Spring—everyone’s much anticipated time of year after the Winter cold. For many of us, Spring means that nature is slowly returning to our yards in the form of visiting squirrels and chipmunks who have come out of hibernation, the birds return, the spring plantings start to show some life and our ponds also start to wake up.
Fish Feeding:
As the weather dances between warm and cold and your fish begin to stir, your first inclination may be to feed them. After all, they look pretty active, pretty friendly and pretty hungry, right? Hold on! Before giving them ANY FOOD, give them a chance to really wake up. If the water temperature is below 50 still, don't feed them. Even if they appear to be begging and pleading for you to feed them, the reality is that their metabolism isn't working correctly yet and feeding them could give them digestion issues. There is plenty of natural food in a healthy pond to sustain them if they want a snack.
Once your water is consistently above 50 degrees (late April for Central PA), you can slowly start to feed them a fish food formula designed for colder weather called “Spring / Fall” food. This food has a higher concentration of “wheat germ” that helps with digestion during this time when the fish still have a slow metabolism.
Dreamscapes ONLY recommends feeding summer foods once your water temperature has climbed up and past 65 degrees. In our central Pennsylvania area, this roughly translates into sometime in mid-late June. The safest bet is to consider plopping in a pond thermometer and follow the water temperature on your own.
Dreamscapes ONLY recommends feeding summer foods once your water temperature has climbed up and past 65 degrees. In our central Pennsylvania area, this roughly translates into sometime in mid-late June. The safest bet is to consider plopping in a pond thermometer and follow the water temperature on your own.
Plants and Algae:
As your pond warms up, you may also notice that your perennial marginals should be showing some new growth. This is a great time to trim and remove the dead leaves left from last year. Don’t be afraid to cut off some new growth in the process, it will quickly heal and continue to put out new shoots. You may also notice the growth of undesirable algae at this time, and there’s not too much that can be done about it. This is because undesirable algae can grow at lower temperatures when your marginal pond plants have not grown enough to contribute to algae prevention.
As we get further into spring, air and water temperaturess continue to increase and your marginal plants will also increase their activity, competing with the algae for available nutrients. In a properly planted pond with a balance of plants and fish, the plants will eventually out-compete the algae for nutrients and you should see string algae start to fade back a little. Depending on how many marginals you have in and around your pond, you may need to help in algae removal with some manual removal or even a spring opening / drain and clean. Every pond is different.
As we get further into spring, air and water temperaturess continue to increase and your marginal plants will also increase their activity, competing with the algae for available nutrients. In a properly planted pond with a balance of plants and fish, the plants will eventually out-compete the algae for nutrients and you should see string algae start to fade back a little. Depending on how many marginals you have in and around your pond, you may need to help in algae removal with some manual removal or even a spring opening / drain and clean. Every pond is different.
Spring Waterfeature Maintenance
By doing an annual drain and clean (also known as Spring Pond Maintenance or Spring Pond Cleaning), you make a great first step to setting your pond up for the season by minimizing the amount of excess nutrients that will be available to undesirable algae. Leaves, debris and accumulated fish waste that have collected on the bottom of your pond will fuel algae growth. In order to properly clean out your pond , you will need to remove your fish into holding tanks for their safety. This is also a good time to inspect your fish for any injuries or anything out of the ordinary.
Dreamscapes performs 200 Spring Pond Openings every year from mid-March until June. It is quite literally a crappy job, as our guys generally leave covered in pond fish waste. Depending upon your size waterfeature, expect this process to take 4-8 hours. We've been at ponds for a full 12 hours before, depending upon the size pond and how much build up is on the bottom! Our process is as follows:
1) Remove fish into holding tanks
2) Remove debris from pond
3) Pressure wash pond rocks and waterfall, if existing
4) Vacuum out skimmer box & biofalls
5) Check & clean filter components
6) Check Iongen Probe, if applicable
7) Test pump
8) Divide plants if needed
9) Add Dechlor
10) Introduce fish back into pond
The pressure washing should be your most time consuming part, as there are a lot of crevices in a pond for sludge to hide. At this time, we're continually pumping out the dirty water that accumulates at the center of the pond.
When adding fish BACK to the pond, add the fish and the holding-tank water first before fresh water. If your hose runs on city water, add a dechlorinator to remove the heavy metals that are toxic to fish. Finally, remember to leave the hose on a very slow trickle, as a 10 degree swing in temperature could throw your fish into shock and become fatal.
