Routine Pond Maintenance

Your pond takes very little maintenance, much less than your lawn that you fertilize and then mow each and every week. But there are a few things that you can do to keep your pond looking beautiful and your goldfish healthy. Keep an eye on your pond. (As if you didn't already). Watch for changes in water color, water level, fish lethargy or pump slowdowns. If you see anything unusual, deal with it as soon as you can. But usually, following these few tips will keep any disasters at bay.

Weekly Tasks

You visually marked where your normal water level was after your pond was built. Check the water level weekly--if it has dropped due to evaporation, top it off. Add a dechlorinator if you add more than 10% of the total volume of water. If it has not dropped, and you have some time, pump about 10% of the water into the surrounding vegetable or flower garden and top off the pond. The water is a great (and free) fertilizer and the water changing deters chemical buildup that can eventually corrode the pump or foul the water.

Check the bottom of the pond for decaying vegetation and remove dead plants, leaves or other organic matter. Dead and decaying plant material can foul the water and kill the fish. Net any debris out and put it in your compost pile or use it as direct compost in your flower beds. Remove childrenís toys, tennis or golf balls or used champagne glasses at the same time.

Monthly Tasks

Fertilize your water lilies with a product made for aquatic plants. Follow the manufacturer's directions for application. Fertilize the lilies from the time the leaves reach the surface in the spring, for us, in New Orleans, thatís in April or May, until the lilies go dormant, usually about the end of October. Most likely by September or October, your lily leaves are getting smaller and not they are not blooming as much. Lilies react to the length of days and nights. As daylight gets shorter and nights get longer, your lily knows winter is coming.

If you have a prefilter with your pump, clean it at least every month. During the hot part of the summer and if your pond is in full sun, clean it more often. If the filter has a foam rubber component, run water through it until the water runs clear. Do not squeeze or wring it out. If it is a biofilter, donít clean it except yearly. If you must clean it more often, you are overfeeding your fish or your bio load is too high. Reduce your fish population. Often when I am cleaning a biofilter, I will rinse it in pond water. If I use water from the hose, I will use specially formulated pond bacteria to kick start the bio process again.

Yearly Tasks

Remove all of the fish, plants and pump out the water. Lightly scrub the bottom and sides of the pond with a brush--do not use chemicals or soap.

Refill the pond, dechlorinate, replace fish, divide plants, repot and replace. Save some of the old water to store the fish in while the pond is being cleaned. I use a big blue storage box that we might also use for blankets, sweaters or lego toys.

Put the fish in plastic bags in the old water. Float the fish on top of the newly cleaned pond until the water in the bag and the water in the pond are the same temperature. Late February or early spring wherever you are is a great time to do the yearly cleaning. Make sure the temperature of the water is above 55 degrees, so you don't disturb all those fish in torpor too soon. If the clean water temperature differs more than a few degrees from the old pond water, you may lose all your fish.

All this said, I live in New Orleans, where hurricane Katrina destroyed my house. One year after Katrina hit, the old house was demolished, I had moved into the new one and was ready to move my pond across town. I had not looked at my pond for over a year. I expected a foul, nasty mess. I found about 8 inches of water in the pond, about a bushel of submerged vegetation and 6 live goldfish. So routine maintenance or not, cleaning or not, ponds may not thrive on benevolent neglect, but they continue to be a healthy ecosystem.

The August Heat

How do we make it through the summer, I wonder. I know that those of you in northern climes are at the end of your summer, but we in the South are wading through 'air you can wear' and wondering if we will ever be able to enjoy our ponds and gardens again. The water lettuce has turned yellow and then brown so it is going to the compost heap. Even the sturdy unkillable water hyacinth is falling apart against the August heat. Water lilies are in full bloom, tho, and want to be fed. Be sure to keep them well trimmed so the decomposing vegetation does not fall to the bottom and decompose.
Please provide some shade for your fish. They will thank you for it.



