winter

Do I Have To Use Beneficial Bacteria In The Winter?

Sometimes in talking to a pond owner who’s kept their water feature open all winter, it comes as a surprise to them that algae can grow, even in the coldest conditions.

As I always do, if they ask how it should be treated, I suggest using a good quality pond bacteria, and one that is specifically designed for cold water, and see if that helps the cause of cleansing. Sometimes it does, but you can be sure that any warm water bacteria will not.

The normal tools, like your biofilter will simply not be operating normally in cold weather so other than perhaps filtering physical debris, it’s not going to do much for the water quality as it would in the warmer months. Many people may simply decide to bypass the filter or shut the flow of water down altogether, and that’s fine.

Keep in mind, it’s not that the cold weather kills off these good microbes, it’s just that they go dormant.

So the question comes up, “do I really need to add any bacteria over the winter?”

Winter Pond Aeration – Is Ice In Your Airline?

By Mark

Aerating your pond in the winter time is useful at keeping ice from forming at the surface. It’s crucial that fish get adequate oxygen from the atmosphere, even in colder weather, so keeping a spot of ice open is very useful.

You can use a pond heater of course, but many people also like, and might even prefer a small pond aerator to do the job. Some advantages are they can use the device year round, and they usually cost less to operate than a heater.

But there are potential challenges with them.

First, just like an electric heater, if your power goes out, you may find that your pond can freeze over pretty quickly. You can often get around this with a small generator.

The other issue we see from time to time is that ice can form in the airline and block airflow to the pond. This happens because condensation forms in the airline, and once it’s cold enough it will freeze. Initially, the problem is that you’re not getting any air or agitation into the pond, but if this goes on long enough, damage could occur in the pump itself. Usually the diaphragm will be damaged and would need to be replaced.

Question: Should Beneficial Pond Bacteria Be Used In The Winter?

By Mark

One question I get asked a lot in the fall of every year is, “should I continue to use beneficial bacteria in my pond even though it’s getting cold?”

It’s a great question and one that I’ll cover in the video below as well as the short article a bit farther down the page.

There’s absolutely no question that beneficial bacteria is great for a pond’s health. And for most bacteria products, it’s safe to assume you could use them in at least 2 out of the 4 seasons that many of us experience.

But as the weather cools off in the fall, and particular into the winter, you’ll want to make note of the blend of bacteria you’re using and make sure it’s an “all season” or cold temperature bacteria. If it isn’t it simply won’t work very well and you’ll be wasting your time and money.

Most bacterial formulas on the pond market today will work adequately down to about 50 degrees. Some will slow down a bit higher than this, but 50 degrees is usually the cut off line for standard bacteria.

Cold water formulas on the other hand will continue to work down to about freezing or just above it. And this gives you the opportunity to continue keeping the pond in balance, and it helps to insure that good water quality is maintained.

For our purposes, at least in most cases, algae will go away when the weather cools, and ideally fish show should down on their eating (you should stop feeding them altogether at around 45 to 50 degrees F. by the way) so the bacteria use, wouldn’t be used to help with algae problems…but it’s still useful for keeping ammonia and nitrites in check, and it will help keep any organic nutrients down as well.

All in all, as good bacteria always does, it will help to keep a pond’s system more in balance and clean, and in many cases, for those ponds that remain active through the winter, it will help get a bit of start as the weather warms up in the spring.

Note: Our PondBiotix products, other than the polar blend bacteria and mdc formula, are warm water formulas. In contrast, our Biosphere Pro bacteria as well as the 2500 system are all season products that will work down to 34 degrees F.

Pond Algae In The Winter?

By Mark

Pond algae in the winter? You’ve got to be kidding right?

Well…no.

For those that keep their ponds open all year round, and particularly for people who live in colder climates, it can come as a shock that they would actually have pond algae growing in the water or on the rocks, even when it’s cold outside.

