Eastboutne Pond Club

Disclaimer: these pond tips are only suggestions based on members experience with their own ponds. The club cannot accept any liability for actions taken as every pond is unique and there are many different factors involved.


SPRING

March – Spring start up - Winter is a hard time for both the fish and plants. Many different materials may have been blown into your pond over the cold Winter months. Most of the debris that found its way into the pond will not have decayed because of the cold-water temperatures. Early Spring is a good time to clean and inspect your pond. As water temperature approaches 5ºC your fish will start eating. Only feed with brown bread or wheatgerm fish food and remove any uneaten food after ten minutes. While we are on the subject of removing - remove dead leaves and debris that may have accumulated in the pond. The best way to do this is to drag a fine meshed net across the bottom of the pond, you might have to do this a couple of times. You can then use one of sludge removing products that are available on the market, read the manufactures instructions carefully as these products use a living enzyme to devour the sludge. Have your pump checked out if it is a few years old, ‘better to be safe than sorry’. As I have said before “water and electricity don’t mix”. Always use a circuit breaker. Resume or increase filtering water through the filtration system to improve the development of the biological filter and keep your pond naturally balanced. You can begin using ammonia remover such as Zeolite to absorb excess ammonia that can build up as the water warms. Ammonia levels should be tested at least weekly. In Southern England we have had a very mild Winter so far. I have had reports of blanketweed growing faster than it should for this time of year. As most of you know blanketweed thrives on the excess of nutrients in the water. This could have been caused by periodic feeding over the last month, or nitrates being washed from the land into your pond due to the excessive amount of rain we have had. After a long cold Winter, pond fish are very susceptible to diseases. Try not to disturb them too much this month. Only use chemical treatments with extreme caution as the misuse of treatments will do more harm than good, especially at this time of year. All of the above can apply if we have an early Spring. If the temperatures are still cold and we are getting regular frosts, then last months Pond Tips can still apply. As you will have noticed, I refer to water temperature a lot in Pond Tips. This is something that governs virtually everything we, our fish, and plants do. Therefore, an accurate thermometer is very important in my opinion. I feel it is a very necessary part of any pond keeper’s equipment. The important thing to remember is; it doesn’t matter where you get your thermometer. Make sure you have one and use it. As you know this is a very unpredictable time of the year and the weather can change from one day to the next. My personal suggestion about filtering is; unless we get a long cold spell, start your filters up, leave them running day and night and try to return the water from the filter to the pond through a pipe instead of letting it run down a waterfall.

APRIL
Fish - At this time of the year, your fish are still weak following Winter with little to eat. They need to build up their body’s defences. Take your time feeding your fish. As they come to the surface to eat, observe them carefully. Make sure they are swimming ok and that they have no cuts, lumps, etc. As long as the water temperature is stable above 10°C, feed staple fish food plus titbits such as earthworms, daphnia, lettuce and peas. Remember only feed what they will eat in a few minutes. Don’t leave uneaten food in the pond. Don’t use last year’s fish food. It’s not worth the risk. Bin it. Start the new season with NEW food. Check the fish for damage, fungus growths etc, and take the necessary action. Make sure you know what the problem is before you treat for it, as you can do more harm than good, by using the medication. Example, if a fish is jumping or rubbing its body on the sides of the pond, it may look as if it has parasites BUT it could be that as the filter is maturing the pond water has high levels of nitrite. By using an anti-parasitic treatment, you could slow down the filters maturing process thereby increasing the nitrite problem.
Plants
At the beginning of April, you can divide up large water lilies. Remove the plant from the pond, select sections of the tuber about 6” long with a growing point. Cut off and trim back the larger roots to within 1” of the tuber. Plant in a large shallow basket or bowel (washing up bowel). Use aquatic soil or good garden soil that has not been treated with any chemicals. Half bury the tuber. Put gravel over the soil and if you have large fish cover the gravel with small boulders. Carefully lower the plant back into the pond with just a few inches of water covering it. As the lily leaves reach the surface lower the basket down a few inches at a time until it’s at the right depth. If oxygenating plants are becoming straggly or taking over remove a few at a time. You need plants to use up nitrates in the water. If the plants don’t remove nitrates, the nitrates could encourage the growth of blanket weed or green water.
Pond
By now, you should have completed any Winter repairs or maintenance to or around your pond. If you still have work to complete or are thinking of starting something new, it would be better left until next month as April is the time when the filter needs to start growing its beneficial bacteria and maturing ready for the Summer. If the water is cloudy, this is due to sediment being stirred up by either the fish or frogs and toads becoming more active. What you need to try to do is get the sediment from the pond bottom into the filter. (After all, that is one reason for having a filter.) There is several ways to stop this happening each Spring, or at least improve the water clarity. The first and possibly the best is to fit a bottom drain. This can only be done at the construction stage. Therefore, if you plan to up grade or build a new pond, I would recommend a bottom drain and 4” pipe work. If that’s not practical or possible then how about a pump that ‘chomps up’ the muck and debris and pumps it into your filter. One or two members use an Aquamax. They are not cheap but they don’t use a lot of electricity to run and they are very reliable. Also a very fine mesh net slowly pulled around the bottom will get rid of a lot of sediment. This will need to be done several times to have any effect. You will also need to leave a few days in-between to let the remaining sediment re-settle. To remove small amounts of sediment, you can use a sludge removing treatment.

