With spring approaching, we offer the following list of pond care suggestions to help get your pond off to a healthily start for the spring and summer growing season.

º Increase water circulation.

º Start feeding your fish again when the water temperature reaches a constant 50 degrees.

º If there has been an accumulation of leaves and other debris over the winter you should remove this now. Leaves can be removed with a skimmer net it has a square end that allows you to push this across the bottom of the pond scooping up the leaves.

You can also use the pond vac smaller ponds and small leaves to vacuum the leaves from the bottom of the pond. These devices use fresh water from your garden hose to create the suction. You could also try to use a shop vac but this removes a lot of water in the process and may not be the best choice. If there are lots of leaves and sludge accumulated in the pond to the point that you can not remove this easily a complete pond cleaning may be necessary. A complete cleaning will upset the balance of the pond and actually interfere with algae control but should you decide to go this route you can use the following method. Pump water from the pond into a large tub or other container. The exact size will depend on the number and size of fish that you have but should be as large as possible.

It may be necessary to cover the container with Leaf netting or something similar to keep the fish from jumping out especially if you have koi. This container should be in the shade if it is hot out.

Continue pumping the water out of the pond until it just covers the fish. Use a fish net to catch the fish and place them in the container with the water just pumped from the pond. Also the plants can be removed if repotting is necessary or left in the pond. If removed they should be kept in the shade and covered with damp newspaper. Underwater plants should be kept in a container of water.

After you pump as much water out of the pond with your pump as you can, you will want to use a shop vac to finish up or you can use a large dust pan and broom with a bucket to finish removing the sludge. Do not try to scrub the velvet type algae that may coat the liner, as this is beneficial. Do not use any chemicals. After the pond is clean you can pump the water with the fish into the pond and then put the fish back into the pond. Add a dechloriaton to remove the chlorine and slowly add water from the hose to finish filling the pond. The plants can be placed back into the pond during the filling process. After the pump and filter are turned back on it is a good idea to add bacteria such as Microbe-Lift Spring, to help in establishing the balance of the pond. Acclimate fish.

Fertilize each plant and place at appropriate depth. Lilies and Lotus should be fertilized every 3-4 weeks, marginals every 5-7 weeks. º Add anacharis to prevent algae growth. Use one bunch per one sq. ft. of surface area for ponds under 50-sq. ft. and one bunch per two or three sq. ft. for ponds over 51 to 200 sq. ft. For ponds over 200-sq. ft. use one bunch for every three to four sq. ft.

º Turn on ultraviolet Sterilizer after the biological filter is working properly and the water starts to turn slightly green. Add Pond Microbe-Lift/PL (these products contain bacteria to help jump-start biological filters and break down sludge).

º Divide and repot plants needed.

º Add floating plants such as water hyacinth and water lettuce (late spring after danger of frost has passed).