Koi Garden: How To Prepare Your Pond For The Winter Season
Wintertime is almost here, and this will be the first time for your pond to experience cold weather. Winter is the downtime for your Koi pond, because during this season, less events will occur compared to the other seasons. In order to make sure that your Koi and your pond will survive the weather, here are important precautions that you need to take for your garden before winter blows its first cool breeze.
First, clean up - Take your time in completely going over your pond (this can take about a weekend). Remove those unwanted bulk materials around it and inside of it. Inside the pond, remove all of those materials such as leaves and slits from the bottom of it. If you have flowers or plants that wouldn't survive the cold weather, you should also remove these as well.
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Around your pond, clean up those things that can be blown into it, because you will not be able to notice the debris until the winter's end (this will then prevent those potentially harmful parasites and bacteria in the future).
Second, stop feeding - Keep in mind that your fish needs to stop feeding during the winter period. Feed them once a day when fall starts and temperatures will fall around 55 to 60 degrees Fahrenheit. Stop the feeding completely once the temperature reaches below 50 degrees Fahrenheit (even though the temperature will go beyond this mark, you should refrain from feeding your pets).
Most of them take at least 4 days for them to digest food completely when they are in good health and the temperature is above 50 degrees Fahrenheit.
If you will forget this important step, you will surely end up killing your pets! When your fish open their mouths at you, do not mistake it for hunger, for it's only a learned reflex instead of a sign of hunger. Do not worry that you're not feeding them, as your fish will feed on something else besides the food that you give to them (especially if your outdoor pond has many plants). If you're not feeding them and if ever they get hungry, they will then feed upon these.
Third, check up - Do a seasonal check up on the equipments that you have, from your filtration system to your array of preventable medications. Remember that most of the ponds lie dormant during the winter, you'd be able to less likely find the stuff that you're going to need. Make sure that your emergency kit (including water testing kits, medications, bags and nets) is always ready and up to date.
Fourth, prepare for the cold - Make a preparation for the cold weather by investing in the items that you'd be needing during the summer time. The Koi can withstand constant temperatures falling as low as 39 degrees Fahrenheit for minimal amounts of time (which include those that fall a little bit lower than 39 degrees Fahrenheit).
If you buy a heater, research first on what size you'd be needing in order to heat your pond during the winter rightly. Otherwise, ice will still form, causing harm brought about by the amount of gas in the water, as it is trapped under the ice. In extreme cases, you can put an emergency tank inside of the pond.
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Finally, turn off all of your water sources - Your heater will do its work harder in order to maintain the temperature suitable for your fish to live in the cold weather. If you add-ons like fountains, waterfalls and streams, turn them off during the winter (as these will circulate water and will constantly bring new and cold water to your pond)c. By switching these devices off, you'll make your pond's standing water the only thing that your heater will be responsible for.
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