Preparing Your Pond for Cooler Weather, Part 2

Koi Ponds and watergardens are a very nice addition to any backyard. We enjoy them all spring and summer, as a cool refreshing place to relax near with friends and family. As cooler temperatures come and fall arrives don’t suddenly abandon your pond, get prepared like a water garden expert with these helpful tips. Following are some great tips regarding the types of water treatments you need for your pond in the fall/autumn time.

Treating a pond in Fall

So you might be reading this wanting to learn which water treatments 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, there is a certain type of bacteria that you will want to use in particular.

Did you know there are more than 30,000 different strains of bacteria that have been named!

Some bacteria, benefit life and some are harmful to life. Beneficial bacteria for ponds are harvested or grown from many different strains or species. As you can imagine bacteria that survive in the warm tropical waters near the equator are very different from the bacteria thriving in the freezing cold water of the arctic. So guess what, there are Cold Water Bacteria specifically formulated for your pond to help reduce ammonia, decaying debris and improve the quality of your water. Here are a couple options available at your local store.

• 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.
• Real Clear Cold Water Bacteria – Real Clear cold water formula is a specific blend of bacteria for water temperatures less than 50 degrees.
• Microbe-Lift Autumn Winter Prep – The Autumn / Winter Prep is a seasonal, two-part kit that combines liquid and dry bacteria, which breaks down leaves, organic sediment and sludge during winter season.

Medicating Koi in Fall

As a fish owner you are probably familiar with medicating your fish to keep them healthy and free of parasites and other bacterial diseases. As the water temperatures drop in the fall and winter seasons the Koi and gold fish tend to have a lower immunity to these conditions. Treating the entire pond during this time of year can effectively reduce the likelihood of a parasite infection that can affect your fish before the warm weather starts in spring.

What can happen if you don’t treat your pond for parasites in the fall is, any parasites in the pond will go dormant as the water cools down. Then when the waters begin to warm up the parasites revive sooner than the koi and can affect them before the warm season really starts. Treat the pond for parasites when the water is between 50-55 degrees.

Consider these pond parasite treatments for fall and contact your local store to check availability.

• PondMAX ParaMAX – works as a strong preventative treatment without the need for removing pond fish or filters before treatment. ParaMAX is a broad spectrum treatment for a variety of parasites including ichthyophthirius (ich), sporozoan parasites, dinoflagellate infections as well as fungi.
• Hikari PraziPro – Hikari PraziPro is a liquid concentrate that is offered to effectivly control parasites in ponds and other freshwater applications.
• Microbe-Lift Broad Spectrum Disease Treatment – Microbe-Lift Broad Spectrum Disease Treatment is a malachite green and formalin combination that is the safest and most effective treatment for the control of diseases and fungal infections on fish.

Now with all this talk about water temperatures how do you know what temperature the water actually is? Although the temperatures of the air play a big roll in changing water temperatures, don’t be fooled, make sure you are armed with a PondMAX Pond Thermometer!