How To Provide Year Round Care For Your Fish Pond With Pond Care Products
A Beginners Guide For New Pond Owners
At last your new backyard fish pond is ready, complete with fish, aquatic plants and the odd few visitors, including snails, frogs and the odd toad. Everything looks great and the expense and time put in has been worthwhile.
Now for those of us in the know the real job starts here. The job of maintaining a healthy fish pond with crystal clear pond water! I have created this guide to help you to ensure that everything stays that way throughout the year, with advice relating to what you need to do and when.
garden pond care in autumn and winter ...
Autumn Pond Preparation
This is the time of year, when the leaves are starting to fall and there is a definite change to those distant long summer days, particularly for those pond keepers living in the colder northern states and the UK. This is the time to give some serious consideration to how to prepare your fish pond for the winter months ahead.
As the pond water temperature reduces there is a reduction in your fishes metabolic rate. These once ravenous creatures are becoming less hungry and in order to keep the pond as free from fish waste as possible, due to increases in uneaten fish food, feed less and feed a colder water fish food such as Pond Care Spring & Autumn Pond Food. These foods are an excellent choice when the pond temperature is between 40°F to 70°F (5.5°C to 21°C). The high carbohydrate and low protein formula is much easier for your fish to digest.
Once the pond water temperature reaches 50°F (10°C) stop feeding altogether. It is also a good idea to stop feeding any pond plants. The fish are capable of surviving, using stored body fat and aquatic plants become dormant until the warmer spring pond water hastens them into life once again.
Fall brings with it a common nuisance for the vast majority of pond owners, the fallen leaves that miraculously manage to find their way into your pond, if you haven't covered it with a Pond Net. The advantages of netting is twofold; firstly it prevents leaves from falling into your pond and secondly helps to prevent predatory birds from eating your fish.
If you haven't already considered covering the pond with netting then you will need to remove any leaves from the pond surface before they drop to the pond floor and decay. I would also advise you over the next few days to gradually change between 15% to 25% of the pond water and add a product such as Pond Care Pond Zyme Plus to reduce the build up of sludge.
Winter Pond Preparation
The vast majority of pond inhabitants are fairly dormant during the winter months. Pond fish and aquatic plants need little if no feeding at all. It is very important however to ensure that the pond isn't allowed to freeze over. There has to be a way for carbon dioxide and toxic hydrogen sulphide to escape if you don't want fish fatalities. It is also important as oxygen will continue to be allowed to enter into the pond.
There are various way of maintaining an air hole in the pond surface, from leaving a floating rubber ball in the pond to using foam blocks. These work providing the temperatures are not really cold, in which case they would simply freeze into the ice.
The best way for the majority of keepers to ensure this air hole exists is to use a Pond Water Heater or Pond De-icer. Many novice pond keepers upon discovering that the pond surface has frozen over actually resort to breaking the ice surface with a heavy instrument, such as a hammer. DON'T DO THIS! The shock waves can actually kill your Koi and other pond fish. A far better solution is to boil a pan of hot water and place it on the ice surface; this cause a hole to melt in the surface.
Garden Pond Care In Spring and Summer...
Spring Pond Maintenance
At last the warmer days are returning and there is a definite increase to the activity taking place within your pond. Take the opportunity to do a bit of Spring cleaning. Remove fallen leaves and other debris from the pond floor using a Long Handled Pond net or Garden Pond Vacuum. Also carry out a 15% to 25% water change over the next few days; this helps to remove any pond contaminants that have been allowed to pollute the water over the past few colder months.
When carrying out the partial water change please be aware that municipal tap water may contain chlorine, chloramine and heavy metals, which are added to make it safe for us to drink by reducing bacteria. It is however not good in high concentrations for fish and other aquatic life forms. Use a Chlorine and Heavy Metal Neutralizer to remove unwanted chlorine and heavy metals and make the water safe and fish friendly.
Certain municipalities add chloramine instead of chlorine to tap water, which is a combination of ammonia and chlorine. Unlike chlorine which easily dissipates into the atmosphere, chloramines are much more stable. As you get into pond keeping you will soon discover that ammonia is potentially lethal to all pond fish and needs to be removed.
