Fish 

• Begin to feed fish minimally with a spring/fall high-carbohydrate food as water begins to warm and fish resume activity.
• Examine all fish for signs of lethargic behavior, parasites or sores. If you see signs of parasites or fish disease, identify the ailment and treat accordingly. Our Frequently Asked Questions and Message Board are great resources for you.
• Test water for ammonia and nitrite weekly using a quality test kit. If levels are high, reduce feeding until the nitrifying bacteria have the chance to catch up and decrease levels. If levels continue to rise, us an ammonia detoxifier and further reduce feedings.
• Add nitrifying bacteria to help kick start your ecosystem to guard against toxic buildup of ammonia from fish waste.

Plants

• Cleanup, weed and mulch peripheral beds.
• If you moved/removed aquatic plants, now is the time to return them.
• Divide root-bound plants and repot the divisions; give excess plants to friends or take them to a plant swap.
• Elevate hardy water lilies 3-4 inches below the water surface, where the warmer water will stimulate them to start faster. After it produces 6 pads, return it to its ideal growing depth. This is usually between 6 and 18 inches of water cover.
• Add new border, marginal, oxygenating and floating plants.

Pond

• Clean out debris that accumulated over winter.
• Vacuum or sweep the bottom of the pond if there is significant accumulation of debris.
• You may experience an algae bloom. Don’t panic. Your ecosystem will take a little time to reset itself as the water temperature increases and stabilizes again. Although this is not harmful, but rather unsightly, it can be reduced dramatically by utilizing barley in your filter system. Barley does not kill algae but is does affect the growth by preventing it from “reproducing”.
• Top off the pond. This is best done using collected rain water. If this is not an option, spray water through the air to increase the surface area of the water being added and thus increasing the gas exchange resulting in reduced amounts of chlorine/chloramines in the added water. Another alternative and maybe a necessity, depending on your water quality, is the use of a dechlorinator.

Equipment

• Confirm GFCI outlet is working properly.
• Reconnect the pump and filter, if stored over winter.
• Check lights and electrical connections. Make repairs accordingly.
• Inspect liner and make repairs accordingly
• Give your ecosystem a kick start by adding nitrifying bacteria to your biological filtration system. A biological filter begins to function when the water temperature reaches the mid 50’s F.
• Replace the bulb in your UV clarifier if equipped.