Spring Time Pond Keeping Maintenance | What Do I Need To Do?
Pond Keepers Guide To Preparing Your Garden Pond For Spring
The sun is starting to shine and the early morning frost is slowly disappearing, a sure sign that the cold winter spill and dark cold morning are fading into the distance … spring time is here again.
As the temperatures start to rise and your backyard pond kicks back into life, now is the time to turn your attention to your backyard fish pond. Your Koi, goldfish and other fish are starting to feed more and become much more active. Biological activity in your pond is on the increase. Spring is an important time of year both for you as the pond keeper and your pond inhabitants. Carrying out the following tasks and heeding the advice given will leave you with a much healthier pond environment ... click here to read how to prepare your garden pond for winter ...
Vacuum your pond thoroughly and remove any muck off the pond floor using a pond vacuum cleaner of some description. Decaying leaves, grass, uneaten fish food and other vegetation gives off ammonia, which puts more of a strain on your pond filter.
It is during spring time that many pond keepers start to experience the hassles and joys of fish pond keeping … As pond water temperatures increase many pond keepers experience fish health problems, particularly with bacterial ulcer disease, manifesting itself in the form of sores and lesions on your ornamental Koi, goldfish and other pond fish species. Fish parasites thrive in cold water and take advantage of the slightly weakened immune system of your fish, carried over from the winter spell. It will take a while for your fish to increase their immune system, which makes them more susceptible to infection.
Add some non-iodized pond salt (table salt contains iodine) to your pond water as this will help to kill of many of the parasites and bacteria that cause fish health problems. Apply a dosage of 3 lbs per 100 gallons of pond water.
It is always advisable to feed a highly digestible protein fish food during winter that contains the required balance of minerals and vitamins, so as to keep your fish healthy and active and maintain their immune system … CAUTION; check the ash content of the fish food. Easily digestible protein fish foods don’t have more than 5% ash content. Wheat germ is advertised as the “best winter fish food” because it is easily digestible. This is not strictly true and is a marketing myth used to increase the sales of wheat germ in addition to normal fish food. Wheat germ doesn’t contain the required balance of protein, minerals and vitamins. Some people believe that feeding should stop at around 10 C but if the fish are still swimming around then by all means feed them, but only small amounts of fish food. It doesn’t make sense to starve the fish over the winter months to leave them in a weakened state in spring, which in turn makes them more susceptible to fish diseases and possible death. It is not only cruel to starve them but is also financially inept as ornamental Koi and fancy gold fish varieties can be quite expensive to replace.
Springs is here and guess who has come to visit? That’s right it’s the scourge of all pond keepers, the dreaded green pond water, caused by microscopic algae cells multiplying at a rapid rate because of the warmer water conditions, longer sunnier days and increased nitrates in the pond due to increased fish feeding activity … Now is the time to check the UV bulbs in your UV sterilizer (UV clarifier) … typical UV lamps last about 8000 hours; less than 1 year and although they still shine, will not emit sufficient enough UV rays to control the build up of green pond algae.
As Koi and other pond fish species start to feed at an increased rate this results in higher concentrations of ammonia within your garden pond. This increase in ammonia (NH3) places a high strain on your biological pond filter. Beneficial bacteria take their time to colonize your pond filter at this time of year … Now is the time to keep an eye on your pond filter by regularly checking the ammonia levels in your pond, using a reliable ammonia testing kit. The ammonia concentration within your pond will be higher than it has been during the preceding months, but should not spiral out of control, providing your pond filter is working correctly. It may take a while for your biofilter to gain control once again. To aid your pond filter don’t overfeed and ensure that there is a plentiful supply of oxygen as the process of converting ammonia requires plenty of oxygen.
If you have a large Koi pond and use a bead filter then clean your bead filter by breaking up the beads that have caked together. Once you have done this perform a backwash prior to running water back into your garden pond.
If you have aquatic pond plants then prepare your aquatic pond plants by throwing away any potted plants if they haven’t started to sprout by mid April. If you lowered your aquatic plants to the bottom of the pond for the winter now is the time to raise them. Fertilize each marginal plant species with 1 plant grow tablet. For hardy water lilies use 2 tablets. If you have lotus then fertilize with 5 fertilizer tablets.
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