Dreamscapes performs 200 Spring Pond Openings every year from mid-March until June. It is quite literally a crappy job, as our guys generally leave covered in pond fish waste. Depending upon your size waterfeature, expect this process to take 4-8 hours. We've been at ponds for a full 12 hours before, depending upon the size pond and how much build up is on the bottom! Our process is as follows:
1) Remove fish into holding tanks
2) Remove debris from pond
3) Pressure wash pond rocks and waterfall, if existing
4) Vacuum out skimmer box & biofalls
5) Check & clean filter components
6) Check Iongen Probe, if applicable
7) Test pump
8) Divide plants if needed
9) Add Dechlor
10) Introduce fish back into pond
The pressure washing should be your most time consuming part, as there are a lot of crevices in a pond for sludge to hide. At this time, we're continually pumping out the dirty water that accumulates at the center of the pond.
When adding fish BACK to the pond, add the fish and the holding-tank water first before fresh water. If your hose runs on city water, add a dechlorinator to remove the heavy metals that are toxic to fish. Finally, remember to leave the hose on a very slow trickle, as a 10 degree swing in temperature could throw your fish into shock and become fatal.
Biological Filtration
In the spring, you will also want to closely monitor your water chemistry. The main reason for this is that your biological filters and/or your pressure filters have also been acting at a reduced capacity for the winter or even turned off entirely. Without a fully functioning biological filter, ammonia and nitrite levels can rise, especially when you start to feed your fish. If you slowly increase the amount you feed the fish, you can slowly build up the biological filter at the same time.
If you have a biofalls that was shut down for the winter, it will essentially be sterile and brand new in the spring, with no biological colony present. The sooner you can get the filter pads and bioballs / lava rocks back in, the sooner you can begin regenerating your biological colony. Note! Be sure to check your filter pads at this time. Give them the “tear test”. If you hold the filter with both hands and try to tear it, there should be a lot of resistance. If it tears easily, this is an indication that its time to replace the filter pad.
If you have a biofalls that was shut down for the winter, it will essentially be sterile and brand new in the spring, with no biological colony present. The sooner you can get the filter pads and bioballs / lava rocks back in, the sooner you can begin regenerating your biological colony. Note! Be sure to check your filter pads at this time. Give them the “tear test”. If you hold the filter with both hands and try to tear it, there should be a lot of resistance. If it tears easily, this is an indication that its time to replace the filter pad.
Leaks
Don’t forget to keep an eye on water levels during this time as well. This is primarily due to the fact that most of us turn off our waterfalls in the winter and we have had instances where mice, chipmunks or other rodents chew a hole in the liner behind or around the waterfall. During the summer, the running waterfall prevents them from accessing these areas, but in the winter, they sometimes like to nest there and use our rubber liners as insulation. So if you notice you have trouble maintaining your water level after turning on your waterfall, when you didn’t have trouble last year, this is the first thing I would look for.
So what now?
For more specific information on algae and your pond, please contact us directly!
Located in Lebanon, Pennsylvania, Dreamscapes Watergardens installs koi fish ponds and pondless waterfalls (disappearing waterfalls) all over the Central Pennsylvania area. For more information on koi ponds and waterfeature installations, please contact us directly!
Dreamscapes also carries a full line of pond supplies from water treatments and fish medications to pond pumps, heaters, fountains, plants and fish! Tadpoles and snails are also available at our Aquatic Retail Center in Lebanon, Pennsylvania seasonally while supplies last from May-August. If you think you need it, we have it!
Retail Hours: April 5th-October 27th 2018:
Monday-Wednesday: By Appt
Thursday-Friday: 10am-5pm
Saturday: 9am-12pm
October 28th-April 2019: HOURS BY APPT
Contact Us
2155 State Route 343, Lebanon Pa | 717-272-6555 | info@dreamscapeswatergardens.com
Dreamscapes Watergardens services the city of Lebanon, Lancaster, Harrisburg, Mechanicsburg, Camp Hill, Cleona, Cornwall, Fredericksburg, Indiantown Gap, Jonestown, Kleinfeltersville, Mount Gretna, Myerstown, Newmanstown Palmyra, Quentin, Reistville, Richland, Schaefferstown of Pennsylvania, PA
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