Protect your Pond with Wintertime Maintenance

Although your pond is dormant during the winter months, it’s still important to keep up with routine maintenance. Try these simple pond winterization maintenance activities to save yourself time and money come springtime.

Let Light In

After you shovel your driveway to clear the snow away, get started on the pond. Keeping snow off of the ponds surface can be an important part of winter maintenance. Although your pond is dormant during the winter, there are microscopic aquatic plants that will continue producing oxygen as long as light penetrates the ice. Removing snow to allow light shine onto the pond can be an important step in keeping fish alive during the winter months.

Prepare for the Worst

Winter storms can sometimes result in power outages. Make sure you are prepared to keep de-icers and aerators powered if there is no electricity. If you’ve invested a lot in your pond, and are concerned for the safety of your fish, you may want to invest in a generator for your pond.

If you can, turn off pond pumps and filters in the winter. If a power outage does occur and you are not able to remove water from the filter and pumps, it may freeze, causing major damage.

Minimize Circulation 

If you decide to keep your pump running during the winter months, you will want to minimize the water circulation. During the cold season, even if the top of your pond is frozen, the bottom likely won’t be frozen and will remain around 39 degrees. If you keep the pump running at high circulation, you may actually circulate the frozen water, creating super chilled water.

Some ways to reduce circulation are:

• Turn off bottom drains, if possible
• Place intakes to pumps and filters at mid-water
• Place intakes closer to waterfalls or fountains
• Turn off Surface Skimmers
• Turn your pump down to a lower speed

 If you run into trouble this winter with your pond, or have questions about winter maintenance, contact us for answers. 

Keep Your Pond Safe This Winter | Pondliner Blog

Keep Your Pond Safe This Winter

The holidays have passed, which means the snow and ice have officially arrived, marking the start of winter. If keeping up with pond maintenance through the winter is on your New Year’s resolution list, read below to find the most important winter care techniques you should be using.

An Ice-Free Pond 

If you live in an area where ice is inevitable during winter, it’s important to keep an area of your pond free of ice. This is especially crucial for ponds with fish. Keeping an area open allows for proper gas exchange. Even though your pond is dormant during the winter, your fish still release waste products and use oxygen. If there is no opening from ice at the ponds surface, the harmful gases remain trapped and the oxygen supply will be depleted, leaving your fish in a dangerous environment.

How to Use It

There are several safe ways to open a frozen pond’s surface. One way you should never use is physical force, as fish are sensitive to vibrations, and hitting the surface can stun or injure them. The best method is a pond de-icer, which is designed specifically to maintain an opening in the ice. Keep in mind that a de-icer won’t raise the temperature of the water in your pond, it will just keep a small space free of ice.

The best spot to use your de-icer is in the shallowest part of the pond. If you find it’s not keeping the ice open, try to block the area from wind. Some pond owners place a sheet of plywood directly over the small corner.

Other Options

An aerator or pond pump is another option to keep an opening in the ice and could be more affordable than a de-icer. It may be a better choice for milder weather where the ice isn’t as consistent, though, as the placement of an aerator can be troublesome. If you place it too close to the surface, it can just freeze in place, but if you place it too deep, it could actually chill the pond.

An air pump is also an option, but it has the same limitations as an air pump in terms of placement. You should firmly mount a submersible water pump over the deepest part of the pond, but be sure to keep it far from the bottom.

If you go with an aerator or water pump, be sure to monitor it frequently so they don’t freeze or dry up.

Shop for all your winter pond supplies from Pondliner.com to ensure you have everything you need to keep your pond safe this winter.