Canna from the bog garden



Hibiscus next to the bog


Mallow in the bog

The dog days of summer

Passion Flower in my yard



It is not even August yet, but the high temps in the south are reaching the high 90's. Do your fish have places to stay cool in the shade? Put a terra cotta pot on its side so they can lounge it. Get a 4" piece of black PVC pipe and throw it in the pond. Plant more water lilies if you don't have koi, so the pond is shaded more. Always be sure your pond is in at least 50% shade all the time.

Take more time to clean out the debris on the bottom of the pond. It decomposes quickly in this heat. If you do it early in the morning, you will not get as hot. I use a net that could double as a swimming pool net to make the job easier.

Spring housing problems

I have a garden full of tree frogs. These two love to live in my calla lilies. Unfortunately the callas are fast rotting away, but the frogs love their houses and refuse to move.






If they would consent to moving just one floor down, they could have two brand new calla lilies, model houses, if you will, and be the first occupants of these elegant new homes.

Fertilizing aquatic plants

If you have not yet fertilized your water lilies, now is the time. Use aquatic plant tabs and push them into the soil. Use one tab for each gallon of soil. If your lily pads have not yet reached the surface, wait until they do.
I do not fertilize other aquatics. The fish waste seems to do a fine job of that. The plants leap from their pots as it is. With fertilizer, they would be camping on my front porch.

Fire Ants and the Pond

I get many questions about killing ants (especially fire ants) around the pond. They are worried about poisoning the fish if some ant killer gets in the water. Diatomaceous earth is an effective and natural ant control. Even if some gets in the pond there should be no problem. Diatomaceous earth is available at most garden centers. Follow the label's instructions for use.

Koi and Clay

Koi will scrounge around a pond's natural bottom for food. When they eat the food, they also get some tiny pieces of clay. The clay provides tiny particles which provide needed grit to help with digestion as well as beneficial minerals which account for much of the very bright colors of Koi living in natural bottom ponds.

Fish spawning

It's spring and a young male fish's fancy turns to thoughts of female fish. When you see your fish chasing after each other, sometimes even removing scales or acting as if they are fighting, they are really spawning and you will soon be a goldfish grandparent.

Fish are not good parents. The moment the fish is born, the parents try to eat it and are often successful. Goldfish are born a grayish, brownish color to give them a chance at life and obviously, some make it.

If you give those babies a place to hide, they have a better chance of survival. The best place for fry to hide is in the fine roots of water hyacinth. Scatter the hyacinths around your pond so the fry can stay there until the coast is clear. When they get a bit bigger, they can survive much more easily.

Koi? Illegal?

Owning or keeping koi is illegal in the state of Maine. Koi are considered a nuisance fish that can invade public waterways and cause native fish to die out. No matter what state you live in, check with your local extension service to find out the status of koi.
Other states are considering making owning koi illegal. Check with your local pond society or extension service to learn the status of koi in your state.

Clean out that pump

The biggest cause of pump failure is the pump getting clogged and dirty. At least once monthly uplug it, remove the tubing that goes out of it. Get the garden hose with a strong nozzle on it. Turn it on full blast and put it in the hole where the water comes out. You will blow the debris out of the pump and impeller. The impeller needs to turn freely. Test it with a screwdriver.

Do not pull your pump out of the water using the cord as a handle. That is the second largest cause of pump failure.

One of the first signs a pump is failing is it begins to run intermittently. There is a safety mechanism in the pump that turns it off when it gets too hot. If that happens, start shopping because your pump is not long for this world.

I love Oase pumps, so check them out. They have a great warranty and cost very little to operate.

Louisiana Irises

Louisiana irises are just finishing blooming in Zone 8b on the North side of Lake Pontchartrain. Our Irises are beautiful plants and love to grow in our ponds or anywhere where they can have wet feet. They are great for bog gardens and rain gardens. I have used them next to ponds and even in gardens where there is no pond in sight. They do well up to zone 5. Consider adding them to your pond.
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Feeding fish

Do not feed goldfish because it turns the pond into an outdoor aquarium, but here's yet another reason not to feed them.

Fish soon realize that when a shape appears at the edge of the pond, food appears. They like that and soon they are trained to eat out of your hand. At least that is what you think.