MAY
It’s still not too late to take water lily cuttings. If the oxygenating plants have gone mad, cut them back or pull off clumps. Oxygenators produce oxygen by day but at night they re-absorb it, and it is at night when the fish need it. If plants have finished flowering you can trim them back or divide them. In the case of iris’s let the seed heads dry on the plant and collect them later in the year and plant them. This month can be a busy time for the fish. As the water temperature rises above 15°C (60s °F), goldfish will start to spawn if the conditions are right. They will use up a lot of energy doing what comes naturally. For your part, all you need to do is feed them up. Apart from giving them staple fish food, try them on high protein fish food, boiled peas, baked beans (wash sauce off), lettuce and prawns. Why not experiment, remember most pond fish are omnivorous so they will eat what we eat to a degree. Don’t leave any uneaten food in the pond. Feed little and often. The filter should be running all the time. Don’t turn it off at night. Not only do the fish need the added air that the water collects running down a waterfall or a fountain, but also the beneficial bacteria in the filter need it. Don’t clean the filter media unless it becomes blocked and then only clean it with pond water. It is important not to allow the build-up of sludge on the bottom of your pond or filter. The best way to remove it from your filter is to fit a drain plug at the bottom of the filter tank, then you can open this and pour a couple of buckets of pond water into the top of the filter to wash it through. This is called ‘back flushing’ and it wont disturb the biological action of the filter too much. If the fish start to flick a lot the problem could either be parasites or high nitrite. If you suspect the problem is parasites try to determine what type of parasite it is and treat for that particular one. For a genial usage, a treatment containing Formalin & Malachite Green is a good all-rounder. KEEP testing the water for ammonia, nitrite and pH. If you suspect a problem, sort it out straight away. There are plenty of books on fish health and I can be reached by phone or email. So no excuses!

