It’s getting cold slowly and the pond season is coming to its end. The leaves of the water lilies are dying and the sunshine hours are getting shorter. But in the pond there is still a lot happening.
The fish are still active and have to be actively fed. We recommend you switch to special winter food with the right protein/fat ratio and provide the fish with sufficient metabolisable energy, adapted to the cold temperatures. That way you can increase their resistance and provide the fish with good reserves of strength. If the winter is long they have a good chance to start into the spring season without diseases.
Are you interested in this subject? We can gladly create a blog post about this to deal with the background. Simply post your request as a comment under this article.
We’d like to know from you: Up to what temperature do you feed your fish and do you use special winter food for this purpose?
3 steps to fitness
In autumn there are of course some more things to keep in mind in order to keep the pond algae-free in 2016 and to avert other problems next season. Here’s how to make the pond fit for the winter:
1. Plants decay, algae die. In the process the bound nutrients get released and are then available again for new potential algae. This is the ideal time to reach the bound nutrients. If you don’t intervene now, new algae will appear in spring along with the first rays of sun. It is therefore advisable to check the phosphates in autumn with a water test and to curb them before the frost period ( JBL PhosEX Pond Filter & JBL PhosEx Pond Direct ).
Our tip: Cold temperatures have no influence on the measuring results. That’s why the JBL drop tests can be used in winter too. Simply take care that the test doesn’t freeze and the instructions with the times details are strictly followed, because some chemical reactions take place more slowly.
2. Through falling leaves into the pond the water load increases exponentially. With leaf protection nets the ingress can be reduced substantially. Furthermore you can manually collect the leaves with a landing net and support the removal by means of JBL SediEX Pond .
3. Over the months mulm and sludge accumulate at the bottom of the pond. This is a large source of nutrients. Excrement, dead plants, food remains and the entry of pollen and insects are to be found inside. The bacteria ensure their degradation but they can’t physically remove the mass out of the pond, like a digger would do. We therefore recommend you vacuum the bottom with a sludge suction cleaner in autumn and spring to remove the large mass of mulm and sludge. The degradation and the further breakdown can be supported with JBL SediEX Pond . That way the nutrients disappear from the pond system and don’t need to be bound again.
In our season simulator you can look up what kind of care measures are necessary throughout the entire year: Laghetto