Keep in mind that algae is one toughy of a plant at times. You don’t live for a bagazillion years and not have some adaptability. And while it’s true that most ponds will have algae issues as the weather warms up, some can still get a bloom in the winter. Some of this depends on the algae type as well as some of the elements in the pond water, as well as available sunlight. With regard to the latter, one might even see algae growing under ice as springtime approaches.

Generally winter algae isn’t all bad. Like any growth you ideally don’t want it to overwhelm the pond but fish my dine on it from time to time and fortunately the oxygen holding capacity of water is much better in cooler temperatures so as long as there is a bit of air exchange at the surface (meaning a bit of open water) then all should be fine.

For small ponds with a bit of string algae, it’s easy enough to physically remove some of the growth with something like the Algae Witch or similar device. You could also treat it physically with a product like Algae Off, which uses a peroxide based formula to kill algae on contact. I tend to prefer physical removal if it’s possible to do it.

So how does a pond stay in pretty good shape all summer and then get algae when it’s cold? In regards to smaller ponds, many of these will still get a build up of some organic debris over time and while this decomposition slows a great deal it can still affect nutrients in the water. One might get a little bit of fish waste too from time to time. Along with this, most biological filters are turned off when the temperature get’s below 45 to 50 degrees. With this function disabled, the normal cleaning and balancing processes that would be in place during warm weather are no longer available. And finally, many desirable plants that would grow well and outcompete algae in the summer are no longer present, and this gives algae a bit of a chance to get going.

Keeping the pond as clean as possible going into the fall and early winter may help a bit. Along with this it’s not a bad idea to try a cold water bacteria blend, which can help on any nutrients that may be present in the pond water. Although these bacteria will work well in water temperatures down to anywhere from 36 to 40 degrees, if the water get’s much colder they will probably go inactive for awhile.

The good news is, as the weather begins to warm up, fresh bacteria may begin to work well again, and once the pond filtration is activated again, the balance will gradually be restored to the pond.

Winter pond algae may at first come as quite a shock and may seem to be abnormal however it’s not unheard of by any means and there are ways to deal with safely and effectively.

Wintering Your Pond Fish Inside

By Mark

While many pond owners have found ways to overwinter fish in a pond all season long, others due to many factors may choose to bring their fish indoors during the winter.

As to which one is best for you will depend on a lot of factors. The type and depth of the pond you have is a major one, while your indoor digs may also be a factor. However the good news is that keeping fish indoors is neither hard or complicated to do.

In the video below we’ll talk about some important things to remember if you choose to bring your fish inside during the winter months.

[youtube width=”425″ height=”355″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9t2hqgjBi8&feature=youtube_gdata[/youtube]

As noted, it’s important to keep good aeration and good filtration going in your indoor pond. It’s more or less a big indoor aquarium. A small pond aerator and / or a submersible pump and filter of adequate size will do the trick. If you have Koi keep in mind that they can release a lot of waste and filtration will be essential. Get more than you need in terms of capacity keeping the pond size and the fish load in mind.

As always it’s a good idea to keep an eye on ammonia levels throughout the winter just to be safe. You can do that with test strips or other measuring devices.

And finally here’s the primary thing to keep in mind while wintering fish indoors. Place them where you will not find major fluctuations in temperature. For instance I could not winter my fish in my garage since it is unheated. It may be quite warm one day and below freezing the next. A relatively stable temperature and conditions are the best way to avoid stress on the fish.

Do you have any experience or advice on keeping pond fish indoors during the winter?

Please consider sharing your comments and expertise below.

Overwintering Your Pond Fish

By Mark

If you’re planning on leaving your fish in a pond throughout the winter the video below will offer a few helpful tips that can make this an enjoyable time for you and a safe time for your fish.

As a teaser, if you’d like to see a guy in a Hawaiian shirt standing out in a snow storm (well ok, flurries) take a look. And you’ll find more helpful tips below the video itself.

If you have experience in overwintering your fish, please add your commentary at the bottom of this page, it will likely prove helpful to those just starting out in the pond care hobby.

[youtube width=”425″ height=”355″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b966XBnRU0s&feature=youtube_gdata[/youtube]
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