Tips for pond maintenance in the fall
Pond tips for autumn
The fall and thus autumn is often used to prepare the pond for winter. There are a number of jobs that need to be done in the fall. We provide tips in this blog for pond maintenance of the aquatic plants, fish and the pond itself.
Pond care for aquatic plants
In autumn it is important to remove dying plant parts. This is because dying organic material is not good for the water quality of the pond. Water lilies, shore plants, marsh plants and floating plants should be pruned back, oxygen plants and marsh plants do not require much work. For pruning and removal, use our Duo Pond Tool. A tool that allows you to prune and also remove debris from the water easily.
To counteract pond water acidification by dead organic material in winter, it is also advisable to sprinkle a quantity of Bio-Oxydator over the bottom in autumn. Bio-Oxydator removes bottom silt and prevents new silt formation. Using three active ingredients, Bio-Oxydator tackles the soil silt: The pH-regulating granules keep the bottom layer from acidifying.
It is now also very important to measure the water hardnesses. Especially the GH value must be high enough to bind the excess of this CO2. For measuring the GH value and other values, use specially designed water testing kits. You can easily use these yourself and with the help of color scales and the Pond Test App, insight into the water values is quickly gained. Increase joint hardness with GH Plus.
Pond care for the fish
The fish are slowly getting ready for winter. The temperature of the pond water is dropping and with it the activity of the fish. It is important to give your fish good quality food with a lower energy value, so that the immune system is strengthened and they build up more resistance for the winter. We have a nice range of fish food that allows you to give your fish good and varied food.
Feeding the fish no longer needs to be 2 or 3 times a day, but can be slowly reduced. Keep an eye on whether all the food is eaten and base your amount and frequency on that. It is important (especially with koi) that they go into the winter in good condition, because then they will also come out in good condition. If the temperature of the pond water no longer exceeds 10 degrees, feed the fish special winter food sporadically. This food will sink to the bottom wherever the fish are.
Tip! By the way, do not put out new fish in the fall. The fish have too little time to adapt and prepare for winter.
Pond care for the pond/pond water
Protect the pond from falling leaves and branches by stretching a net over it. As indicated above, organic material causes poorer pond water quality. You can also use our Pond Skimmer for this purpose.
As mentioned, it is important to keep a close eye on the hardness of the pond water. In autumn a lot of rainwater falls into the pond. Rainwater is very soft (no minerals) and causes the hardness to drop sharply. Oxygen plants do not like soft water. If you don’t keep the hardness up, chances are the oxygen plants won’t do well in the spring.
Thread algae, on the other hand, grows well in soft water and also grows longer than the other plants. So make sure that you remove all filamentous algae properly in the fall so that you will have fewer problems with them in the spring. Yet another reason to keep a close eye on hardness.
Finally, in late October/November you can give the pond filter a good cleaning and should it get very cold the UV-C lamp can be turned off. It is advisable to keep the pump and filter running throughout the year to prevent the pond from freezing over.
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