Poll: Do you plan on Leaving Your Pond Running in Winter?

[koikeepr]

What are your plans for your pond this winter? Please give us some insight!

[Carolinagirl]

Nothing different, except for no feed and infrequent filter cleaning. Otherwise, everything will run as it is now. If it get REAL cold, I'll put a sheet of plastic across the waterfalls to lessen the cooling effect of the cold air across falling water. And I do wrap the shower filter with plastic for the same reason, but it stays running.

I am going to take advantage of the lightened load on the filters to move some fish out of one of my smaller pond areas so I can rebuild it and make it deeper. Winter is the only time I can double up fish loads to do work like this.

[ponderpaul]

Nice to live a little further south :yes:-- nothing much changes.:dunno: When the fish stop eating, stop feeding. Clean the skimmer a lot more often due to leave that blow back and forth all winter. Won't sit out and enjoy it quiet so much when the weather gets down near freezing.
Right now our weather is near perfect:smiley-happy: - spending about every spare minute in sight of the pond. Talk later, going out to put in a small bog to put the taro & elephant ear in next spring:dance:

[Meganne]

as sson as the weather really gets cold... around january, I will be moving the koi to the lily pond ....... so I can fix the leak in the koi pond, I think the sni-ttred has failed

[koikeepr]

I truly am undecided at this point, as I have usually shut everything down fully on the old pond. I've already got a net over the new pond since the leaves are coming down in force. I'm feeding still, but the fish are clearly slowing down a bit. I did buy one of them clear insulated pool covers that I am intending on tenting up and just shutting everything down, but technically, I could let the pond keep functioning under the tent.

Personally, I like to take a breather from all the pond care through the winter and just close shop for a few months. It nice not to have to worry about moving water for a bit. Still need to think about it, I guess.

[addy1]

Personally, I like to take a breather from all the pond care through the winter and just close shop for a few months. It nice not to have to worry about moving water for a bit. Still need to think about it, I guess.

One advantage to being koi-less, my pond just putzes along all by itself. Some day we will get some goldies or bass or whatever. We are going to keep the pump running, trickle flow, it will be interesting to see how it does this first winter.

[Luvmypond]

Nothing changes for me. Except for not feeding the fish and dropping the plants to the bottom. Everything stays running. I do put a piece of liner behind the waterfalls to minimize splash out. Since I don't top off in the winter. I don't do water changes either. We still sit out there, maybe not as much when the snow flies. We have a fire pit next to the covered deck and curtains hanging on one side, opposite the pond side. So, the fire warms up the deck. Nice to sit out there and drink hot cocoa. My fish have already slowed down on their eating.

[tranquility]

I still keep up the water changes....I just do them every 10-12 days instead of weekly and clean out the filters when I do the water changes....Here in Oklahoma we have a mild enough winter I just work around the bad days...I do shut down the small water gardens with goldies in them and put the goldies in the greenhouse tanks for the winter....
Lawanna

[stroppy]

i already have a cover over half the pond water temps have dropped down to 55, im going to try and keep everything running, i have the uv running on its own pump so will turn that off soon and have wrapped up my filter drum in bubble wrap to stop water freezing i hope, my fish have slowed down and are swiming deeper in the pond, it has got colder much earlier this year ... i fear its going to be a very long winter !

[99srxman]

Every thing gets shut down and removed and a small 1000gph pump is placed in a bucket appox. 18" below the the surface to keep a hole open . http://pic90.picturetrail.com/VOL2153/12881805/23357574/389621537.jpg Or pond will look like this in 2 months.. http://pic90.picturetrail.com/VOL2153/12881805/23357574/389621486.jpg :cool::cool::cool:

[chris]

i live on long island ny it get's super cold here so when i start seeing light ice on the pond
i will take out the pump and store the skippy filter & put in my deicer and air pumps.
last week i allready took out the uv light because i hate cleaing it when its cold..
and the sun all ready changed so the pond dont get as much light and i still been doing my water changes and i have still have my floting plants in the pond

[Luvmypond]

This is what mine looks like, both falls running. This was last year.

http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i62/witchlizzard/IMG_1928.jpg

http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i62/witchlizzard/IMG_1925.jpg

Looks so bare without all the frog stuff around it. Looking at that is just a reminder of things to come ... brrrrrr

[NancyM]

I'll leave everything running. We get cold here, cold enough to freeze around the edges of the pond, especially in areas where the water isn't moving, but I've never even had to use a de-icer. One year, I built a "tent" over the pond using a wood frame and 3.5 mil plastic, and surprisingly the water never went below 40, even on the absolute coldest days, and for most of the winter it stayed in the upper 50's to low 60's. The fish loved it, because they got to eat a couple of times a week.

