We have been waiting all winter for spring to arrive and can hardly wait to spend time enjoying our water gardens again. The transition from winter to spring can bring new challenges in the water garden. However, with a little work and a lot of patience, your pond will again return to its sparkling, clear magical state.
In the winter, your pond and its inhabitants sleep. With the onset of spring, fish wake up, begin searching for food and the dreaded algae re-appears with a vengeance. The water we had sparkling clear in the fall, soon turns murky green.
If you were diligent in the fall, by keeping most of the leaves and twigs out of your pond, your task this spring will be much simpler. (unfortunately for me, I was not diligent enough!) If not, the first thing you will want to do is net out as many leaves and debris as possible with a net. Re-start your pumps and filter systems. If you have a skimmer and a puri-falls, now is a perfect time to clean them out thoroughly. Either clean your filter media or replace with new. If you clean your filter media, it is always best to rinse it in pond water, so as not to kill the “sleeping bacteria” from last year. After you have removed as much debris as possible, you can vacuum the rest with a Muck Vac or where vacuuming is impractical, such as in ponds with rock or gravel bottoms, adding Microbe-Lift SA will help speed up the biological removal of slow to degrade organic waste matter from aquatic pond bottoms, that may become toxic to fish and plant life. Microbe-Lift SA removes bottom organic sludge and helps clarify your pond water at the same time. Another option at this time would be to add Microbe-Lift Spring Summer Cleaner, it helps jump start your pond to a healthier environment in the spring, by reducing buildup of dead leaves and organic sediment. Microbe-Lift Spring Summer Cleaner is a seasonal approach to the proper organic balance in ponds. The main thing you want to achieve is to get the bacteria started and growing again in your pond. As the water warms, the species of bacteria that convert ammonia to nitrite slowly awaken as water temperatures rise above 55 degrees. The species of bacteria that convert deadly nitrites to harmless nitrate are slower to start in the spring, usually 2 to 3 weeks behind, depending on water temperatures. As your fish awaken from the winter, begging for food, it is best to refrain from feeding them at this time. Food eaten at this time will become toxic by products until the bacteria can catch up. The higher the protein in the fish food, the more ammonia will be produced. If you feel you must feed your fish, it’s best to feed Microbe-Lift Spring/Fall formula fish food, or Tetra Spring Diet, which consists mostly of wheat germ, and do so sparingly.
Many people, when their ponds are full of sludge, leaves and algae, are tempted to drain the pond and start over. Try to avoid this method, if at all possible, especially if you have a large pond. When you completly drain a pond and start over, you destroy all of the good bacteria you have been growing and stress your aquatic life. It is always preferable to work with “aged water”. Although at times, a partial water change can be beneficial. I would change no more than 10% to 30% of the pond though.
In Ohio, we are still experiencing some unusually cold days, the greenhouses are warm though, plants are growing and blooming and I’m sure within the next two weeks, I will be out tackling the leaves and muck in my pond. Hopefully I will learn my lesson, and next fall, leave the pond netting on all winter! Hang in there everyone, Spring is just around the corner!
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April 17th, 2009 at 11:53 am
Hi – as a new subscriber and one who is anxiously awaiting the delivery of my first order – I plan on being a frequent visitor and hopefully, contributor to this blog. I take lots of pictures of the transformation from bleak to beautiful as all the surrounding plants come back and soften the edge of my pond.
I live in Central New York and my pond has a section about 3 feet deep so my koi and goldfish – and whatever my daughters have contributed from a nearby creek – have overwintered very well. The koi are huge!
The frogs are slowly reaappearing and it seems the only thing that died over the winter was one frog. Not bad – especially since this past winter was especially cold!
April 17th, 2009 at 2:55 pm
Thanks Maggie! Send us pictures when you have them. We’d love to see them and share them with our other subscribers.
April 22nd, 2009 at 3:06 pm
I just received my first order and the plants look wonderful! They are green and lush, but am soaking them in pond water as instructed. My pond is not a “real pond.” My landlord dug it with a bulldozer many years ago to catch the spring water that runs down the hill. It has very steep sides, is probably about 12′ at its deepest and 60′ long x 30′ wide. It is surrounded by evergreen trees and the water looks awful all the time. About four years ago I put a handful of .69 goldfish in there and only discovered last summer that many of them are not only alive, they are close to a foot long! I never feed them because there are lots of bugs for them and they’ve already survived this long with winters of the pond frozen solid for weeks and scorching summers. The water level drops about 4′ in the summer and the fish stay close to the top when it does that. I believe they are in distress but I don’t know anything about fish. Anyway, I cannot reach all the tree branches and stuff because of the steepness of the sides, but I am going to try to make a net that I can reach with to get some of it out. I was hoping the plants I got would help, and the snails, although I could only get a small amount. Maybe they’ll grow and multiply. Don’t know what I’ll do with the bog plants as there is no way to plant them in the pond and if planted on the side, they’ll be high and dry when the water level drops this summer. Well, I’ll figure something out and I’ll keep watching this blog for ideas. Thank you.
May 2nd, 2009 at 8:06 pm
i RECENTLY BOUGHT A LOTUS FROM YOU. IT ARRIVED IN GOOD CONDITION, NOW i’M JUST WAITING FOR IT TO ROOT IN THE CLAY. I CAN’T WAIT UNTIL IT BLOOMS. THANKS.
