard to spot in the water, Mr. Dark and Mysterious koi reveals intricate designs in his shimmering scales.

You simply can’t ignore this koi fish face! He may look like a Grumpus-Ala-Bumpus, but this Japanese koi is actually quite pleased with his pond

And this golden koi fish gal proudly flaunts the latest shade of lipstick.

A window frames the perfect view of our finned koi friends. This is a perfect indoor spot for a morning cup of coffee, delighting in the views of the backyard oasis.

Another koi fish beauty skims the surface of the pond. They say not to name your fish, fearing you’ll become too attached. But when you see their personality reflected in the water garden, how could you resist naming your finned friends?

The Joy Of Baby Koi

If you have fish in your pond, sooner or later they are going to have babies. Late spring to early summer usually marks the time of year when koi and goldfish start to spawn.

When koi and goldfish spawn, they produce thousands of eggs but very few actually survive and grow up into baby fish. Koi are egg “scatterers,” meaning they generally deposit their eggs on the bottom of the pond or in plants.

The eggs hatch a few days after although you probably won’t be able to see them for several weeks because they are too small. At this stage in development, the babies will feed off of all sorts of microorganisms in your pond.

After a couple months the babies are about an inch long and may start eating commercial food. In order to “bulk” them up, look for a food that has high protein content. Depending on the pellet size, it may be necessary to crush them in order for the babies to eat the food.

By the end of summer you’ll have to decide whether to bring the babies inside or let them over-winter in the pond. If you decide to let them over-winter outside, they may or may not survive because they don’t have enough fat reserve to tide them over.

If you decide to bring them in, make sure you have a large enough tank with adequate filtration because they will continue to grow inside.

Another thing to remember is that if your pond babies continue to survive year after year, sooner or later they are going to get big and could overcrowd your pond. If you plan on keeping some of the babies, understand that eventually you may have to get rid of (cull) some of them.

Watching the baby fish grow up is fun and the whole process is a great learning experience for kids and adults, alike.

How many koi fish do you have in your water garden, and have you named them?

Some helpful Links

How To Clean A Pond In Rochester NY

How Many Koi Fish Can You Put In A Pond?

Do My Koi Fish & Goldfish Need Hiding Places In My Pond/Water Garden?

How Much & How Often Should I Feed My Koi Ponds Fish?

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10 Invasive Pond Plants You Need To Know In Rochester NY

6/20/2018

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10 Invasive Pond Plants You Need To Know Rochester|NY|Acorn Ponds & Waterfalls

Adding plants to your Rochester NY water garden has many benefits such as naturalizing the landscape, creating smooth transitions for edges and improving the water quality and ecosystem as a whole.

But did you know that many common pond plants can be invasive and in some areas illegal to obtain? Even though a plant may be aggressive, that does not mean you shouldn’t consider adding them to your pond.

If the plant you have chosen is especially aggressive, it should be kept in a pot to keep it contained. Some may put an aggressive floating plant in their Biofalls to help naturalize this part of their pond and contain them.

Less invasive aquatic marginal plants can either be left in the pot or set free to roam a bit.

For a more detailed list of regulated and prohibited invasive aquatic plants, be sure to visit http://iwgs.org/invasive-species/.

Take a look below at the 10 common invasive pond plants that you should be aware of.

Pickerel Weed (Pontederia cordata)

Pickerel Weed has violet blue spike-like flowers that exhibit from spring through early fall. This plant thrives in dense colonies along pond edge and in bogs and grows anywhere from 2’ to 3’ tall.

Water Forget-Me-Not
(Myosotis scorpiodes)

Forget-Me-Not is a fragrant plant with dense clusters of small, bright blue flowers with yellow eyes that appear in early spring. This plant grows from 8” to 10” above the water in both sun and shade.

Parrots Feather
(Myriophyllum aquaticum)

This is a fast growing plant lush with lacy lime-green foliage. Parrots Feather makes for a good oxygenator and fish spawning shelter and thrives in sun or shade.

Creeping Jenny
(Lysimachia nummularia)

Also called Moneywort, this plant grows in mats around 3” tall, with round green leaves and vibrant yellow cup-shaped flowers. Creeping Jenny requires full sun to partial shade for best growth.

Water Lettuce
(Pistia stratiotes)

Water lettuce produces fuzzy, lime-green rosettes of leaves that results in what looks like little floating heads of lettuce. It does best in some shade.

Water Snowflake
(Nymphoides indica)

Water Snowflake has round, floating, 2-inch leaves that are green with maroon variegation. Because they exchange oxygen on the surface, they need to remain dry and away from the spray of waterfalls and fountainheads.

Aquatic Crinum, Swamp or Bog Lily (Crinum americanum)

The Aquatic Crinum lily is dainty and elegant all at once with its long petalled, white flowers and green strap-like leaves. Aquatic Crinum grows anywhere from 18” to 36” tall in full to partial sun.

Canna
(Canna flaccida)

Canna is a tall-growing plant with variegated or green leaves and brightly colored flower spikes.

Marginal Aquatic Pond Plant Rochester NY

Taro (Colocasia esulenta)

Taro is known for its heart-shaped leaves that can reach 3” to 10” across and up to 3’ in length.

Cattail (Typha spp.)

The common Cattail is often seen growing in ditches and along the edge of wetlands. They are valued for their water filtration abilities and do best in full sun to partially shaded areas. Blooms appear in late spring and turn brown in summer. Cattail grow anywhere from 4’ to 5’ tall.

These plants are all beautiful and can still be enjoyed, just keep in mind that you will need to cut them back from time to time or keep them contained in something such as a pot or aquatic planter to avoid them from taking over your pond.

Some Helpful Links:

The Absolutely Gorgeous Lotus For Water Features In Rochester NY

Help Your Pond Beat The Summer Heat

7 Tips For Planting Your Pond In Rochester NY

Spring Pond Changes: 4 Steps To Enjoy A Crystal Clear Pond In Rochester NY