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Douglas Hoover - EzineArticles.com Expert Author
Doug Hoover, with his wife Alice, has resided in San Diego, California, for twenty-five years. Previous to settling in California, he was a custom home builder and designed and built restaurants. He designed and built one in Michigan; he built the first two of a chain of Pony Express pizza stores in Provo and Salt Lake City, Utah. In La Jolla, California he built two restaurants on Fay Avenue, The Bagatelle French Cuisine and ... [More]
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- Pond Design - Digitally Design Masterpieces - Virtual Water Features Part I
[Home-Improvement:Landscaping-Outdoor-Decorating] This article talks about the exciting art of digital pond design and all of its various facets. All the things you need to know to digitally designs waterfalls and ponds.
- Koi Pond & Waterfall - Top 22 Most Asked Questions Answered
[Home-Improvement:Landscaping-Outdoor-Decorating] Question- What is the ideal depth for a koi pond? Answer- In my experience of over 25 years, 4 to 5 feet is ideal. You need a minimum of 3 feet for koi fish for several reasons. Safety for fish from wading cranes they can't wade in 3 feet of water. Plus the water temperature in shallow ponds fluctuates too much with the changes in ambient temperature. The greater the volume of water, the longer it takes for the temperature to change. Warm water or fluctuating temperatures are unhealthy for fish.
- Koi Pond - Biological Filters
[Home-Improvement:Landscaping-Outdoor-Decorating] Contrary to common belief, biological filters do not process or filter the solid waste of fish in your koi pond. They continue to build up and putrefy, creating a breeding ground for harmful species of heterotrophic bacteria which are pathogenic to koi fish. As stated, the biological filtration process utilizes Nitrosomonas bacteria to break down ammonia into nitrite and nitrobacter, further converting nitrites into nitrates, which is less harmful to koi fish...
- Pondless Waterfall - No Filter Needed
[Home-Improvement:Landscaping-Outdoor-Decorating] I have built hundreds of pondless waterfalls over the years, starting with my first one in 1984 in Fallbrook, California. So, regarding this subject, "A man with experience is not at the mercy of a man with an argument." Pondless waterfalls do not need filters.
- Koi Pond - Dispelling Myths About Concrete
[Recreation-and-Sports:Fish-Ponds] What do some liner promoters and salesmen say about professional pond installations using concrete & rebar, plus mortar for the rocks? Is it true?
- Koi Pond - Is PH Important?
[Recreation-and-Sports:Fish-Ponds] It can mean the difference between life and death of your koi fish! Generally speaking, alkaline conditions are more common than acidic in koi ponds, especially the newer ones. If the pH remains over 8.5 for any length of time, the koi fish will become stressed or diseased.
- Koi Pond - Filter Vs Fish
[Recreation-and-Sports:Fish-Ponds] The size of the bio-filter used in a koi pond is in direct proportion to the number of fish per gallon. The more fish, the more waste and the bigger the filter that is needed. Do you really need a filter? Not necessarily on the small ones...
- Pondless Waterfalls - Concrete Vs Pond Liner
[Home-Improvement:Landscaping-Outdoor-Decorating] The get-rich-quick factor in the pond liner industry has forced up the price of pond liner kits to equal the cost of concrete construction. If you search for the truth about concrete ponds and waterfalls from reading the literature of the greed-driven liner pond industry, you will not find it. Why? Because if the truth be known, no one in their right mind would invest good, hard-earned money in a pond liner!
- Pondless Waterfall - The History
[Home-and-Family:Gardening] It was not long before the word got out on how profitable pond construction was and even professionals were becoming "pond experts". Why not, if in one day you can dig a hole, pile dirt at one end, cover it with a rubber sheet, cover the sheet with rocks, fill it with water, drop in a sump pump, hook up a tube, and presto change-o, $6000 profit in 6 to 8 hours.
- Be Concerned, Be Very Concerned
[Health-and-Fitness:Environmental-Issues] Water serves three major purposes in our bodies. 1. It controls body temperature. 2. It is the solvent for the foods we eat, carrying the nutrients to every cell of our body. 3. Water replaces bodily fluids such as blood plasma, lymph, digestive juices, bile etc. and washes and bathes every cell, flushing and carrying away waste materials and toxic poisons. If water is so vital to our health and existence, shouldn't we drink the healthiest water possible?