If your tap water contains chloramines use Pond Care Ammo Lock. This great product detoxifies ammonia from fish waste as well as quickly neutralizing chlorine and ammonia, whilst your biological pond filter is bedding in.
Another revolutionary product, which simply attaches to your garden hose and effectively removes chlorines, chloramines, heavy metals and other dangerous toxins from municipal trap water is the Pond Fresh PF-100 and PF-200 Freshwater Filters. These attach easily to any standard garden hose and remove these harmful chemicals before they enter the pond.
Continuing with the spring cleaning you will need to treat the build up of organic sludge at the bottom of the pond before it causes a decrease in pond pH and affects oxygen levels. Pond Care Pond Zyme Plus contains digestive enzymes that will quickly break down the sludge.
Over the past few winter months Koi and other pond fish will have lost weight and their immune systems will be susceptible to infections and diseases. It is important to replace the mucous coating (slimy coating) which prevents the loss of essential electrolytes with a product such as Pond Care Stress Coat. It contains Aloe Vera, which helps to repair torn or damaged fins and other wounds, before bacteria sets to work. Stress Coat also conditions tap water and removes chlorine.
It is also important to start to feed the fish, to help them recover from the lost weight and reduced immune system, once the pond temperature reaches 42°F (5.5°C). You should feed a fish food that is easily digested. At this time of year the choice will need to be low in protein and high in carbohydrate to increase energy levels. Pond Care Spring & Autumn Pond Food is a good choice and has been specifically formulated for colder water conditions.
You may notice that your pond water appears cloudy. This is as a result of increased sunlight, phosphates, nitrates and the build up of organics that have dissolved in the water. This is a temporary problem, that will clear up on it's own over a period of time. You can however speed things up by the addition of a pond water clarifier such as Pond Care Accu Clear which causes the suspended particles to flocculate (clump) together. These larger particles are easily removed from the pond by your pond filter.
The scourge of all pond keepers starts to make an appearance during the spring months. The dreaded algae bloom, which causes your pond water to turn green. The best long term fix is to use a UV clarifier or UV sterilizer. In the interim however a pond algaecide such as Pond Care Algae Fix will help to keep hair algae, beard algae and floating algae under control. Be careful to read the instructions and not overdose.
Summer Pond Maintenance
Summer time is the height of activity in all backyard fish ponds and fish are at their hungriest, particularly greedy Koi, who will eat non stop, given the opportunity. It is important to feed several times a day, preferably with a floating fish food, as this reduces the opportunity for food to sink to the pond floor and decay.
As the pond temperature reaches 65°F (18.3°C) start to feed Pond Care Summer Staple Pond Food. This formulated fish food contains a high protein content, essential fatty acids, vitamins, minerals and trace elements that your fish require to grow and spawn. There are also color enhancers, needed by Koi and some fancy goldfish.
To give your pond plants a boost I would recommend the addition of Pond Care Aquatic Plant Food Tablets that will encourage growth and blooming of both hardy and tropical aquatic plants, including lilies.
At this time of year the level of decomposing and decaying matter from uneaten fish food, decomposing pond plants and fish waste is at its highest. This leads to an increase in ammonia levels and nitrite levels. The pH of the pond water will also more than likely drop, as a result of acid rain. It is advisable to monitor your pond water throughout the year but particularly during the summer months using a suitable Pond Test Kit.
If the pH is not at the desired level, slowly adjust it with Pond Care pH UP to increase the alkalinity of the pond water or Pond Care pH Down to increase the acidity.
Throughout the warm summer months continue to be proactive and use Pond Care Pond Zyme Plus to eliminate organic sludge build up from fish waste, dead plants, and other organic debris. There will more than likely be a higher concentration of ammonia, due to the increased metabolic activity taking place in the pond, particularly if you have a densely stocked pond. This may necessitate more frequent water changes, to help your biofilter cope.
Remember to add a Chlorine and Heavy Metal Neutralizer to remove chlorine and heavy metals or Pond Care Ammo Lock to remove chloramines and heavy metals, if you are adding tap water directly into the pond water.
Because water is less able to hold oxygen as its temperature increases, even the cleanest of ponds may experience low oxygen levels during hot summer days. Make sure, therefore, that fountains, waterfalls, and aerators are working especially well during hot weather. Don't wait until your fish are gasping for oxygen at the surface of the water.
