Now the weather has changed..

[alison]

My pond is clear as a bell. All summer it has been a bit murky and hard to see more than a foot down if I was lucky. I have missed seeing all the fish, but now the pond is so clear. I suppose it is to do with the weather becoming colder. Have any of you seen a difference? I have cut back the Iris and so the pond also looks much bigger without so much growth over it. It is also good to see how much the fish have grown this year, and the baby goldfish I put in a few months ago have all turned orange from their brown beginnings.
Are any of you putting salt in your ponds this year and if you are does it go in just before the spring time or now before the winter gets going? I have only had salt in once which was 2 years ago after losing quite a few fish after the long winter. Last year I didn't bother and the previous 7 years I hadn't bothered but I know some of you do think it is a good Idea.

[AJC]

Most ponds clear about now alison, sun is lower, days shoerter water turns cool so the algea starts to die off, the free floating algea is the one that makes the water murky, and thats first to die off.

Its a good time to trim up and divide pond plants and genreral tidy, so you get less to rot in the water.

Salt is good at this time of year, it will aid the death of some of the tougher algea, kill off any young parasites that are still active so reduce thier numbers a little in spring, but it will make the fish secrete a thicker mucus layer, which healps insulate them form the cold a bit more, and they keep extra mucus into spring when parasites etc begin to wake again, so gives them extra protection from them, spring is when they at their weakest and most vulnarable, especialy if its a long hard winter, so yeah salting now is a good thing to do.

the pond season comes to a close for 2007

[Tricia]

I've never put salt in my pond - so what is the recommended ratio of salt to water?

Gordon and I located the leak which cost me a fortune in topping up so often this year. It was in the top of the hose feeding the waterfall. We had to dismantle a good part of the rocks before we found it - not an easy task as they were 'glued' together.

[dampflippers]

I don't use salt, but I don't have fish apart from sticklebacks.

I suddenly realised (when it was frosty a couple of days back) that I desparately need to thin out the oxygenators. I suppose I'll have to wait till it's a warmish day, and try not to disturb the whole pond too much. I still have baby newts in, so will probably do my rinsing method rather than just dumping on the pond side.
And yes, it does need doing- the blackbirds can walk on the surface! .....and the redwing does too.

[alison]

It sounds like my pond at the moment too. The birds can walk over my primrose willow and the frost certainly got it yesterday. The watercress looks like something has pounded into it's middle and flattened it out of recognition and the primrose is totally limp now. I think the first chance I get I will pull a lot of it out.