- Liner Ponds and "Pondless Waterfalls" - An Asset Or Liability?
[Recreation-and-Sports:Fish-Ponds] As if that wasn't bad enough, a second liner company was called out and paid $75,000 to repair the leaks, which they attempted to do by plastering around the base of every rock in the waterfall. UGLY does not properly describe it. Talk about a tropical paradise turning into a tropical nightmare! Within two months it was leaking worse than before.
- Koi Pond- Liners Vs Professional Construction
[Home-Improvement:Landscaping-Outdoor-Decorating] This article spells out in simple terms the difference between pond liner pond construction and professional constructed ponds and waterfalls using rebar and concrete. In 25 years, I have built well over 1900 concrete and rebar water features and over the last 5 years have ripped out over 30 leaky or defective rubber pond liners and replaced them with concrete and steel.
- Pond Liners - The Hole Story
[Home-Improvement:Landscaping-Outdoor-Decorating] This article talks about the importance of planning your water garden in advance and how costly it can become if you don't, what it can end up costing by trying to save money, having a pond liner installed by an inexperienced contractor. What can happen if you install the wrong equipment. This article could save you thousands.
- Pondless (Convertible) Waterfalls - Both Ways
[Home-and-Family:Gardening] Many people who are looking for a waterfall are opting in for pondless waterfalls - out of necessity, not choice. Ponds pose several challenges, some involving safety issues and some maintenance. Ponds and toddlers do not mix. Many people with small children so desperately want a waterfall and pond that they are willing to surround it with a fence. Even so, there is still the fear of an unlocked gate becoming a door to disaster. How natural looking could a fenced water garden be? But that is the price they are willing to pay to enjoy its benefits.
- Koi Pond Or Pondless Waterfall - Where Do I Begin?
[Home-Improvement:Landscaping-Outdoor-Decorating] Have you thought about A Water Feature? Is it true that a water feature will add equity to my home? What about a swimming pool? Doesn't a pond require a lot of upkeep? What is the average cost? Do I need a building permit? Do I have to have fish? We travel a lot! What is the single most important first step in building a water feature? What about equipment? Should I get koi fish and a turtle? Where should I place my pond and waterfall? All these questions can be addressed with two words: Plan & Design!
- Want a Koi Pond? Get a Clue
[Home-Improvement:Landscaping-Outdoor-Decorating] I had a pond once, and you couldn't see the fish for the algae. Someone said to use algaecide, and somebody else said to get a U.V. Someone said to get more plants, and someone else said I had too many fish for the size of my pond. No problem...a crane ate half of them and last month a raccoon ate the rest. Someone said I need a scarecrow sprinkler or a pond net. I asked, What for? I don't have fish any more, only lots of mosquito larvae...
- Ponds & Waterfalls - Layout & Excavation
[Home-Improvement:Landscaping-Outdoor-Decorating] Layout is the most important phase of the entire project. I have heard many complaints from disappointed clients after they had a chance to get used to their new addition to the landscape. "I only wish we had made it bigger, made it deeper, added an island, made it longer and constructed a bridge, built it closer to the house, installed a larger water pump for the waterfall - or - built the waterfall higher or wider."
- Koi Pond - Oxygen Levels
[Recreation-and-Sports:Fish-Ponds] Adequate oxygen is essential for the health and survival of your koi fish and other pond creatures. As pond life utilizes the oxygen content of the water, it needs to be replaced. Oxygen enters the water where these two contact each other - primarily at the koi pond's surface. That is why a waterfall is such a vital adjunct to your water feature.
- Seven Most Asked Questions About UV Pond Filters
[Recreation-and-Sports:Fish-Ponds] Do I need an ultraviolet light in my pond? Some ponds need a UV light and some do not. If you have a small pond with a few guppies or mosquito fish, and it is 50% covered with hyacinth, water lettuce, or lilies, and it is being aerated by a fountain or waterfall, the answer is: No!
