Spring Pond Clean Up

Cleaning

Remove all overwintering dead leaves. plants, and debris from your pond. You may use a special strainer, net or a pond vacuum. Do not drain your pond unless there is no other way to clean it. In the spring, fish are very susceptible to disease and should not be moved around.

Set up your pumps and filters as these will help clear your pond when you stir up debris while cleaning. Using the finest filter pad early in the spring will help filter debris. Fine filters will have to be cleaned more often but will clear the pond quicker. Start as much aeration as you can to your pond.

Fish and Plants

Start feeding the fish when the temperature of the water reaches 50 degrees. Use an easy to digest food such as wheat germ and labeled as spring and fall food. Fish may be fed twice a day but do not overfeed as overfeeding will lead to toxic levels of ammonia and green water.
One of the healthiest practices for fish is to keep salt in your pond (labeled as pond salt).

A natural way to prevent disease, salt helps fish produce extra slime, breathe easier and kills 7 of 9 harmful fish parasites. Do not add too much salt to your pond because too much salt will damage plants - follow directions carefully. Repot and divide overgrown plants with a soilless media which will keep the pond cleaner. Trim any dead plant material from your plants and move plants up to your shelves.

Use a pellet fertilizer to boost plant growth. Later in the spring liquid fertilizer will help floating plants grow.

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