Why A Thermometer Is Your #1 Tool For Your Pond
Why you need a thermometer for a pond
The temperature of your pond water is what helps you determine how to care for your pond. Depending on the reading you might need to switch to a different type of beneficial bacteria or fish food.
If you don't use a thermometer, you risk using the wrong products thereby wasting them, and your money, because you are not using them as effectively.
What thermometer you need & how to use it
Remember, it's the temperature of your pond water that you need so it isn't enough to use your phone to just check the temperature outside. For your pond water, you are going to want a submersible pond thermometer. (Hint...we sell one here at the Backyard Oasis).
To get an accurate reading you have two choices.
You can utilize the attached nylon string to anchor so that it floats on top of the water in an easily accessible location within your pond so that you can always have the information readily available.
Another solution is to keep it in your pond tool kit and check the water as the seasons change. Just use the cup on the bottom of the thermometer to pick up some of the pond water so you can easily read the thermometer straight on.
How to apply the temperature readings
FOR BENEFICIAL BACTERIA...
Spring & Fall Clean is used to treat your pond weekly when it's temps are between 35°F-55°F. This product helps accelerate the decomposition of debris and sediment during the colder months while replenishing the winter bacteria loss in the spring.
Once your water temps are consistently above 50°F it is important to switch to a more involved weekly maintenance program for your pond. At a minimum, we recommend using Pond Cleaner, Muck Buster, and Algae D-Solve on a weekly basis to create a healthy and beautiful ecosystem.
FOR FISH FOOD...
Sakana Cool Fish Food (also known as Sakana Spring & Fall) is used when water temps are consistently around or below 65°F.
When temps are around 45°F stay tuned into how active your fish are. You will notice your fish become very docile as their metabolism starts to shut down and they prepare to hibernate. At this point, you should only feed the fish when they are active and come up for food.
If your pond water is around or under 40°F it's time to officially stop feeding your fish and let them rest for the winter. They will then live off their stored body fat until spring feedings start up again the next year when the pond water is again around or at 40°F.
Once water temperatures are again 65°F and above it's time to switch back to the Sakana Warm Fish Food. As the water temperature rises so does the growth rate of the fish, especially if they are getting the quality fish food that they need.
FOR AQUATIC PLANTS...
As Spring turns into Summer a good indicator that you need to start providing more shade through aquatic plants is when the temperature readout is 80° and up. This is when it starts getting too hot for oxygen levels and your fish need more help from plants. The shade in these temps is also important to control algae growth.
What now?
We hope you were able to learn something new in this post and apply it to your water feature! Be sure to check out our other posts that deep dive into how to get your pond winter-ready!
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