What to do now?

[JenH]

Ok, so I have been soooo busy for the last 2 months that doing anything outside has been impossible. Last night we got a bunch of snow, and I haven't even touched my pond for winterizing. So, I know that I need to shut down my waterfall, and should cut back my lilies, and there is a ton of algae in there. So how can I go about cleaning this out without having to get in the water? I'm planning on just disconnecting my pump from the waterfall but letting it run to keep a hole in the ice. But I am worried that all this algae over winter will kill the goldfish. I don't have a pond or shop vac either. Thanks for your help!

 

[addy1]

It will die back, the algae, any dead vegetation like leaves, lily stems you should try to get out. One cheap method of cleaning is get a pool net and pole, just scoop the bottom of your pond. Now when I do that I sort out the tad poles, trap door snails and frogs and toss them back into the pond.

With the cooler weather the fish have been slow, so watch scooping up some fish.............

 

[JenH]

Thank you!!

 

[addy1]

I left some algae clumps in the pond for the critters, been watching the fish eat it also. Gives them a good hiding spot and food. The snails, tads frogs all like it.

 

[DrCase]

Just like Addy suggested , all i use is a leaf net during the fall months, the cleaner you keep the pond bottom the less algae food you leave in the pond for spring blooms

 

[fishin4cars]

I agree with the above, Your probably going to go through some warming in the near future, wait until you can see good and the water warms up slightly, Then try and remove what you can. anything that will break down over the following months is best removed as soon as you can, BUT Keep the filters running for a few days and start cleaning them, the more gunk you can remove the better. Keep as much oxygen flowing as possible while your stirring up the pond until it settles back down. Your very likely to release some gases while removing leaves and muck and you'll want these to get out of the system before fully shutting down the whole pond. Side note: If your going to disconnect the pump from the waterfall/stream/water feature, DON'T place it on the bottom in the deep end, try and move it to one side and up on a plant shelf or crate or similar. A few reasons for this, the more circulation at the top the less chance of complete freeze over, second this will help to not remove the warmer water at the deepest point, Your want to keep that area as warm as in can and as stable as possible, third, makes getting to it in case of it needing unclogged or replaced. You DO NOT want to have to get in the pond with ice on it to clean, fix, or repair.

 

[adavisus]

Something that makes a diff to waterlilies through Winter is to make sure their Winter foliage has good light, a long stick can do the twirl and hurl for any blanketweed that might accumulate over their crowns

Regards, andy