Let’s Keep It Clean!
Maintaining you water garden is easy if you keep a balanced ecosystem. The three important factors are: fish, plants and oxygenation.
Spring clean-outs are probably the most work with a water garden. If your pond isn’t too large, it is usually easiest to start the season off with fresh, clean water.
The steps are:
1) Set a large covered tub next to pond and fill with old water from the pond. Put fish in tub and loosely cover as the Koi will jump.
2) Sump pump all water out of pond.
3) With a high pressure of water, spray rocks clean and remove any debris from pond.
4) Place water plants in pond & reinstall pump.
5) Refill pond water.
6) Acclimate fish to new water temperature and return them to pond.
7) Add Pond Starter Beneficial Bacteria and, if you have city water, add a de-cholorinator.
Your job now is simply to check your leaf skimmer weekly for debris and keep adding the beneficial bacteria as needed.
As the season progresses and the pond water warms up, different types of algae may start growing in the pond. Contact us for information on which products will work best for your situation.
Autumn
In autumn, before the leaves start to fall, we lay down a black leaf net to collect the leaves from falling deep into the water. We scoop the leaves off the net as needed and remove the net when all the leaves are off the trees.
Winter
In Michigan, our winters are very cold and a thick layer of ice forms on the pond surface. We keep a small hole in the ice by placing an aerator on the bottom of the pond and keep it running all winter. This provides the Koi with plenty of oxygen and gas exchange. The pump is stored in the garage until spring.