[Kntry]

Man, I'm glad we don't get snow often.

I'm in southern Louisiana. Nothing changes here except that I put a swimming pool blanket over the QT to help keep the heat in. I slow down on how much and how often I feed until January when I stop feeding altogether until the end of February. The water changes and filter cleanings are every 2 weeks in December. In January and February I may only do 1 water change and filter cleaning each month if it's really cold otherwise, I continue every 2 weeks.

[Peppy]

I swear last year I was feeding the fish into November but this year it's cold already and the water was 50 today. I hated putting the pond net on because it blocks what little sun might help warm the water.

Look at all those trees! We even had it timbered off and there are loads left.

I did manage to get a huge leaf net, 32' x 32', so I could make it high enough so there'd be room for my chairs to sit and watch the fish without looking through the net.

I'd love to cover the pond for winter. Last year I spent oodles of money and time making one of those PVC greenhouses and the thing wouldn't hold up even without anything on it.

I'm considering letting one filter run and insulating it, maybe with straw bales and plastic. My piping isn't buried so I'm not sure how that would work.

Last year it got pretty dang cold and my stock tank heaters that were supposed to keep holes in the ice just got frozen into the ice. Worthless.

http://i836.photobucket.com/albums/zz282/koipondpeppy/Pond/P1010001.jpg

[Peppy]

DH was telling me about some guy who uses heat tape on his pond pipe. Not sure how that would work; plugging in heat tape that close to the pond.:scratch-head:

[99srxman]

Try cattle trough heater Fleet Farm $19.00 they work great built for cold weather...http://pic90.picturetrail.com/VOL2153/12881805/23364199/392739222.jpg

[Carolinagirl]

Lisa, I am not sure you would see any benefit by shutting the pond down for the winter. You are in the same zone as me and it really does not get cold enough for an extended period to warrant shutting things down. Plus, if you leave things running, your filter bacteria is not harmed by the winter. It is alive in the spring and ramps up to fully functioning much faster than if you shut the filter down for the winter. I have never had a spring start-up issue. Although having a lower power bill for the winter would be nice.

[koikeepr]

Oh, I agree with you Cgirl. The only benefit I get is the break from pond keeping (and yes, a break on the power costs). I will likely keep things going this winter...I'm just still debating it all in my head. I've never lost a fish through winter by shutting things down, so it's a toss up for me on what to do. I'll know in the next month what I'll be doing.

[stroppy]

im confused on the other forum that i was on last winter everyone said turn off your pumps and close everything down, so thats what i did .. i had never done this before and had my other pond for 8 years, anyway i have a new pond now at its raised and also in a much colder part of the garden and doesnt have as much sun but it is deeper about 4 ft so i plan on keeping everything running unless it freezes up, but my question is what about disturbing the warmer water at the bottom where the fish will be i will be putting a cover over the top, we dont get too much freezing weather but we do have very long cold winters ... last year i lost quite a few of my fry and one old girl that had lost quite a few scales in the spawn i think that might have been why she died, i have never lost a fish in winter before so im thinking it was because i shut the pond down, would love to hear some opinions on what you think i should do

[Carolinagirl]

Stroppy, how cold does it get in your area? Most people shut things down because they worry about pipes freezing. In nature, water does tend to stratify, but this does not happen with liner ponds, partially because we need to keep an air pump running to thaw a hole in the ice. This movement of water causes the warmer water in the bottom to mix with the cooler water on the top. And we can't NOT run the air pump to keep a hole open or gasses will build up under the ice and kill the fish. The biggest reason a liner ponds won't stratify is that they are too small and shallow. Stratification occurs in ponds that are deeper than 8'. If any thermal layers do happen in a liner pond, it's not enough to make any real difference.

