Cleaning your pond for fish in the fall.
Brett Fogle
Doing a full pond cleaning during the colder winter months can be
very stressful on your fish. However, if the pond is really dirty
and full of 'muck' - then you may want to consider it because all
of the decaying organic matter in the pond can cause problems if
the pond ices over, and this begins to de-gas and rot.
So, I think the best solution, and what we used to do for our
clients was do a partial Fall pond cleaning.
Here's how to do it:
First, get a container that will hold roughly 100 gallons or so,
or up to half of your pond volume (bigger is better). Then take a
pump with a hose, and pump out the relatively 'clean' water from
your pond by holding the pump just beneath the water surface.
Keep as much of the 'old' pond water as you can. Then, catch your
fish (if possible) and place them into the holding tank of their
own (clean) water.
Then you can either net out your leaves and dispose of them,
along with any muck that you can get out also. Alternatively, you
can then pump out the remaining water and do a thorough clean
out, including vacuuming out the pond with a large wet/dry vac
(this works great!).
Then refill the pond back up to the level it was at before
disposing of the water, de-chlorinate the water, and adjust the
pH to match that of the 'old' water in your holding tank. At this
point, start pumping new water from the pond into your holding
tub, and then pumping the mixture back into the pond. Do this for
15-20 minutes until the new water mixture matches that in the
pond - and then pump the remaining water back into your pond
while netting your fish back in as well.
But it's very important not to expose your fish to new water
conditions too quickly as differences in temperature and pH can
cause extreme stress to your fish, affect the immune system, and
even cause shock or fish death. So always be careful when
changing water.
Brett Fogle is the owner of MacArthur Water Gardens and several
other pond-related websites including
www.MacArthurWatergardens.com
and Pond-Filters-Online.com. He also publishes a free monthly
newsletter called PondStuff! with a reader circulation of over
9,000. To sign up for the free newsletter and receive our FREE
'New Pond Owners Guide' visit MacArthur Water Gardens today!