SUMMER
JUNE
This month your pond and filter should be well matured, by that I mean the plants and fish growing in a healthy way. The water should look reasonably clear now but don’t expect your pond water to be crystal clear at this time of year as there will be a lot of growing and developing organisms, which is healthy (November is the time for very clear water). The filter bacteria will be fully developed as long as you have not been turning your filter on and off. If you use a UV, you only need to have it on when the water is green (not all the time,) after all you bought it to get rid of green water not to sterilise the pond. Goldfish, orfe and tench should have bred by now if they are mature enough and the pond conditions are right. As the pond water temperature continues to rise to the upper 60°f. the koi should start to spawn and if you think the goldfish made a mess of the plants etc, wait until you see what koi can do. Fish will often jump, especially in the late afternoon and evening. They are usually catching gnats, flies and other creepy crawlies that land on the waters surface, but it could mean that there is a parasite or water quality problem. A good time to observe the fish for any problems is when you are feeding them. Which brings me nicely on to the next section. There are two approaches to feeding, the first and most popular is, feed little and often. The second, feed a couple of times a day with a larger amount of food. In both cases make sure there is no uneaten food left in the pond after about 10 minutes. Whichever way you feed the fish try and keep it regular. Don’t forget the titbits, these can include almost anything we eat. I recently tried my fish on curried mince (rinsed under a hot tap to get the fat off first). I don’t think any of it reached the bottom. The fish were climbing on top of each other to get at it. Get plenty of air into the water, day and night. The best way is to let the water returning from the filter splash on to the pond surface, open up the venturi or run a fountain. When topping up, use tap water sprayed onto the pond’s surface, the finer the spray the better (topping up means water that is lost through evaporation). You should not need to dump water unless you have a serious problem and if you think that’s the case you can always contact me for advice. Don’t top up with stored water, you don’t know what it could contain.
HOW MUCH EVAPORATION?
It is quite normal for the pond to loose water due to evaporation during the Summer months. Even the water level of natural ponds varies during the year. But how much evaporation is normal and when should you suspect a leak?
This question is not easily answered, but a good rule of thumb is: If the pond looses the same amount of water day after day after day, and this amount does not change with weather conditions (the pond should loose more water on windy days for example), then the pond should be checked for a leak.
It is quite normal to loose ½ inch or so on hot days, or even an inch or more during windy weather (particularly if a waterfall or a fountain is in use). Of course, if the pond all of a sudden looses a great amount of water, then the hoses and connections and the waterfall should be checked immediately.
It is best not to position the pump at the very bottom of the pond. If the pump is located about 6" - 12" above the bottom, enough water will be left in the pond for the fish to survive in case there is a major water loss due to a break in a hose, etc.
JULY
By this month your pond and filter should be well matured, by that I mean the plants and fish growing in a healthy way. The water should look reasonably clear now but don’t expect your pond water to be crystal clear at this time of year as there will be a lot of growing and developing organisms, which is healthy (November is the time for very clear water). The filter bacteria will be fully developed as long as you have not been turning your filter on and off. When topping up, use tap water sprayed onto the pond’s surface. The finer the spray the better. (Topping up means water that is lost through evaporation). You should not need to dump water unless you have a serious problem and if you think that’s the case, you can always contact me for advice. Don’t top up with stored water, you don’t know what could have fallen in it. At this time of the year the sun can be very fierce (well I can dream) and just like us your fish can suffer from sunburn. I don’t know if this is a relatively new condition or if it has always been with us, but it seems my fish have only suffered with it in the last few years. It affects lighter coloured fish mostly or maybe it just shows more on them. Therefore, it is important to provide shade over part of the pond water throughout the day, and a good way of doing this is by growing water lilies. When selecting water lilies there are several things to think about, the most important is size. The aim is to cover just over ¼ of the waters surface with lily leaves. The variety is another thing to consider. If you have large fish, then you’ll need a fast growing one, because as the fish nibble at the leaves new leaves are rapidly growing to replace them. There are several lilies that produce scented flowers, but it can be a problem getting close enough to smell them! Get plenty of air into the water, day and night. The best way is to let the water returning from the filter splash onto the pond surface. Open up the venturi or run a fountain. Air is very important when the water temperature is high and an air pump can be a good investment. Make sure it is suitable for the job. If it is an aquarium air pump the chances are it won’t be water protected, so you’ll need to secure it in a waterproof environment. Remember water and electricity are a lethal cocktail. The most important time to run an air pump is at night, especially if you have lots of oxygenating plants. During the day, the plants produce oxygen but at night, they absorb oxygen and produce carbon dioxide. The larger the fish is the more oxygen it will need to survive. If there is a shortage of oxygen, it’s always the largest fish that will succumb first. Apart from that, adding air into your filter will help to encourage good bacteria to grow. If you use a UV, you only need to have it on when the water is green (not all the time,) after all you bought it to get rid of green water not to sterilise the pond. Goldfish, orfe and tench should have bred by now if they are mature enough and the pond conditions are right. As the pond water temperature continues to rise to the upper 60°f. the koi should start to spawn and if you think the goldfish made a mess of the plants etc, wait until you see what koi can do. Fish will often jump, especially in the late afternoon and evening. They are usually catching gnats, flies and other creepy crawlies that land on the waters surface, but it could mean that there is a parasite or water quality problem. A good time to observe the fish for any problems is when you are feeding them. Feed little and often, making sure there is no uneaten food left in the pond after about 10 minutes. Feed the fish plenty of staple or hi-protein fish food. Follow the manufactures instructions about not overfeeding and remember those titbits in-between, peas, lettuce, washed baked beans, prawns, dog biscuits, etc.

