Proven Tips To Prepare Your Pond For Winter in Troy, MI.

Fall brings with eye-catching leaves, sweaters, and the beginning of the holiday season, but it equally brings a plethora of problems for your pond as well as the aquatic plants and animals that call it home!

Thankfully, will a little bit of planning and preparation, you can ensure your pond together with its flora and fauna sails through the winter safe and sound. Today in this post, we provide you with practical, effective, and proven tips to winterize your pond to ensure a successful opening of the pond during spring.

  • Prepare your fish for the winter: The fish are arguably the most important component of your pond, and that’s why you want to ensure they are protected first. If your pond features fish, you are highly advised to switch to wheat germ-based food because they are relatively easy to digest. This will ensure your fish can store some food for the upcoming season. It is worth noting that fish are naturally not active in winter, implying that their food consumption also reduces significantly. At 40 degrees, the fish in any pond will entirely stop feeding. You are advised to stop feeding actively. You only need to give small food portions to keep them going. Excess food will easily result in the growth of algae.
  • Don’t change the water in winter! The best time to change pond water is the fall season. Take your time to ensure the pond is thoroughly cleaned. If you don’t, all the dirt, dust as well as debris will decompose over time, ultimately transforming into hydrogen sulfide. In case you didn’t know, hydrogen sulfide is an extremely toxic gas that can potentially impact life balance in the pond. It is also important that you preserve both old sediments and mud, bearing in mind that fish tend to seek refuge inside sediment and mud in the cold season.
  • Take advantage of a floating de-icer: A floating de-icer is a crucial device that should be at the top of your pond wintering list. It creates gaps between blocks of ice and also serves as the point from where potentially harmful gases are released. This is key to making sure that the water remains safe for your aquatic animals and plants inside your pond. The device is usually equipped with a running motor pump that ensures the water is safe and habitable for its flora and fauna!
  • Opt for pond netting in fall: A high-quality net will not only ensure no leaves falls into the pond, but will also help reduce the amount of debris, ultimately minimizing the load of timely maintenance.
  • Look after your plants: Transferring aquatic plants can be a great step toward pond care during winter. If your pond is fairly deep and won’t freeze entirely, you can transfer somewhat more hardy plants into deeper water to prevent their roots from freezing. On the other hand, if you have a pond that freezes completely, there are a few things to enhance the quality of aquatic life inside it. For example, you can transfer the tropical lilies or soft plants indoors. You should wrap each of the plants in wet newspaper, keep them in a trash bag and ensure you closely examine them every few weeks.

The bottom line:

We have provided you with nearly everything you need to keep your pond in tip-top condition during the winter season. These tips are not only highly effective at keeping your pond at its contents healthy and safe in winter but are equally straightforward, so you should easily implement them.

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