- Pond Liners - 7 Reasons Why I Don't Use Them
[Recreation-and-Sports:Fish-Ponds] This article deals with the plain shocking truth about the pond liner industry. In simple terms, pond liners will eventually leak.
- How to Build a Pondless Waterfall
[Recreation-and-Sports:Fish-Ponds] I built the first pondless waterfall in 1984. Building codes state that ponds can only be 18" deep or you are required to conform to all of the same building codes and requirements of a swimming pool (6 foot fence perimeter, special gates, door alarms, etc...)
- Koi Pond - Fish Or No Fish?
[Recreation-and-Sports:Fish-Ponds] If a pond has a waterfall to aerate the water, fish will produce waste that is broken down by nitrifying bacteria into nitrate nitrogen, and water plants will use the nitrogen and thrive. In turn, the fish eat the algae and small water insects that live on the rocks and plant roots. And those bugs eat other smaller bugs that eat microscopic bugs that eat bad bacteria bugs. This is called the nitrogen cycle. A properly balanced pond like this will pretty much take care of itself...
- Are We Running Out of Water?
[News-and-Society:Environmental] Aquifers, which supply one-third of the world's population, are being pumped out faster than nature can replenish them. In 1950, the U.S. took 12 trillion gallons of water from the ground by 1980 the figure more than doubled and is still increasing at an alarming rate. The Ogallala Aquifer is being depleted at a rate of 12 billion cubic meters (420 billion ft3 or 9,729,000 acre feet) per year, amounting to a total depletion to date of a volume equal to the annual flow of 18 Colorado Rivers (Its flow is 4000 cubic feet per second).
- Tropical Paradise - In Your Back Yard?
[Home-Improvement:Landscaping-Outdoor-Decorating] I wish I could teach you how to design, lay out, excavate, engineer and build a permanent pond, waterfall, gazebo, bridge, decks, landscaping, lighting, pondscaping, irrigation, and much more - not to mention building codes, covenants and restrictions associated with your community, city, county and state. The are 18 dos and don'ts that can save you future heartache...
- Pondless Waterfalls Exposed
[Home-Improvement:Landscaping-Outdoor-Decorating] In the early nineties, flat rubber roofing material became popular as a pond liner and, several years later, someone adapted the liner to a basin pond waterfall and called it a "pondless" waterfall. But the major drawback to using liners is that they are susceptible to leaks from many sources...
- Liner Ponds and Lawsuits
[Home-Improvement:Landscaping-Outdoor-Decorating] For twenty-six years I have been designing and constructing waterfalls and ponds the professional way, using 3500 psi concrete reinforced with rebar and coated with an industrial grade concrete sealer. With over 1,900 projects to date, not one has cracked or leaked.
- How to Build a Professional Pond and Waterfall
[Home-Improvement:Landscaping-Outdoor-Decorating] Who wouldn't want to invest in a water feature that will last for decades? If you are going to spend several thousand dollars on a waterfall and pond, don't you want it to be trouble free and add equity to your home? If so, then you do not want to cut corners by using a rubber liner along with the accompanying cheap plastic biofalls, filter, skimmer and energy wasting sump pumps.
- Pond Construction - Liners Vs Concrete
[Home-Improvement:Landscaping-Outdoor-Decorating] Many people are still searching the internet for information on how to build a waterfall or koi pond. Unfortunately, there is very little information regarding professional construction. There are thousands of websites involved in marketing pond products to uninformed and unsuspecting customers.
- Is It God's Will For Us to Get Sick?
[Self-Improvement:Spirituality] Jesus taught His disciples to pray: " When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth. " Are people in heaven sick or diseased? Well, His will is the same on earth as in heaven, so I would assume his will is that people on earth not be sick!
- A Disease of the Soul
[Self-Improvement:Spirituality] The Book of Job is an instruction manual on how to avoid unnecessary suffering as a result of courting the spirit of fear. Fear is the common denominator for many of man's mental and physical diseases, ranging from phobias to asthma, high blood pressure, strokes and nervous conditions. Fear-filled words have power to curse, destroy, tear down, discourage, depress, malign, and even call into being death and disease.
- The Wager?
