Winter is almost over. Now what?

[cr8tivguy]

Hi everyone.
I'm glad to say my pond and Koi made it all winter!
The water is a murky brown color (mostly from all the leaves that got past my Fall netting.

My pumps are off at the moment. I'm waiting for the temperature in Nebraska to stabilize just a bit more before I get all the plumbing going again.

Here's my plan (and I would love to hear if this is correct, sane or just plain stupid)
1- Pull the pumps out of the pond and clean them.
2- Drain off about 1/2 the water
3- Scrub the waterfall area (there was a bit of string algae on it last year.
4- Vacuum the bottom of the pond (getting up all the leaves, and putting back the rocks that fell in last Fall.
5- Fertilize my lilies and place them where I want them for the summer
6- Fill the pond back up with proper conditioners.
7- Fire up the pond pumps: Bio Filter with UV, Bog system and waterfall.

I kind of want to pull the fish out during the Spring Cleaning and house them in a temporary pool until all the ruckus is done. Thoughts on that???

Tim

 

[addy1]

My fish are impossible to catch unless the pond is almost empty. But if you can catch yours you could move them, just make sure they are in a big enough container while you clean and make sure they can't jump out.

I still need to groom my lilies, way over grown, re-pot ad fertilize them, water has been too darn cold to mess around in.

 

[Sunshine]

When I took my fish out, I would fill up a blow up kids pool with the pond water and put it beside the pond. Easier to net and release quickly.

 

[Shdwdrgn]

...and they WILL jump out! Nothing like hearing a 5 pound fish hit the ground.

I've never fertilized my lilies. Only have two plants, but it might be interesting to see if they produce more flowers. There's certainly never been a shortage of leaves! I've had terrible luck trying to get any new ones to grow in the new pond though. I get the ones that are suitable for 6' deep water and cold-hardy, loosely tie a rock to their roots and drop them into the sand where the water is 3' deep... and nothing...

 

[Tula]

My lilies grew like crazy in the gravel at the bottom of my pond, but I got very few blooms. When I took out the gravel last fall, I planted them in baskets . I'm going to fertilize them and keep my fingers crossed for more blooms this year. I didn't realize you need to divide them etc. to keep them strong and blooming.

 

[morewater]

...and they WILL jump out! Nothing like hearing a 5 pound fish hit the ground.

I've never fertilized my lilies. Only have two plants, but it might be interesting to see if they produce more flowers. There's certainly never been a shortage of leaves! I've had terrible luck trying to get any new ones to grow in the new pond though. I get the ones that are suitable for 6' deep water and cold-hardy, loosely tie a rock to their roots and drop them into the sand where the water is 3' deep... and nothing...

Try putting decent-sized stones around the tuber, enough to hold it down. I haven't fertilized mine since I took them out of the pots years ago and they bloom continuously without fertilizer.

 

[haver79]

Sounds like a good plan to me. Will be starting mine up very soon also. Hopefully we have turned the corner for the cold temps and will be staying about average now. I may be doing a water change also but 50% seems like a lot at one time????

 

[Dave 54]

Hi everyone.
I'm glad to say my pond and Koi made it all winter!
The water is a murky brown color (mostly from all the leaves that got past my Fall netting.

My pumps are off at the moment. I'm waiting for the temperature in Nebraska to stabilize just a bit more before I get all the plumbing going again.

Here's my plan (and I would love to hear if this is correct, sane or just plain stupid)
1- Pull the pumps out of the pond and clean them.
2- Drain off about 1/2 the water
3- Scrub the waterfall area (there was a bit of string algae on it last year.
4- Vacuum the bottom of the pond (getting up all the leaves, and putting back the rocks that fell in last Fall.
5- Fertilize my lilies and place them where I want them for the summer
6- Fill the pond back up with proper conditioners.
7- Fire up the pond pumps: Bio Filter with UV, Bog system and waterfall.

I kind of want to pull the fish out during the Spring Cleaning and house them in a temporary pool until all the ruckus is done. Thoughts on that???

