Opening a Pond in Spring

When opening a pond, you will have to remove any debris from the water that has been sitting there since last autumn. Fallen leaves and other plant material cause ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates to build up. This negatively affects water quality, and the health of fish.

Inevitably, some, if not most of the water must be removed to clean up the debris.

Conditioning

When adding new water from the hose, a water conditioner must be used. Water conditioners remove chlorine and chloramines from the water, which can feed algae and be poisonous to fish.

Chloramines, a relatively new addition to municipal water supplies, will not dissipate, even if the water has been left to sit. If hose water is left untreated, the chloramine in it will add harmful ammonia to the pond, which makes using a water conditioner imperative.

A biological filtration supplement should also be added, especially if the pond is intended to house fish. Biological filtration supplements contain natural bacteria that spread and multiply throughout the pond. These bacteria naturally break down ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates, thus creating a healthy environment for fish.

Oxygenation

Fish need oxygen to survive in a pond.

Water circulation through mechanical filtration is a good way to oxygenate water. A mechanical filter will not only circulate the water, but help trap unwanted debris that is floating around the pond.

Make sure your filters are in good working order and that any old filter media has been replaced when opening your pond in the spring.

Oxygenating plants should be added as well. They not only look nice, but in addition to creating more oxygen in your pond, they also provide hiding places for fish. Also, oxygenating plants help use up nutrients that would otherwise go to feeding unwanted algae.

Some very effective and readily available oxygenators are hornwort and cabomba. These two plants are inexpensive and can be found at most pond, garden, or pet stores.

Cover Plants

Adding cover plants like water hyacinth and water lettuce not only provide fish with areas to hide, they also, like oxygenating plants, eat up nutrients that feed algae. Stocking your pond with adequate cover plants at the beginning of the season will help prevent nuisance algae from overwhelming your pond later on. No one likes a pond that is so green that they can’t even see their fish.

Feeding

An often overlooked area of pond maintenance is the proper feeding of pond fish. Many people assume that their fish will just eat insects and plants. Though this is true, these are in short supply during the early spring.

If the fish have been out all winter, then they have been depleting their body fat supplies to stay alive. When the ice melts, those fish are hungry. Feeding them a spring/fall fish food will help them replace these fat stores in spring, and build them up again in autumn.

A regular pond fish food should be fed during the summer, one that is not as high in protein as the spring/fall diet.

Pond fish foods help enhance the natural colors of fish. Regular feeding also encourages interaction with your pond fish, so that they will come up to greet you rather than dart away and hide. Regular feeding will also encourage fish to just nibble at your ornamental plants, instead of totally devour them.

Having a pond is a great way to enjoy the outdoors during the spring and summer months, and proper maintenance helps maximize the enjoyment that this hobby brings to water gardeners everywhere.