Fun Pond Fact

Are your Pond Fish spawning (having babies)?
Do you want to watch the babies grow?
Use Pond Plants to provide hiding places for the tiny things(or their parents will eat them).
Baby Goldfish are the size of a pin head.
Baby Koi are only slightly larger.

Fun Pond Fact

Goldfish are born looking greyish or black while Koi are colorful right away (although they need to be at least 6 inches long before the true pattern establishes)

Do your part!

A Garden Pond provides much needed habitat for small Wetland Creatures!
Some countries in Europe give Tax Breaks for installing one!
(they also require a permit to remove one).

Frogs, Toads, Dragonflies and many other creatures find it harder and harder to find suitable habitat...do your part...provide a Pond!

Fun Pond Fact

Pond Fish are attracted to Pond Lights.
They are curious and will swim around them.
This is a nice added benefit to lighting up your pond.
See some terrific Pond Lights Here.

Fun Pond Fact

Koi can get a sunburn!
(It is very important to provide shade
inside the Pond during the summer months).

Water Lilies are Available Now

The cool spring weather delayed it a bit, but finally...
Water Lilies are here!


Available in our St. Louis Pond Market store and online!
Locally our Water Lilies come ready to put in the Pond, in a basket with a handle and in a mix that will not cloud or foul the water.
Mail Order, they come nice size, with several leaves and not a dried up tuber like other companies.

But if you have existing Water Lilies, here are some TIPS:

>> Water Lilies are very heavy feeders, the more you feed them the more they will bloom!

>> The size of the container helps determine the spread the of the Water Lily. If you want to cofine it to a smaller area then just keep it confined to a smaller container.

>> Hardy Water Lilies start blooming earlier in the year, but also stop blooming earlier in the Fall. Tropical Water Lilies start blooming later, but will keep on blooming when hardy Lilies have stopped.

>> Water Lily blooms make great fresh cut flowers for your vase or look wonderful floating in a glass bowl.

Fun Pond Fact

Goldfish are spawning!
Goldfish are egg scatterers and the eggs are sticky and cling to the pond liner, plants, rocks and whatever else is around. The Goldfish will also eat these eggs.

If you want baby fish, have plenty of Pond Plants around for eggs and babies to hide.

One of the best is "Parrots Feather".

Baby Ringneck Parrots

The PondMarket has Baby Ringneck Parrots!
Check out this video now in order to see the Baby Ringneck Parrots being fed by hand!

Fun Pond Fact

Wonderful Fertilizer!

That is what that stuff coming out of your Pond is:
Bottom Sludge and the stuff being cleaned out of your Pond Filter,....
put it around your plants and watch them thrive!

"Wet Footprints"

We have all heard of our "Carbon Footprint", and we know that big companies "trade" for carbon offsets....what if we could all do the same?
Well, we can!! Pond Owners can leave a "Wet Footprint"(TM) and in our small way help Mother Nature reclaim some of what we took!

The PondMarket is developing a program to encompass ways for everyone to build a little bit of habitat to make a trail of "Wet Footprints" which emcompasses providing places for creatures to live and things to grow.

The PondMarket has started putting a sign by products that are "Earth Friendly" in their catalog (we are not done...more products will get this seal as we review them one by one).

The Seal above and to the left will start appearing in our newsletters, on our site and in our catalog to show you ways to make a positive impact (or avoid a negative one).


This week, we feature the new "All Natural Algaecide" for Ponds! Truly a first and breakthrough product, it will help to avoid using harsh chemical algaecides when eliminating green water!

Pond Market and Amazon.com

Did you know....that the PondMarket has been a trusted Amazon.com Dealer for almost 10 years?

Most of our products can be purchased right from the Amazon.com website!
Very soon you will also be able to shop at the PondMarket online catalog and pay through your Amazon.com account (you can already use your Paypal account in addition to all major credit cards)

The PondMarket is always working on making things better, easier and faster for you!

Great Kits!

Right now at PondMarket.com great Kits can be found.
These Kits are put together for you, so you don't have to do the work!

Check out the Pond Package Kit!
163 Gallon Pond Kit for under $200 made of High Quality Equipment!

