Proper pond care in autumn & winter
The first cool days and falling leaves – in the autumn months of October and November, peace gradually returns to every pond. Now it is time to prepare your pond for the cold season. For many, thePond care in autumna certain challenge, but don't worry: At BioTeiGa we give you everything you need to prepare your pond so that it can easily survive the cold and all the external influences that come with it. Even if you have just created your pond and are now dealing with the topic of pond care in autumn for the first time, you have come to the right place. You will see: It can be very easy.
What actually happens when the water temperature in the pond is below 10 °C?
Autumn is coming, the colorful leaves decorate the garden and the temperatures continue to drop. As beautiful as the season is with all its colors, some people are sure to ask themselves what will happen to their pond. How do the low temperatures affect the vegetation in the water and what happens to the fish when the water gets colder? And why is proper pond care so important, especially in autumn?
At temperatures below 10 °C, aquatic plants no longer absorb nutrients and hardly produce any oxygen. Biological water purification processes and filtration no longer take place;
As a result, fish poisons and nutrients such as phosphates and nitrates remain in the pond water. Fish no longer eat and overwinter in the lower water layers. Seasonal nutrient inputs (e.g. leaves, rain) increase pond sludge; however, all pond creatures and aquatic plants continue to absorb minerals (Carbonate hardness) and oxygen in the pond water is consumed.
For these reasons, pond care in autumn is so important. If you want to enjoy your beautiful pond with healthy fish and plants again in spring, it is essential to prepare the garden pond accordingly in autumn.
What you should do now – all steps of pond care in autumn
First of all, when caring for your pond in autumn, you shouldReduce algae nutrientsand thatOptimally mineralize pond waterIn autumn and winter, due to the lack of plant growth, existing plant nutrients such as nitrate and phosphate are not consumed, but are available in large quantities for algae. Without the reduction, the nutrients therefore remain in high concentrations in the water. Adding minerals is so important because all living things in the pond (both animals and plants) continue to consume them.
As soon as autumn begins, BioTeich Nitrat EX and BioTeich Phosphat Akut can prevent algae growth and prevent an explosive proliferation in spring. Preventive pond care in autumn means you have less work to do in spring. In the cold season, carbonate hardness and oxygen are consumed by all pond creatures and aquatic plants. WithBioPond Balanceand BioTeich Oxygen Treatment ensure optimal mineralization and ideal oxygen levels in your pond over the winter. All required BioTeich products are already included in theBioTeich Autumn-Winter Setfor you. This means that you get everything you need for pond care in autumn in one set.
Remove pond sludge
The next important step in pond care in autumn is Removing pond sludgeThe best way to do this depends entirely on how much mud there is.
If there is a thick layer of mud in your pond, we recommend that you clean the pond floor thoroughly once. In this case, the easiest way to completely remove the mud and the deposits between stones and plants is with a mud vacuum.
However, if the sludge layer in your pond has just been removed or is only a few centimeters high, then you can allow the specialized microorganisms inBioTeich Sludge Stabilthe permanent, natural cleaning of your pond floor. This way, you can take care of your garden pond in autumn without any effort.
Remove leaves and use pond net
Anyone who has aPond netover your garden pond can save you a lot of work. If the leaves end up in the water, you will have to constantly clean the pond in autumn. The pond net ensures that flying leaves do not land directly in the water and thus damage the pond water.
Dead leaves and plant parts should definitely be fished out regularly. Plant parts rot in the water and release nutrients, which in turn disrupt the biological balance in the pond. The result is the formation of foul gases under the ice layer in winter and a strong algae bloom in spring. Here too, it is better to prevent all possible problems with the right pond care in autumn, as this saves you a lot of work in spring.
Cleaning and storing pumps and filters
Next step in pond care in autumn: Remove pond pumps and filter materials from the water in good time before the first frost (below 10 °C no biological filtration takes place) and clean them thoroughly with clean water to remove dirt and deposits. Let the filter materials (foam,BioPond MAXIMUMetc.) then air dry and store them in a frost-free place until spring.
Check the technology again for damage. Then store the pond technology in a frost-free place (e.g. in the basement). It is best to store your pond pump in a bucket of low-lime water. This prevents the pump from drying out and important seals from becoming brittle and porous. If necessary, check the pump again in the spring for possible damage.
Prune plants
If your pond is not deep enough to relocate sensitive floating aquatic plants to ice-free areas, such pond plants can also survive the winter in cold, frost-free places, e.g. in a storage room or, better yet, in a small greenhouse. When caring for your pond in the autumn, you should thin out any rapidly growing floating and underwater plants and cut back any dead plant parts. Tie up grasses so that the wind cannot push them under the water.
Only cut back your reeds, cattails and other pond plants with tubular stems so far that they can still ensure gas exchange in the pond above the surface of an iced pond (like straws). If you don't have any reed plants, bamboo tubes from the garden center offer an inexpensive alternative.
Be sure to stop feeding the fish
Now for the last and most important part of pond care in autumn:Feeding the fish(except sturgeons and koi in winter tanks) you should keep the water temperature below 10 °Cstop completely immediately, as the metabolism of the fish slows down and the food they eat can no longer be properly digested. If this step is not followed, it will have serious consequences, as the fish will die. Since no pond owner wants that, we expressly point out that this step should not be forgotten when caring for the pond in autumn!
BioTeich Autumn-Winter Set – the miracle package for pond care in autumn
Caring for your garden pond in autumn doesn't have to be complicated, because our BioTeich autumn-winter set has everything you need. Simply select the size of your pond to get exactly the right amount of the respective products for pond care in autumn and follow the instructions when applying them. This way, you'll be done with the job in no time and most of the pond care will be done by the products.
Whether in spring or autumn – pond care can be so easy with BioTeiGa!
