Winter is on the way, and if you have just built your Koi pond this will be the first time that your Koi have had to make it through those long winter months.

Think of Winter as a down period for your fishpond, as less events happen during Winter than any other time. If you wish to make certain that your pond and your fish survive through the winter, you are going to need to take some special precautions though.

Koi Pond Clean Up.

Take about a weekend to go over your fishpond. If it has any unwanted bulk material in it or around it, you need to clean it up. Inside your fishpond, clean up all leaves, silt, and other material from the bottom. Also, remove any plants or flowers that will not make it through the winter.

If there is any rubbish around your fishpond that could blow into it, clean that up as well as you are not likely to notice any of this stuff until spring arrives. Taking the time to make sure that as much debris is removed as possible will prevent potentially harmful bacteria and parasites in the future.

Stop Feeding your pond fish.

This is a very vital thing, then do not forget that you must not give food to your Koi during the winter. When your water temperatures get around 55 or sixtyF, you should only give your Koi food one time daily. When the outside air temperature reaches the 50 mark, you need to wholly stop feeding your Koi.

You might think that it’s okay to feed your fish when the temperature rises above 50 again, but don’t. Koi in general, take about four days to entirely digest their food at temperatures above fifty mark. If you mistakenly give food to your fish to late the food will not digest and will end up killing your fish.

You also need to realize that when a Koi is opening its mouth to you it doesn’t necessarily mean that it is hungry. This is just something that they do out of habit and reflex more than hunger. If you are worried about not feeding them, remember that fish eat other things besides the food you provide them, in particular if your fishpond contains a large amount of natural plant life. Your Koi will fill up on this other stuff if they get hungry and you’re not feeding them.

Check on your pond regularly.

Doing a regular check up on your pond equipment is vital.This includes everything from your filtration system to your store of preventable medications. During those extensive winter months it can be a little more difficult to come up with these pond supplies as a lot of carriers don’t keep them on their shelves during this time.

You also need to make sure that you have an crisis kit ready and up-to-date. This kit needs to include your water testing kits, bags, nets, and any of the medications required.

Get Ready for Cold Weather.

You need to make sure that you are ready for the cold weather, by investing in the required items while it is still summer. Koi have been known to withstand constant temperatures as low 39 degrees, and temperatures slightly lower then 39 degrees, for short periods of time.

If the area that you living gets extremely cold, it is going to be required for you to buy a pond heater. If you do not your pond can freeze over which will potentially trap dangerous amounts of gas inside the water. If the area that you have drops into the extremely low temperatures, you might really want to think about having an crisis tank available inside your home.

Turn Off All Water Sources.

When temperatures get really low, your heater is going to have to toil extra hard in order to keep the water temperature at a point that will allow your fish to remain alive.

If you have water features such as waterfalls, streams, or constant moving fountains, make sure to turn them off during Winter. The circulating action will only labor to thwart your pains at maintaining a warm temperature your pond. With these switched off, the only water that your heater will be responsible for is the standing water in your fishpond.

Koi add to the enjoyment of your backyard oasis and give the yard a more festive tropical feel. But they do need special care and depending on your climate the care will vary.

Project in the Koi pond in the fall are to cut back on the food your Koi get. They will need less in fall and winter months. Its also a good time to check the plats, remove any overgrowth and dead plants. Also check your Koi to see if they are healthy.

A Koi pond will add to the feel of the backyard so keep it healthy and well maintained.

photo credit: Mr. T in DC

The thought of adding a water feature may be a little daunting but with the right information and guidance, it is really pretty easy. A properly set up pond is easier to maintain than a lawn. It also uses far less water and adds a beauty that influences the entire backyard, garden areas and the home.

Here are a few points to consider before taking the final steps in choosing the location and starting the project.

Children and pets. Are their young children that will need supervision around the water features? If so place near the home and in eyes view from all locations. You may want to consider child safety features near a pond.

Some people are concerned about mosquitoes. However, ponds can be the best defense against mosquitoes because the fish in the pond will eat mosquito larvae. A properly set up pond will not breed mosquitoes.

Neither a concrete pond nor a pond liner is a wrong choice. The advantage of pond liners is that it eliminates cracking problems that can happen with concrete. Most concrete will last a long time without cracking but a tree root can grow 40 feet and end up under a concrete pond, which will crack the pond.

Filters and pumps play an important part in pond maintenance and the choices in filters and pumps can be confusing. Do you need expensive equipment, or can you just use plants to clean your pond?

Just keep in mind that the key to a successful pond is balance. If you use a bigger filter that means you do not need as many plants, and you can have more koi or other fish. And if you add more plants that means you do not need a large filter.

You can also go with an “all natural pond,” with only plants, which will work well too. But go easy on the fish in an all-natural pond. This is particularly important if you are raising koi. Too many koi fish can lead to the spread of disease.

Most important when adding any water feature, no matter how big or small is to match it to your families needs to make it a wanted and valuable feature in your backyard oasis.

Think about how great it would be to add a pond to your garden, it would definitely enhance your garden. Imagine sitting in your garden admiring the sound and sight of a well stocked pond full of happy fish.
photo credit: [3/4 of zer0]

With a pond you will create a focal point in your garden that will be admired by all. Ponds are peaceful and serene whilst also being an enjoyable hobby.

You can go for a wild life pond where you will not put any fish in or you can opt for the full fish experience. What about the type of fish that you might want to keep. Some people just have Koi so there whole pond is all about Koi, which are a beautiful fish and are not as hard to keep as some would have us believe.

Goldfish are a worthy contenders for any pond, they come in many different forms from the fancy Oranda’s, Black Moors and Comets and there are many more, right down to the common goldfish. There are a lot to checkout.

That greenish coloured Tench that has change to a beautiful Gold fish with blue grey fins and darkish red eyes through years of breeding now named quite rightly the Golden Tench. The Tench is a great fish to consider for your pond.

What about the Golden Orfe these are a very lively fish that are fast swimmers and on occasion have been known to jump clear of the water. I like the orfe’s because they are so active.

Before you start to dig your garden over there are a lot of things that need to be thought about before you take the plunge into building a pond. A pond plan is what you need if you want to get the pond of your visions. The more information you can put in your plan the better, it will help you decide such things as whether your pond will have a water feature, how big you want your pond and what plants you want in your pond.

For your pond project to be the success that you want it to be, it is going to take proper research that will make up the blueprint of your pond which you will enjoy for so many years in the future.