Comes With:
+Blue Damsel Flex Pond

+Pondmaster 190 Pump + Filter + Fountain Set

+Laguna Pond Fish Food

+Laguna Mini Pond Net

+Pint of Microbe-Lift PL Beneficial Bacteria

+8oz. Dechlorinator

+8oz. Accu Clear


Check out all the great Kits available at PondMarket.com right now!

Koi Pond Fish

Koi are the most spectacular ornamental pond fish to add to a garden pond.
Large and beautiful, Koi carp can also be tamed to eat out of a persons hand.
Koi are not suitable for very small ponds (they must have at least 200 gallons of pond water per fish) and must have adequate pond filtration.

Koi can live a very long time (40+ years) if the right environment is provided!

Fun Pond Fact

Water spiders collect air and store it in the strands of their underwater webs for use as needed.

Fun Pond Fact

While Koi spawn only once a year, Goldfish spawn all spring, summer and fall. Goldfish need to be only about 2 inches long to start spawning (have babies).

Pond Fish Food

Good quality Pond Food is formulated to keep pond fish healthy and helps maintain the quality of the Pond Water.

Pond Fish live in a special environment that allows only limited chances of finding natural food
that would satisfy all their nutritional needs.
It is also important that pond food be easily digestible to limit organic waste (which turns into Algae Food)
produced in the pond by using ingredients that are easily and more fully digestible by the fish.

Pond Fish Food is usually formed into sticks or pellets that float on top of the pond water
for longer periods of time to prevent them from falling to the bottom of the garden pond and fouling the water
before they can be eaten.
Different formulations of Pond Food are available for the cooler weather of spring
and fall and the hot weather of summer.

The digestive capabilities of the pond fish vary with the temperature of the pond water and these foods assure us that they receive all the nutrients they need during all these different circumstances.

Fun Pond Fact

MALE koi and goldfish develop “whiskers” before breeding, each spring,
on their noses, gills and pectoral fins to stimulate egg-laying females.

Testing your Pond Water

If you haven't tested your Pond Water yet, now would be a great time.

Check you pH level. The best time to test your pH is early in the morning.
This will give you a more accurate reading.
If your pH isn't neutral now is the time to start trying to balance it out.
Changing your pH level is a slow process and getting started now would be beneficial to you later.

Check your Ammonia & Nitrite levels. Ideally you would want these to be zero.
High levels of Ammonia and Nitrites can be harmful to you Pond Fish.

You can also check your Chlorine/Chloramine level, Phosphate level,
and Salt content of your Pond Water to be on the safe side.

Testing your Pond Water for any potential problems now will help you out in the long run.
The earlier on you take care of these problems the less work you will have later on during the season.

Spring Start-Up Pond Supplies

PondMarket.com has a whole page dedicated toward
Spring Start-Up Pond Equipment and Pond Supplies!

Plant Baskets, Spring Fish Food, Replacement UV Bulbs, Filter Material, Water Treatments, and everything you can think of for Spring Start-Up can be found on the PondMarket.com Pond Equipment & Pond Supplies Spring Start-Up Page!

Check it out and make sure you are ready for Spring!

Spring Start-Up

In most of the country it is time to get the Pond ready for Spring!
The trick to an easy care Pond in the Summer is to take a little bit of
time and care to prepare the Pond for an easy season NOW!
We make it easy: Use our printable "Spring Start-Up Checklist"
and download our free "Spring Start-Up" e-book!

Fun Pond Fact

Only ONE of every 10,000 frog eggs
develops into an adult frog successfully!




For more fun stuff and fast news of
Sales, Bargains and New Arrivals...follow us on Twitter:

Local St. Louis customers look for "PondMarket"
National Subscribers and customers look for "PondExpert"

Tancho Koi & Pond Water Quality

A Tancho Koi is your Canary for the Pond!
Just like a Canary used to let miners know that conditions in the mine were dangerous,
so does the Tancho Koi let Pond keepers know when water quality is not healthy for Pond Fish.
Look at the picture below.

Tancho Koi tend to develop red edges on their scales when the water quality in the pond starts to deteriorate.
Other Koi with white in their color do the same, but it usually takes much longer and much worse water quality before it shows.

It is, of course, best to test water quality regularly...but IF a Tancho Koi starts to look bad it is URGENT!

