Pond care during winter: all the steps to keep your pond healthy

Proper maintenance of your pond is important to keep the water in your pond healthy for your fish and plants. In every season, the weather and climate is different and impacts your pond. In winter, temperatures go down and the sun doesn't shine as long as it does in summer, for example. Before winter arrives, it is important to already make some good preparations in autumn so that your pond remains in good health.

In this article, we will discuss in detail all preparations and maintenance tasks during the winter. This way you can easily maintain your pond, keep your fish and plants healthy and enjoy a lively pond again in spring!

1. Effects of winter weather on your pond

In winter, temperatures drop (sometimes below freezing) and the sun shines less. This causes the ecosystem in your pond to slow down: plant and fish activity and metabolism go down, but algae and bacterial growth are also inhibited. Lower water temperatures mean that there is less oxygen exchange between the water in your pond and the air above it. Therefore, it is important to keep a wak in freezing temperatures and keep water moving so oxygen can continue to exchange.

2. How do you prepare your pond for winter?

Winter is upon us, how do you make sure your pond is ready for winter?

• Turn off UV-c device
  Do you have a UV-c device? If so, turn it off. For a stand-alone UV-c device, you can remove it completely from the cycle in your pond. Then make sure you store it in a dry and frost-free place. Do you have a pressure filter? Then only switch off the UV-c device and let the pressure filter run on a (low) cycle.
• Remove (organic) waste from your pond
  Remove twigs, leaves and other organic waste from your pond. This ensures that it does not decompose and can cause cloudiness in your pond water.
• Keep your pond pump running
  It is advisable to keep your pond pump running during the winter. This keeps flow in your pond and keeps the eco-system active. This is also good for sufficient oxygen in your water. Do you have an adjustable pond pump? Then you can set it to a lower setting. After all, you don't need the same power as in spring, for example. This way you save in energy. In extremely cold temperatures, make sure your pond pump does not freeze to death in your pond.
  
• Remove equipment from your pond
  Remove any waterfalls, feeders, fountains and other equipment not needed during the winter. Put these in a frost-free place. Clean them thoroughly so you can use them again immediately in the spring.

Tip: Have you removed pond products with rubber O-rings from your pond? Then store the O-rings in a container of water to prevent them from drying out.

3. What maintenance do you perform during the winter?

When your pond is prepared for winter, there is minimal maintenance to be done. All processes in your pond are in winter mode. You can perform the following maintenance during the winter:

• Check your pond regularly for leaks
  At temperatures below zero, ice formation can cause leaks in your pond. You may notice this because water leaks from your pond. Therefore, regularly check the water level in your pond and check for leaks and fix them.
• Remove excessive (organic) debris such as leaves and twigs
  During the winter, dead leaves and twigs can still end up in your pond. Be sure to remove these from your pond so they do not cloud the water in your pond.
• Reduce feeding of fish
  Fish have a lower metabolism during winter with lowered temperatures. Therefore, feed fish in reduced quantities. Use a high quality and low in protein feed made specifically for cold water.

4. How do you prevent your pond from freezing?

When temperatures drop below freezing, your pond can start to freeze. A layer of ice on your pond is not a problem in itself, as long as there is a wak. A wak allows harmful gases to leave your pond and oxygen to enter the water instead. You can keep your pond ice-free in the following ways, here we distinguish between light and extreme frost.

Light frost

• Provide a flow
  Keep your pond pump on, possibly on a reduced setting. Movement in water makes it less likely that a layer of ice will form.
• Keep water moving
  Leave a small fountain or large aeration fountain on to keep energy in the water and keep it from freezing. A small wak will remain. Running a fountain in winter is also very good for oxygen in your pond. Please note that in extreme frost, the fountain can actually cause the water in your pond to cool down faster and freeze. In extreme frost always remove the fountain from your pond.
• Use an aeration pump
  With an aeration pump you blow small bubbles to the surface. By doing so, you break up a thin layer of ice so that no ice can form. The aeration pump is also good for extra oxygen in your pond.

Extreme frost

• Use a de-icer
  With a de-icer or heating element, you heat part of your pond so that a wak remains here. You then don't have to worry that it will freeze. It can lead to high power costs, though.
• Hit a wak
  Hit a wak regularly and remove the ice from the wak. Do this regularly so that a wak always remains.

5. Tips for equipment in your pond during the winter

We recommend the following for your pond equipment during the winter:

• Turn off UV-c device and store it in a dry and frost-free location
• Leave the pond pump on so that there remains flow in the water. You can, however, set an adjustable pond pump to a lower setting.
• Reduce filtration by setting your pond pump lower
• Turn off any fountains when it is extremely freezing

For all equipment: always prevent equipment from freezing.

6. After the winter

Winter is (almost) over and spring is coming! This means your pond is coming out of hibernation and full of life again. Read all about what to do with pond preparation and maintenance for spring in our article.