Tim

Tim if you remove all leaves prior to the winter in future your risk of areomonas infections are less also if you clean your filters in late autumn
Your correct in doing a water change , I cant answer about your water fall as we dont have one .
We next lean our filtration in late spring then once in mid summer with a last clean in late Autumn pulling your fish as long as you have the exact same water temperature sounds a good plan, it will give you chance to take a look at them close up for any infections they may have , when you put them back in may I suggest wheatgerm and garlic pellets , the garlic gives them protection against parasites who simply dont like the taste o it .
When you clean the filter it would be a very good idea to use Microbe_lift PL Filter pad innoculent gel , we know kothing better to kick start a filter with just read and stick to the instructions

Dave

 

[callingcolleen1]

I never shut my pumps down ever so I don't have much to clean in spring, just clean my big pre-pump filters. But my system is different than most, and my pumps and filters are all underwater so they do not freeze.
You should try to net off the bottom or vacum the bottom gently so as not to disturb the fish and do a partial water change and get the pumps going as soon as possible. I would not move the fish if at all possible as they are still weak from winter and the stress is hard on them.

 

[brandonsdad02]

I would highly recommend the Oase Pondovac 4. I'm testing it for a friend of mine and it works amazing. You don't have to empty the water out of it. I will empty on its own and it has suction power down to 12ft. I was able to get about 20 lbs of leafs out of my pond that blew in from last fall and over the winter. I too didn't shut my pumps down this winter. My skimmer box was mostly ice free on the inside with a good flow of water to it.. Good luck this year!!

 

[brandonsdad02]

You also might try putting your lilies in 100% pure clay kitty litter. I just bought the plain cheap wal mart clay kitty litter and covered the bottom of my planting basket with Osmocotes indoor/outdoor plant food. Put the clay kitty litter in and then the lilly., CE on here sent me some lilies last spring and with instructions on how to plant them. I wish I still had that print out, but she might be able to help you out with the planting instructions.

 

[addy1]

You also might try putting your lilies in 100% pure clay kitty litter. I just bought the plain cheap wal mart clay kitty litter and covered the bottom of my planting basket with Osmocotes indoor/outdoor plant food. Put the clay kitty litter in and then the lilly., CE on here sent me some lilies last spring and with instructions on how to plant them. I wish I still had that print out, but she might be able to help you out with the planting instructions.

lol you got it Ryan, just make sure the growing tip is not buried and pointing towards the center of the pot. I use about 1/4 cup of the osmocote

 

[Dave 54]

I never shut my pumps down ever so I don't have much to clean in spring, just clean my big pre-pump filters. But my system is different than most, and my pumps and filters are all underwater so they do not freeze.
You should try to net off the bottom or vacum the bottom gently so as not to disturb the fish and do a partial water change and get the pumps going as soon as possible. I would not move the fish if at all possible as they are still weak from winter and the stress is hard on them.

In netting the leaves there is a very good chance of releasing harmful bacteria from within it , I would not other wise sanction the removal of fish at this time of year yes they are weak and its this weakness the bacteria namely Areomonas hydrophila which is normally harmless unless your fish are stressed, you have water quality issues, overcrowding and temperature fluctuations all which can be present in the pond at this time of the year
Flavobactrium colomnare may also become a problem all may be churned up when the mulch dead leaves and fish detritus from the bottom of the pond is lifted it cant be avioded even if you do it very gently ,
All ponds should be cleaned prior to winter to aviod this very senario but its too late for that sadly lessons have been learned lets not turn them into expensive ones


Dave

 

[cr8tivguy]

thanks everyone! The leaves have only been in there for the winter and it's not a lot of leave...just a few (the bottom isn't covered in a blanket of organic debris).
I really appreciate the advice friends. Hopefully the weather will be nice enough on Sunday to do some Spring cleaning.

Dave: When you refer to Garlic Pellets, are you referring to Omega One Garlic Marine Pellets? Is this given as a supplement to their Spring food? Also, can the Wheat Germ be organic wheat germ from the health food store or is there a special fish version?

 

[Dave 54]

thanks everyone! The leaves have only been in there for the winter and it's not a lot of leave...just a few (the bottom isn't covered in a blanket of organic debris).
I really appreciate the advice friends. Hopefully the weather will be nice enough on Sunday to do some Spring cleaning.

Dave: When you refer to Garlic Pellets, are you referring to Omega One Garlic Marine Pellets? Is this given as a supplement to their Spring food? Also, can the Wheat Germ be organic wheat germ from the health food store or is there a special fish version?

Sorry that should read wheatgerm and garlic pellets one and the same thing (didnt mean to confuse you ) if you cant find these pellets to buy, you could either buy Seachems garlic extract from your aquatic store or make it up yourself then each time you feed at it to the wheatgerm pellets

Dave