Thank goodness for Pete and Pete's Pond Service. My husband and I had a waterfall and pond installed by our landscaper who was installing a number of other components as part of a large project. That landscaper was not a pond specialist and a few weeks after the waterfall/pond was "complete", which included the installation of a number of water plants, all the plants started dying. The landscaper went MIA. So I had to find someone else. I looked at the neighborhood koi pond company. That experience was completely negative. The two employees I dealt with on the phone and in person were unenthusiastic and unpleasant. The technician actually tried to sell me a lower quality/capacity filter than the brand new one we had because it is not the "brand" he normally uses and used fear tactics to persuade me to use their services and equipment. Obviously, I needed to find someone else to help us and I found Pete!
I found Pete on Yelp and was curious to speak to him because of the rave review I found. I called him immediately. Pete answered the phone himself! And he was very professional and pleasant. I explained my situation with the dying plants and Pete made a special effort to stop by between appointments the same day to take a look at our pond.
Upon arrival, Pete immediately identified a number of issues. The primary issue was the issue causing the water plants to die. The concrete basin of the pond was not sealed. Neither was the waterfall. Toxins from the concrete were leaching into the water and killing the plant life. Another issue with the unsealed basin is that water was also leaking. Concrete is porous and the water in the basin was slowly leaking out of the basin and onto the liner placed between the basin and the earth. Oh brother, right? Now we know why the plants are dying and we have a significant issue on our hands.
Pete also noticed there was no skimmer installed in the pond. Which addressed some of my questions and confusion around the filter setup. Pete, also, indicated the filter setup was incorrect. Only half of the water was being treated by the filter based upon the configuration of the pipes and filtration system. Most of the issues identified were concerns my husband and I had already had so Pete confirmed a lot of things for us. We were feeling seriously irritated by this entire situation that the original contractor left us with. And I felt bad for asking Pete to fix someone else's mess. But Pete was up for the job and provided us thoughtful and gorgeous modifications. Pete also provided guidance on how to care for our pond and our recent koi fish!
I've absolutely loved working with Pete because of his candor and integrity. He was very honest with us about the issues with our original waterfall/pond setup and provided some alternatives on how to address the issues so we could decide (without pressure) which solution and price point to select. We even tried to hire him to maintain our pond monthly and he told us that with our setup (filter capacity and type, water plants, and fish) that we do not need regular service so long as we clean up the spent water plant leaves and flowers ourselves. So he saved us at least $100/month. The local koi company that I dislike offered me a twice-monthly pond maintenance service indicating that we needed it when we did not.
It has been 3-months since Pete fixed our waterfall/pond and it is running beautifully. The water plants have recovered and we have some koi. Pete is a very generous soul and knows ponds and aquatic life and setup very well. He was kind enough to allow me to text him questions I had during my koi research and provided guidance and encouragement after the koi arrived as I was confused and concerned about some things related to the koi's acclimation to a new setting. The koi absolutely LOVE-LOVE-LOVE the hiding places Pete made for them. And my husband is extremely pleased with the black reflective epoxy he used in our pond basin. It makes the pond look much deeper than it is. It looks just awesome.
My husband, koi and I highly recommend Pete for any of your pond needs.
Thank you, Pete - our pond guru! read more