“When can I start feeding my koi or pond fish again?”  is a question we are asked almost daily this time of year. We understand why, too!   Your pond has either been cleaned or turned on for the spring, the fish are becoming more and more active almost begging for food.  You can’t wait to interact with your friends who have been hibernating all year.

It’s December in Northern NJ, your fish pond has been winterized, and the weather has been brutally cold for a few days.  You’ve caught glimpses of your pond aerator doing its job, because all you can see is a frozen pond with bubbles in the opening created by your aerator.  Then boom, Mother Nature plays a sick joke on us Jersey pond hobbyists and decides to throw a warm front into the December weather mix of cold and snowy weather.  

Here’s the scenario... it’s January and you’re taking a stroll outside or look out your window and your pond looks like this…. an algae ridden cess pool!! 
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You think to yourself, C’mon I thought I was out of the woods with this stuff, it’s only supposed to grow in the summer heat, what’s happening?  

In Morris County New Jersey and many northern climates winter poses some challenges for our fish ponds and water features.  Our ponds and fish are subject to extreme cold temperatures, snow, and debris flying around and landing in our ponds and water features.  Spring arrives and all we want to do is get those features running to enjoy them throughout the spring, summer and fall.  It's a daunting and disgusting task, is a pond/water feature cleaning really necessary? 
 
By the time you’re done reading this blog, you'll be able to ask yourself if having a spring koi pond cleaning is the right choice for your pond.  

It's spring all the trees are blooming, tulips and daffodils have popped, and your pond or waterfall is running but your aquatic plants haven't started to grow or maybe just started to come to life.  You may be asking yourself, are my water lilies and other pond plants going to come back to life or do I need to replace them.  Ok, you assume they're not dead, but when will I see signs of life.  When are my beautiful water lilies and other pond and aquatic plants going to start to grow? 

Spring is an absolutely beautiful time of year.  The trees are leafing out and producing some stunning flower displays.   While this is quite the site, during this time trees create copious amounts of pollen and of course drop all these beautiful flowers to the ground. 

When this happens the pollen collects in our pond water and if the trees are near your pond, where are all those flower petals going to go?  You guessed it, right into your pond!  Will all of this pollen and debris really affect your pond or water feature?  

BioFalls are very simple yet effective fish pond filtration systems that don't require much care.  However, spring is the perfect time to check on those filter pads to see if they may need replacing.  The filter pads are cleaned a few times a year but are quite frequently forgotten about.   What really determines if you can reuse these pads or if you should just replace them?  

It's important to first determine what kind of filtration system your fish pond is currently using. 
The type of filtration system your fish pond currently has will determine the steps that need to be taken to prepare your fish and koi pond for the winter months.