Clean Up- Take about a weekend to wholly go over your fishpond. If it has any unwanted bulk material in it or around it, you need to clean it up.Try to make sure that there aren’t any leaves or silt built up on the bottom of the pond. If there are any plants or flowers in your pond that will not survive the winter months, you need to remove them. Cleaned up all of the rubbish that is around your pond which could end up blowing into it, as this is most likely going to be looked over during the winter months and won’t be noticed again until spring. Taking the time to make sure that as much rubbish is removed as possible will prevent potentially harmful bacteria and parasites in the future.

Stop Feeding- You must remember to stop feeding your Koi during the winter. When your water temperatures get around fifty five or sixty°F, you should only give your Koi food one time daily.  When the outside air temperature reaches the fifty° mark, you need to totally stop feeding your Koi. Even if the temperature goes above 50 degrees, still refrain from feeding your fish. The majority of Koi, when healthy and the temperature is above fifty degrees, take at least four days to fully digest food. If you go ahead and give food to your fish anyway, the food will not digest in the stomach properly and will rot and kill the fish. You also need to realize that when a Koi is opening its mouth to you it doesn’t necessarily mean that it is hungry. This is something that they do out of a learned reflex and not hunger. If you are nervous about not feeding them, remember that fish eat other things besides the food you provide them, especially if your fishpond contains a large amount of natural plant life. Your Koi will fill up on this other stuff if they get hungry and you’re not feeding them.

Check Up- Do your regular check up on all your equipment. Be sure to include everything from your pond pumps and filters system to your store of medicines for your fish. Since the majority of ponds in the world lie dormant during the Winter, you are less likely to be able to find the products you need. Try to make sure that you have an emergency kit that is complete and up-to-date. This kit needs to include things like medications, bags, nets, and your kits for testing the water.

Be Prepared for the Cold Weather- You need to make sure that you are ready for the cold weather, by investing in the necessary items while it is still summer. Quite can endure temperatures that are constant at 39°, and perhaps even a little bit lower for short time periods. If the area that you living gets extremely cold, it is going to be essential for you to buy a fishpond heater. If you do not your pond can freeze over which will potentially trap dangerous amounts of gas inside the water. If the area that you have drops into the extremely low temperatures, you might really want to think about having an emergency tank available inside your home.

Turn Off All Water Sources- In colder temperatures, your heater will be working hard to sustain a water temperature suitable enough to keep your fish alive. You need to make sure that you turn off any of your water features such as streams are waterfalls, which cause constant water movement. Having these things turned on will just circulate all of the extremely cold water through the fishpond that you are trying to keep warm. With these switched off, the only water that your heater will be responsible for is the standing water in your fishpond.

With this information now on hand, I hope that you can understand how vital it is that you make provision for your garden fish pond now before winter hits. Koi are an extremely expensive investment at times, and it is highly important for you to protect them. You can learn a lot more information about taking care of a Koi pond, and other garden pond tips by visiting gardenpondtips.com.