This year in Southern California, we really didn’t have a winter. No snow, very little rain, heck, it was only cold for a single week. While a true winter never occurred, the continuous rises and falls of the mercury have your pond a little topsy turvy, so here are a couple of simple tricks to help you with freaked pond fish, and the green plague.
Algae in your pond is very clever at using a few warm days to its advantage. While your pond plants struggle to wake up from winter like a teenager on Saturday morning, algae hits the ground RUNNING at the end of winter. Algae is poised, waiting for a single warm day, to hit the ground running like a race horse released from the gates at the Kentucky Derby. Algae races off, laughing with glee as your pond plants stretch languorously, yawning, and asking for 10 more minutes of nap time.
Keep algae in check
This year has been exceptionally troublesome, as it hasn’t been cold enough to keep algae in check, but it has also been far from warm enough to encourage those pond plants to grow. Using some Rock and Waterfall Scrubber to knock algae down a peg or two will be very helpful this spring. Usually, one dose is enough, and you can visibly see that the algae loses some of its bright green and gets extra slimy. You can kick it while it’s down and follow up the next day with a second dose. Knock it out with Beneficial Bacteria for the win on the third day.
A major challenge that you can’t see, but the fish can feel is detrimental bacteria. Unlike the Beneficial Bacteria that we suggest you add weekly, detrimental bacteria called Aeromonas are gram-negative and can cause serious harm to your pond fish. Aeromonas also thrives in this vacillating weather, growing best when the water is between fifty and sixty-five degrees. Those low temperatures combined with the decaying matter blown in your pond from winds, becomes the perfect storm of trouble for your fish. The Aeromonas are absolutely thriving, and stress your pond fish out, reducing their immunity so they become susceptible to bacterial infections and parasites.
In order to help your fishy friends, you should be adding cold temperature Beneficial Bacteria. These helpful bacteria will eat the same waste that the harmful bacteria thrive on, helping to starve the harmful bacteria out.
Additionally, adding a small amount of pond salt will help your fish improve their slime coat, which enables them to fight off parasites and infections. A spring cleaning of your pond this time of year is highly beneficial, as it helps reduce the debris load that those harmful bacteria are feeding on.