article: Winter Maintenance for Ponds

Winter Maintenance for Ponds

Ponds are great for the summer but what happens when winter comes? Winter can be potentially deadly to your fish or plants. Pond heaters are too small to raise the temperature and so your pond seems helpless, right? Wrong! There are plenty of precautions that can be taken to help save the life of your pond.

When your pond becomes snow covered or is ice covered, try your best to break through the ice and swipe away the snow. Allowing sunlight to heat just a bit of the pond will help. Also a hole must always be present so that the carbon dioxide is released from the water.

Never use anything to smash the ice because your fish will go into shock. The best methods are to use a pond heater to keep a hole open or pour steaming hot water on top of the ice to melt the thick coating. When keeping Koi fish, the pond should be kept completely heated by a whole-pond heater. The temperature should be kept above 10°C

When it comes to winter, it is best to keep the temperature at a non-freezing to the lowest point in the pond. Some plants are not affected by the coldness, but heat is necessary for ponds with fish life. Remember your pond always will be full of life even if it looks like your pond has demised. The life is under the water and it is vital for your pond to keep it that way.