Sunday 30 January 2011

Nano technology. Is there anything in it for ponds?

Nano Technology is real innovation. It has already opened up many new porducts, with clear benefits in many different areas of our lives.

Nano Technology operates at a truly minute level - which gives engineers both a challenge, but also, because of its incredibly minute scale, is able to offer improvements to our lives and products by the virtue of how things behave at the nano-level.

What is Nano Technology?

The Nano of 'Nano Technology' relates to a nanometer. A millimetre is one thousanth of a metre. A nanometer is a billionth of a metre. If you were to stare and watch your fingernails grow, then each day they will grow one nanometer. Nano technology applies engineering solutions at that minute scale - but to great effect.

Nano Technology in action, in your pond or back garden.

Have you ever observed how water beads and simply runs off the leaf of a lotus (tropical lily) or of a leaf of Lady's Mantle? The water runs off (in fact - glue will not stick and simply run off) because of the microscopic (nano-scopic!) structure of the surface of each leaf.

This means that dirt, and other natural substances that might stick to the leaf and stop it from photosynthesising - especially having pushed its way up through a muddy pond, will be simply fall away - leaving the leaf completely clean.

How can we apply this to our pond?

Textile and fabric manufacturers have now mastered how to create the same nano-structures and the same self-cleaning performance as found in the lotus lily leaf. This is has already been applied to the manufacture of pet beds, leads, and clothing, preventing them from developing that 'pet smell' - as the natural animal oils do not adhere to the material, so the dirt-loving bacteria that create the smell are not attracted to take up residence on pet beds or pet clothing.

Extensions for the pond market?

One of the pond keeper's biggest problems is blanket weed or string algae.

It sticks to all pond surfaces, whether that is a pond liner, or even a viewing window cut into the wall of a koi pond (or Sea Life Centre). If these surfaces were able to be treated with a nano-coating bonded at the point of manufacture, then blanketweed and other pond algae would not be able to gain a hold and grow - making it easy to control and clear from a pond. Because nano-technology is about the physical structure of a surface, without the use of any harsh chemicals, it suggests such a solution would be ideal as a pond-safe remedy for pond algae without the use of chemicals. 

Sunday 23 January 2011

Pond and Koi Keeping Articles translated and published on Koi-Italia.com

The Koi hobby is truly a global phenomenon, served by a global industry. A number of my articles, on pond keeping and pH, managing cloudy and frothy pond water, and dealing with water quality toxicity problems have been translated by the Koi-Italia team, and now feature on their site.



I'm happy to help share advice and my experiences in koi keeping, although I hadn't expected such requests from Italy!

Water Gardener's Bible website featured in Koi Magazine

The new pond and koi keeping website - The Water Gardener's Bible has been featured by the excellent koi keeping monthly publication - KOI.


I have written for Koi (formerly Koi Ponds & Gardens) for many years. It is an excellent magazine for very hands-on and practical advice from koi keepers and koi professionals (including koi breeders) from around the world.

The Koi Keeper's Encyclopaedia was a series they published in their very colourful and informative magazine. It really is an A-Z of koi and pond keeping information.

Pond Photos

All pond photos that feature on this blog and the Water Gardener's Bible my site are kindly supplied by a good friend and long time pond photgrapher - Dave Bevan.

Dave has been taking wonderful pond photgraphs for many years, and having them published in pond books, koi magazines and other aquatic resources for as long as I can remember. I even used a wonderful shot of his of blanketweed on the packaging of a natural blanketweed treatment - Nishikoi's superb natural blanketweed solution - Goodbye Blanket Weed.

Contact Dave Bevan directly see his full portfolio of pond photos

Winter Pond Keeping

Keeping a pond through the winter is quite a hands-off thing. This is because the water is so cold, that your fish and plants will not need your care and attention.

Fish.

As your pond fish (koi, goldfish, orfe, shubunkins etc) are cold-blooded, their metabolism is so slow that they will not be feeding, and so not excreting. This means there's no need for a pond filter to be cycling your water - and if one was, it would be mixing the colder upper layers of pond water with the warmer lower layers where your fish will be sheltering from the icy weather above the pond surface.

Pond Net

Prior to winter, you should have put a pond net over the pond's surface to trap an leaves - preventing them from rotting within the pond - causing water quality problems. If you have not put a pond net across your pond, then you will have leaf matter in your pond that will be a problem when the pond fires up again in Spring - as the water temperature starts to rise. The water's temperature is the pace-setter for your pond.

Ice.

If you do have an ice covering on your pond, then rather than smash it (which can cause your fish stress via their sixth sense - their lateral line), you can either have a low wattage pond heater permanently on (similar wattage to a light bulb) which then keeps an area of the pond free from ice - allowing gases to exchange, rather than build up under the ice.

More advice and information on how to care for your fish pond over winter.

Saturday 11 December 2010

New Pond Keeping Website launches

There is a new pond keeping website - http://www.watergardenersbible.co.uk/

This is packed full of free information to help new and experienced pond keepers keep fish better - and enjoy their pond more.

Over a period of 15 years, I wrote and had published nearly 300 articles in the specialist aquatic press - published in the UK, USA and Europe. Rather than let them gather dust on my hard drive - I have created the new website: http://www.watergardenersbible.co.uk/

The name of the website is taken from the title of a book that I was asked to write for the USA pond keeping readership. The team I worked with were so professional and skilled, that they produced an excellent book from my material. The prject soon grew, and the USA version was translated (yes - translated) into English. Did you know an English gallon is bigger than a US gallon? So a ten gallon hat is really a 9 gallon hat! The Water Gardeners Bible (USA) became Water Gardens (UK) and has also been translated and published in French - Encyclopedie Visuelle des Bassins.

The articles on my website cover topics from installing a pond, choosing and intridcing fish, keeping a pond free of algae and choosign the best pond equipment to do so. There are even tips what to do when moving house and going on holiday.

Have a look - and see if I can help in any way.

Happy Ponding

Ben