Fall Pond Maintenance
There
are a number of things that need to be done to your pond as we
transition from the hot months of summer to the winter. As the weather
cools your pond fish and plants are transitioning into a dormant state.
As such, your fish care and pond maintenance routines will change as
well.
Fish
If you feed your fish regularly during the summer, be sure to
reduce feeding when temperatures drop below 60F. You should not feed
more than once or twice weekly. When temperatures drop below 50F, stop
feeding your fish altogether. Remember that fish metabolism is dropping
as the temperatures drop and over-feeding could kill your fish due to
their reduced digestive processes.
Pond Plants
Make sure you remove all tropical plants (Canna, Calla Lilly, Palm,
etc.) before the first freeze. Many tropicals can be allowed to dry
out and replanted again in the spring. Place them in peat moss or wood
shavings and put in a closet or warm basement.
Cut back your hardy bog plants (Cattail, Grasses, Iris, etc.) that
grow around the pond edges. Bog plants love the wet sloppy mud along
the sides of the pond and will come back in the spring bigger and better
than ever.
Submerged plants with roots that extend to the bottom of the pond
(Water Lilly, Asian Lotus, Hornwort, etc.) can winter in the pond as
long as the pond depth is below the freeze line for your area.
Cleaning the Pond
Remove all leaves, debris, sticks, decomposing organic matter and
fish secretions from the bottom of the pond. A total clean out using a
pond vacuum or siphon is ideal. No matter how it is done, the pond must be clean.
If
the pond freezes over with excessive organic waste on the bottom,
ammonia gasses that are produced through decomposition may kill your
fish.
Covering the pond with
netting in the fall will prevent debris getting into the pond. Our heavy duty and premium netting can be re-used season after season.
