The ABC of Pond Maintenance in Autumn / Winter - Part 2

In the second part of the article “The ABC of Pond Care in Autumn/Winter”, we concentrate on the water, its cleaning and the filter.  

Cold, wind and rain, sometimes even snow - autumn is rushing headlong into winter. In addition to the fascinating palette of colours in our gardens and forests, there’s a lot happening at once at this point, marking the start of one of the most important phases of the year for pond maintenance. If you don’t react, you’ll create problems for the next pond season with algae, cloudy water and, in the worst case, even sick fish.

Now is the time to lay the foundations for a healthy ecosystem. We have put together a checklist with all the tips and topics you need to be best prepared for winter and the coming spring.

4. Adjusting and monitoring the water values

In the first part we saw how the autumn season and its transition to winter is anything but stable. Not only are there fewer hours of sunshine, lower temperatures and potentially a huge increase in the volume of the water, but the plants and fish greatly reduce their activity. At the same time the nutrient load increases, minerals are diluted, and the bacteria have a lot of heavy work. If you’re unlucky, the whole environment can become unstable, resulting in major fluctuations in the pH value or, even worse, a drop in acidity.

Even if the pond looks clear and the water does not smell, it may have a problem. However, everything may also be fine. Only a test can provide certainty. You can easily do this yourself with the JBL PROAQUATEST LAB Koi . More than 10 parameters are available for immediate measurement at home. The process is easy and only takes 1 to 10 minutes - depending on the test. You can find out how it works here: Testing water .

So when should you test? Normally you know your pond and only test it if you notice something strange. But autumn is a strange time and always brings big fluctuations with it. It is therefore advisable to do a check every 10-14 days. If you don't have any tests at home, your local specialist retailer can help you with a test.

A quick and easy alternative is JBL PROSCAN . In combination with your smartphone, you can determine, digitally analyse and save up to seven important parameters in just 60 seconds.

You can find out which water parameters are relevant for your pond, what influence they have and how you can influence them here: The water tests – all parameters .

5. Cleaning the pond

At this point, the pond needs your active support. We divide it into four areas.

  1. The water surface
  2. The shore zone
  3. The underwater world
  4. The bottom of the pond

Each zone in itself needs to be checked. It is almost always about the same points. In some zones, one step or another can be completed more quickly or more easily.

  1. Remove any large dead plant debris
  2. Try remove as much foliage as possible with the landing net
  3. Remove existing algae coatings and algae pads over a large area

Remember: Once completely removed from the pond plant matter cannot release any unwanted nutrients stored in it during the decomposition process. A coarse landing net ( JBL pond fish net S, coarse & JBL pond fish net M, coarse ) and a fine landing net ( JBL pond fish net S, fine & JBL pond fish net M, fine ) will help you to collect the different sized elements.

You don't have to make it clinically clean, but remove any parts you can.

You also need to siphon off the bottom of the pond. You will not be able to remove the finely decomposed organic matter sufficiently with a landing net. A pond sludge remover can help here. You can hire one from a specialist pond retailer, DIY store or your local pet shop for a small fee if you don't have one yourself. In just a few minutes, you can combine your water change with sludge removal.

JBL SediEx Pond does the rest for you. It helps to decompose organic deposits and reduce the formation of foul gases.

6. Filter maintenance

You also need to actively support your filter. After all, the pond filter plays a crucial role in maintaining stable and healthy water quality. It’s best to clean it regularly in summer. This allows you to remove deposits, fish faeces and algae and ensure an even flow through the filter for efficient cleaning. Roughly squeeze out the filter sponges, rinse the filter balls and replace the absorbent filter materials regularly.

JBL FilterStart Pond supports this work and ensures the colonisation of beneficial bacteria that promote the biological degradation of pollutants. This keeps the filter performance optimised and the pond water crystal clear.

The checklist for autumn & winter care with JBL pond products

In defining these 6 major work areas, we have shown you what you need to do in autumn and winter to prevent algae and diseased fish from becoming a problem in spring. These measures will ensure crystal-clear water and a healthy pond.

