Getting Your Pond Winter Ready
Are you looking at your pond and wondering what to do as winter approaches? You are not alone. The first question to ask yourself is what kind of pond you have, as the preparation will differ depending on the nature of your pond. Is it an ornamental feature only, or does it have fish or perhaps it’s more of a wildlife pond with potted plants. Whichever it is, any measures you take to winterise it must be done before the frosts start to set in.
Pond Plant’s In the Winter
In autumn your plants will start to die back, at this point pruning the foliage away from the edges of your pond is a good idea, you don’t want stems and leaves decaying in your water over the long winter months.
It’s also an idea to consider a pond netting, as this will catch fallen leaves and save you a job later of cleaning them out, just make sure it’s securely fastened and isn’t sagging and in contact with the surface of the water, as this will promote decay of any vegetation that it may have caught. Netting can also provide protection for your fish, as predators are more likely to see them due to the receding plant cover at this time of year.
Any water plants you possess that aren’t as hardy (such as Water Hyacinths or Floating Fern) should be removed and brought indoors, or set aside in a greenhouse. If possible, hardy plant varieties should be submerged in the deeper regions of your pond to protect their roots from freezing.
When the water temperature starts to drop, ideally before it goes below 10°C (as anything below this risks injuries to your fish as they become sluggish) use a net to scoop up and remove leaves and debris, it may be a good opportunity to use a sludge treatment in conjunction with a pond vacuum to clear the waste at the bottom of the pond. This is also worth doing now, as you don’t want your fish sitting in too much sediment, which leaves them vulnerable to bacterial infections.
Pond Fish Care For the Winter
As the temperature outside drops further, your pond fishes’ metabolism and appetite will start to decrease, food will become harder to digest which poses potential health problems like constipation. With this in mind, you may want to consider feeding them Wheatgerm pellets which are easily digestible due to their low protein content, to transition them both in and out of winter. Once temperatures drop below 5°C, it’s best to stop feeding altogether.
Be careful not to overfeed if your fish are not hungry as you don’t want old food left in your pond.
Although winters are often slightly milder in the South, whereas if you live up North, your pond could be frozen over for an extended period of time, it’s still best to avoid your pond freezing over if you can help it. Surface ice traps carbon dioxide and acts as a barrier, preventing oxygen getting into the pond, which is bad news for your fish.
A simple method to stop a whole surface layer of ice from forming is to place a tennis ball – or floating ornament such as a duck, perhaps! – in your pond, it’s undulations and movements will deter ice from forming at all.
If your pond should freeze over, you can place a hot water bottle on the surface to melt the ice and allow oxygen in and harmful gases out, avoid breaking the ice if you can, as this creates shockwaves which can be stressful for your fish.
Pond Equipment
Does your pond have a filter and pump running? If it does, but your pond is of an ornamental nature with no fish, it’s not necessary to keep your equipment on over the winter months if you do not want to.
If you do have fish, it is a good idea to keep the pump and filter running though UV clarifiers can be turned off or have the operating hours cut down.
Decreasing the flow rate will do not harm, you can move your pump off the bottom of your pond, this is to avoid colder water near the surface mixing with the warmer water deeper down. The same goes for air stones.
It is a good time to make sure your filters are clean. Come spring when things start warming up you can add a bacteria product to kick start your biological filter such as Evolution Aqua Filter Start for a instant boost and Evolution Aqua Pure Pond as a general maintainer of good bacteria.