By Todd Rosendahl and Victor T. Romero
Now that winter is finally over, it’s time to get outdoors and wake up your pond for the spring! During the winter months your pond or water garden naturally goes into its own form of hibernation. The cold weather slows down all natural activity of plants and organisms living in your pond or water garden. This is why it becomes important to “wake-up” the pond every spring to help promote a thriving and well-balanced ecosystem for your pond or water garden.
A good way to explain the importance of this activity would be to use fish as an example. Because fish generally cannot regulate their own body temperature, their temperature is usually the same as the water in which they live. For example, if the water temperature is 50 degrees, their body temperature is 50 degrees. Through the winter months, fish tend to slow down their activity level and basically hibernate and go to sleep. As spring arrives and the water temperature increases, they become more and more active. As they become more active, they gradually begin to get their appetites and start to feed, therefore producing more waste. The amount of waste can be controlled in a well-balanced ecosystem.
The following tips can help you succeed at having a well- balanced eco-system for your pond or water feature as well as help your fish and aquatic plants looking healthy and vibrant.
It is extremely important to test your pond water so you will be able to determine exactly what it needs, to identify an existing problem and prevent a potential problem. There are two types of water test kits you can use and they are test strip kits and liquid test kits. The strips are the preferred method because they are easier to use. You may also want to invest in a pond thermometer as this will help you determine what condition your pond is in.
If you add water to your pond or water feature and high levels of chlorine are present, you should use a Chlorine Remover to de-chlorinate the water because chlorine and chloramines can harm your fish. You should also add beneficial Cold Water Bacteria to give your pond a “jump-start”, as most of the beneficial bacteria will have already died off over the winter. This “jump-start” is needed to seed the biological process and reduce ammonia, nitrates and nitrites that can cause problems in your pond or water garden. This process is highly recommended annually at the start of the spring season. Warm Water Bacteria can also be used to improve the health of your pond when the water temperature is above 55°F.
If you have aquatic plants it is very important to thin-them-out and re-plant, to give them a healthy start for the spring. By “thinning out” we mean, after a year or two we recommend that you take potted plants out of their container, and separate them. If plants do not have their own space to grow, it can cause problems in the health of your pond water. Aquatic Planting Media with zeolites is highly recommended for aquatic plant growth.
If you see a buildup of organic material on the bottom of the pond you will want to use a Sludge Remover that will help reduce the load. Think of the organic material on the bottom of the pond as a compost pile. As the water temperature increases, the compost pile starts to break down, using oxygen in the break down process. If this continues over a period of time your pond water will suffer from a number of health problems, due to lack of oxygen in the water.
Fountains and waterfalls help improve aeration and add more oxygen to the water. UV pond and waterfall pumps will also help reduce harmful bacteria. Additional filters may be required to collect debris if your pond or water garden is surrounded by low lying trees. All of the previously mentioned water treatments, pumps, and filters are available under the pond boss® brand.
Taking these steps early is the key to success for a healthy, optimized pond or water garden. We hope you have a wonderful water gardening season!
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