The products mentioned are summarised here as a shopping list with brief instructions for use and the number of the relevant text section:

Food for the cold season from 10 - 20 °C - JBL PROPOND AUTUMN S & JBL PROPOND AUTUMN M

Food for the cold season from 5- 10°C - JBL PROPOND WINTER S & JBL PROPOND WINTER M & JBL PROPOND WINTER L

Liquid helper for phosphate nutrient binding -  JBL PhosEX Pond Direct

Digital water test with smartphone for monitoring water values - JBL PROSCAN

Quick drop test for pH/KH determination -   JBL PROAQUATEST POND Check pH/KH

Bacteria to support the biological balance -   JBL BactoPond

Bacterial starter to promote biodegradation - JBL FilterStart Pond

Basic care product to stabilise the water - JBL StabiloPond Basis

pH stabiliser for pond water - JBL StabiloPond KH

Supporter for the breakdown of pond sludge -   JBL SediEx Pond

Catch nets / landing nets for removing leaves and algae in the pond -  Landing net

Test case with more than 10 different tests - JBL PROAQUATEST LAB Koi

Filter material for removing phosphate PO4 in the pond filter - JBL PhosEX Pond Filter

© 12.12.2023

More about this topic for you

The ABC of Pond Maintenance in Autumn / Winter - Part 1

Now is the time to lay the foundations for a healthy ecosystem. We have put together a checklist with all the tips and topics you need to be best prepared for winter and the coming spring.

Read more
Matthias Wiesensee
Matthias Wiesensee
M.Sc. Wirtschaftsinformatik

Social Media, Online Marketing, Homepage, Kundenservice, Problemlöser, Fotografie, Blogger, Tauchen, Inlineskating, Aquaristik, Gartenteich, Reisen, Technik, Elektronische Musik

About me: Seit Teenagerzeiten mit Aquarien in Kontakt. Klassische Fischaquarien, reine Pflanzenaquarien bis hin zum Aquascape. Aber auch ein Gartenteich und Riffaquarien begleiten mich privat im Hobby. Als Wirtschaftsinformatiker, M.Sc. bin ich als Online Marketing Manager bei JBL für die Bereiche Social Media, Webentwicklung und der Kommunikation mit dem Anwender der JBL Produkte zuständig und kenne die JBL Produkte im Detail.

Comments

A word about cookies before we continue

The JBL Homepage also uses several types of cookies to provide you with full functionality and many services: We require technical and functional cookies to ensure that everything works when you visit this website. We also use cookies for marketing purposes. This ensures that we recognise you when you visit our extensive site again, that we can measure the success of our campaigns and that the personalisation cookies allow us to address you individually and directly, adapted to your needs - even outside our website. You can determine at any time - even at a later date - which cookies you allow and which you do not allow (more on this under "Change settings").

The JBL website uses several types of cookies to provide you with full functionality and many services: Technical and functional cookies are absolutely necessary so that everything works when you visit this website. In addition, we use cookies for marketing purposes. You can determine at any time - even at a later date - which cookies you allow and which you do not (more on this under "Change settings").

Our data protection declaration tells you how we process personal data and what purposes we use the data processing for. tells you how we process personal data and what purposes we use the data processing for. Please confirm the use of all cookies by clicking "Accept" - and you're on your way.

Are you over 16 years old? Then confirm the use of all cookies with "Noticed" and you are ready to go.

Choose your cookie settings

Technical and functional cookies, so that everything works when you visit our website.
Marketing cookies, so that we recognize you on our pages and can measure the success of our campaigns.
I accept the YouTube Terms of Service and confirm that I have read and understood the YouTube Terms of Service .

PUSH messages from JBL

What are PUSH messages? As part of the W3C standard, web notifications define an API for end-user notifications that are sent to the user's desktop and/or mobile devices via the browser. Notifications appear on the end devices as they are familiar to the end user from apps installed on the device (e.g. emails). Notifications appear on the end user’s device, just like an app (e.g. for emails) installed on the device.

These notifications enable a website operator to contact its users whenever they have a browser open - it doesn’t matter whether the user is currently visiting the website or not.

To be able to send web push notifications, all you need is a website with a web push code installed. This allows brands without apps to take advantage of many of the benefits of push notifications (personalised real-time communications at just the right moment).

Web notifications are part of the W3C standard and define an API for end user notifications. A notification makes it possible to inform the user about an event, such as a new blog post, outside the context of a website.

JBL GmbH & Co. KG provides this service free of charge, and it is easy to activate or deactivate.