Winterizing Your Pond - Pond Information

Your pond can be prepared for winter by taking the following steps: 

1. Trim all spent blossoms and leaves from plants.
2. Stop fertilizing your plants at the end of the growing season.  Hardy lilies go dormant in October, while tropical lilies go dormant in December.
3. If you are in an area with many falling leaves, use pond netting to protect the pond.  This will reduce the amount of debris in the bottom of your pond. 
4. When water temperature is between 50-60 degrees, feed your fish low or no protein foods such as cheerios, spinach, lettuce, steamed rice or cooked pasta.
5. When water temperature is below 50 degrees, do NOT feed the fish at all!  At low temperatures the fish's metabolism is sluggish and they will be unable to digest the feed.  This can result in poor water quality and health problems in the spring. 

If there is more than 1" of silt in the bottom of the pond, it is time for a thorough cleaning.  Follow the steps below:

1. Carefully catch your fish and place them in a shady area with water supplied from your pond.  Be sure to use an air pump and air stones to provide aeration for the fish.  Cover the container if you have Koi as they are prone to jumping.  To alleviate stress, add 1-2 tablespoons of non iodized salt per 50 gallons of water.  Water softener salt is acceptable.
2. Remove water lilies and submerged plants and place them in a shady area covered with wet newspaper in plastic bags.  If plants will be out of the pond for more than a few hours, they should be placed temporarily in tubs of water.  Bog plants may be placed in a shady location or if roots are emerging from the containers placed in water.  Divide and repot plants as needed.
3. Drain the pond with a pump or siphon, removing all of the debris and silt.  DO NOT SCRUB  pond sides, but do remove loose algae with a stiff spray from the hose nozzle.  Make all necessary repairs -- we carry repair tape if it's needed to patch a hole in your liner.
4. Refill pond and treat with chloramine remover, if necessary.
5. Return plants to pond.
6. If pond water temperature is different from the water in the holding facility, float fish in plastic bags until the water temperature is equalized.  Place a small amount of pond water in the fish bag, wait 10 minutes, then release fish into the pond.
7. Clean filters, replacing filter media, if necessary.  When replacing filter media, on a Water Garden Gems cylinder type filter, keep your old media wet so that the beneficial bacteria transfer to the new media, one the filter has been rewrapped and returned to your pond on top of the old media.  Beads in the Bubble Bead Filter do not need replacing.  If you use glass air stones, they should be cleaned in muriatic acid and rinsed well before returning to your pond.