5 Tips for Your Pond in Spring
Spring is finally here. In the water gardening world, spring is the time to start the your pond off on the right track for the year. Here are our top five tips to make sure your pond is beautiful in spring and beyond.
Check Your Pond Products
If you have closed your pond for winter, as you start up your pond in spring, you should check your pump and other pond products to make sure they are working at optimal performance. If you keep your pond open year round, spring is still a great time to observe your pump and filter to determine if they are working at their optimal performance. This is also a good time to replace filter pads and switch out the bulb in your UV Clarifier. If you notice a decline in performance in any part of your pond, check your product manual for maintenance steps to troubleshoot if there is any blockage occurring.
Add New Features
Spring is also a great time of year to make any updates or improvements to you pond. Have you been considering adding a waterfall, nozzle kit, spitter, or lighting? Now is a great time to make those improvements so you have the whole year to enjoy these new improvements. Spring is the start of when people are spending more time outdoors, so it is the best time to make the most of your outdoor enjoyment.
Test Your Water
Spring is also a good time to do a simple water test. As the weather is warming up, balancing your water is so healthy to a successful year. If you do not have a water testing kit at home, most fish stores or pet stores will be able to test your pond water if you bring in a small cup of it. Based on the water test you will be able to see if any water treatments would be helpful to getting your water back into balance for the start of a healthy season. If any test levels are off the charts, retest the water a few days after applying a water treatment to see if any additional steps are needed. It is also possible that a partial water change of 20-50% to help correct significant water imbalance, but be sure to treat tap water with a Chlorine Remover.
Trim Back Plants
If your pond has any aquatic plants, it is best to start of in spring with 20-30% of surface coverage. By summer, it is ok to have up to 50-70% plant coverage. This will help will algae prevention as algae needs sunlight to grow. It is also helpful to trim plants surrounding the pond since during spring and summer is when these plants will grow most.
Check Your Fish
If your pond has fish, spring is a good time to observe them as your restart their feeding schedule to see if you notice any abnormalities or healthy concerns. If so, it might be best to remove any affected fish away from the others to treat them separately. It is also a time to evaluate if your fish have become too large or your pond is overstocked. Over time, your fish will grow and your pond could have become too small of a home for them. Ideally, you should have 10 gallons of water for every inch of length of each of your fish. If needed, you can contact a local koi society or koi retailer to see if anyone would provide a new home for one or more of your fish if you no longer have enough room for them. It is sad to see any fish go, but providing a healthy home for them will be reassuring.
As spring starts enjoy your time outdoors and your healthy pond as you checked your pond products, added new features, tested your water, trimmed back plants, and checked your fish.