[Self-Improvement:Spirituality] There are many preachers, pastors, evangelists and Bible scholars that profess themselves to be wise. In my opinion, it is an awesome responsibility for a teacher or pastor to accurately interpret the story of Job because as goes the Book of Job, so goes the entire Bible. If you misinterpret Job, your interpretation of the whole Bible, more than likely, will be affected. The disease of misinterpretation will infect your faith in divine healing, protection and prosperity. People who believe God gave Satan permission to test Job by terrorizing him, killing his family and destroying his possessions have a hard time believing God for much of anything.
- Do Your Words Have Power?
[Self-Improvement:Spirituality] How important is our tongue? One obvious answer to this question would be, if it wasn't for our tongues we would not be able to communicate by forming and enunciating our words. The key to unlocking the sources, causes and reasons for Job's suffering and great loss can be found in the hidden truth about the "power of the tongue."
- Predator - Proof Your Pond
[Home-Improvement:Landscaping-Outdoor-Decorating] I will teach you how to build a new pond or remodel your existing pond and make it completely safe from predators – except for bears. If you have bears in your yard, you have more to worry about than losing some fish.
- Want To Build A Waterfall & Pond? Confused?
[Home-Improvement:Landscaping-Outdoor-Decorating] If you have spent much time Googling "waterfalls" or "water gardens" on the internet, you are obviously asking yourself, who is right? Who do I believe? What method or product do I use? Do I use a liner or concrete?
- Water Garden Deceptions
[Home-Improvement:Landscaping-Outdoor-Decorating] Pond liner installers will tell you that their liners have a 20- or 30-year warranty, but they neglect to mention the truth – that this only covers factory defects. They hold back important facts about their industry-
- Ultraviolet Light vs. Algae - Water Garden Facts
[Home-Improvement:Landscaping-Outdoor-Decorating] What is the best way to control algae and impurities in backyard water gardens? It isn't as simple as you think! Ultraviolet light was discovered to have adverse effects on certain organisms commonly found in ponds, such as specific types of bacteria and algae. For this reason, UV light treatment of ponds has become very popular and effective in controlling certain forms of bacteria such as pathogens and planktonic algae.
- Does my Water Garden Need a UV? A Simple Test
[Home-Improvement:Landscaping-Outdoor-Decorating] There are several types of algae found in a pond. One type may turn your water green, another brown, and yet another could mimic the smell of a sewer or dead fish...
- Skimming Off the Top - Profits From Inferior Skimmers
[Home-Improvement:Landscaping-Outdoor-Decorating] If the skimmer's engineering and design is not effective in providing the proper filtration of water, it will not only require regular cleaning, but will demand another "drug" or band-aid. Hence, yet another innovation sweeps the planet, and this engineering marvel is designed to solve yet another water garden ailment. Some of the "drugs" used to treat ineffective filters are what I call the "flim-flam filter falls," the "bio-balls filter falls," the "ooh-la-la cha-ching cha-ching filter falls."
- Here is How To Design The Perfect Water Garden
[Home-Improvement:Landscaping-Outdoor-Decorating] A water garden can be the most enjoyable investment you could ever make, or the biggest wet nightmare. A recent phone call from an angry water garden owner prompted this article. What she was describing to me was just the opposite of what would be considered the ideal water garden experience.
- Design Water Gardens - $350 Per Hour
[Home-Based-Business] It is amazing how such a small investment can bring such a large return! If you decided to create three to four designs a day, it would probably only take you half a day. Working five days per week, this would give you an annual income of over $300,000 per year!
- Digitally Designed Water Gardens: Big Bucks! Impressive
[Home-Improvement:Landscaping-Outdoor-Decorating] Aquamedia Corp. of San Diego, California, has released a first of its kind, the "Water Garden Digital Image Library." This consists of png-formatted images of actual images of rocks, water, waterfalls, ponds, water plants, aquatic creatures such as turtles and fish, etc. The "Water Garden Digital Image Library 5.0" is packaged with Microsoft’s Digital Image Suite 9 software and a two hour training video of Master Waterfall Builder Douglas Hoover teaching, step by step, how to design a virtual water garden using a digital photograph of a back yard.