AUGUST
AERATION: Get as much air into the water as possible. There are several ways of doing this. The easiest and cheapest way is on the return from the filter pipe by means of a waterfall venturi or just let the water coming out of the pipe splash on the ponds surface. Another way is by having a fountain or an air stone supplied by an air pump. As most air pumps are supplied by mains electricity, be careful how it’s connected and where it’s placed. Some submerged plants release oxygen during the day — in fact, the common name for this group of plants is Oxygenating Plants. However, you must be careful not to allow these plants to become too prolific because during the night they absorb oxygen and release carbon dioxide, which can be the cause of fish suffocating.
BLANKET WEED: If you don’t know what I’m talking about, then you are a lucky pond keeper or you must be suffering with green water. Anyway, blanket weed is the green cotton wool that creeps across the pond and gradually chokes everything. There are several ways of dealing with this manually. By putting a stick into it and twisting, it will readily wind round the stick (often the hardest part is getting it off the stick); Magnets- by attaching magnets to the flow pipe; Electronically- by winding low voltage wires around the flow pipe and plugging them in to a box of tricks (this sends out a varying range of wave frequencies); Chemically- there are products on the market that will kill blanketweed. Before you buy, do read the manufacturers instructions to make sure the product is suitable for your pond. Last, but not least, there are products that will make the water softer, thereby reducing lime scale which blanket weed adheres to.
FEEDING: Feed the fish with staple or high growth food as a basic diet. The rate should be as much as the fish can consume within a few minutes, 3 to 4 times a day. The basic food can be supplemented with titbits such as cooked peas, lettuce, prawns, brown bread, oranges, and dog biscuits. In fact, fish will eat most things that we eat being omnivorous. Be careful not to use foods that will cloud or pollute the water. Why not try honey spread on bread, I use white bread for this and just throw the whole slice in, then stand back and watch the fish clime on each other to get at it. PS. It’s very good for the fish too.
FILTRATION: Filters, whether they are large gravity fed with a vortex chamber or just comprise a small plastic box with filter media in, they all work in the same way. At this time of the year, they should not be turned off at all except for routine maintenance or cleaning. Remember, when cleaning a filter, only use pond water or, as a substitute rainwater and NEVER tap water. A good filter is the only way to keep good water quality in most garden ponds and without good water quality, all sorts of problems will arise, which brings me on neatly to water testing. This should be carried out for as long as you keep feeding the fish. The more you feed, the more often you should test the water for Nitrite, pH and Nitrate. Ammonia at this time of the year should not exist; if it does, there might be a problem with your filtration. If you have a high nitrite problem, this could be that you are over feeding the fish and the excess food is polluting the pond. The pH should be within 7.4 to 8.4; any higher or lower could be due to excessive algae die back, or mean something is leaching into the water.
TOPPING UP: This means just replacing the water that is lost through evaporation, a slow leak on a pipe joint, that sort of thing. Up to an inch a day in hot weather. It is possible to change up to 1/3”’ of the water volume in one go, although this must be done carefully and only in extreme circumstances such as water contamination. It’s far better to carry out small water changes more frequently. Should there be a hosepipe ban, most water companies will allow you to top up your pond as long as it contains livestock, fish, frogs, newts etc, although it’s best to check with them first. When replacing any water use mains water and spray it onto the ponds surface with a fine spray. This will release the chlorine in the water. Don’t use stored water – you don’t know what contaminants it might have collected while being stored.