May 3rd, 2009 at 7:37 am
Cheryl, we have had a Koi pond since 2000. Last year we purchased a pond vac and it was the best thing we have done to keep the bottom of the pond clean. I can vacuum all of the debris out of the bottom of the pond (even though we have rocks on the bottom). In the Spring you will need to vacuum it out weekly, but once the pond is clear of Algae on the bottom you won’t have to do it as often. Well worth the money.
May 3rd, 2009 at 6:50 pm
Hi Karen,
Thanks for information. Can I ask what type of pond vac did you purchase? We have alot of customers ask which is the best type. I’d like to know from customers which one they like and how well they work.
Thanks!
May 5th, 2009 at 1:41 pm
I just got a muck vac from drs foster and smith it works great once you get it started! It works with a garden hose and siphons out the muck. I would like to hear of any other vac out there in a resonable price range. This one costed 69.00 and takes patience not my best vertue!
I have purchased pond lilies last year from you. I was finally able to keep plants alive through the winter! I had to move them indoor due to our harse winters in ND. I kept them in a burlap bag filled with sand. And stored them in the basement in cool dark area. Thanks for the helpful hints!
This is a great location to find all your pond needs..
Thanks Linda
May 5th, 2009 at 5:03 pm
Hi
I was just curious how your lotus is doing? Do you have leaves above the pond surface?
May 6th, 2009 at 8:57 am
Hi the lotus I purchased last year did not take, I have yet to see one leaf.
May 7th, 2009 at 6:48 am
I am curious about Lotus, have always admired them. I am hesitant to get one, though. I just wondered what needs to be done to get them through a winter?
May 8th, 2009 at 8:15 am
Hi Tracy,
The way you plant a lotus has alot to do with it growing. You want to make sure you don’t bury the tuber and the growing tips are pointing up. Check out planting a lotus on our blog and it gives pictures of planting a lotus. Usually this is the reason a lotus doesn’t make it.
May 8th, 2009 at 8:29 am
A lotus is considered a hardy water plant for planting Zones 4 to 11. In colder climates you must make sure the lotus tubers do not freeze in the winter and the container should be moved to a cool but frost free area, such as the bottom of your pond that is deep enough to keep the tubers from freezing. You can also remove the container from your pond and bury it in the ground under a mound of soil or mulch to protect the lotus from the frost. Before winter you want to trim back the leaves and flower stems after it has died and turned brown. Make sure if the leaves and stems are still green you want to wait until they turn brown as cutting them back too soon will increase the change of diseases entering through the hollow stems which could cause the plant to die. If you must cut them while they are still green do it above the waterline so that the water doesn’t enter the stems and drown the plant. You can check out our blog write up on planting a lotus for more details.
May 12th, 2009 at 2:07 pm
I just finish my pond yesterday i can wait to have plants and koi fish on it but i’m going to wait a weak before a add koi, for now i’m going to work with the landscaping around the pond…
May 21st, 2009 at 1:49 pm
(Congradulations Jose with your new pond!)
Question:
I have comet and shubinkin goldfish in my pond. I have room for one koi, but will one koi be happy with goldfish?
May 22nd, 2009 at 5:51 pm
You can add Koi with goldfish with no problem. I have koi, goldfish,sarasas,shubunkins and black moors in my pond and everyone is doing fine.
May 27th, 2009 at 7:28 pm
What particular information are you looking for? You can find MicrobeLift information on their website relating to all the products that they have available. If you check on our site under Pond Supplies we have alot of the MicrobeLift Products available and each has a short description of its use.
May 29th, 2009 at 9:19 pm
hello, i would like to start a small bog ponds in an old preformed fish ponds and i would also like to start a dragonfly pond. i think i need two because i have been told that the fish eat the dragonfly eggs. am i correct? does my bog pond get filled with 1/2 sand and 1/2 peatmoss? how do i keep mosquitoes from breeding in the dragonfly pond? pk, that is it for now. thank you, barbara later, i will need to know about plants.
June 7th, 2009 at 6:49 pm
Hi Barbara,
Yes fish will eat dragonfly nymphs and eggs. Some ideas for your pond would be to have it at least 2 feet deep in center but can be shallow at edges. They like rocks in the pond that provides hiding places for larvae during insects’ underwater growth development. Put some flat light colored rocks around the edges of your pond to give the dragonflies a place to land. They like certain areas and you’ll find a dragonfly will always come back to its certain spot. The light colored rocks attract them. Put some plants such as, cattials, bamboo, zebra bullrush and other grassy foliage around the edges of your pond. This gives the larvae passage out of the pond. As for as the mosquitoes…you don’t want to put anything in the pond to kill mosquitos as dragonflies will eat them. Other plants to add to your pond would be plants such as cardinal flower, blue lobellia, and water lilies. Especially the water lilies as these create some shade for them and also attract them. We have an article on the blog regarding attracting dragonflies to your pond that list alot of good plants for them.
No need for sand and peatmoss as small rocks at the bottom of your pond provide hiding places for them. Also dragonflies like sun so place your pond with mostly sun but some shade.
June 17th, 2009 at 11:22 pm
Hi Barb,
Just wondering, at what temperatures should the filers be started again in spring and at what temps do you apply Microbe lift Spring/summer additive?
In fall when you shut down the filter do you just let it sit without cleaning the media?
Can you write a similar article on fall/autumn cleaning and what to add to the pond and when?
Thank you.
Michael