Koi Garden: Preparing Your Pond For Winter

Winter is nearly here, and this will be the first time your Koi pond will go through such a cold weather. You see, winter is considered as the down period for your pond, because during this time, less events happen compared to other seasons. To make sure that your fish and pond survive the weather, here are some special precautions that you need to take in your garden before winter comes to your doorstep.

First, clean up - Take your time in completely going over your pond (this can take about a weekend). Remove those unwanted bulk material inside and around it as well. Inside the pond, remove all those leaves, slits, and other materials from the bottom of it. If you have any plants or flowers that will not be able to survive the cold, remove them as well.

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 only once per day when the fall begins and temperatures reach around 55 degrees to 60 degrees. Completely stop the feeding once the temperature hits below the 50-degree mark (even though the temperature goes above this mark, refrain from feeding your fish).
Most of them take at least 4 days for them to digest food completely when they're healthy and temperature is above the 50-degree mark.

If you forget this vital step, you'd end up killing your fish! Don't mistake it for hunger when your fish open their mouths to you, as it is only a learned reflex rather than a sign of hunger. Don't worry about not feeding, because your fish will feed on something else besides the food that you provide them (especially if your pond has a great amount of natural plants). If you're not feeding them and if ever they get hungry, they will feed on this.

Third, check up - Do a seasonal check up on the equipments that you have, from your filtration system to your array of preventable medications. Keep in mind that the majority of the ponds all throughout the world lie dormant during the winter time, you'd be able to less likely find the stuff that you're going to need. Ensure that your emergency kit (including the nets, medications, bags, and water testing kits) 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. It is known that the fish can withstand constant temperatures as low as 39 degrees for short periods of time (including those slightly lower than 39 degrees).

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 danger imposed by the amounts 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.

Lastly, turn off all of the sources of water - Your heater will be working harder to maintain the kind of water temperature that's enough to keep your fish alive in colder weather. If your pond has those additional Koi garden water features such as streams, waterfalls, or those fountains that move constantly, make it a point that you turn them off during the winter time (these will circulate water, constantly bringing new and cold water to your pond). Switching these features off will make the standing water in your pond the only water that your heater will be responsible for.