http://ohioline.osu.edu/a-fact/0007.html

[stroppy]

it does get below freezing for a few days here and there, but i guess about 3 c normaly ( would you believe parts of the UK had snow showers today !! brrrrr

[Carolinagirl]

I think I'd leave things running then, as long as you can protect your pipes from freezing. It gets way below freezing here at night in the winter, but normally warms back up above freezing during the day. Sometimes get several days in a row to a week maybe where the temp does not get above freezing. As long as pipes have water moving through them, they won't freeze at these temperatures. The pipes I worry about are the drain pipes coming from the filters. Those lines have water just sitting, not moving. And closed ball valves can sometimes break. I usually just lay a bag of mulch on top the valve and have never had a problem.

[Luvmypond]

I might add that (for me anyways) I lift the pumps up off the floor in the winter. 1) It does keep the warmer water at the bottom and 2) if the water got diverted out of the pond from ice build up, it will quit draining it when it gets as low as the pump.

[Ponderer]

I'm south like Ponderpaul and Carolinagirl so I will leave everything running. I have diverted my two filters from the water fall to 2" PVC pipe directly to pond. This will be my first winter with fish. KoiKeepr the insulated pool cover sounds intriguing. Like tranquility I plan on water changes during warm spells when the fish are active. Peppy the straw bales around your filter is a neat idea. Thanks to everyone your replies are most helpful and have put my mind at ease concerning winter.

[stroppy]

thank you carolinagirl you have been very helpfull, and yes luvmypond i will lift my pump off the bottom thank you :0)

[Peppy]

99srxman, I had two 1500 watt trough heaters. They froze solid into the ice. Good think I still had the air going.

I recently read when you keep air going to raise it off the bottom and keep it just about 1 or 2 feet from the surface. I guess that makes sense if you think about pumping freezing air to the bottom of the pond. Even without stratification, the pond water must be warmer than the air, wouldn't it be? And wouldn't pumping freezing air to the bottom chill the water more than it already is?

[Carolinagirl]

Glad to help Stroppy! Good luck this winter!

Peppy, even if you put the airstone only half way down, the water will still mix. The currents caused by the air stone will pull water from deeper down anyway. Air stones cause a lot of circulation in a pond. If you wanted to avoid circulation, a heater might work in some cases, but I see you have already done that and it froze over.

[Peppy]

So Carolinagirl, sounds like raising the air is pointless then. There is so much confliciting information on the internet. I think I got that gem in an email from a pond store.

[Carolinagirl]

So Carolinagirl, sounds like raising the air is pointless then. There is so much confliciting information on the internet. I think I got that gem in an email from a pond store.

Yep...pretty much pointless. If you have an aquarium handy and want to try an experiement, put some glitter or beads in the bottom of the tank and then play around with putting an airstone at different depths. I think you will be surprised just how much an airstone creates currents. The glitter or beads will give you a visual demonstration of the water movement. Think about how air lifts work....explained on that other thread. As air rises, it pulls water from below. Same thing happens in a pond. If you want to try a BIG experiment this winter, start off with the airstone in the bottom, and then check the pond temp at the bottom and close to the top. Then raise the air stone, let the pond settle for a few days and test the temperature. You will probably find no measurable difference in the temperature either way. If you have a lot of decaying material in the bottom of the pond, that could actually make the bottom temps a little higher, just because of decomposition. But with decom you also get a rise in ammonia levels and bacteria, so that's not good either.

[tranquility]

Me and John were just discussing the air issue....I plan on leaving it on since it also runs the air on my one bd...He seems to think since the air pump generates soo much heat that it will actually help with the temps--I said if anything it would drop them a bit since the outside air will be soo cold--so which will it do? just curious...
Lawanna

[Peppy]

In one of our houses we had what's called a 'well pit'. It was a concrete box in the ground with a trapdoor and barely enough room to stand in. This is where the water lines came up and there was a pressure gauge in there and some electrical stuff. Sometimes the lines would freeze in the winter and I'd have to shovel it off and climb down in there with a hair dryer and thaw the pipes. So my dad says, why don't you put a light bulb in there. It would throw enough heat to keep the lines from freezing. And by gosh it did!