Pond Market Update

The Pond Market Team has been doing a great job of getting the store in shape for this season.
New products are on the shelves and ready to go.
New paintings are to be seen all throughout the store.
Come check out what is happening at the Pond Market!

Spring Check List

Spring is rapidly approaching and the warm weather is rolling in.
Now is a better time than ever to have all your spring supplies
ready for the new season.

Pond Thermometers, Test Kits, and Beneficial Bacteria
are some great items to have ready for your Fish Pond.

Check the Pond Market Spring Start Up Guide For Ponds
to make sure you have everything you need for the spring season!

Show us your Pond

The Pond Market Team wants to see what your Pond looks like.
You can upload a photo of your Water Garden to PondMarketPhotos.com.
Here you can display the beautiful Pond you've worked so hard to get.

You can also see other wonderful Water Gardens and get new ideas for your Pond.
Check it out!

Pond of the Week

Cathy's Pond - New York

National Pond & Landscape Professional Directory

The National Pond & Landscape Professional Directory is here!

Each year we get thousands of inquiries from our customers
and subscribers asking if we know people and companies who install and maintain Ponds in their area.

Now they will be easy to find.
Just check our directory!
We are starting to add info now!

Pond and Landscape Professionals can let people find them in the place where potential customers search for them!

If you have a top notch Pro who does work for you let them know to get their name out there for other customers to find them!

Reptile Room

The Pond Market has a New Reptile Room!

New Reptile Products are already on display.
Be looking for all the great products that
PondMarket.com is going to carry this season.
The website is being updated and the
new reptile products will be available soon!

Pond Fun Fact

A sure sign of Spring: You start hearing Frogs around your Pond!

Tree and Wood Frogs tend to be the first ones ready to mate.
Don't destroy the eggs!

A Garden Pond provides valuable habitat
to substitute for habit that we have destroyed by building homes,
roads and other infrastructure!

The mating season of Frogs only lasts a few weeks
and after that quiet will return!

New Pond E-Books

The New Pond E-Books are up and running!
The old ones have been revised and revamped.
The E-Books are now compaible with Macs as well!
The E-Books range on information from How to Build a Waterfall to Basic Pond Care to Pond Fish and More.

Check them out HERE!

They're FREE!!









PondMarket E-Books!

Splash

Splash is the informative, all you need to know, Pond & Water Garden Newsletter.
Splash is full of all the latest news from the Pond Market.
You'll find special deals, news about new products, fun facts, and more!

Sign up for Splash today!

Pond Auctions

You asked for them...and Pond Market started them!
Pondmarket has already put a few items up for Auction.
These are items that have been used in our Display Ponds
and are being replaced this spring with new equipment.

It needs a little clean up, some may need some small parts -
but otherwise they are fully funtional
and can be had for Pennies on the Dollar!

Seasonal Task Calender

There is now a Seasonal Task Calender available at PondMarket.com!
This calender will help provide pond owners with information on what they should and can be doing for their water gardens all year round.
February is already up and running and
the calender will be updated as the year goes on.

Three different calenders have been designed for pond owners
that live in different climate zones.

Southern Zone - Areas that rarely, if ever, go below freezing

Temperate Zone - The Middle Zones, the Midwest, etc

Northern Zone - Areas with deep and long Winters (northern US, Canada, Alaska, etc)

Check out the new Seasonal Task Calender HERE!

Bottom Sludge and clogging Pond Filters

Every Pond Filter needs to be cleaned and
most of them might clog at some point or another,
but Pond Filter maintenance can be kept to a minimum.

Every Pond develops bottom sludge and many Pond Owners, unfortunately,
feel they have to completely drain and clean out the Pond each year.

These two items are related, both clogging Pond Filters and a lot of bottom sludge indicate lots of decomposing organic waste.

This waste is produced by a myriad of sources, among them fish waste,
leaves, grass and debris that blows into the pond,
uneated fish food, dying algae and many other things.

Reducing these contributing factors to a minimum
will reduce both Pond and Filter maintenance.

How to do that?

Think of Beneficial Bacteria as your best friends!

Assuming the Pond has an adequately sized Pond Filter,
using Beneficial Bacteria religiously and the right kind of Bacteria for the job
and the time of year goes a long way toward keeping these problems in check!