- How To Design A Water Garden
[Home-Improvement:Landscaping-Outdoor-Decorating] If you have ever designed a water garden by sketching with colored pencils on a sheet of graph paper, let me be the first person to tell you that there is a better way! Here's why...
- Ponds and Waterfalls - A Growing Asset
[Home-and-Family:Gardening] Ponds and waterfalls are fast becoming the focal point or centerpiece of many landscapes and properties today. Architects, builders and owners of both commercial and residential property are discovering the joy, pleasure and financial benefits that adding a water feature or water garden can afford.
- Pond Liner Defects - Count The Cost
[Home-and-Family:Gardening] So you are considering building your own koi pond, or having one built? Do not add your name to the growing list of disgusted leaky pond owners. Please research all aspects of water gardening before proceeding. I am not suggesting you google pond liners, or koi ponds, or how to build a koi pond...
- Water Gardens Exposed
[Home-and-Family:Gardening] There are increasingly greater numbers of people arriving at the startling revelation that water gardening is not what it was cracked up to be. For 26 years I have promised my clients that the water feature I build for them would bring them more long-term joy and pleasure than anything they had purchased in the past.
- Liner Disciples: Not Eating Their Own Dog Food
[Home-and-Family:Gardening] After spending some time reading the Piranha Press (water garden forums), I am scared to wade into the water [Forum] or even "get my feet wet." Good grief, talk about "eating their own". . . Where is the loyalty, appreciation, gratitude, dedication, camaraderie and "family pride" pride?
- Water Feature Forums-Oh My!
[Home-and-Family:Gardening] As of late, I have discovered that sharing my bias towards pond liners with a forum full of pond liner installers is something like trying to pass out Bibles at a porn convention!
- Koi Pond- Which Pump to Use
[Home-Improvement:Landscaping-Outdoor-Decorating] One major drawback of sump pumps that the liner pond industry does not share with their clients is that they are literally energy sponges. But then, that is not the only thing they forget to mention to their usually innocent and unsuspecting clients...
- Pondless Waterfalls- Why Pondless?
[Home-Improvement:Landscaping-Outdoor-Decorating] A pondless waterfall is the answer to many problems in our diverse world. No pond, no maintenance! Another positive benefit of a pondless waterfall is the money that is saved. If you do not have a pond, less material and labor is required in the construction.
- Koi Pond- Finding a Contractor - 18 Important Things to Know
[Home-Improvement:Landscaping-Outdoor-Decorating] Because there is such a wide range of information to be learned on this topic of koi pond and waterfall construction and so much technical information out there, you may decide to seek professional assistance to complete part or all of the water features. Before you proceed, here are 18 extremely important facts you should know...
- Koi Pond- Water Chemistry
[Home-Improvement:Landscaping-Outdoor-Decorating] The most basic conditions of your koi pond water chemistry are the pH factor (which stands for potential Hydrogen) and water hardness. These factors alone can determine the life or death of your koi pond's inhabitants...
- How Not To Build A Liner Pond
[Home-Improvement:Landscaping-Outdoor-Decorating] This article discusses many reasons why pond liners should not be used to construct a pond. The reasons most liner ponds eventually leak are discussed and how liner leaks are contended with.
- Pond Design- Digitally Design Masterpieces- Virtual Water Features Part II
[Home-Improvement:Landscaping-Outdoor-Decorating] This article talks about the exciting art of digital pond design and all of its various facets. Add digital design to your landscape or general contractors business and add incredible profits to your existing business. Increase your sales close by 60%! Dazzle your clients and impress your friends and neighbors. You can learn in a matter of hours and it is fun!
- Koi Pond and Waterfall Builders- What You Need to Know
[Home-Improvement:Landscaping-Outdoor-Decorating] This article answers many vital questions about waterfall and pond construction for the home owner such as layout, design, engineering, shape, size and estimated cost.
- Ponds & Waterfalls- Water Living
[Home-Improvement:Landscaping-Outdoor-Decorating] Why should you seriously consider installing a pond & waterfall on your property. Besides adding equity to your home, a properly constructed water feature can bring more long term joy and pleasure than anything else money can buy. This article will provide guide lines for considering such an investment.
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