I have one of those big fake rocks over my air pumps. So I wonder how much heat a light would make under there and if it would help warm the air going into the pond?

How about those pipe insulating wraps for the air hose? We have them around the pipes in our garage that go from the boiler to the house.

[Peppy]

Has anybody tried these solar pool rings that are supposed to heat the water? They're vinyl. Do you think they're fish safe?

http://www.doheny.com/poolsupplies/sku-5633.html

[koikeepr]

I don't like these because you have to lay them on top of the water, and a fish could jump on top of it and die.

Instead, do what I did and get a clear solar solar blanket like this one (http://cgi.ebay.com/15-x-30-Oval-Clear-Pool-Solar-Blanket-NS494-/220298484060?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item334ad0195c). They sell 'em in all sorts of sizes and shapes (rect, oval, round) to fit your situation. I'm just laying mine on top of the pond rim so that it doesn't actually sit on the pond. I'm going to angle it so that any rain would just slide off the side. Just be sure to lay it with the bubbles facing down.

[Peppy]

How does the blanket work with a couple feet of snow on it? Last year we had 2 feet of snow in one snowfall.

The circles are connected by magnets so there's water in between the circles. It says when something falls on them, the magnets pull apart and the circles separate so the thing slides off and falls in the water. I don't know what might happen with snow and ice over the works.

I do know snow and rain freeze onto the pond net and pull it down into the water, even when I had the net suspended a couple feet above the water's surface. Nets have to be removed before it gets too cold. So I'm trying to picture what might happen with a solid blanket lying on the surface.

What about air exchange?

I'd like to hear from people who use the blankets and get feet of snow. How it holds up with the snow and how you shovel the snow off to let light in. How and if you support it, etc. Anybody using these in snow country?

I'm still considering trying the PVC greenhouse idea again but doing it differently this time.

Winter. Cruddy fuddy dud. Spoils all the fun!:sad0049:

[koikeepr]

I would build a wood frame to go under the blanket. Just do an A-frame or one with a slight angle and then drape the blanket on top. That's basically what I'm doing. We got snow twice last year, and I'm going to expect the same. You just need to build the frame so the snow will just slide off to the sides of your pond and not sit on the blanket.

[Peppy]

I'm not a fan of wood over the pond because it could tear the liner in case of collapse. I like the PVC hoop house idea though.

[koikeepr]

These blankets might be too heavy for a PVC hoop house. You could probably build am A-frame or structure out of thicker PVC--like 2 or 3". A hoop house requires thinner PVC so you can bend it.

[Peppy]

Hmm hmm hmmm. Thinking thinking thinking. Hoop or A-frame... 2" or 1.5" pipe A-frame sounds like a possibility. I'll have to sleep on this.

[koikeepr]

Go with 2" at least if you're doing A-frame. Don't glue the parts together so you can take it apart in the spring and store them for next winter. I duck tape the joints together so they don't come apart, and then just cut 'em open come spring.

[Peppy]

DH just said 2" too. I'm going to try making one truss and see how it goes. That's a lot of pipe to span 16' feet. Probably more like 18' to the outside of the walls.

[Will]

If you do a hoop house with clear poly over it, greenhouse effect creates new warmth, instead of just retaining ground warmth like a blanket. The greenhouse effect heat also helps to melt the snow off, although in a heavy snow, it helps to knock snow off the top with a push broom.

Just have to make the footings very secure, so they can't move on you.

[Peppy]

The footings were my problem last year and will be this year too I'm sure. I'm just plunging ahead and not thinking about that yet. First thing, get a truss made and see how that turns out.

I still have a horse shed to finsih. Got tired of moving her back and forth from front to back so me and my youngest son put up a roof and poles. Mostly he did it and I helped where I could. But now I have to side that if I want to use it for winter.

As usual, not enough time. If we could only just hobby and not have to work, sigh.