Removing leaves and trimming plants
Autumn is a troublesome period for owners of water reservoirs. Cobwebs, plant debris and fallen leaves pollute the water. Decomposing at the bottom, they deplete the water in oxygen, which is particularly unfavorable for wintering fish. Dirt should be removed regularly. We can help ourselves with a fish net or a wire net mounted on a rod. At the same time, the plants on the bank must be trimmed early before they die.Cut them so that they do not touch the water.
Small tanks can be covered with a mesh with a fine mesh. Keeps fallen leaves and wilting coastal plants from getting into the water. The mesh with accumulated debris can be removed when all leaves have fallen.
Protect water plants
Most of the species cultivated in our ponds winter well. It is enough to prepare them properly for the onset of frost. Dried and damaged parts of aquatic plants should be trimmed, but not too short - so that they are only a few centimeters above the water level. Floating plants should be moved to the deepest part of the pond, so that they are at least half a meter from the surface.
If we have a small pond and empty it of water for the winter, cover the plants planted at the bottom with a thick layer of leaves or grass. Species sensitive to frost (water hyacinth, melon melon, heartwort) grown in baskets can simply be moved to a humid room with a temperature of around 0 ° C.Fish out the remaining plants and transfer them to the aquarium filled with water (floating plants), or tanks filled with the ground and flooded with water (plants rooting in the ground).
In late autumn, some plant species (marshes, stiff tolls) form the so-called winter buds, from which new shoots will grow in spring. If you plan to completely empty the pond or you are concerned that the plants will freeze in severe frosts, such buds should be carefully collected. We place them in a flat container with sand, pour water over them and leave them in a cool, frost-protected place. They will germinate in the spring and, upon returning to the pond, will grow faster than the buds that have wintered at the bottom.
What to do with the fish?
Fish can hibernate in a water reservoir only when its depth is at least 1.5 m. In winter, the temperature of the water at the bottom should not fall below 4oC. If our pond does not meet these requirements, the fish and plants should be transferred to the aquarium in a timely manner.
Prepare fish hibernating in the pond for the onset of cold weather by feeding them high-protein food. We stop feeding when the water temperature drops below 7-8o C.
How to take care of a water reservoir?
It is best to drain the water from small, shallow ponds for the winter, and move the plants and fish indoors for the winter. Thanks to this, we can clean the bottom of the tank of silt and plant remnants. We take out the water pumps, clean them and store them indoors during the winter. In deeper reservoirs, if there are no fish in them, the pump may not be removed for the winter.
