Winter Care Tips For Your Backyard Fish Pond

The fish in your backyard fish pond will be semi-dormant during the winter

, that is to say that they will almost hibernate, but not quite. You will see your fish lying on the bottom of your pond scarcely moving a muscle. They will be surviving off stores of fat that they have built up throughout the summer, but they may choose to eat every now and again, so you have to keep giving food, but in very reduced quantities.

There are a few things that you ought to do to ready your backyard fish pond for the winter, because this will help them survive the winter.

The first thing to do is clean up your pond and the surrounding area. Any dead vegetation that finds its way into your pond will have months to rot down and ruin the quality of your pond water, just when your fish are at their most susceptible.

Dredge your pond, aiming to take out at least half of the slush at the bottom, but try to leave any grubs, larvae and insects behind, because they are a good source of protein for your fish.

Scrape the sides of the pond of algae and net it out. You should also take out any plants that are unlikely to make it through the winter. Fix a leaf net over the pond in order to prevent tree leaves from blowing into the pond at a later time when the weather gets rough. If you expect flooding or heavy rain, sandbag the perimeter of the pond to a height of two feet to stop fish being swept away.

When the water temperature drops to 55-60F, reduce feeding to once per day and when it drops to 50F, stop giving food altogether. Even if the temperature rises above 50F for a day or two, do not feed until winter is over. This is because the fish may eat intuitively, but at this temperature food can take four days to digest and could kill your fish.

Clean your filtration system and remove your pumps and fountain from the water. Once you have taken your equipment you can clean and maintain it at your leisure. You do not want it to freeze solid during a frost.

Stock up on your chemicals, medicines, water testing kits and foods now while you have plenty of time, because in essence, you are shutting your pond down for the winter.

Turn off all items that supply or recycle water in your pond. Make sure that they are unplugged and unable to be switched on accidentally. If water recyclers are switched on unintentionally, it will disrupt the layers of cold and warmer water in the pond and may stress or even kill your fish.

Check and put in your de-icer. It is very important to maintain a hole in any ice that forms, otherwise the gases and chemicals that result from rotting vegetation and fish excrement will build up and the water will not be able to take in oxygen. This is crucial or one day the ice will melt and your fish will all float to the top - dead.

by: Owen Jones

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