Fish Health in Hot Summer Heat

By Brett Fogle
Summer is over, but for many of us - the heat remains.Here a couple of things to do to keep your fish healthyand your pond clear going into winter. First, rememberto keep your pond well aerated. This is very importantto your fish because the pond water actually holds lessoxygen at higher pond temperatures. So if it's stillhot in your part of the country, keep those waterfallsand fountains running! This will keep your pond waterfull of oxygen, and reduce stress on your fish.
If you see your goldfish or KOI gasping at the surface,it's a good sign that you don't have enough dissolvedoxygen in the water, and this can be dangerous.Especially if you have a lot of green water algae inthe pond. This algae can absorb much of the oxygen inthe pond water at night and cause very low dissolvedoxygen levels during the day - which can be deadly tofish!
One thing we recommend this time of year, is to do apartial water change. Drain off 10 - 25% of your totalpond volume, and replace it with fresh, newdechlorinated water. If possible, vacuum or draindecaying organic matter and debris off the bottom toreduce the ponds bio-load.
Your fish will usually be vibrant and playful after awater change. It's like giving them a 'breath of freshair' and invigorates them. Again, we only recommend a10 - 25% water change right now - but feel free toexperiment with whatever works best for your pond.
Remember to re-add your pond salt whenever you drainand add new water. Having a salt water test kit is alsohelpful, or a digital salinity meter, to determineoptimum salt levels.
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Brett Fogle is the owner of MacArthur Water Gardens and several
other pond-related websites includingMacArthurWatergardens.com
and Pond-Filters-Online.com. He also publishes a free monthly
newsletter called PondStuff! with a reader circulation of over
9,000. To sign up for the free newsletter and receive our FREE
'New Pond Owners Guide' visit MacArthur Water Gardens today!
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