Preparing your Pond for the Spring Season
Your pond, lake, or dugout experience significant changes when spring rolls around. Spring in the Northern Midwest regions of the USA usually comes along with highly variable temperatures ranging from double digits in the positive range, down to double digits in the negative. We can also experience greater levels of precipitation from snow, sleet, rain, to hail. These environmental factors all take direct and indirect tolls on your pond, so make sure you know what happens to your pond every spring, and how you can best prepare for it to ensure the upkeep of a beautiful and healthy pond!
The most obvious change that happens to your pond is ice melting. What most people don't realize is that your pond experiences much greater changes than just ice melting. As spring rolls around your pond will experience physical and chemical changes, all of which can impact the health of your pond and fish.
Physical changes:
- Ice and snow melt on the pond surface
- Spring run-off: this can add all types of physical and chemical contaminants to your pond, affecting water clarity.
- Added precipitation to influence water levels
- Temperature: as the ambient air temperatures increase and ice begins to melt, the water temperature begin to warm up as well.
- Spring Turnover: this is a natural phenomena that happens every year to your pond, lake, and dugout. Spring turnover is the event where as the surface water begins to warm up, the warm, dense water begins to sink causing water to mix/turnover. This is a physical change that happens to your pond but it also affects the water chemistry, that can have deadly effects.
Chemical changes:
- Low Oxygen: as your pond turns over in the spring, it brings oxygen-depleted bottom water to the surface, which can result in lethal low oxygen levels in your pond, resulting in sudden fish kills. This can be prevented with aeration.
- Addition of nutrients: with spring run off can comes the unwanted addition of phosphates, nitrogen based contaminants, and other rich nutrients that contribute to pesky algae and aquatic weed growth if left untreated.
- Turbidity: with the addition of increased precipitation, snow melt, and spring run off, this can all contribute to sediment agitation, erosion along your ponds shoreline, and addition of organics that contribute to murky and turbid water. Finding the root cause of the turbidity must be determined before establishing a treatment plan.
How can you prepare your pond for all the physical and chemical changes that will be happing to your pond this spring?
To prevent fish kills from occurring in your pond due to spring turnover, add aeration to ensure there is no oxygen depletion in your pond. Our North American-made Can-Air aeration systems are designed for our harsh, unpredictable seasons. Can-Air bottom diffused aeration helps to mix and circulate your ponds water continuously and add aeration throughout.
If you already have an aeration system installed and keeping your pond healthy, then spring is the perfect time to consider rebuilding your aeration compressor! Aeration compressors must be rebuilt every 18 months (on average) of use to ensure the longevity an performance of your pump. Pond Pro carries a variety of pump rebuild kits for aeration compressors, and as a certified Kasco Marine repair center our technicians can do the rebuild for you 15 mins!
Click here to get your rebuild kit for your pump and get your aeration system ready for the spring season to and help keep your pond healthy!
Learn more about compressor maintenance and trouble shooting here.
With spring run off and snow melt, your pond may experience a large input of nutrients such as phosphates, and other organics. These contaminants can result in your pond appearing cloudy or murky , as well as making it prone to develop algae and weeds. Phosphates are the primary nutrient required by algae and weeds to grow, so with excess inputs your pond can become a habitable place for algae an weeds.
Beneficial bacteria is a very natural and safe way to reduce nutrients form your pond that are the result of spring run off and snow melt. These bacteria work to metabolically breakdown organics and nutrient to also improve clarity. Trust our line of all natural, NaturalClear Bacteria.
Early treatment & maintenance is key. Apply bacteria treatments once the ice is completely off the pond and the water temperature is above 3-4 degrees Celsius. Treat your pond every 2-4 weeks for the remainder of the season for best results.
Spring run off, snow & ice melt, and precipitation can result in murky water. If your pond is prone to farm/ manure run off, fertilizers and other organic inputs that cause clarity issues, treat your pond with QuikClear flocculant. QuikClear works to bind phosphates and settle them out at the bottom to clarify your water. The binding of phosphates early in the season also helps to prevent duckweed and algae.
For best results treat your pond directly after spring run-off with a one-time heavy dose. Always read instructions before use.
If your pond begins to look murky and brown due to shore erosion or sediment agitation, use a Floc log. Floc logs are designed to bind inorganic material including clays and minerals and settles them at the bottom.
Always ensure the cause of turbidity is determined prior to treating.
If you need help getting your pond ready for spring, contact our team of experts at 1-855-414-7663.