Fall Pond Care – Castle Aquatics

A Guide To Fall Pond Care

With fall right around the corner, it won’t be long before the season changes, bringing beautiful colors throughout nature, cool temperatures, football, apple orchards, and more! For a lot of us, fall is our favorite time of the year, but for pond owners, the cooler temperatures and constantly falling leaves can make fall a stressful time. Fall is a time that should be enjoyed by everyone, and if you own a pond, your fall can be stress-free by taking the following proper fall pond maintenance and a few precautions.

THE IMPORTANCE OF FALL POND MAINTENANCE

When fall officially arrives, most pond owners will likely find that leaves and debris will fall into a pond, potentially clogging the pump and causing build-up. Fall is a time when leaves are constantly falling and pond temperatures drop so the proper maintenance is crucial to your water garden. Plus, winter is right around the corner, which makes maintenance even more important to your pond’s health.

ELIMINATING LEAVES AND DEBRIS

Some pond owners don’t have to worry about getting leaves in their water garden, but for those who live in a colder region, or have a pond located under or around multiple trees, it can be more of a challenge. Some may think that having a skimmer filter will be able to handle the cleaning, but there will be times when your filter will not be able to catch all the leaves and debris before they reach the bottom of the pond and begin to decompose. The best way to keep debris from reaching your ponds bottom in the fall is to use a pond net to remove it. Keeping debris and leaves out of your pond will not only keep your pond healthy going into winter but will also make your pond maintenance in the spring much easier. Allowing leaves and other debris to reach the bottom of the pond will cause them to decompose and rot, which can produce gases that could potentially be harmful to you fish and plants.

Castle Aquatics Tip: Once your pond or water garden is free of leaves and debris, consider using a pond cover net over your pond to catch the leaves and debris throughout the season.

It doesn’t matter if your pond isn’t in an area with a lot of trees, the fall is still a time where pond owners should keep on eye on the debris level of their pond. To stay healthy, ponds require significantly more maintenance in the fall than they do in the summer. As winter gets closer, the fall may be a great opportunity to take care of the plants in your pond as well.

POND PLANT CARE

With winter coming up, the fall is a great time to tend to any plants. Frost can end up killing plants, causing them to decay in your pond and feed algae. Pond owners should divide and repot plants that can be saved, and tropical plants, such as water lilies, can be brought inside and cared for, while hardy plants can be cut down and trimmed when they begin to brown.

FISH CARE

When the weather starts to cool down and pond temperatures begin to drop, pond fish, including koi, will begin to hibernate. It is important for pond or water garden owners to check their feedings. When temperatures are between 50-60 degrees, feeding should be reduced to once every one to two days. When the temperature drops below 50 degrees, it’s best to cut off feeding completely. When pond fish are going into hibernation, their digestive systems slow down, and feeding them could lead to health problems or even death. It may be beneficial to measure the temperature of your pond using a thermometer, so you can ensure you’re giving your fish the proper amount of food. If you’re unsure how much to feed your fish in the fall, it’s best to ask for a professional’s help.

GENERAL FALL POND CARE

As pond experts, a common question we are asked is which products should be added to a pond so that it will be healthy going into the winter. While there are many maintenance products and treatments you can add, we recommend using the following treatments to your pond:

Bacti-Pak The Bacti-Pak is formulated to reduce and eliminate organic and decomposing debris in the pond. The combination of natural bacteria act as cleaners, help maintain a strong balance and reduce undesired gases in your pond while providing clear, clean, and healthy water conditions
NatureMax – Adding NatureMax to your pond or water garden will remove ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, dead leaves, and other organic debris, keeping your water clean and healthy.

Fall is a crucial time to maintain your pond with the amount of falling leaves and other debris, in addition to the cooler temperatures. When you’re countenancing your pond or water garden and are in need of pond care products, look no further than PondMAX! Whether you need pond treatments or accessories, with PondMAX’s huge selection of products, you’ll be sure to find exactly what you are looking for!

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A Guide To Ideal Seasonal Pond Temperatures

One common goal that many pond owners have is maintaining a healthy and beautiful pond all year-round. One of the main tricks to keep your pond looking great through the summer, fall, winter, and spring, is to maintain ideal seasonal temperatures. For most pond life, but especially fish, maintaining the right temperatures each season plays a huge role in their survival. Throughout each season, it is essential for pond owners to keep an eye on the temperature of the water. Compared to the air, water temperature takes a long time to heat up or cool down, so having a thermometer is vital to figure out the correct temperature for the health and safety of your pond.

In addition, the deepness or shallowness of your pond or water garden will play a role in the water temperature. When a pond is deeper, light is decreased significantly. That being said, when a pond is shallower, light from the sun is able to heat the water faster. It is for this reason that when the air is cold, the lower layers of water may still have warmth — all of which is essential to the survival of pond life during the various seasons.

Maintaining ideal seasonal temperatures can be a challenge for some pond and water garden orders. To help, we put together a seasonal guide for ideal water temperature for your pond or water garden.

Winter

Since we are currently in the winter season, we are going to start here! It is recommended that pond owners try to maintain a 40-degree water temperature in their ponds and water gardens in the winter season. Of course, depending on what climate you reside in, this may be more difficult for some owners than others. On the water temperature drops down below 40 degrees, it is important to shut off and running water features, like waterfalls or fountains. You will want to make sure that your pond is deep enough so that when the temperature falls, the fish will be able to go to the deeper, warmer parts of the pond. If you live in a colder climate where water often freezes, consider reading one of our upcoming blogs, ‘ What Should I Do If My Pond Freezes?’.

Spring

After winter, when the temperature starts to increase, your pond will start to warm up. During this time of year, pond water should be between 55 and 65 degrees, Fahrenheit. Spring is a stressful time for fish as they are coming out of a dormant state. This causes them to have weakened immune systems, but when the water temperature is around 65 degrees, Fahrenheit they will become stronger and cause the fish to be more active and have a better chance of survival.

Summer

The ideal temperature for pond water in the fall is around 68 to 74 degrees, Fahrenheit. When the water is around 85 degrees, Fahrenheit and above, the pond water loses most of its ability to contain dissolved oxygen. In addition, high temperatures can cause pond fish to be more active, using up a lot of oxygen. When all the oxygen is used up and no more remains, it can cause the fish to die.

Fall

Across the nation, most pond water temperatures will start falling around September and October. Around this time, the water should be around 70 degrees, Fahrenheit. As the temperatures start to get cooler in the fall, it should be a goal to have your ponds water temperature to drop to around the mid-fifties. Maintaining this temperature through the seasons will allow for pond life to properly adjust to the shifting seasons.

By following these guidelines, pond owners will be able to keep their ponds throughout each season of the year. In addition to maintaining the ideal seasonal water temperatures, part of keeping your pond healthy is having the necessary equipment and pond care products. When you are in need of pond supplies, there is no better place to get pond products online than Castle Aquatics! We carry a wide selection of some of the biggest brand names in pond care products. Whether you are looking for pond filtration products or submersible pumps, pond lighting, or pond UV clarifiers, you will be sure to find it at Castle Aquatics!