AUTUMN
SEPTEMBER
Well now the Summer is coming to a close or did it ever start this year! September is the time to start preparing for Winter (what a horrible thought). Having said that September and October can be very mild. All the time the water temperature is above 60F or 15C keep feeding the fish with as much food as they will consume within 2 or 3 minutes, at least 4 times a day. Don’t forget the tit-bits such as bread, cooked peas etc. You know the sort of tit-bits your fish love, when you throw it in they climb on each other’s backs to get at it. The idea now is to fatten your fish up for the winter. Once the water temperature starts to fall below 15C and stay there you will need to feed your fish staple fish food and cut back on the titIt will still be OK to give them brown bread and earthworms. This is where I get on my soapbox and start to tell you about the importance of having and using a thermometer. Why all this fuss about water temperature I can hear you say? Temperature not only determines what type of fish food you should use but how much and the times to feed. The temperature needs to be within a degree or two when transferring fish from one body of water to another. Temperature controls the amount of bacteria in a filter, when plants grow and flower and when fish and amphibians mate etc. In fact, temperature is the single most important factor in pond keeping (except water) yet it is so often ignored. Now is the time to start saving the seed heads from irises, mimulus etc, and storing them m a dry, dark, and frost-free place. Don’t let water lily leaves rot in the pond now. It was all right in the summer as the goodness went back into the plant, but now you need to remove all dying and decaying leaves from the pond. Cut back any marginal plants that have finished growing. When thinning open routed plants such as watercress or oxygenating plants, it is best to divide the whole plant. If falling leaves are a problem this is the time to either run a skimmer or put a net over your pond. Make sure the net doesn’t touch the water. Keep the bottom of your pond reasonably free of debris and your filter and pump wont have to work overtime to get rid of it. I will be talking about preparing your pond for winter in a future issue. If you need to treat your fish or pond water with any chemicals, check for temperature, pH and remember to turn off the U.V.

OCTOBER
October can be a time of unsettled weather, so keep a close watch on water temperatures. Once the water goes below 10c/50f fish feeding should be cut back gradually and wheatgerm fish food used. If you haven’t yet cleaned the muck off the bottom of your pond, you’ll need to do it soon. The fish in very cold weather lay on the bottom. The last thing they want is to be lying in a load of muck and decaying vegetation. If you can, stretch a net over the water surface to catch any falling leaves etc. Don’t let the net hang in the water, apart from letting the leaves on top rot, a fish could become entangled. Don’t start any major pond or filter works until the fish have stopped feeding.

NOVEMBER As you have no doubt noticed, at this time of the year your pond water is crystal clear. This is caused by a combination of several things; as the pond water gets colder the growth of algae either slows down or is cut back completely; blanket weed will still grow throughout the winter but usually at a slower rate; the fish also slow down thereby not stirring up or producing so much waste. Your fish should only be fed wheat germ fish food or brown bread once the pond water drops below 10ºC. If the water temperature drops below 5ºC and you think it is likely to stay that way for a while, stop feeding. Don’t be tempted to start feeding again until the temperature rises above 5ºC and stays there for several days. Once the fish have stopped feeding and before the pond water gets too cold it is a good time to cut back any plants and if they are at the waters surface lower them a few inches. This will stop the frost and ice freezing the roots. You can now thoroughly clean the pond (you don’t want the fish laying in muck throughout the Winter). If you’re planning to turn off your filter now is the time, but remember to clean it out and leave it dry ready to turn on in the Spring again when you start to feed the fish again. Your pump should be disconnected from the electricity and removed from the pond. Clean and dry your pump. Any moving parts can be smeared with Vaseline (this stops corrosion and won’t pollute the pond water when it is restarted in the Spring). If you are planning on leaving your filter and pump running throughout the winter there are several things you can do to get the best from it during the really cold weather. Protect the filter from the winds. This can be as simple as wrapping it in cardboard boxes and covering them in plastic sheeting (black dustbin liners are good for this). Make sure no moving water comes in contact with the cold air by returning water to the pond through a pipe instead of allowing it to cascade down a waterfall. If you’re able, slow the flow of water through your filter (don’t restrict the water from entering the pump, slow it down when it leaves). Don’t worry about adding air, as cold water holds far more than warm water.

