It is important to properly winterize your outdoor fountain before freezing temperatures set in to protect it from the cold, moisture, and ice that winter brings. Fortunately, all it takes to protect your fountain is a bit of seasonal maintenance.
– For Areas Where Temperatures Are Below Freezing for Extended Periods (1 week or longer): The best way to ensure protection of your fountain is to disconnect the pump from the manifold (the PVC piece with the water flow control valves). Then use the pump to pump out the majority of water from the reservoir.
Fountain Care in Freezing Weather
Running a fountain in winter is not recommended when the temperature is below freezing. For fountain freeze protection, Nick's Garden Center recommends that you first unplug the pump and remove it.
Protect it.
Use a winter fountain cover or store your fountain indoors to keep your fountain dry during the winter. Store the fountain pump indoors to protect it from moisture and cold temperatures. For copper fountains, apply a thin coat of car wax or furniture polish after cleaning and drying the fountain.
Garden ponds, as well as all natural bodies of water, will always freeze from top to bottom because the water exposed to the air loses it's heat much faster in comparison to the water at the bottom. As the surface water loses it's heat it begins to freeze, which creates a layer of ice on the top of the pond.
Should I Leave My Pond Pump Running In Winter? Many guides will recommend that you completely shut down your pond pump over the winter to prevent the water from becoming super chilled; however, this isn't necessary for our climate.
Overwintering pond plants, such as lily-like aquatics, need to be submerged, yet warm enough. A good idea is to submerge them in a large plastic tub in the greenhouse, warm area of the house or use an aquarium heater. Examples of these are floating heart, mosaic, poppies, and water hawthorne.
During the coldest parts of winter, your pond must not freeze all of the way through. There should be enough unfrozen water at the bottom of the pond for your fish to ride out the winter. As a rule of thumb, ponds need to be at least 18 inches deep, ideally 24 inches or more, to overwinter fish.
When a fountain timer is set turn a fountain off at night, during the cold winter months, the water around the fountain motor can freeze and prevent the fountain shaft and propeller from moving when the fountain tries to restart the next morning.
In order to de-ice your pond, we recommend that you DO NOT break the ice by smashing it. This method is extremely harmful to your koi or goldfish. By breaking the ice by force, you send sound waves through the water.
In wintertime you should stop feeding fish daily if water temperature is below 10°C is. Start feeding fish daily again at a water temperature of 10 °C or higher. At lower temperatures metabolism of (cold-blooded) fish is so slow, that they hardly need any feed.
As long as your pond does not freeze to the bottom and an air hole is provided on the pond's surface, your fish will survive the winter. If your pond is at least two-feet deep, the proximity of the earth to the pond's surface will keep the pond from freezing any deeper than eight inches.
As we move towards autumn and then into winter, the falling temperatures will gradually send pond fish into a state of semi-hibernation, or period of metabolic inactivity. Once the temperature hits 10-15 deg C, some low-protein wheatgerm-based food can be mixed in with their standard high-protein feed.
Feeding in Spring and Autumn
Feeding during the milder days of autumn can help to build fish up for their winter “down time”, and feeding in the warmer days of spring will help them to recover from the winter. In the autumn, when really cold weather finally arrives, it is best to stop feeding altogether.
If your pond only freezes over for a day or two, your fish should be fine, but if the entire pond surface is frozen for more than a few days (or even weeks), you'll need to take measures to break the ice. That being said, even a small opening in the ice can be enough to allow CO2 and waste to escape.
Goldfish survive below-freezing temperatures by going into hibernation, but only if they receive plenty of oxygen. Keeping ice off part of your pond is crucial. The fact is, keeping your goldfish alive outdoors during the winter requires year-round diligence -- but not a lot of your time.
During the winter months when the water temperatures are 45 to 50 degrees Fahrenheit and below, hardy koi and goldfish will go into their annual torpor, or dormancy. The fish's metabolism and activity slows, they become very lethargic, and they require little nourishment.
Fish that clean ponds by eating algae and other debris include the common pleco, the mosquitofish, the Siamese algae eater and the grass carp. Be careful with carp, koi and other bottom feeders. While they eat algae, they can also make your pond look dirty.