Ready your Pond and Fish for Winter Now

Fall Cleanup in Your Pond

The calendar says it's Fall now and I have to agree. The days are getting shorter and nights colder. So today I decided it was time to get the pond winterized. I put on my rubber wader suit and joined the fishes in my little pond. I pulled up the water lilies and trimmed off all the long stalks and spent flowers. I left the smaller leaves that were just emerging from the plant so not to put the plant into total shock and those leaves will still synthesize oxygen and carbon dioxide for the plant as it shuts down for winter. Then I dropped those plant containers in the deepest part of my pond for the winter. I also removed all the floating plants and they will be composted on my strawberry plant beds to add nutrients to the soil.

The floaties (ducks, frog and turtle) were removed and will be stored away till next year. Lastly, I added some “good” bacteria product back into the pond. The bacteria will help decompose the plant material in the bottom of the pond and also the fish waste. It also reduces ammonia and nitrates which of course, are harmful to your fish! This is a very important step both in spring and in the fall.

Remember, you want to leave your pumps running all winter. Your fish still need oxygen and circulation. I have a 350 gph submersible pond at the far end of my pond that flows through my UV light, through my bog garden which acts as my biological filter, and dumps back into the pond in the opposite corner. This way I know I have total water circulation throughout my pond. I also have a small external air pump that bubbles air into the deepest part of my pond through an air stone. This insures that the fish will be adequately oxygenated through the cold winter months when they are down in that section and not moving around. Their metabolism slows down as the water gets colder and they go into a semi-dormant state.

Speaking of fish, have you taken your pond's temperature lately? Seriously..... once the water temperature dips below 50F, stop feeding your fish commercial high protein fish food. I know, just like small children, they want to be feed constantly, but their digestive systems shut down in colder water and they can't digest properly. You can kill them if you continue to feed them! If you can't take it, you could toss in some green peas. Fish love them and since they are mainly carbs, no harm will come to your fish. It's the high protein in fish food that that they can't process properly in the colder winter months. Chances are they will naturally disappear to the bottom of the pond and you can rest easy. In the spring, again, feeding them high protein fish food is temperature dependent. Remember, 50F is the magic number.

Lastly, I cover my small pond with some netting as we live in an area where herons routinely fly over and the fish have lost their natural cover of the lily leaves. Protection is key when natural cover has died back or been eliminated.

Thanks for reading and I will author more pond info in the spring, only six months from now!