Use Beneficial Bacteria formulated for Spring to digest dead leaves and small twigs (use a net to fish out bigger quantities first),
an all-purpose or Summer formula to deal with the increase in fish waste and
Pond Plant debris and a cold weather formula in Autumn and warmer periods in the Winter to keep cleaning up things as they blow in the Pond.

Make sure the pH of the Pond Water is in acceptable range.
Beneficial Bacteria colonies grow much faster and digest waste much more efficiently if the pH is within the 7.0 - 8.0 range.

Fun Pond Fact

Herons love Pond Fish! They are colorful, easy to see, easy to catch and have limited escape opportunities!
The good news is that we know Heron's are very territorial
and once ONE has his eye on your Pond, the others will stay away.

Heron Decoys are a great way to keep Herons from fishing in YOUR Pond!

First Round of Results

The first results from the Annual Survey have come in and
70% of respondents asked for coupons.
PondMarket.com now has a Coupon Page!
Coupons are going to be posted on a regular basis!

Many of you asked for Pod Casts with Pond subject discussions.
PondMarket.com is working right now to get this in motion.
PondMarket Pod Casts should be going Live this Spring!

More Free Pond e-books were requested as well.
The current e-books are in need of a good updating.
The PondMarket Team is already getting these in gear for this Spring!

So much more is in store for the PondMarket!
The Newsletter will be published every week for the next few weeks
to make sure everyone finds out about all of the exciting news.

Keep your eyes open for all the exciting things happening at The PondMarket!

Fun Pond Fact

The fat in a Koi's body can get so cold and stiff that
they may swim in some really strange positions (on their side, head down, etc),
but once the water warms up this condition usually cures itself.

Special Deals & Savings

There are plenty of Pond Supply Bargains
right now at PondMarket.com!
Deals on Water Treatments, Pond Heaters,
Fountains, Spring Start Up Kits, and More!







Check out all the great deals at PondMarket.com!

The Cyprio Affair

Hozelock Cyprio, for many years one of the largest Garden Pond Equipment Manufacturers,
ended their North American operations last year.
This presents a large problem for many pond owners,
because replacement parts will no longer be available
(with the exception of UV bulbs).
Please read DETAILS HERE

The PondMarket has decided that Cyprio Pond Equipment owners need some help,
and for a limited time, we will make the following offer:
We will help to replace Cyprio Filters with Tetra Filters and have,
for a limited time DRASTICALLY reduced Tetra Filter prices for this purpose.

This is a VERY LIMITED TIME OFFER and can be found HERE

Annual PondMarket Survey

It is time for The Annual Pond Survey!
Each year The PondMarket asks you, our customers and subscribers, to participate in the Annual Pond Survey.
We have been doing the survey for 10 years and our customers and subscribers always have great fun participating and then reading about the results.
It only takes a minute or two.
Take the survey Now!

Gear up for Spring!

Spring will be here sooner than you think.
Now is the time to get your Test Kits,
Skimmer Nets, Filter Material,Beneficial Bacteria, & More!

Testing your water (for Ammonia, pH, etc.) and making sure everything is balanced
will make life easier in the summer time and prevent
future problems during the year.

Once the warm weather hits dead leaves and other debris should be removed from the Fish Pond.
Using a Skimmer Net or a Pond Vacuum will make maintenance less of a hassel.

Worn down Filter Material will need to be changed out as well.

Replacing UV Bulbs is important, too!
No one likes their Fish Pond looking like pea soup.

Spring & Summer Bacteria will help kick start your Fish Pond.
The Beneficial Bacteria will keep the Pond clean and help get rid of any organic debris you might have missed.

Spring is on the way.
Will you be ready?

Pond Market Updates

The Pond Market Retail Store has plenty of exciting things going on right now.

The whole team is working together to get the store ready for spring.
The team has been working on setting up new displays, recieving new shipments of new products, reorganizing, rearranging, painting murals, and more!

Here are some pictures of the murals that have been started.








New fountains have come in and the new fountains are going to be displayed in front of the backyard mural.

The fish room is currently being painted as well.
By spring the fish room will look like an exotic jungle.
Our beautiful ringneck parrots will fit right in.

We also have a new addition to our Pond Market family.
We have a new Quaker Parrot named Paulie!

Come and see all the exciting things happening at The Pond Market!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!