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Originally Posted by Mr_Tomahawk
What about winterization?
Do you get a water heater for the winter? How does that work?
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Winterization depends on what you have. Plants that shoot above the water line need to be cut just above the surface. If they are on a shelf you can just leave most varieties right where they are and they will come back right around when the first plants in the yard grow. Lilies can just be cut close to the pot and placed back to where they were. Lotus need to be brought inside the garage or basement and kept wet.
Beyond the plants it actually isn't that difficult. Just make sure there isn't excessive wind blown debris because that depletes the oxygen supply over winter as the stuff decomposes. Cleaning out that stuff is important. Obviously how much effort this is depends on your location. In summer I don't have to do anything but in fall leaves come in every so often so I do a top water sift a few times a week.
Filters are cleaned one more time and turned off. Removing them isn't necessary, but it is kind of a best practice thing to do. I remove the waterfall one and leave the other one in since it is a below the surface filter that does nothing but clean and has no water feature it produces. Just moves water under the surface.
A de-icer is really the best thing to do. Water heaters aren't necessary and I don't know if they even make them. The de-icer keeps the water surface from freezing completely which is important in keeping the surface open to let oxygen in and for the gases from the decomposing stuff to escape. De-icers only come on when the water is below freezing. They don't "heat" the pond, they just keep an area around it from freezing. Full surface ice for extended periods will kill the fish. Get a de-icer and after your winterization process is done you basically don't have to do anything. Different sizes are more powerful than others. That is really all there is.
The fish stay in there. They need a fall/spring food that is easier to digest because with colder waters their metabolism slows. Then a different summer food. You don't feed them in the winter. They are designed for the cold water and do great in it. They essentially hibernate. They don't move since their metabolism and digestive system basically turns off below 45 degrees.
If you keep these things in mind it makes winterization easy because you won't choose a bad location under a tree, you don't bury your pump in an impossible place to get to, etc. Location is also important because you want sun, 6-8 hours is good, and you need to make sure it overflows somewhere into the yard when it rains.
One other thing that people use is a UV light. It helps kill the suspended green algae because the pump forces the water through the light chamber and it helps keep the water a bit more clear. The effectiveness of those depends on many factors though.