WINTER
DECEMBER; December is a time when there is very little happening in and around the pond as far as fish, plants and wildlife are concerned, they have all either shut or slowed down ready for the Winter. As long as the water temperature is above 5ºC, you can still feed your fish but keep an eye on the weather forecast. If in doubt, stop feeding. The only food I would use this month is brown bread in small amounts. I put in two or three slices and let the fish nibble at it. As things have slowed down, I leave the bread in the pond for 30 minutes before removing any uneaten bits. As you have gathered I like to feed right up to the last minute. This I feel gives the fish a better chance of living off their body fat when they go in to semi dormancy. To allow me to do this I run a well-insulated filter all year and my pond is six foot deep, so any weather changes won’t affect the pond water for at least 24 hours. If your pond is shallow, the weather will cool the water quicker. Now having said there’s little happening re the fish etc, that does not mean you can sit back and do nothing. As long as the ground is not frozen or waterlogged, what about those jobs you promised yourself to do later in the year. Well you can’t get much later than December. It is a good time to give your filters a really good clean or alter some of that ugly pipe work. If you cover your pond in the Winter, don’t allow any condensation to drip back into the pond water, as this can be the cause of high ammonia readings. If you use a pond heater (which you should), only turn it on when there is a risk of the water freezing. Before using make sure that all electrical connections are safe. As I’ve said before water and electricity don ‘t mix.

JANUARY; In January there is very little to do except to keep an eye on your fish from time to time. If ice has formed on your pond, make sure that there is a hole in it to let any gases escape. The hole needs to be at least six inches in diameter. A pond heater is designed for this job, but if for some reason you don’t have one there are other devices now on the market. The old idea about putting a ball in the water doesn’t work, it just freezes solid. If you wake up one morning and find a layer of ice over your pond don’t try to break a hole in it, as any banging will send shock-waves through the water and panic or even kill your fish. Use a plastic mixing bowl or saucepan, put it on the ice and pour in some boiling or very hot water. You might need to do this several times. Moving water won’t freeze as fast as still water, so if you use a venturi the water won’t freeze in the immediate vicinity, but make sure the air is turned off. Another idea is, if your pond is not to far from your house put an air pump in a warm room and pump warm air into the pond.

FEBRUARY; Frogs will start to breed this month if the weather is not too cold. Toads will follow later. Both Frogs and toads will live happily together in the same pond, as there diet varies. To tell the difference at a distance between a frog and a toad, the frog will hop and swim where as the toad will walk, even at the bottom of your pond. As February can be the coldest month of the year, it is important not to disturb your fish too much, as this will cause them to use energy that they need, to see them through the rest of the winter. Do not feed your fish, as you will do more harm than good. I know that on warm sunny days they come to the water surface, but restrain your self. Instead of feeding check them over look for any marks or unusual swimming behaviour. If you find anything wrong or are worried about a fish’s behaviour, don’t rush to put chemicals in to the pond unless you know what you are doing. It would be better to get confirmation of what to do, especially at this time of the year (a lot of treatments are not suitable in very cold water). If they have any waxy lumps on them, the chances are that they have Carp-pox. Don’t worry it won’t do the fish any harm. If there is a layer of ice covering your pond, you must make sure there is a gap in it so that the gases that are created by decaying vegetation, fish waste etc can escape. Do not break the Ice as this will send shock waves through the water and will scare or even kill your fish. The best way is; if you have a pond heater now is the time to put in the pond. If it has a thermostat fitted, leave it switched to come on at 0ºC. If a thermostat is not fitted then you only need to switch it on if a freeze is forecast. Another way is to stand a bowl of hot water on the ice and let it thaw through, this method is ok in an emergency but as soon as the temperature drops again the hole will re-freeze. One thing to remember is, moving water rarely freezes, so if you are running a Venturi, a return pipe from your filter or even a fountain, let the water from these disturb the surface but not break the surface. To sidestep for a moment, if you do turn your pump off over winter do remember that on start up in Spring, your filter will need some considerable time to get back to its full efficiency once more; you Can use ‘accelerators’ of filter maturation fluids to get them up to speed that much quicker.