Getting your pond and pond fish ready for cooler weather

Getting Your Pond & Pond Fish Ready for Cooler Weather

Chris Deer

FRESHWATER:

The weather is cooling down quickly and pond owners should get their pond and pond fish ready for the change of seasons. Steps taken now will not only keep your fish healthy in the winter months, they will also prevent many algae problems that develop in the spring of next year.

If you have a plecostomus (the tropical algae eater) in your pond, it is time for you to capture it and move it into a temperature-controlled aquarium inside or find other accommodations for it. These are tropical species that hardly ever survive winter. Contact your local dealer and see if they have a policy about returning these fish for store credit.

As outdoor temperatures begin to drop:

1. Begin feeding your pond fish wheat-germ food. This food is processed quickly by the fish and also bulks them up for the winter months when they are not feeding. If you have left-over food from the summer, simply put it in a container and freeze it for use next year. Wheat germ food should be used from now until the water temperature drops to 50 degrees. At this water temperature, the fish should not be fed until the water warms back up next spring. Aqualife Wheat Germ Food is the perfect food during this period. Many dealers offer refills on this nutritious food. If not, ask your dealer to carry it.
2. The pond plants will soon begin to fade as the water temperature cools down. This is normal but you should be removing dead or dying plant leaves instead of leaving them in the pond to decay. Decaying plant material WILL ensure an algae problem in the spring! Remove the leaves as they fade. Stop feeding any pond plants now so they can become dormant for cold weather.
3. Leaves will be dropping from the trees in the coming days. Do not make the mistake of letting tree leaves sink to the bottom of your pond and remain there! Decaying tree leaves not only turn your pond water dark brown, they lead to major algae problems when the water warms up in the spring. Decaying leaves also break down the Carbonate Hardness (kH) of the pond water that will lead to a pH crash that can kill your fish. You can simply dip out the leaves using a pond skimmer net or your can cover your pond with a pond netting material. This fine netting prevents leaves from ever reaching your pond water.
4. The biological filter should be given a good cleaning at this time. Muck trapped in the biomedia not only feeds algae in the spring, it can also harbor parasites that can harm your fish when the water warms back up. Using either treated tap water (a water conditioner), well water or some of your existing pond water, flush out the bio- media in your pond filter of trapped debris. Rinse out filter pads, flush out the UV Clarifier and perform a 25%-30% partial water change using treated conditioned tap water or fish-safe well water.
5. Continue to add a quality pond biological cleaning product like AquaLife Pond Cleaner to the pond water weekly. This product contains bacteria that consume organic material yearround. This will greatly reduce the accumulation of pond muck on the bottom of the pond and inside the pond filter.
6. And last, you should add fresh activated carbon to the ponds filtration system. This will remove organics still trapped in the pond water, discolorations of the water and even odors! This will polish up the pond water giving your fish a healthy environment for the dormant months of winter.