Maintaining Your Pond
- Post created by: Victoria S.
- 25 May 2022
Your pond will require year round maintenance, with different seasons requiring different jobs to help it looking its best all year round. This post takes a detailed look at what you need to do around the year, to keep your pond looking its best.
Every 12 months
It is important to replace the degradable parts of your pond system yearly, as this prolongs the life of pumps, filters and ultra violet clarifiers (UVCs). This can include replacing things like bulbs, pump impellers, filter foam or seals. An all-in-one annual service kit specific for you pond filter brand can help, such as Hozelock’s Bioforce 3000 Annual Service Kit, which includes replacement sponge filter, UVC lamp and replacement seals.
Spring
Spring is when your pond will come back to life. As the temperature rises, you can introduce new pond plants, and divide and re-pot existing plants. If you have water lilies, these will benefit from a feed in spring with specialist food.
As weeds will begin to grow in spring, you will need to manage algae and weed growth, removing large clumps when necessary.
To ensure your water remains well oxygenated, clean the pump and check pump parts are working. When needed, order spares or replace inoperable pumps with a new pond pump.
After a winter hiatus, you can start feeding the fish again, re-introducing food as the temperature rises.
Summer
Summer is when weeds will really start growing, so you need to keep on top of this. Remove floating weeds using a pond picker. Ideally they should be left on the side of the pond overnight, to enable small creatures that may be hiding in it to make their way back to the pond.
Fish will need to be fed regularly in summer, but uneaten food will also need to be removed from the pond so that it does not pollute the water.
The filter needs to be cleaned regularly to make sure it is kept in good working order.
The pond water will need to be topped up to account for evaporation, ideally using rainwater from a water butt (to prevent chlorination), about once a month.
Autumn
Leaf fall may be a problem in autumn, and so the pond surface should be checked and cleared regularly of dead leaf matter with a pond net, so it does not rot on the surface. Dead material should also be cut back for the same reason.
Keeping netting on top of the pond surface permanently is also a good means of preventing leaf litter falling into the pond as autumn progresses. It will also prevent herons attacking your fish, which they could do more frequently in autumn as they look for easier targets as the weather cools and natural prey become scarcer.
As the temperature falls in autumn, you can also start reducing fish feed, as fish, being cold-blooded, will naturally move less and have smaller appetites.
Winter
In winter, fish do not need to be fed when the temperature falls below 10 degrees centigrade. To prevent the whole pond freezing over, place a ball in the water or use a float or pond heater. Moving items or pond heaters will prevent the pond from completely freezing over.
Caring for fish in a frozen pond
If you find that your pond has frozen over, make a hole in the ice with a hot pan. This will ensure that necessary oxygen exchanges can occur. It is important that you do not hit the ice as this can shock the fish – the sound waves caused by hitting the ice can reach fish even at the bottom of the pond – where over-wintering fish are likely to be - causing stress and even death.
See Also:
Building a Pond
Pond Filters. Why Filtrate?
Introducing Fish to your Pond
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