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Winterizing Your Pond - Making sure your koi fish survive the winter

As we enter fall, as a pond keeper, your thoughts should turn to winterizing your pond so that your koi fish will remain healthy through the fall and winter. Here are some tips to help you keep your koi fish survive the winter.

Test the Water Quality

The first thing to consider in winterizing your pond is whether or not your pond is subject to leaves or debris falling from the surrounding trees and bushes into your pond's water. If you don't have a pond skimmer or a pond net, this debris will fall to the bottom of your pond where it will begin to decay. The decaying material gives off noxious gases that can build up causing a shortage of oxygen in the pond water for your fish. Use a water quality tester like the Pond Care Master Test Kit to test for excess ammonias and nitrites in your pond water. If you find these are high, you will need to clean the excess decaying matter from your pond as soon as possible.

Plan a Fall Pond Clean-out

Regardless of whether you have excess decaying matter, it is a good idea to plan on cleaning your pond during the early part of fall, and to do a partial water change out. A pond vacuum is very handy for this task. A regular shop vacuum can also work, but be careful. I almost pulled a shop vacuum while it was plugged in and running into the pond with me that I was standing in. This would have been deadly if not for the rocks that stopped it from rolling in. We recommend these Pond Vacuums.

Jump start your pond's good bacteria

After your water change out, consider jump starting your good pond bacteria for the autumn months to help keep the water quality in check. Microbe-Lift Autumn/Winter Prep is specially formulated for the fall and winter months.

Keep the debris out

A pond net is an inexpensive way to cover the surface of your pond to keep some of the debris out. This will help ensure your pond's health as you go into the winter months. A pond net will also help keep predators from preying on your koi fish. We carry Pondnets Premium Pond netting in 9 sizes to fit your pond.

My fish seem sluggish when it gets cold

As the temperature drops, your koi will start to be less active and go into a form of hibernation. When the water drops to a temperature of 50 degrees Farenheit, the fish will hang out listlessly at the lowest point of the pond. When the temperature is between 54 and 59 degrees, feed the fish only once a day. When the temperature is between 50 and 54 degrees, feed them only once a week. When the water temperature is below 50 degrees, stop feeding them altogether.

Pond fish require a highly digestible cool-water diet. When pond temperatures drop, Microbe-Lift Legacy Cold Weather Wheat Germ Fish Food is an ideal winter fish food.

Turn off your pond pumps

Once the water temperature drops to 52 degrees, another important factor in winterizing your pond is to turn off your pond pumps. This will help the water stay warm at the bottom of the pond. Because colder water circulates to the top, turning off the pump helps ensure that the fish can stay warm enough at the bottom of the pond to survive.

Should you worry about the water freezing?

As we go into the colder months of winter, you need to think about whether you live where it is likely for the surface of your pond to freeze. If you live in a warmer climate like I do here in Texas, you probably don't need to worry about freezing, but you will need to make sure your pond is deep enough so that your fish can get to the warmer water, at the bottom of the pond.

In the warmer climates, if your pond's depth is 3 feet or more, your fish should be ok to winter outside in the pond. If it is not that deep, you may have to consider bringing them inside to winter in an aquarium.

Pond Heater

If you live in a colder climate like in the Northern part of the United States, you may want to plan to winter your fish indoors or make sure your pond is deep enough for the fish to get below the freeze line to stay warm. Another consideration for winterizing your pond in these cold climates is keeping at least a small portion of the ice melted on the top of the water so that the gases from the fish waste and decaying matter can escape the pond. It is these gases, and not the frozen surface, that will kill your koi fish. You can use a deicer like the Laguna PowerHeat Heated De-Icer to keep a hole open in the top of the ice.

We hope this information will help you ensure the survival of your koi fish this winter by winterizing your pond.
Stay safe and warm.
Have a blessed day.
Becky Smith
Sparkling Koi Ponds

P.S. Check out all of our pond winterization products to use for winterizing your pond to make sure it is ready for the colder weather.

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