Fish are not the brightest of critters, so when ANY shape appears at the edge of your pond, like a heron, an egret, a crane or a raccoon, they come up to greet the intruder and oops, they become a fresh sushi dinner for a hungry intruder.

For more pond information, have a look at Backyard ponds with the pondlady

Wild Plants

If you gather plants from the wild, you will bring in parasites and diseases. If you must harvest from the roadside ditches and swamps, first of all, be careful. There are some unpleasant creatures living in those ditches and swamps.

Secondly check local laws, it may be illegal.

Third, put your plants in a washtub or bucket of water with a cup of so of Clorox in it. Leave them there for a week to ten days. That will kill any parasites or other bugs that may have found their way home with you.

Check them well when you put them in your pond for any hitchhiking critters that may have traveled to your house with your new plants.

I find it is often easier to buy the plants from a reputable aquatic nursery or online to assure the plants in your pond are disease and parasite free.

New Pond Plants

It's time to pot up plants after you have divided them. If your pond is like mine, you have many more plants coming up this spring that you had last fall. So hack them in two or three or four pieces at the bottom and repot them. Here's how:


How to pot up pond plants.


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Backyard Ponds with the Pondlady

Visiting Wildlife

If you trap visiting wildlife like raccoons, and want to relocate them, check with the Wildlife Commission to see if
1) You have rights to move them to a more suited environment,
2) If they are prone to mark their territory and return,
3) Have the local humane society trap & move them to a more fitting area. 

If they are taken to a brand new neighborhood, they are likely to be unable to find food and die.


Learn more about ponds and get your questions answered at
Backyard ponds with the pondlady

Flower pot pond?

I just got an email asking if a pond could be in a flower pot. I answered that I have had ponds in casserole dishes just to prove it could be done.

So, yes, you can have a pond in a flower pot. Put a couple sprigs of anachris in the water, float some plants on top, have a couple of mosquito fish in it to eat any larvae that want to hatch and you will be fine.

Water lily question

I recently introduced 6 fully grown water lilies to my 5000 gal pond. The leaves are starting to yellow and some have small brown/black spots on them. It is a full sun pond with a pump transferring water at rate of 600 gal per hour.




Pondlady sez:


 Water lilies need feeding every 10 - 14 days with Pondtabbs or other aquatic plant fertilizer.
They also like to have the 
tops of their pots at least 18" below the surface of the water and are happier even deeper. 
And remember, the outer ring of leaves gets yellow and needs to be pinched off periodically so the new leaves can grow.
Same with the flowers. They will open and close for about 3 days and then die. Pick them off immediately. Don't let them decay in the pond.
Pinch leaves and flowers off at the pot, not at the top of the water.
Oh, and water lilies do not want water falling on their leaves, nor do they want to be too near moving water. A foot or so away is fine.

Fish Fighting?

If you see your fish chasing each other like they are fighting, don't worry, they are not fighting. What you see is fish spawning. You are about have fish eggs, then babies. Fish babies are called fry. And goldfish are not the best parents in the world. They will eat their babies if they can. Goldfish babies are born grayish brown so they cannot be seen as easily be their hungry momma.

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Backyard Ponds with the Pondlady

Goldfish eggs

There is no set time for goldfish eggs to hatch. The warmer the water, the faster they hatch, so don't worry if some take longer than others.

Goldfish are born blackish, brownish gray and gradually change to orange, gold or other adult colors. They are born dark to escape the parents who will have them for breakfast if given the chance. Not all of them change; some stay the same brownish, blackish color all their lives.

Turtles and other critters

Critters and ponds go together. When we have a backyard wildlife habitat, we get the critters that come with it. Let's do the best we can do co-exist. You can just not invite most of these critters. The others we just have to live with.

Turtles will eat your water lilies. So will koi, crawfish, bass, perch or other lake fish. Raccoons and nutria will eat them as well. So will ducks and geese. I don't know about possums or muskrats, but I would not be surprised if they did.

Read all about ponds at Backyard Ponds with the Pondlady