• Use a net to catch leaves and other types of debris. A net covering makes your pond clean-up easier and quicker. You need to choose a net that will cover the entire area of your pond with extra for securing to the sides of your pond. Once you have installed a net over your pond, it is important to empty it on a regular basis or when needed to prevent the leaves from weighing it down and the air from circulating. A great net to use is the Laguna Black Protective Pond Netting because it easily catches leaves and allows the air to easily circulate in your pond.
• Give your pond fish food that will help them to survive through the winter. Fish need to build up enough calories to help them last through the winter. In the fall, you should feed your fish food that is made from wheat germ. Wheat germ food, such as Tetra’s Spring and Fall Diet for Pond Fish, provides your fish with the calorie packed food they need to help them survive through the winter.
• Add bacteria to your pond to help break down food and waste. Clear Pond Fall & Winter Formula Dry Packets are easy to use and contain healthy bacteria that breaks down waste and other organic debris during the fall and winter that is built up in your pond from the spring and summer. This simple treatment is great for keeping the pond water cleaner and healthy for the pond fish. Just put a packet in your pond water when the water temperature is below 55 degrees.

As fall quickly approaches, it is important to think about how the cold weather will affect your pond. With the proper pond care in the fall, your pond should remain healthy throughout the winter and your spring clean up will be easier. For all of your pond needs, check out Backyard Style.

More and more Americans are becoming environmentally conscious and looking for ways to conserve energy around their homes. By replacing some or all of your lawn with a pond, you can conserve energy, save money, support the environment and reduce personal stress!

TetraPond’s Seven Environmental Benefits of Owning a Pond:

• Lawns require watering whereas ponds can be re-filled with rainwater.
• Ponds are a self-sustaining cycle of hydration that keeps plants alive without having to water them.
• Less mowing means less use of gas and carbon monoxide emissions.
• Pesticides and fertilizers for the lawn can be harmful, creating run-off that ends up in our water supply.
• Sludge collected by your pond filter can be used as a nutrient-rich fertilizer for your lawn and garden.
• Ponds attract and create a haven for beautiful fish, dragonflies, frogs and birds, adding to wildlife propagation.
• Water gardens influence young people to help create a better future for the planet.

Remember, every little bit helps, and improving the environment can begin at home.

Article by Tetra Ponds

Featured Tetra product (as seen above)

Koi Vibrance Food for Koi Pond Fish: A highly nutritional diet that brings out vibrant reds and yellows on Koi and ornamental goldfish. Feed in spring, summer and fall, when water temperatures are 50°F and above.

• Disperses quickly
• Revolutionary formula includes natural Peats & Humates
• Direct placement in pond enhances substrate
• Decomposition process starts immediately
• Buffers pH
• Provides a slow, steady release of beneficial ingredients by natural, biological activity
• Works year round
• Recommended for use with Microbe-Lift bacterial & enzymatic Pond Products

1. Skim your pond weekly to remove leaves and plant matter
2. Switch to a spring/fall formulated fish food
3. Dose pond water regularly with Laguna Bio Booster while the leaves are falling*
4. Remove, clean and store pond equipment
5. Disconnect waterfall
6. Install a Pond Heater, De-icer or Aeration Kit
7. Prepare your pond plants for the winter
8. Prepare your pond fish for the winter

Tip of the month: A patch of leaves left in the deepest part of the pond can help to provide shelter when fish are being kept in the pond for the winter.

The Laguna Floating Thermometer is ideal for monitoring the water temperature in your pond. The thermometer includes an easy viewing window with large temperature indications for quick readings. It comes with a handy anchoring cord and is designed to float on the water surface for easy access.

*It is important to continue dosing your pond water regularly with Laguna Bio Booster to ensure that there are ample beneficial bacteria to handle the increase in organic pollution due to decomposing leaves.

Add a full dose of Laguna Water Prep when performing water changes or adding water. It eliminates harmful chlorine or chloramines from newly added tapor well water, immediately making pond water safe.

Depending on the climate zone you live in, November is when you will start to see the water temperature of your pond drop below 43 °F (6 °C). When the water reaches this temperature submersible pumps should be removed, cleaned and stored for the winter. Completely take apart and clean your pump. Storing your equipment without cleaning it could result in damaged equipment or a broken impeller shaft when you restart in the spring.

If you use your primary pump in the winter, completely clean your pump and impeller. If you are using a secondary smaller water pump ensure that it has been thoroughly cleaned before use. Ensure that your pump is close to the surface of your pond or on bricks to prevent cooling of the lower water levels. This should be done even in climates where the pond freezing over is not an issue. It is important not to leave the pump in the deep area of the pond where fish will be hibernating for the winter. Doing this disrupts the water’s natural thermo cline* and will result in fish loss.

