Water Gardening: I finally went to see the experts, 1 by fredrump

fredrump wrote:
Last night I returned from Delray Beach (on the other side of FL, 260 mile round trip) where I went to see ThePondSolution which I mentioned earlier in this thread. The 'experts' at Driftwood here in Naples have not bothered to call after I had gone there to get a proposal from them. I had given them lots of pictures and my requirements and they were going to get right back to me. Actually this is quite typical here. People don't bother calling back.

So, I went to see what the folks on the other side had to offer. I was so shook up from seeing the display ponds and fish that I forgot to take pictures. I was impressed and there was no UV light to be seen. "I want one" was the only thought that came to my mind. A lot of show and tell and a business owner who clearly loved his work and was proud of it. We hit it off and he's bringing his wife to my place on Monday afternoon to take a look at what I have here - pond and landscaping. He was telling me that they have installed 178 ponds on that side of the state and are maintaining most of them under contract. Apparently most of the ponders over there don't like to clean a filter. It's dirty.

Rick, the owner, kept telling me about his customers and how they finally found him to resolve their problem ponds. One guy gave him carte blanche with an open wallet to get his water clear. The man had three $2500 UV lights, all kinds of filters and still had a messy pond. 'You should see it now', Rick said. "Can I?" So we drove down to this 30,000 gal pond on the edge of a lake behind a golf course. The thing was 6 feet deep in the middle. Nylon lines were strung above it. It was a lined pond and it was crystal clear. One could almost touch the fish. Hundreds of little golden fish were also in the pond (they told me the name but it didn't matter). Again I was fascinated by the big or getter giant koin in that pond. The little guys are periodially procured to act as food for the birds which invade the place. The birds wade in as they do in these sloped ponds and eat until they are full and never bother the koi. I have no idea why the nylon lines as it doesn't seem to bother anybody. They told me that without the feeder fish the herons would poke at the koi and injure them.

The owner of the place must have access to a bank vault as money didn't seem to matter. The place exuded wealth with his and her Mercedeses in the garage. The pond itself was around 60 big ones. The pool was right next to it. The windchimes were about 12 feet long and 6 inches round. The whole place was done to resemble a Japanese garden with the fish to lend impetus to the idea.

The owner told me that on a scale of 1 to 10, Rick was at least a 15 in his expertise and dedication to ponding. Good enough for me.

I'll give you boys and gals a look at the pond. The fish seemed to float in the air. That was how clear the water was.

Fred