Dr. Bob,
I
took your advice and bought a bunch of the product you informed me to purchase.
I have 2 more questions, my last pond I used flag stone and was not to happy with
it, what is a good rock to utilize inside and outside the pond (oval in shape
- boulder type I prefer)?
Also will a UV sterilizer kill beneficial bacteria?
Hi Andy,
1) The
stuff most folks like is Wisconsin "cobble rock" which is basically
glacier-polished granite. As you might guess, it comes in a wide variety of colors
and sizes, is relatively cheap and stacks well as long as you put the big ones
on the bottom. It tends to be very stable.
2) UV units
perform only one function reliably: they prevent microscopic floating algae from
reproducing, thus preventing "pea-soup" ponds. The filtering bacteria
you are worrying about are sessile. They adhere to rocks, filter media and the
insides of your pipes. They never see the inside of your UV. There is some evidence
that high-intensity UV will kill some free-swimming parasites, but since most
parasites are stuck to your fish and it's kinda hard to get the fish to swim into
the UV unit...
Bob