You will also need to disconnect, clean and store pond equipment such as UV sterilizers and external filters. If you have a waterfall you will also have to disconnect it for the winter months. In colder climate zones an air hole needs to be kept open to allow for gases to escape from your pond. If your pond completely freezes, fish may suffocate and die.

The Laguna Heated Pond De-icer helps keep ice from forming and helps de-gas the pond, making it safe for fish. The unit comes with a highly visible LED pilot light that indicates when it’s on.

I love Labor day, but when Labor day arrives, I realize that the “closing of my pond” is just around the corner.

Or more accurately .. just around the Indian Summer. (We normally get an Indian summer here in Michigan)

Labor Day has come and gone.

Special autumn pond care is necessary when the plants and fish begin going dormant in cooler weather. When temperatures start dropping ponds require that we slow down or stop many things we did daily or weekly during the hot summer months.

• When the average water temperature is below 50°F, or before the first freeze, place hardy pond plants deeper in your pond and bring subtropical and tropical plants indoors. These subtropical and tropical plants will need heated water (at least 70°F) to get through the winter successfully. Do not fertilize these plants during the winter.
• Falling leaves from nearby trees and bushes, as well as leaves from your pond plants, can quickly build up on the bottom of your pond. Decaying vegetation can increase levels of dissolved organic compounds (DOCs) and rob water of oxygen. Lower levels of oxygen can stress your fish. Remember, your fish are already struggling to deal with fall temperature swings. During late summer and early fall it is important to remove as much material from the bottom of your pond as possible.
• First, prune your marginal pond plants, and remove floating plants before they decay. Next, Skim, Vacuum and use a pond net to remove the rest.
• Drape a pond net over your pond to prevent the majority of leaves and twigs from getting into the water in the first place. Your pruning, skimming, and dip net or vacuuming efforts will take care of the rest.

Happy Ponding and we’ll be back with more fall maintenance tips this weekend!

Getting rid of pea-soup algae is fairly simple if you understand how it got there in the first place.

Plankton requires sunlight and nutrition to grow. The sunlight comes from the sun and the nutrition comes from bi-products from fish waste, dead and decaying leaves, decomposed fish food and plants.

The way to get rid of or reduce the amount of algae in your pond is by reducing the amount of sunlight and nutrients available to the algae. First and foremost is to have the proper size pump and filter. Next, sunlight can be reduced by providing shade to your pond. Pictured above is Pond Water Shade by Jungle Labs which is a chemical sun blocker.

Another simple way to add shade is by adding aquatic plants such as water lilies. Floating plants including water hyacinths can also help. The leaves of these plants help to cover the surface area of your pond and they make your pond look better to boot!

Nutrients can be reduced in a couple of different ways.

• Clean your pond – obvious .. but these tips will really make a difference

• Get rid of any dead and decaying leaves on the bottom or along the sides of the pond.

  Get a pond skimmer so you can suck up leaves and debris before they ever settle and start to decompose.

  OR get a pond net (you also can keep out predators such as raccoons, blue herons, cats, etc. with a net)

  Make it a practice to clean the debris off the pond every day or so.

  Get the leaves out of the bottom of your pond with a pond vacuum.

• Add beneficial bacteria (we’ll talk about this in a later post)

Happy ponding!

First of all, it is important to note that murky pond water is not necessarily an indicator of poor water quality in a pond.

Crystal clear pond water does not always represent perfect water quality, either. Most pond owners would like thier ponds to be crystal clear for thier own benefit. This is not a bad thing .. just a natural human response to wanting to view our fish or Koi more clearly!

If you were to ask your koi what water conditions (if they could communicate with you) they prefer, they would choose murky, cloudy water every time – as found in the mud ponds of Niigata.

In any case, before you jump to any conclusions, do a thorough water test on your pond. A complete test (like Laguna’s Master Pond Testing Kit) would include:

• pH
• hardness,
• ammonia and
• nitrite/nitrate

If everything checks out with the above numbers, algae could be the cause of your murky water or cloudiness. Excessive algae growth suspended in the pond water can make the water resemble pea soup. Try Tetra’s Algae Control if you are having algae problems.

Remember – a pond filter will NOT remove suspended algae without help from an UVC (Ultra Violet Clarifier). Most filters these days come equipped with an UVC included in the basic design. This is the best type of pond filter to buy.

If your water chemistry is satisfactory, and the algae is not the cause then the solution to improving your water clarity is to enhance your filtration. Many of our customers have found PondCare Simply Clear extremely effective in clearing thier pond water and is worth a try before purchasing larger or more expensive filtration.

Happy Ponding!